Chicago Pizza for a Chicago Cohort

The institution itself

Tonight was the night that the UChicago cohort finally met our chaperone, John Hillyer. We were to meet at Zachary's pizza, a quite well known deep-dish pizza place that I happen to never have gone to before. Partly because I'm not a huge fan of deep-dish, partly because my family doesn't eat out that often.

I arrived at 6 and walked into a very crowded restaurant smelling of delicious pizza sauce. I spotted Kayla and John against the wall, in line for a table. Isaac and Jahnvi, an ILCer who went to Chicago last year, joined us soon after. After we succeed in squeezing five of us in a table for four, we then saw Shreejal walk through the door, and had to fit in the extra chair. After ordering drinks, we set about the task of deciding on pizza because, little did I know, it takes forty minutes to cook the deep dish! After finding the vegetarians in the group, we ordered to nearly opposite pizzas: the Super Veggie and the Barbecue Chicken.

With the pizzas ordered, we briefly introduced ourselves and started talking about the trip. John and Jahnvi did most of the talking as John has had tons of experience with the ILC, and Jahnvi was part of last year's Chicago cohort. We learned a lot about the travel both to and from Chicago, and while on the trip, as well as what to expect from the dorms and cafeteria. I'm really glad Jahnvi could make it because it was great to hear firsthand stories about her trip.

Once all the serious discussion was about wrapped up, our pizzas arrived we got to experience a teaser of Chicagoan culture.

A food picture for the sole purpose of making Don jealous
(Veggie in front, BBQ chicken in back)

As we ate John shared fun and interesting facts about Chicago's history and some sites that we can check out. On the whole, this evening has only made me much more excited about my trip this summer, and I am really looking forward to spending more time with my cohort and our amazing chaperone!

Our waitress could have used some photography tips from Don!