1227 miles later (part 3)...

...I go from my hostel to the UIC Halstead subway station, get my metro card, and stand waiting for the train. I'm heading to Belmont, so I will need to change from the Blue Line to the Red Line. It's all pretty straight forward and I get to Belmont, google map in hand that I printed at Patsy's. First stop is a liquor store (not an off licence) and they studiously look at my ID (my driving licence). After quite a long wait, he looks at me. "Where's the date of birth?" I point it out and explain that our date of birth is the other way round to theirs (our 15/06/81 should read 06/15/81 over here). He let's me in. I pick up a six pack of PBR's for the amazing price of $4.99, and off I stroll to the house party. There's a sign on the door that says to go down the side to get in. In I walk. There are people in the kitchen, I feel pretty weirded out be the whole experience, I say hi to a few people and explain I'm from the couchsurf website. I speak to a guy called Justin, who I had messaged on the website already. I talk to another girl who says if I speak to enough people I'll find someone to put me up in Chicago. I meet the host of the party, who I had also already previously messaged. I talk to a few other random people. After about 45 minutes I get talking to this girl dressed as Charlie Chaplin, called Tara. I explain what I'm doing, travelling, kind of following the wind, how I was in Chicago for the next two nights but not really sure what after then. She's also couchsurfing, from Minneapolis, but her place fell through at the last minute and so she was hoping to stay at another party somewhere else in Chicago. She tells me I should come to Minneapolis. I say OK. And I meant it. She then says she has to leave to go to this other party at a place she couchsurfed at once before, did I want to go with. I hadn't really been at this party very long so felt it was a bit silly to leave, but something in my head was telling me to go. Why not I thought, jump from party to party, and anyway, Tara was cool. So off we went, meeting her friend Dennis along the way (he was from Pittsburgh, they were meeting in Chicago as a halfway point). Waiting at the Jackson subway station for another train some random guy complemented Tara on her shoes, and before we knew it, he had called over this other guy, and they were dancing together on the platform along to a jazz/blues playing busker. Onwards we went, via a full on brass band outside the next station, and eventually (after a very long walk) reached the destination of the party. It was $5 in, and was pretty much a warehouse space, with arty types who lived upstairs hosting this massive party. With everyone dressed up for Halloween it was pretty spectacular. The party was a party, there was drinking, and dancing, even some transvestites turned up, and in typical party fashion, I eventually got back to my hostel at about 4:30am. I creeped into bed so as to not wake anyone else up, and I then fell asleep, fully clothed. But I did have Dennis and Tara's phone numbers...