There is only one small shoe store in Athens, and it doesn’t carry sports shoes-to get sports gear and shoes, you must order online or drive over forty minutes to the closest store-this is one of the 4,724 reasons I want to escape this town.

Back from Chicago, Adrian asks me, via text, to call her as soon as I get unpacked. When I call, she excitedly shares how my seven friends in Athens watched Hamilton’s Cubs debut.

“Two part-time employees volunteered to run the ...