06.12.09

Obama’s House

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:34 pm by Benjamin Ross

Two weekends ago, my old friend Jiang Yueting from Fuqing came to visit me in Chicago.  I first met Yueting in 2004 in Fuqing’s only McDonalds.  I didn’t speak much Chinese at the time, and seeing as I was having trouble ordering a Spicy Chicken Combo (I had been subsisting entirely on Chinese university cafeteria food until that point), Yueting promptly offered his assistance and helped me order.  Afterwords, we exchanged phone numbers, and he went on to become my first non-colleague friend in China.

Thesedays, Yueting  is finishing up his law degree at Temple University in Philadelphia (you can visit his Chinese blog about the US here), and two weekends ago, he and his friend Michelle came to visit me in Chicago.  Along with our itinerary which included stops downtown, and through many of Chicago’s diverse ethnic neighborhoods, we decided to check out the residence of Chicago’s current most famous resident, Barack Obama.

Obama’s residence is in Kenwood, one of the more upscale neighborhoods on the South Side.  Before I went to see it, I had 2 major misconceptions about the president’s humble abode.  1) that it would indeed be humble and 2) that I would actually be able to see it from any close vantage point.

Instead, this is the first thing one sees when they visit the Obama residence at 5046 S. Greenwood. Traffic (pedestrian and automobile) is blocked off to anybody who does not live on the street, or who has been given specific permission (i.e. workmen, Chinese take out delivery drivers, etc.)

This was about as close to the Obama residence as we could get.  It’s difficult to see from this shot, but let’s just say it’s one of the larger single family units I have ever seen in the city.

Here’s a view from the other side.

Ironically, the oldest synagogue in Chicago is right across from the president’s residence. I tried telling the police officers that we had come for Shabbat afternoon services, but seeing as I was with 2 Asians, and all of us were carrying cameras, I wasn’t surprised they laughed off my request.  According to the cop, all congregants of the synagogue are required to present a special pass to get through the road block.

Along with our old Fuzhou buddy Jon Zalman, we snooped around the scene and chatted with the Chicago police officer on guard for about five minutes before he politely told us we had to leave.  According to the officer, the vicinity was loaded with plain clothes officers and CIA agents, and that when the master of the house returns to Chicago, the blockade is extended out nearly through the entire neighborhood.  I couldn’t help but wonder how much of an inconvenience it has to be living in the same neighborhood as the President of the United States.  I asked another police officer if the security regulations would be in place for the next 4 years, and he immediately quipped back, “You mean the next 8 years.”

Well after our little jaunt, I must say the president does have good taste in housing and neighborhoods.  Kenwood is certainly one of the more aesthetically pleasing upscale urban neighborhoods I have visited in Chicago.   It’s also nice to know our president has chosen to live within the city as opposed to the suburban sprawl where most affluent Americans reside thesedays.

In a completely unrelated note, Obama’s neighbors in Kenwood include Muhammad Ali as well as Louis Farrakhan whose house we accidentally discovered. In fornt reads a large plaque “Residence of Muhammad, Messenger of Allah.”  In addition to the Obama house and the Farrakhan house, we also stumbled upon the Chabad House in Hyde Park about a half mile south of Kenwood, where we randomly encountered a native Chinese speaking Jew (mom was from NY, dad was from Beijing).  Yes, Chicago is quite the mecca of diversity.  Just ask our half-Kenyan half-Kansan Indonesian-speaking president.

Permalink