Day 21

Saturday, September 21, 2024

The Bourgeois Pig Cafe

When I don't know where to go or what to do with my day, Lincoln Park is always a safe destination. It’s the only other neighborhood of Chicago that I’ve lived in and on some level, it feels like home. Even though I feel like I know it well, it changes quickly and walking around today, I realized that I was a little behind. Like there is a Barnes and Noble on Diversey and a 2nd Street thrift store. My old favorite book store is now the framing shop for Four Sided. I knew that Mount Sinai thrift was there but I had no idea they had such designer clothing.

Also, I had never been to The Bourgeois Pig Cafe even though I’ve probably passed it one thousand times. Now that I’m here, I want to spend all my free time here.

I walked to the Fullerton red line to get home and passed groups of DePaul students coming and going about their nights. I remebered that it’s the beginning of their school year and for freshmen, maybe their first taste of independence in the city.

I remembered how those first few weeks felt and how I spent them. Every day was an opportunity to learn who you were and decide who you wanted to become. At the same time, there were no consequence for changing your mind. Your friends were new and it was the first time you missed your old ones. Getting lost was a daily occurance and so was seeing something new. I doubt there is much that could make me regret choosing to go to college where I did or how I spent those first few weeks and months exploring the city and testing out who I was as a person living away from family, friends, and my hometown.