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.