Chicago, Chicago

Chicago is this magic place that has buses and train systems. Yes, train systemS. There is the CTA for inner-city travel. There is also the Metra for city to suburb travel. Coming from Tennessee, it is sometimes hard to wrap my mind around a city that has all these options for public transportation. It's very cool.

I figured out the train systems easily enough. I've done subways in a few other cities, including Barcelona, where all the signs were in Catalan. The Metra has a book of schedules, but it is quite easy to navigate from South Chicago to the city. No problems there.

Today, I venture forth to figure out the CTA bus system. I have never figured out a bus system. And it IS for lack of trying. I've always driven or taken the train. But I'm going to be a bus person here in the Windy City, so I need to do this today. Valerie starts taking the train to Holy Cross tomorrow. I, Thursday. We're not entirely last minute.

I had somehow decided a good while back that with this plethora of public transportation, I would never ever have to drive in Chicago. I would take buses and trains and maybe my housemates would drive me around once in awhile, but never would I have to brave the big city traffic.

That lasted about a week and a half.

Sunday, I drove four blocks to go rent a movie (Bowling for Columbine- see it). Monday, I drove three and a half blocks to get some tortillas and tomatoes. Just now, I drove all the way to the north side of the city to drop Michael off at his orientation retreat. But on Friday, I will hopefully be able to use the bus to pick him up.

So far, the driving is not as bad as it is in Murfreesboro, which was designed not on a square grid like Chicago, but on a series of circles and triangles that seem to induce gridlock and insanity. I've had no problems driving those three times. We've almost been hit by a few cars while Phil was driving, so I know that there are people in Chicago who sometimes like to pretend they're driving in England and that everyone ELSE is on the wrong side of the road.

Another thing to consider about Chicago is the smog. I've witnessed very little of this phenomenon in person. But the first day we got here, as John drove us around the city, I had to notice that the sky was just not right. It was this icky yellow-grey color. And from afar, the buildings in the Loop were not a tangled mass of independent structures. It was a single lump of murky water colored city, separated from that awful sky by a skyline that was fuzzy at best.

In Tennessee, when the line on the horizon between city and sky is that hazy, it's because it is raining on the horizon. But once in the Loop, there was no rain. You look up and the sky is a hazy blue-ish, like it was painted there by a blind person who had long ago been told what sky looks like, and was only pretty sure of which colors were which. I decided that all of the pictures I had ever seen of the Chicago skyline had either been a) a hoax, or b) taken in 1962. John swore to me that the sky did look normal most times. But I wondered if I should try not to breathe.

I believe it has something to do with the heat. Phil swears it's not pollution, but moisture in the air. Whatever it is, it was a full week before the temperature dropped and the sky was clear. There were a few glorious days when things were cool and breezy and normal looking. But the heat has come back, and this morning, as I drove through the city, Michael and I both awed at the murkiness above.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I have also officially had Chicago-style stuffed pizza, and man is it good.

Whew!

That last entry (see below), is there. I thought I had erased it three days ago and would have to write it all over again. But I don't. It's still there. I'm happy.

The last few days we've been finishing up orientation by touring aroung the different Claretian facilities in the city. I am continually amazed by the number of things these people do. And more so when you hear things like "The Claretians only have about fifty priests." But then look how active they are. Look how many volunteers and salaried staff they have to do so much. They have publications on top of publications (US Catholic is probably the best known). They network with other non-profits in order to create a community of groups working towards similar interests. They develop low-income housing and offer legal help and have food pantries and youth groups and retirement homes and schools. The list goes on and on. And that's just in Chicago.

Today, I'm meeting with the first person who will try to sway me to work with a group.

You see, I'm in high demand, apparently. Holy Cross- Immaculate Heart of Mary is a double parish and the busiest parish I have ever seen. No seriously, more things happen there than at the Vatican. Okay, I made that up. But just working with the youth, which is my general idea of what to day, Sr. Angie has NARROWED the list DOWN to about a dozen groups I might work with. I'll meet with them and they'll tell me what they do and how much they really need a volunteer, and then we'll all decide which are the best fit.

Today, it's the altar servers, who are a long-neglected group. Fr. Steve had decided that after he was ordained, that would be his main group to work with, but then last friday, his orders came in to ship off to Guatamala. What the servers need is training and attention. A lot of the younger kids apparently just follow around the older kids and don't know what to do. And there are not many to begin with because the group does not get a lot of attention- no fun things, no junk feedings, no kid stuff. So will I take over?

I don't know yet. I'm pretty sure that some groups I will be working with are the writing and art groups, and Project HOPE, which is dedicated to preventing the spread of STDs, especially HIV. These are things that I am good at, and that follow my passions.

Oh yeah, Holy Cross-IHM is a very tight-nit community area. You can feel it when you're there. I've mentioned that. I don't think I've mentioned the high gang activity, though. Every child has a sibling or a cousin or a neighbor they love who is in a gang. So we don't discourage gang activity by saying "Those gang people are bad- stay away from them," because of course, they're not all bad. Sr. Angie was telling me how you'll meet them and not even realize it. Because they're kids, too. So we discourage gang activity by offering other outlets. Other things to do with their time. Promoting college education. Encouraging their passions. Like, say, writing and art.

And I think everyone can understand the need to educate people to help prevent the spread of STDs. It's really quite incredible how little some people know about STDs. Even simple things like, how you get them.

So yes, I may wind up somewhere else as well. But those are the main things I'm interested in right now, prior to having met anyone I might work with.

We'll see how it goes.

The Rest of the Gang

Sunday night we left for retreat at the LaSalle Manor Retreat House, which is owned by the Christian Brothers. It's a very nice place. Lakefront property. Log cabin. Pool. The pool was really important because the lake is actually a glamorized mud puddle. No, I'm exaggerating a bit. It did have wildlife in it and all of that. Plus, I learned how to canoe, which I probably wouldn't have had the guts to do had it been a flowing river or really huge lake. My point is that it was a great relaxing place.

We have four more additions to our total group. Emi is from the Philipines. He has studied engineering, anthropology, sociology, theology, and many more things. He would have like six degrees if he had only bothered to write the theses at the end of each period of schooling. I think his only degree is in engineering- but he is well schooled. He has had a goodly amount of volunteer time in his life. This is his third year with the Claretians. He's going to be working in Atlanta doing prison ministry.

Josh is also working in Atlanta. He works with youth groups and specialized tutoring. Like Maria, this is his second year with the Claretians. He's from... you know, I forgot the name of the place, but about an hour from Chicago. He and Maria are like brother and sister in the sense that they really care about each other, and they argue all the time. But not really in a bad or vicious way.

Fabian is from Iowa. His parents and a couple of siblings (he has ten siblings all told) (half-siblings included) came to church with us on Sunday. He comes from a farm, and seems to be our hook-up to fresh vegetables by the freezer-full. He's going to be in Chicago teaching social studies and religion to seventh and eighth graders at St. Paul parish. His girlfriend? fiancee? Mary Kay is also a teacher- I think kindegarten this year. Haven't met her yet, but she seems sweet to hear Fabian talk of her.

Daena is from Jersey. She's cute and girlie and not at all like the stereotype I have in my head of how people from Jersey should be. She has a degree in architecture and is going to be working at Claretian Assiociates, which is the low-income housing branch of Claretian services. She just graduated in May, which means she still hardly sleeps, having gotten used to spending three days straight in studio. (Brian, you know what I"m talking about).

Anyway, on Sunday, I got to meet with Sr. Angie, who is my mentor. She told me a bit about the programs I may wind up working with. She told me that this next week she is going to be on retreat, and then the next week she is going to be on vacation. So she made me up a schedule of meetings with everyone who runs anything that I might wind up working with. So even though I won't actually start my work until September, I am going to be a busy girl.

Also, it turns out we will be at the Pilsen house. But us married folk are going to stay in the S. Chicago house for now, until they can get some full-sized beds into our new living quarters. I feel a lot better now that the house in Pilsen is starting to get fixed up. When Michael and I first toured through it, the volunteers from last year were still moving out and the place was trashed. But it's clean, and the kitchen floor is being fixed... it's nicer now, at any rate. Plus, there is a "stoop" as we call it. Our front steps are a great place to sit and be near neighbors. The S. Chicago house is set back from the street and surrounded by a fence and a HeadStart playground. It's just nice to be able to be at home and near the community. But it's also nice to be able to sleep in the same bed as your husband...

Which, by the way, we could not do at the retreat house. We wound up in bunk beds. So thankfully, that was only for a couple of days.

Oh! Also, I have new homosexual friends. I hadn't realized it, but I've had homosexual friends for so long that I just don't feel right without them. I didn't realize it until we met one of the volunteers from last year who is staying in Chicago, and his partner. We got along right off and he's going to be coming around to play with us. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed he was gay. It was like, "okay, everything's going to be fine now."

Also, another great relief came during the retreat when John gave a talk about simple living. One of my secret fears was that simple living would translate into pressure to by everything at Walmart. But John noted that living simply was not the same as living cheaply. And sure, we could by stuff at Walmart for a little cheaper, or we could help our community by shopping at smaller stores with lesser buying power and higher prices. He talked about corporate sin and how we all need to take some responsibility for the things that the corporations that we buy from do.

Our whole house in now boycotting Phillip Morris. Altria. Excuse me. I keep forgetting to call it Altria. Same bad corporation. New, prettier name. But no Kraft, no Post, no Maxwell House, no Miller (not that we could really drink much anyway). They asked for a list of all the products they should strike from our shopping list. Michael and I have been boycotting these things for years, and we told them how hard it was. But when we explained our stance (after teasing us a bit), they adopted it as well. Well, I guess they do still tease us. "I'd give you a handshake, but you're probably boycotting them."

The rest of the house is asleep now, and we have an early morning. I"m only just now starting to get tired. So maybe I can make it to sleep now. It's been a great few days. The first challenges of community living still lay ahead. But we've got a really great group of people here, so I think we'll work it all out just fine.

the first few days

We arrived in Chicago the day before yesterday. Everyone had told us again and again that it was going to be sooooo cold in Chicago this winter, that it never occurred to me that the temp just might be in the 90s with high humidity when we arrived.

My first real impression of Chicago is that it seems like any other city. There's buildings, many run-down. There's smog. There's people. But you know, it just keeps going. I mean, really. This place just goes on and on. There is so much city.

Right now, we're living in the "little house", which is quite possibly the biggest house I've ever lived in, when you count in the basement, which I do. We're probably going to stay here, but may have to move to the "big house", which is like a maze. Michael and I and Phil and Valerie all want to stay here, though. I don't know if we actually have any choice or sway in the matter, but that's what we all want.

The big house is in Pilsen (sp?), which is what John had referred to as Little Italy. It more often goes by Back of the Yards. It used to have large Italian and German populations, but now it is mainly Mexican. Valerie and I are going to be working at Holy Cross there. It's a really awesom neighborhood. I say this from having driven through it. We made no stops. But there is this overwhelming sense of community there. Even through moving steel and glass you can feel how much that place is loved.

The little house is in, um, South Chicago. Also a large Mexican population. Very nice atmosphere. We're about a block from Our Lady of Guadalupe. I may be also working with their art program. The house structure itself is nicer, we think. And we just got really comfortable here over the past couple of days.

Michael had his interview with 8th Day Justice Center yesterday. It went really well. He said afterwords that he had been kind of weary about it because the description of what they did was "works for peace and social justice issues." He thought, "Wow. That's really vague." But after the interview, he said that was exactly how he would describe what they did.

I was there for about the last half-hour of the interview. They had given me the option of hanging around with them, or bumming around Chicago. So I walked around the Loop- which is downtown Chicago- for about an hour. Then I got bored of walking around alone, so I went back. We talked about what they did and had done, what all of our goals and ideas were. 8th Day is run by a group of nuns and a couple of hired staff, and a lot of volunteers. I think all of the nuns had been arrested at protests. One of them had just got back from a three-month stint in lock-up the day before. They're a really cool group of women, and (between you and me) they love Michael and are going to dote on him like a long-lost son.

After the interview, we met Maria, who is a volunteer in Atlanta. She's going to be working with refugee women and with women in jail. This is her second year, so she had some insight to offer us about life with the Claretians. We talked with her for about an hour and a half before John showed up with Phil and Valerie. Phil is a retired businessman. He's going to be working in the legal clinic, which advocates the poor and immigrants and other people who are disinfranchised and cannot get legal help for one reason or another. Valerie had created a program in Tacoma, Washington called (I think) My Sister's Pantry. But she fed hundreds of immigrants and homeless people every week. She cooked them a healthy and inexpensive meal, gave them recipes, and got them all groceries for a week. She's going to be working in the pantry at Holy Cross.

We spent a long time yesterday getting to know each other- from personal backgrounds, to eating habits, to hobbies, to political leanings. We found that we have a lot of similar interests and ideas, even though we don't necessarily have a lot in common as far as where we're coming from. I think this is going to be a good living arrangement.

We also found last night, that apparently most things in the downstairs part of the house are wired to the same breaker. Which means that you can get a few things going, but after that, if you do anything, the circuit breaks and everything shuts down. For instance, you can have the lights on and the window box air conditioner going, but if you then try to turn on the TV, or the box fan, or open the refridgerator, it's all off. We haven't figured out what to do with this just yet, but it did at least make for an interesting evening.

Yeah, this is going to be an interesting year.

movin' right along

Bear left. Right frog.

We're putting our things in storage. We gave ourselves plenty of time to get it all done and not rush and all of that. But everyday when we get started, I want to just keep going until I'm worn out and we can't find anything else ready to go. I should be pacing myself. I really should be. But I'm just so intent on getting it done so I can get there.

I've been in Murfreesboro for six years, almost to the day. I graduated last year with a B.S. in Psychology (I'll pause while you snicker). I've been a year waiting for this, waiting for my chance to go out and start changing the world. Now that I've finished my preparation. Now that I"m a full-grown adult.

The journey starts in four days. I'll leave Murfreesboro for the first significant amount of time since 1999, when I went to Spain for six weeks. I'll be in my home town of Memphis for one day, and then it's off to a city I've never seen. A cold, windy city where I'm the one with the accent, the girl who talks slow like a southerner. It's gonna be some crazy times, and I really just can't wait.

I'm going to get back to packing now. Preparing to leave here. Getting out of Murfreesboro...