A day out and about

I woke up early this morning and read a book for a while. I didn't actually get up until almost 11a.m. I finished a paper and was just deciding what I was going to do with my afternoon when my roommate, Amanda, asked if wanted to go to the zoo with her today. I decided that I would. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo (free). It was so much fun to see all the animals and the weather wasn't too bad, either. We walked around the zoo for a while and then decided to do some shopping downtown. I was looking for a spring dress, but didn't find anything I liked enough to buy today. I did buy two pairs of flip-flops from Old Navy, though. After shopping, Amanda and I went to Chinatown for dinner. We also had to stop and buy a box of Koala Yummies (Yes, Bruce, the box I bought is for you) and some chocolate fortune cookies. We got back just a little bit ago. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon! It was also really fun to hang out with Amanda since we don't get to spend a lot of time together. We are now sitting in the dark in honor of Earth Hour. Many of the buildings downtown are turning off their lights for one hour tonight to save energy.

Tomorrow I plan to go to church. I am going to do some homework in the afternoon and then make salt clay for my tutoring session on Monday. I am meeting with my teach-in group on Monday evening...luckily the project isn't as large as we originally thought. It is supposed to more of a discussion than a presentation, which takes a lot of pressure off of us.

The week is over...finally

This week was THE most difficult week that I've had since I've been in Chicago. I know that I'm getting something out of this experience because I am learning a lot about myself.

There were a whole lot of tears this week. I was frustrated with my group project, angry at public transportation, and just really sad...sadder than I have ever been in my whole life. At one point this week I actually thought about packing up my things and going home. I was also having a difficult time communicating with Bruce this week, which made everything worse.

Today was good. Class was interesting. We had a seminar on restorative justice, which is a really interesting topic and something I could really put to good use in my own life. I went back to my apartment after class and just relaxed. It was wonderful to have some "me" time today. I am feeling much better about life in general and I am excited to move forward from this setback.

P.S. Bruce and I talked everything out tonight...no need to worry. :)

Home Sweet Home

I spent a wonderful weekend at home with my family and Bruce and his family. I left on Thursday afternoon and came back to Chicago Sunday evening. I really enjoyed being home and it was great to see Bruce.

It was really difficult to come back. I don't really want to be here anymore. I would give anything to be in Ripon right now. I miss my family and I miss my friends in Ripon. I miss walking to class and to the Commons. I miss structured class and adequate time to complete projects and assignments. I miss movie nights and watching silly TV shows. I miss being involved on campus.

I am trying to get back into my routine here, but I am just counting down the days until I can go home...home to my family and home to my friends in Ripon. I don't know as if I will ever think of this place as "home." It is simply a place that I am living for a semester. I hope that I will be able to appreciate the city before I leave. I'm going to try to make the best of my last few weeks in Chicago.

Happy Day!

I had a great day today!! I went to my internship and felt pretty unproductive until I ran the first meeting of the planning committee. The meeting went so well! Only four tutors came, but five others are interested in being on the committee but had other commitments tonight. I even got complimented on how well I ran the meeting by another lady who was in her office working and overheard the meeting. I feel really good about that.

There was a really cute little boy (about 4 years old) on the train tonight. He saw the Dunkin' Donuts box that I was carrying (I brought home the leftovers from the meeting) and kept pointing and saying "donut." I asked his mom if he could have one and she said yes, so I gave him a donut. He was so happy. He was smiling and waving to a man that was sitting across the isle and two women sitting behind the man. They were all smiling and waving back. It is so interesting to see how happy people are when there is a cute child near. Usually people are very quiet and pensive, even angry when they are on public transportation.

I am going to my internship tomorrow and then going home on Friday morning. I am so fortunate that I am able to spend Easter with my family! I also get to see Bruce this weekend. :)

The weather matches my mood...

The concert on Sunday was absolutely AMAZING!! I really enjoyed listening to these powerful women with beautiful voices. I spent the entire day at my internship Monday. I have been working a lot on my ISP lately. I really enjoy having a project that is mine. I am a little frustrated with the lack of direction I am getting from my preceptor on this project. She always asks us (all 9 of us) after precept if we have time to talk about our projects with her. I always ask a question and then 5 other people ask her a question so I never get honest feedback from her. I sent my proposal in a week before it was due and still haven't gotten any feedback! I would really like her to set up individual appointments with us, so we can actually have a conversation about our projects. I have decided that I am going to do my project as I wrote it in my proposal and not worry about it.

It has been really cloudy and rainy today- not very nice at all. I am feeling better than yesterday, though. It's so interesting how my feelings change about being here. Some days I can't imagine leaving and others I'm planning the day I leave. I just can't figure out what I want. I am going home to celebrate Easter with my family this weekend. I feel very fortunate that I have that opportunity. I am hoping that after a weekend at home I will be able to really appreciate the city.

St. Patrick's Day in Chicago!

Heidi and I got up early this morning to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Chicago...and I am glad that we did. We went downtown with Dana and Amanda and got a spot by the river so that we could see it dyed green. We waited for a long time...apparently it takes a long time for the dye to travel down the river. We finally ended up walked toward Michigan Ave a little further and saw the neon green water! We rushed to the parade route and because we waited so long to see the river dyed, we did not get a very good spot to see the parade. We ended up leaving early because we couldn't see and we were very cold. There were so many people downtown and so much excitement. I'm so glad that we got to experience this holiday in Chicago.

We got back to our apartment. I worked on some homework this afternoon and then Heidi and I made chicken parmesan for dinner. (Yes, I am learning how to cook.) After dinner we decided to watch a movie together. It's nice to have a quiet night in the apartment.

Tomorrow, my seminar is going to Orchestra Hall to see "Sweet Honey in the Rock," an all female acappella group. I am really excited about this concert.

Cat on the bus?!?!

I went to my internship today since we don't have precept on Thursday mornings anymore. I got on the bus and a couple of stops later a woman got on the bus with a cat in a pet carrier! I didn't know that you could bring animals on the bus, but what would you do if you had to take your pet to the vet and didn't have a car?? Take it on the bus, I guess. I got on the red line this morning. I found a post office box to drop off my Netflix movie on my way to my internship. I was very excited about that. I worked on a few different projects this morning, one being my ISP. I collected all the tutor surveys and e-mailed the people interested in the planning committee about having the first meeting soon. I am really excited to get this committee going! This is what I do best...plan. We had a staff meeting today. We began the meeting with meditation...nothing at all like any other meeting I've ever been to. We then had introductions for the new staff members (including myself). After the usual business, we celebrated two birthdays in a very unique way. Every staff member had to say a wish they had for the person with the birthday. After everyone had gone, the person with the birthday had to say a with for himself. After this meeting, I finally really feel like part of the staff at Family Matters.

I took the red line back to the office for seminar at 4:30. There was a man on the train who kept talking about how "if we vote for Obama, he will just turn his back on us (African Americans)." He kept talking and talking and talking and really made my head hurt. I was thankful when he finally got off the train. I stopped at Starbucks on my way to class...I rarely do this, so I consider it a treat to myself for almost completing a very difficult week. We had our identity project presentations. We presented briefly on our identity and our budgets and then had time for questions and feedback. I did fairly well. I only forgot a couple of things...which I probably would have never thought about. For example, I didn't realize that the school that "my children" are attending is pretty rough. Dorothy suggested that my 15 year old should definetely have a cell phone. I also didn't budget enough money for field trip expenses. I have the opportunity to revise my project before I hand it in. I am really glad that I took this project seriously. There was only one person in my class who did not take the project seriously. She actually said in her presentation that the project was "stupid." I hope her grade reflects her lack of effort and respect.

I came home tonight and had pizza with Amanda. I then wrote my field notes, which were really easy since I took notes during the staff meeting today. I am going out to dinner with Perfecto and his girlfriend tomorrow night. I am really excited about that. One more happy thing today (besides the beautiful weather)...I received a card in the mail from Sam's mom! That really brightened up my day.

So much to do

I had a difficult day today. I took Bruce to his train this morning. It was hard to say goodbye to him, even though I'll see him in about a week for Easter. Everything is so much better when he's around.

I went to my internship today. I had a few projects to do and got trained for reading tutoring. This afternoon I started as a tutor for the T-GRO (third grade tutoring) program. I am tutoring Enrique. He is so cute! Enrique has a lot of energy, but really tries to get his homework done. After his homework was (finally) finished, we tried to do origami. I'm not very good at that, but he does pretty well.

I was feeling very overwhelmed today. I kept thinking about all the work I have to do and how much time I don't have. I did my laundry tonight and had some time to just relax. The only project I'm really nervous about is our teach-in discusion. My group really hasn't met to talk about this project and our presentation is April 4. We'll probably talk about this on Friday. I started my internship paper tonight. I'm sure everything will be fine.

We are having some people over on Friday night, I think. Heidi and I are going to the St. Patrick's Day parade (northside) on Saturday. It should be fun. I am going to a concert on Sunday for seminar. We are seeing "Sweet Honey in the Rock." I checked out their website and it should be a good concert. This is an all female a cappella group. I love a cappella! I will tell you more about that later.

I hope that all of you from Ripon are enjoying spring break!!

Love is in the air

I have had a wonderful weekend (and first half of the week)! I went to a ballet with my supervisor on Friday night. It was a medley of different ballets and was wonderful! The theater was beautiful and we had amazing seats- orchestra level. Bruce arrived on Saturday morning. I was so excited to see him get off the train! We went to Chinatown for dinner Saturday night. Bruce was really happy when we found Koala Yummies in one of the small shops. We met up with Jeff, Bruce's best friend, on Sunday. We then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon downtown. It was a good thing we did because we ended up meeting up with a few friends from Ripon. After having a smoothie at Cosi, we all went to Millenium Park. Bruce and I decided to head back to my apartment. I went to my internship for a couple of hours on Monday and then Bruce and I went to Big Tony's for lunch. We had an amazing pizza, right in Logan Square! I took a mental health day today. Bruce and I did some homework here and watched TV. Our friend Perfecto came over and took us to his favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in Humboldt Park. We had jibaritos, which are tasty sandwiches made with fried plantanes for the bread, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and meat (I had chicken and the boys had steak). I'm really glad Perfecto showed me this restaurant; I never would have found it on my own!

It has been really great to have Bruce here. I really enjoyed showing him my neighborhood and some of the other places that I enjoy in the city and just spending time with him. He was really excited to see "real Chicago," not just the museums. I will miss him when he goes home tomorrow. I love him very much. I'm so glad that he got to visit me.

Reflections

I would just like to take a little time to reflect on my experiences in Chicago so far. I have really learned a lot about myself and maybe I have even changed (a little). The past couple of days have really made me think about some things.

Plans change with the wind around here. I am a very scheduled person and I don't like when plans change at the last minute. It has been difficult for me to "go with the flow," but I think I'm learning to accept change...in many ways. Being flexible is a good quality to have and I think I'm finally learning how to do that. I have had many new experiences so far and I have had to think about many difficult issues. This program is teaching me not only about Chicago, but also about myself and what I truly believe.

Some days I really wonder why I chose this program, but at the end of the day I'm really glad I'm here. I have made so many wonderful friends and I've done some really interesting things. This semester is going by quickly and I'm going to do my best to truly "go with the flow" and enjoy everything this amazing city has to offer.

Springtime in the city...for today at least

It is a beautiful day in the city today. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I discovered the purple line express for my commute to work today.

I went away for the weekend and discovered that I missed Chicago. I had a very nice weekend, but I was glad to see my roommates and get back to my routine. This week has been very busy so far. I went to my internship on Monday. I went to Eviction Court yesterday morning. That was very interesting. We heard a lot of cases. Yesterday afternoon my precept worked on our asset mapping project, which we will present tomorrow. We created a beautiful map of Logan Square. I worked on some of my projects that are due next week last night because I would like to have them almost done before Bruce visits (only 3 more days!!).

I am going to see a ballet on Friday night with my internship supervisor. I am very excited about that. I am currently at my internship. I might have to work until 8:30 tonight, which wouldn't be great because I have to do laundry at some point tonight, but I'll survive.

I had better get to work. I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!