North America,  Travel,  U.S.

Chicago Week 89

May 15, 2023 /

May is the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I saw an APIDA Art Festival event. I saw a familiar name on the website. It was a Korean at the Art Institute of Chicago that I met last year when I was taking a Spanish class in San Cristóbal, Mexico. An American artist, unfortunately I sent her a message after I went, but she didn't come to the opening ceremony due to business. At the gate of the opening ceremony, I saw a familiar face. It was Danny Pudi, an actor from the American drama "Community". He is today's special guest, a native of Chicago. At the opening ceremony, he shared some of his stories. His mother is Polish and his father is Indian, both first-generation immigrants to the United States. This was followed by a screening of Running, a documentary short film he wrote, directed and starred in during the pandemic, about his attempts to trace his father's imprint and understand his family's background after his father (who left him at the age of two) died a few years ago , And continue to pass on the story of his children, very touching. In addition, there is also a talk show by a Korean-American girl. Many jokes are related to Asians, so I have personal experience.

On the official website of the city of Chicago, I saw that there was a Cinco de Mayo May 5th parade in the Mexican-American community Pilsen on Sunday, but after I went there, I drove a few streets and saw no parade. I asked a few local people on the side of the road, and there are directions everywhere, and I feel unreliable. It was noon, and I went to a very authentic birria restaurant for lunch, and there were people playing music. The food made me miss Mexico very much. The waiter said that there was a May 5th celebration in Cicero. After eating, I went to the place the waiter said, there was a large celebration playground, very similar to the one in Mexico. By the way: May 5th is not Mexico's Independence Day, nor is it celebrated in Mexico. May 5 is the date of the 1862 battle of Mexican and French armies at Puebla. Mexico's Independence Day is September 16. Like St. Patrick's Day, it is celebrated infrequently in Ireland, but with much fanfare in the United States. Americans celebrate other cultures' "holidays" whenever they have the opportunity to drink and drink.

On Tuesday, I went to Holland, Michigan, which is a three-hour drive. There is a famous tulip festival in these two weeks. I have never seen so many tulips of various varieties and colors. When I was shopping in a souvenir shop, I tried on the unique Dutch wooden shoe klompen, of course it was very hard and uncomfortable. But in the afternoon, there is a class in a small park to teach the basic steps of Dutch dance. They all dance in these shoes, which is very interesting.

Go to the Sauced Night Market at House of Vans on Friday night. There are many local artists and small vendors selling various handicrafts and small commodities, as well as live DJs and graffiti. There is a stall that sells various artworks that the owner himself burns on wooden boards with a magnifying glass and sunlight, which is very interesting. This venue is often used for band performances. The young people here seem to be dressed in trendy clothes, and they feel that they are getting older.

There was a Switch on Summer event in the city center on Saturday, and the Buckingham Fountain was opened, marking the arrival of summer, although the weather was still cool, with light rain and live band performances.

In the afternoon, I went to Mayfest in Lincoln Park. There were also small shops of local artists and live band performances. The guitarist of the rock band was so cool.

I saw on the sofa-surfing software that there was an event in the northern suburbs on Saturday night. It was at the organizer's home, and only four or five people registered to participate. When I got there, I heard the music coming from the backyard of the house as soon as I got out of the car. I looked for the sound and saw "Happy Birthday" written on the ground. There were several big tables outside and a lot of food. I asked where the organizer was and went to talk to her. say hi. She said it was her sister's birthday party, and the theme was "Back to the 80s". The people who came to the party were all their high school classmates. They all went to high school in 1980s, and most of them were in their 50s and 60s. . Except for her and the three of us, no one else has heard of the software Sofa Surfer. Because the theme is "Back to the 80s", most people are wearing fluorescent or white clothes, and the music is also old songs, everyone is very happy. Thinking it was an event with only five couch-surfers, I made Middle Eastern hummus and nachos, only to find out that no one brought anything but me because the food was all set. During the meal, I chatted with the eldest sister sitting next to me. She is a neighbor of the organizer. We talked about how she was a refugee who immigrated from Croatia to the United States due to the war 30 years ago, and talked about her situation at that time and the difficulties when she first came to the United States. Talk about being grateful and content. Later, my friend told me that there are many Jews living in this area, and many of them are immigrants. I guess there are not many Asian faces here, and then at the party, an aunt stared at me for a long time, and asked me suddenly without saying hello: "Are you Filipino?" This was also a bit too abrupt. This unexpected party was a lot of fun.

I went to a Central Asian restaurant on Sunday and learned that this restaurant mainly serves Kyrgyz food, but it is similar to the food in many surrounding Central Asian countries. Because it is Mother's Day, there are several big tables in the store where the whole family comes to eat. My friends and I ate manty beef and onion buns, vareniki fried or steamed mashed potatoes and onion dumplings, similar to perogi, lamb plov mutton rice, similar to Xinjiang's hand pilaf.

birria consomé
chicken & dumplings
valeniki
manty
lamb plov

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