I would like to apologize for my lack of effort and reflection with my blog the past couple of weeks. I have been writing very minimally and taking pictures the very last minute. I think the reason for this is lack of time and feeling more of a priority with catching up from my trip. So now that I am aware of my neglect, I am going to start fixing it. I have really enjoyed tracking my life each day and I need to remember the original purpose. It is time to hone back in on those moments that make my day and not just a filler to say I took a picture each day. Here we go.
I felt pretty lazy today. I slept till 9:30 which is not like me at all. I've been sleeping later and I need to just snap out of it. The weather has turned for the better, so I knew I needed to get outside. I decided to head into the city and see what it had to offer. I thought about going to a festival in Edgewater, then I thought about going to Old Town. I did neither and ended up in Lincoln Park. I found a free parking spot (at least I think it was) and went walking. I circled some blocks after realizing I didn't pay attention to where I parked. Then I noticed that I was close to Lincoln Park Zoo and took advantage of some free entertainment. I have never been before and it was quite a treat.
The primates are my favorite, especially the gorillas. They are just so humanistic, or maybe we are more primatistic (made up my own word there). I think you can read so much into their emotions and I feel like I can relate. I have mixed feelings about zoos. They can do good and can help educate people, but it is sad to see these poor creatures in captivity. They probably have longer lives in this safe environment, but what kind of life would it be? But I go anyway.
I rode around the city a bit after lunch. Lollapalooza was going on so the city was buzzing. It is nice to have the city close by, but it sure isn't a Paris or Venice. I wonder which city in the US has the nicest people. I bet that it isn't Chicago. I will smile at someone if I make eye contact and I find that I rarely get smiled back at in the city. Chicago can be a scary place. I remember hearing on the news that Chicago is deadlier than Afghanistan. They said that the number of Chicagoans murdered is two and a half times the amount of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001. 
On our trip we discussed how violent crime is just unheard of in Europe. I wish that was the case here. I was reading a section on women traveling independently and it talks about how here we worry about assault whereas in Europe you most just have to worry about unwanted advances and theft. Not feeling safe is one of the scariest sensations because you have little control.
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