A Taste of Chicago
...now stands. Years later, a significant turning point in the history of Chicago would change lives forever, introducing tragedy and leaving 300 Chicagoans dead, 90,000 homeless, and a $200 million property loss. This incident began early one morning in 1871 in a barn owned by an elderly woman. Deciding to milk her cow before tending to the rest of the day’s rigorous activities, the woman lit a lantern and proceeded to the cow stables. After setting down her lantern carefully behind the cow, she reached over to grasp the steel bucket on a nearby haystack. Suddenly, the cow stepped back, knocked over the lantern, and flames quickly reached out to touch another large haystack nearby. Soon, the blaze broke out into a scorching fire that stretched throughout the woman’s barn, rapidly spreading toward other houses and buildings and eventually destroying a great portion of the city. The account of the Great Chicago Fire remains one of the most recognized stories in America. Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History presents a large exhibit to watch the details of the historical tragedy. The museum also presents numerous displays pertaining to different ethnicities and cultures that explain specific ways of life and traditions. Ranking in today as the third largest city in the nation, “The Windy City” holds a large population consisting of almost three million people of every race. A multi-colored sea of a thousand children scream frantically as the elementary school bell rings and the stairwell rumbles with laughter and joy. Everyday the eager youths burst through the steel doors to greet the afternoon sun, while they continued to wildly chatter amongst themselves. Many of them make their way over to Jorge, an elderly Spanish man who sells slush drinks on the side of the school from his tiny, red vendor cart. Jorge, who spoke not a word of English, grinned from ear to ear as kids of every color crowded around him, shouting out their favorite flavor and waving shiny, silver quarters in the air. And everyday Jorge quieted them down before asking them to notice the different shades of small hands swaying in the air and spoke his familiar saying, “Que bonito son ustedes differencias,” which translates to “How beautiful are all of your differences!” Culture and diversity define Chicago, the host of about 18 million visitors a year. The Ukrainian Village, China Town and the Puerto Rican community demonstrate just a few of the 77 neighborhood areas flourishing today...