So I haven't updated in a lot longer than I meant to... oops. That's because I've been in Chicago (yay!) but staying at Rob's parent's swanky condo (or flat, to the ordinary folks) in "downtown" Chicago, which doesn't have internet access.

Getting over here was a lot easier than I expected. Since I now have a Russian visa in my passport, I was expecting a lot of hassle from the border people (or "Department of Homeland Security", as they're rather pompously known). However, it was really easy - the guy didn't seem to want to talk, so I got through with no problems. Yay me.

So I've spent a few days in sunny Chicago. It's been ridiculously hot, with lots and lots of humidity. Is it really a normal thing to have temperatures of 77 degrees Farenheit (dunno what that is Celsius, I'm not good at converting) at 7 am? Cos I don't like it and think it should be banned. At least when the humidity is 80% (uuurgh sticky!)

But apart from the stickiness, I like Chicago. I spent most of my time there sunbathing in Millennium Park (www.millenniumpark.org), where I got horrifically sunburnt. And then spent a lot of time hiding from the sun in the shade and listening to the orchestra practising for one of their shows (hehehe free live classical music! Very classy).

Now I'm in a hotel in Duluth, Minnesota on the way up to Canada. We could probably have been chilling out at the Lake of the Woods by now, except that Rob cleverly left his passport in Chicago... we only realised when we were about 5 hours away from Chicago, having driven till 2.30am and slept for a few hours before getting back on the road. This was not fun! After a few frantic phone calls, Rob's mum agrees to drive up and meet us halfway with the passport and all-important Green Card... because Mums are amazing. So we met, 2 1/2 hours later, in a place called Madison which didn't seem to be very exciting except that we had lunch. Then it was back on the road, and by 5.30 pm we managed to pass the place where we had turned around seven hours earlier... and people call me dopey at times! Hah!

We've just been out for possibly the best Thai food ever, so now I'm very very full and ready for bed. Ooooh and the exciting thing was that Rob had his ID checked, but I'd left mine in the car (because it was my turn to forget something) and the waiter guy wasn't bothered! This is a rare thing and I was quite impressed.

Well it was exciting for me anyway. I might be 21, but I don't seem to look it. I can deal with that.

This is a long long post eh?

Just a couple more things, and then I'll go to bed. One is Harry Potter - if you haven't read it, do so RIGHT NOW! And if you have, can I just say "Oh my God!" quite a lot? I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, from fear of severe pain and/or death, but seriously - why?

And the other is that I'm going to be out at camp (www.campstephens.com) next week, so no more from me. Ok, no real surprise there, but at least this time you know, right? This camp is where I worked in my gap year, and it has this amazing hold on people... they just keep going back! I love it. Hopefully (and don't tell anyone) I'll be there for the full 4 month period next year, as part of my year abroad... well, lots of the Canadians speak French, I can practice with them!

That's quite enough from me for now. Hope everyone is well etc etc etc, leave me comments!