Popping the Bubble

Today in class, when analyzing "Division Street," by Studs Terkel, we discussed the difference between the city and the suburbs and how the residents of the two areas view each other.  This really interested me, because I have lived a good thirty minute drive from the beautiful city of Chicago (on a good day of traffic, that is) for my entire life, and there is so much of the city that I have yet to set foot in.  Me, as the classic suburbanite, have only explored the common destination spots like, Michigan Ave., Navy Pier, and the Water Tower Place.  In all honestly, the only reason I usually venture down to the city is to shop, go out to lunch, go to the beach, or for big events like "Lollapalooza."

However, there have been a few eye opening experiences for me, and one occurred just this past weekend.  Last Sunday, my family and I crammed in the car and drove past the familiar areas- Millenium Park, Michigan Ave., Lake Street- and ended up in a new territory for me, Chicago's Chinatown.  I was very surprised at how different this new area was than anything I am used to.  The streets were crowded and little shops boasted the latest and greatest items with big neons signs written in a very unfamiliar language, and there was not a tree in sight.  Even in the sea of cement and parking garages, we still drove around for twenty minutes searching for a parking spot, and ended up creating our own.  I looked around and noticed that there were piles of trash spewed aimlessly around, and after buying a frozen drink and carrying the empty cup around for an hour, I understood why.  I am used to having a trash can accessible at every street corner, all over the North side of the city, but there wasn't a can to be found.

The experience made me think about how little of the city I really knew, and how enclosed I can be sometimes in the "North Shore Bubble" that I don't have a clue about my surroundings only twenty miles away.

In this photo, the large bright signs that line the streets are filled with a foreign language that many of us can't even begin to understand, and the architecture of the buildings are in a style very unlike what I might see in Winnetka, or even down Michigan Ave.  All of these things about the culture that I don't seem to understand make the place feel very different and foreign to me, but the Willis Tower and the faded black buildings towering over it all stand like shadows in the background.  These menacing shadows that I am so familiar with remind me that this "foreign" place is actually located right under my nose.

Rain Rain Go Away

We thought we had it bad today? Our rain is nothing compared to the severe flash flood warnings in Boulder, CO today.  Rains have been building up flood water in boulder for the past few days and now these conditions have severely damaged entire towns, leaving at least six people dead and hundreds still unaccounted for.  This devastating natural disaster could have caused even more absurd amounts of damage, had it not been for amazing rescue teams who arrived from all across the state and country.  They have been working for 24 hours straight and in this span of time more than 1,200 have been rescued.  There are still search crews working day and night for those many victims who are still unaccounted for.  Learn more here. 

Just imagine the elderly and disabled who would not be able to escape the deadly flood water.  This image above is incredible, and it demonstrates the hard work of the entire task force.  The man seems to be plucked right out of a shivering cold as he is wrapped entirely in a blanket is carried to safety.  The ratio of support is 5-1 just for this one elderly man, so we can reasonably infer that there are plenty of rescuers hard at work searching for those in peril right now.  

These natural disasters are a terrible thing, but they test our ability to support each other as a country in times of need.

A Recurring Cycle

I was just sitting watching the US open with my mom and there was a news break interrupting the event with an update on the Syria conflict.  Russia, as an ally of Syria, has offered to intervene and is negotiating a way for the Russians to safely remove any chemical threats from the destructive hands of Syria.  In press conferences today Obama has remarked on the issue that, "It's possible if it's real." This could provide a silver lining to the American troops, allowing them to stay home with their families for a while longer.  You can find more details here.

The thing that came to my mind is that this conflict seems to be a flashback to a mere thirty years ago when it was us in this situation with Russia.  Nothing seems to have changed.  Just last year I was learning about The Cold War in history class and viewing it as a thing of the past, something I would only experience in textbooks.  But those same allies that I learned about in the textbooks are the same ones I see in this current conflict.  Our nation versus the nation of Syria, allied with our old rivals Russia and Iran, all on the verge of destruction.  We are even fighting with the same tactics as in the past as we are using a form of MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) when they threaten to attack with chemical weapons and we counter with the threat of a military invasion.  I have heard that history repeats itself, this is just the first time, and surely not the last time, that I am truly understanding and experiencing it first hand.

Do you believe the Syria conflict will end up resembling the cold war? What are other examples when history has repeated itself?  Feel free to leave a comment!