Alaura & Katelyn Day 1

Today was our first day in Chicago and it was quite an experiance. We started the day with breakfast at the hostel, which was a new experiance for all of us. There was a wide variety of choices but doing your own dishes was not what we were expecting. It was still really yummy though. Our first stop was at the National Hellenic Museum, the only one of its kind. It is a greek history based museum that is still under construction, but we were lucky and got to listen to a presentation and view what exhibits they had completed.
Next stop was at the Downtown Islamic Center. That was definately a culture shock, especially for us girls. We had to cover our heads which made us greatful that we don't have to do this everyday. Dr. Sabeel was our speaker and really taught us about Islam. We learned about what Islam really is and the differences between the sterotypes we know. We spent more time at the center than planned, so we had a rushed lunch at McDonalds which made us late for the Field Museum.
We were supposed to arrive at 2, but we didn't start looking around until about 2:45. We had to rush through the exhibits which was a real downer. One thing we really missed out on was being able to enjoy the museum and soak it all in. We were able to see the African, Ancient Americas, Tibet, and the Ancient Egypt exhibits. Then it was time to catch a cab which was a lot harder than might sound. After standing in the rain for 45min, we were finally able to get cabs. Once arriving in china town, we had some of the best chinese that any of us had ever had. It included walnut shrimp, rice, orange chicken, vegetable lo mein, and much more. We headed to the symphony after dinner, taking the L. It was a great experiance for all of us, since none of us had ever been to one. This trip is going to be one that we won't forget.