Endless Paradigm

so, i was talking to grey ghost, and i realized: people on ep are from all over the world. when i talk about what im doing, (with the exception of schmilk) you probably have no clue what and where im talking about. I know i would like to see pictures of different places around the world, and i think you might too. so, now, over the next 24 hours, im going to be taking pictures of my city, Chicago, and trying to show it the way i see it. So far, its really early here, and i havent gone anywhere, but heres pictures of the red line. The red line is a train in the CTA (chicago transit authority) the CTA trains are often collectively referred to as the "el" (short for elevated) train. This is because most of them are raised about 10 feet above the street level (pics later). The red and blue lines are unique, however, in the fact that they actually go underground at parts. In the morning, i take the red line, to get to my school. Here are the first set of pictures:

this is how it looks if you look down the tunnel of the red line. theres no train there now...

here is the red line. it was driving past at the time, sorry its blurry

this is where the red line comes out from under the ground. its only underground for the extent of downtown, once it leaves the immediate downtown area, it comes up to street level.

this is the reason why most people use the CTA. pretty difficult till youve sat for 3 hours trying go move 10 miles...

this is the MTCC (McCormick Tribute Campus Center). its the main building on campus. the tube on top of the building is for the Green Line. (see, they are elevated)

Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the united states. for some reason, minorities all seem to choose certain areas to settle in. Chinatown is one stop north from my campus, and that's where i went for lunch today.

on the left is my drink, some kind of blueberry tea drink with tapioca in the bottom. delicious on the right, in the bowl is a bowl of shark fin soup. it came free with my lunch.

and theres my meal. fish with curry sauce and rice. delicious

Downtown Chicago consists of several parts. the loop, and everywhere else. the loop is called the loop because all of the cta trains make a big loop in the central downtown area. anywhere outside the loop is called by the area. for example, theres north downtown, which is the north side of downtown, and theres south downtown which is the south side of downtown (obviously). The loop is the central part of Downtown Chicago, and determines what side of the city you are on. The north side is everything north of the loop, and the south side is everything south of the loop. These two parts are like completely different countries. the main reason for this is education. The north side has more money, and can afford better schooling, therefore, it is nicer. The south side is less wealthy, and has poor schooling, a lot of violence and gang affiliation. There are two baseball teams in Chicago, the Cubs and the Sox. the northsiders are extremely loyal to the cubs, and the south are the same to the Sox.  (Im a southsider, so im a sox fan )

read the title...

remember i said that the CTA trains were elevated? well here's what it looks like walking under one. theyre elevated so they don't disturb the flow of traffic, and that's why many people use them, they are always on time, regardless of traffic conditions

not much to say for this one...
its the chicago river. part of the reason that chicago became one of the largest cities in the USA was because the chicago river connects to the Mississippi river, which allows for frieght transport from the north atlantic to the carribbean sea.