When you are asked what you miss from home, you always think first about friends and family. But then there are many other things, some more obvious than others, some even silly, that you also miss. These are the 5 things I missed the most from Chicago while I was away. What do you miss when you are away from the US?
The food
After all, where else, other than in a big American city, and maybe in London, can you find an Indian restaurant, a Japanese sushi place, a Mexican restaurant, an Italian Trattoria, a pizza joint and a couple of pubs, all in the same block? Where else can you have lunch at McDonalds and dinner at Next?
The skyline
It doesn't matter where you are coming from, or how. Whether you are driving from Indiana, or landing on a plane, the Chicago skyline will never be short of stunning. Every single time I return, and it has been fourteen years of doing so, it catches my breath.
The insinkerator
The first time I used a garbage disposal system was 5 years into my American adventure. I was staying at a friend's house in Michigan when she showed me this devilish device. I was petrified, and scared to use it. How could I not chop my fingers in it? Now that I have my own house, the days of me being terrified by an Insinkerator are long gone. I had never seen one in Spain, as they are uncommon there. And apparently, so they are in the rest of Europe. Comes into mind an episode of House Hunters International where a garbage disposal system was at the top of the list of the lady's request, to no avail. She was obsessed. I haven't gotten there (yet), but I have to admit that some kitchen gods must like my mom very much, as they saved her sink and plumbing from my now americanized hands. For seven straight weeks I would forget that hers was only a poor old regular drain, and I would try to stick food scrapes through it. With no success. Every single day.
Long store hours
Used to the US, I always have a cultural shock when I return to Spain, and I try to go to buy something on Sunday. It turns out that stores are closed there on Sundays, and most of them on Saturday afternoon too. That means that you have to plan your shopping ahead of time. Also, most stores close for lunch, from 1:30 to 4:30. And, as a side note, so you don't look as dumb as I do the first time I go to the supermarket every single time I am there, they don't bag your groceries. You have to do it yourself. There I was standing, waiting for someone to do something. It took me a few minutes to realize that that someone was me.
Air conditioning
Here in Chicago, AC is pretty much a given, a necessity to survive hot, muggy summers. But in the north of Spain, where I spent my summer, no one has AC, as it had never been necessary. Until now. This summer was the warmest summer in 40 years, and there we were, bracing it with... our little cute Spanish fans.
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