Its been a crazy week last week with D and K coming over again and with K/G’s brother-in-law also putting in an appearance for a day and with me coming on tv. Yes you heard it right, I came on tv.
Oh but I didn’t commit a crime or anything, it was just my two seconds of fame. Well, last week Obama decided to come down for a fund raising dinner to Penny Pritzker’s house. She is the owner of the Hyatt chain of hotels as well as a close friend of Obama. I was not aware of it until Song mentioned it. Song and Shanghai were supposed to leave that day, on 23rd, back to India and they had a flight to catch at 10.00 pm. But when they called for a taxi the driver said he would not be able to come to our house or near our street even, because Obama was coming. Well, we were excited because he was going to be so close and we hoped we would get to see a glimpse of him somewhere but we didn’t know it was going to turn into an adventure.
We happened to take the Red Line subway that day instead of the usual Brown Line and when we emerged from the station we saw policemen everywhere. I realized that it was for Obama so I thought, why not stand and wait a while to see if he is coming. So we waited. A man next to me on a bicycle grumbled that he had been waiting for about 40 minutes now and nothing has happened. But we saw everybody waiting with their cellphone cameras at the ready and we decided to try our luck. The crossing at North and Clybourn where we stood was empty as all traffic was told to wait. After about 15 minutes there was excitement as people suddenly started aiming their cellphones onto the road. I didn’t have anything with me so I just decided to see the motorcade pass. K/G had her cellphone and she took a video of the whole motorcade as it whizzed by in a whirl of blue and red lights and sirens and black armored cars. I thought I saw Obama because I saw someone waving from the window but I cannot be sure. The whole thing lasted for a few seconds and then it was back to normal life. Or so I thought.
We walked upto our house and as we entered N Orchard Street again there were barricades and policemen and we realized that he had come just three houses away from ours for a fundraising dinner. Whoo! Now we dumped our bags and came out with properly armed with cameras to catch a fleeting glimpse of Obama. Meanwhile Shanghai and Song somehow managed to get a taxi and we helped them out with their luggage crossing the road amidst mean looking security personnel and policemen. We waited along with others and after sometime a crew from Fox News Chicago arrived there. They started talking to people around and finally came over to us. The cameraman was Nathan and the reporter who took our interviews was called Alex. He was a black middle aged friendly guy with a nice grin and he asked us a few questions. He asked us what would we say if Obama came in front of us and we said we would be speechless. Looking back I could have said I would have invited him to my place for dinner lol …
Interviews over we continued to wait and in just a few more minutes Obama came out and went out through the other street so we could see the whole parade a few yards away. But we could not see him at all this time. That was fine. We ran back to the house and decided to finish cooking and sit down with dinner and wait for the 9.00 pm news during which our interviews were supposed to come according to Alex. It was 10.30 when my bit came and I was totally taken aback with excitement. But I was a bit disappointed that the others didn’t come. Boy, what an adventure that was. And of all the people in Chicago it had to be us and ultimately me.
The weekend went off fine with K/G’s bro in law landing here on Friday. We went out to Corcoran’s pub near Treasure Island right next to Walgreens. I had Guinness after a long time and I really enjoyed the pub atmosphere here. It was not shady like the ones in India with people staring. It was good with nice music and friends and couples alike coming for drinks.
On Saturday D and K came in the afternoon. In the morning K/G and her bil and I went to Gurnee Mills to get some shopping done. We were supposed to catch the 8.40 am Metra but couldn’t make it. We woke up a bit late, rushed to the wrong bus stop, caught a taxi whose driver drove us round the block because he didn’t know where the Clybourn Metra station (not to be confused with the subway) was and finally returned home dejected. But we freshened up and caught the 10.30 Metra, by catching the right bus and landing at the station.
Dazz had gone to meet her uncle and aunt and she came in the afternoon as D and K landed and we too returned by 6.00 pm. We thought we would go to see the Venetian Night where boats are decked up and lit up and there is a parade that ends with fireworks. But none of it worked because we were late and it started drizzling and finally we just ended up going to the Shedd Aquarium place to see the night skyline view.
On Sunday we went for a pancake breakfast at IHOP and it was time for K/G’s bil to catch his flight. Dazz again went to meet her uncle and aunt and the rest of us went to Lincoln Zoo. That was really entertaining and I was happy to see a well maintained zoo, which doesn’t stink. Dazz joined us later and we had a drink at a pub in the Old Town. The waitress there, named Sandra, struck up a conversation with us. She said she loved Indian weddings and that she was here as an exchange student from Belgium. But she had a lot of Indian friends.
We walked back home, had some coffee and sat up late chatting. D and K left the next day and I sure had a real memorable weekend with them so I was sad to see them leave. I hope I meet them again.