Today the au pairs and I ventured to the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen for our monthly au pair meeting. We walked through the galleries of the National Museum of Mexican Art. We were intrigued by the Day of the Dead exhibit, with the bright colors and personal memorials, and vivid, colorful skeletons.
After the museum we walked to La Cebollita, a mexican restaurant. There is nothing like a hot burrito and overloaded nachos to warm you up on a chilly day.
Merle, Annika, and Kallaya after lunch
For anyone reading this who isn’t an au pair, you might find this interesting…..One of the things we talked about is what the au pairs have enjoyed about their time in the US so far. One popular answer? Shopping! Some of the women mentioned that they like that they can find just about anything they want here. For example, one woman said that if she is searching for a particular kind of shoe, she can find it in one shopping trip here, while at home it might take her weeks to find the shoe she wants. (I think I need to take this au pair shopping with me, because I never seem to find the right shoe no matter how many choices I have)! Another au pair said that she likes that she can return things she buys here. In her country the stores don’t offer a return policy. If you buy it, you have to keep it, even if it doesn’t work out. Wow - my relationship with Target would really suffer if that were the case here. The au pairs also recommended two restaurants I had never heard of and told me where the best view of the Chicago skyline is (the women’s bathroom in the Hancock building). These women have certainly learned how to navigate this huge city in a short amount of time…and I am reaping the benefit of their discoveries. Thanks, ladies!
While we were talking at the restaurant we decided what to do for our next meeting - visit the Art Institute. The Art Institute costs $18 for adults and a little less for students. So, au pairs, to make it more affordable…ask your host families if they have a memebership that you can use, get a library card and try to check out an Art Institute pass from the library that week, and keep your student ID card handy if you have one. I’m looking forward to it. See you December 5th! (More details to come).
