Schaumburg in the summer... eh.

Summer so far has been... either awesome or boring, depending on where I am or what I am doing. I unpacked my stuff (boring), sat around and did nothing (boring), but then headed back to Hyde Park for a midnight dip in the lake (awesome). Etc. Basically Schaumburg is kind of lame, but visiting people in Hyde Park is fun.

I've been trying to practice my Spanish on a website I can access through the Peace Corps--they have little lesson plans based on random bits of news, complete with a video, Spanish transcript, English translation, vocab list and even a quiz. The biggest problem, though, is the fact that it's the news--they talk so quickly that what reads as 10 words in the transcript sounds like 2 syllables on the video! I am also not very motivated...

Last weekend Katherine and I flew to New York and spent the weekend with Katie and Janay on Fire Island, lying on the beach, floating (well, I can't float) in the ocean, kayaking, and drinking margaritas--now that is the kind of weekend I can find motivation to do! The weather was perfect and everything was beautiful, with the tiny exception of the jellyfish (aka ocean cockroaches!), but eh. Just another excuse to nap under an umbrella! I'm also excited to go back to New York in August to spend some time in the city itself.

At home I've been doing a lot of reading. I finally read The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson), which was actually really good. It's been a couple weeks since I finished it and I already don't remember very much about the architects, but the serial killer stuck with me--very creepy!

The Impostor and The Quarry by Damon Galgut were both quite good, especially the former. Think existential (but surprisingly not in a particularly bad way) takes on rural South Africa after apartheid.

I also read Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez, which was way too long. The ending was kind of adorable, but I'm not sure it was worth it, honestly. I'm not sure if it should be called a love story, or the exception to the rule that continuing to creepily stalk for decades the girl who rejected doesn't end well.

Sadly none of these were the trashy mystery novels that Summer Stephanie really wants to read. Both times I've been back to the dear old Schaumburg library to check out half a dozen books at a time, I've ended up returning mysteries that I anticipated loving but couldn't bring myself to even finish. I will have to try again.

While doing all this reading, the one thing I think I miss most about being at school is the proximity of so many coffee shops. I think I'd feel less like a bum if I at least walked somewhere for a coffee to go with my book, but sadly walking is frowned upon out here in the suburbs, as is cheap coffee. There is a Caribou Coffee that I could probably walk to, but I'm not sure that can ever replace the Div School. Will I never again get a large tea or a can of Diet Dr. Pepper for only $0.75? Sad.