Scandals, politics, and film.

For those of you who seem to think all I’m doing in the Windy City is having fun…well, you’re right! But I do actually have classes, even if we do fun/interesting things during them, like go on a boat tour, go to a town hall meeting, etc. I have readings for each class session, and we have a lot of writing, as well. After every seminar (usually twice a week) we write a 3-5 page reflection. This is in addition to any other writing homework assignments, like the 4-6 page paper I had to write for tomorrow (which actually ended up being 8 pages). It’s a lot of work, and a lot of fun and I feel like we always have something to do. It’s stressful and a lot more difficult than the block plan is at CC, because we’re doing everything all at once. The work isn’t necessarily hard, it’s just that there is a lot of it and not a lot of time to do it in.

This past week in Precept we met with John Keller, campaign manager for Toni Preckwinkle, the Alderwoman of our ward. She’s running for the Cook County Board, which is evidently really important. We’re going to meet with her directly soon (maybe this week?). In our other Precept session we met with one of the founders of the Urban Studies Program, Jody Kretzmann, and he talked to us about Asset Based Community Development.

We only had one seminar session last week because Miss Dorothy, who teaches it, was recruiting at CC. Funny, huh? That class was at Northwestern University Law School, where we attended the Human Rights Forum about the Jon Burge/police torture scandal going on now. Earlier in the day (Thursday) we went to a protest rally put on by victims of police brutality and their families.
Friday was our fun day, our core course day. Core course goes from 9:30 am until 4 pm, and all the students from all three programs meet up. This is the only class we do this for. This past Friday we spent the morning talking about Chicago politics. We met with an alderman, and he showed us around the mayor’s office, his press conference room, the city council’s chambers, and other cool places.

Then in the afternoon we went on the Chicago Film Tour. This is a bus trip with a film critic tour guide. We traveled around the city looking at all the places that had been featured in films, and then we’d get to see the film clips on little TVs. It was really cool at first, but then it got a little repetitive, since it was 2 hours long.

Me on the film tour with some cool sunflare...

We have lots of big plans for this week (including my birthday!) and I know it will be a lot of fun. But at the same time, we have four seminar meetings this week, which means four 3-5 page reflections, plus two assignments due for core course, plus readings for every class, PLUS a new big project for precept. And I haven't even started my internship yet. It's fun, but it's school too, and a lot of work.

A trip to Wrigleyville, and the beginning of a new week...

On Friday all the programs (Urban Studies, Business, and Arts) gathered together for our first core course. We'll meet each Friday, and spend the whole day together. In the morning session, we discussed various things, went over the syllabus, etc, but in the afternoon session we went to Wrigley Field! We spoke with a professor from Lake Forest College who is an expert on the Chicago Cubs about what the ballpark means to the neighborhood, and the interaction between community and place/space. Wrigley Field is in the middle of a neighborhood, and apartment buildings line the sides. Many of these buildings have built rooftop bleacher seats that they sell for outrageous prices. We had our "class" on one of these rooftops.

I had a very restful and relaxing weekend, and this morning we headed out to the Chicago History Museum. Along the way, while standing at a bus stop, I noticed this 7-Eleven. It's tiny, but can you see it? For some reason it really made me laugh.

This is the fountain outside of the museum. The wind was blowing water all over us as we sat next to it, waiting for the museum to open.

The museum itself was very cool, but we were sort of rushed through it, and I know I missed a lot. I would love to go back and take my time exploring the exhibits.

This week has slowed down a little from last week, and we're starting to get into our regular routine. I still haven't nailed down an internship, but it's more in the hands of the internship coordinators now. Hopefully that will get settled soon.

Busy days, Part 2 (you know, the pictures!)

The outside of our apartment building. We're the middle and right set of windows on the first floor with windows.
This is inside the Rockefeller Church on the UNiversity of Chicago campus. It was gorgeous.

Here are some flowers for Mom and Ella!

The boat we rode on...

A lighthouse just for Mom.

Busy days...

They've been working us like crazy and sending us all over the city. Today I had a morning class (my precept) in Hyde Park, then had to ride the train downtown for our afternoon class (our seminar). Then I met with the internship coordinator about my internship opportunites, before everyone met up to go on a river and lake architectural boat tour. It was fun and hectic and windy and cold!

Our morning class toured the University of Chicago campus and spoke with a representative about how the college works within and with the neighborhood of Hyde Park. It was a pretty neat campus.

The boat tour was by far my favorite part of today. It was especially cold out on the water, but seeing all the giant buildings from the perspective of the river was awesome. It was also interesting to hear about the history of many of the buildings. It made for some pretty cool pictures, too! However, I've been taking pictures on my phone, and it's not wanting to upload them right now. I'm too tired to fight with it, so I'll post the pictures sometime tomorrow.

Day 2

I'm already out of super cool titles. Sorry.

This is the view out of our front windows into the courtyard of our apartment complex.

The living room. We have another sofa, it's just not in the picture.

The dining room.

The tiny kitchen.

My gorgeous bed. I love my sheets.

The view out my window. Not exactly promising.

Today we had a very long day. We came down to the program offices for class at 9 am. The door to our building is right under the edge of the Chicago Theater sign.

We did a lot of pretty boring class stuff, met the other people in the Business and Arts programs, then ate lunch. I took leftover pizza. After lunch, we were split into groups and sent on photo scavenger hunts. Each group was sent to a different neighborhood. We had to figure out how to get there, taking the bus down and the train back. Once there, we had to find a list of landmarks or addresses and take pictures of all of those places. Before leaving, we had to go to the last address on our list and pick up the preordered food. We then all brought it back and had a giant potluck dinner.

My group was sent to...

Chinatown! It was so cool. We went into a ton of little shops, selling all kinds of crazy things. One was a martial arts store, and they had swords and knives and playing cards with razor edges to throw at people. It was nuts!

This was one of the landmarks we stopped at, Nine Dragons Wall. You can't see the whole thing because I couldn't stand back far enough without getting in the street.

The potluck was great, with all different kinds of food. Mexican from Pilsen, Swedish desserts from Andersonville, ribs from Hyde Park, sandwiches and Italian ices from Little Italy, and even more. It was so delicious. We finally got out of there a little after seven, and the theater was all lit up.

I've met so many really fun people, and I'm really having a blast. Thanks to everyone for your nice comments.

The beginning of a Grand Adventure...

This is it, y'all. I'm in Chicago now.

I flew out early this morning. The view of the sunrise out my window was amazing. It was sad to say goodbye to the summer, to Austin, to afternoon naps with Trudy's kids, late night games with Christin and Brandon, delicious food Mom (and Dad) would cook for me, and spending time with Robert.

But the summer couldn't last forever. The first thing I noticed once we started descending into Chicago was the lush, vibrant green of everything. There were lakes and ponds all over the place, and green grass and trees and blooming flowers. Totally different from summer in Texas!

Once I arrived at the apartment, I had some time to meet my roommates, settle in, and go grocery shopping. I'm sharing a room with one girl, Alyse, who is from northern Minnesota. We began the orientation for the program, and I met the rest of the eleven Urban Studies program participants. Seven of us made the trek down to Lake Michigan. It's not too far, less than a mile, and has a gorgeous view of downtown Chicago.

You can see that some crazy person was swimming in that cold water! I think this might be the biggest lake I've ever seen- you can't see the other edge of it, and it almost feels like you're at the ocean.

We walked back down to our apartments, picked up another person, then headed out to dinner. I had my very first Chicago deep dish pizza, from a restaurant voted one of the top two places for it in Chicago. It was pepperoni and cheese, my favorite.

Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! I loved it. However, I filled up on so much bread before it came out that I only ate one slice.

I brought home the rest of the small (yeah right!) pizza I ordered to take in my lunch the next few days. No one was hungry for dessert except for Jeremy, the only guy with us, who also happens to be from CC. He ordered tiramisu, and the waiter brought him two giant pieces, one for free to share with us. I had never had tiramisu before, and it was good.

Today has been a crazy long day, and I'm exhausted. I still have some reading to do before I can go to sleep, and I have to be at the program office downtown at 9 tomorrow morning. I'll have my first experience with Chicago public transportation! Wish me luck!

It's closing time...

So I'm all packed up, my room is clean, and I'm checking out with my RA first thing tomorrow morning. Robert arrived around 8:30 p.m. yesterday, and he's been a great help (when I can pull him away from his computer games!). We're headed over to Megan's for a last friendly get-together before summer in just a little while. It's sad to think I won't see her (or any of my other friends) again until the end of January.

Robert and I went out for a special dinner tonight. He said he wanted to take me out to celebrate the beginning of my senior year of college. I had fajitas, which made me so happy! In addition, we ordered the margarita sampler tray. After tasting all of them, I drank the red one and the blue one. The red one was pomegranate, and we agreed that it was the best. I'd never had a margarita of my own before, and it was TASTY!

By the way, this picture was taken with my brand spankin' new camera. It's tiny and perfect to slip in my purse for occasions such as this. As you might be able to tell, I'm still figuring out the settings as far as focus points and such. I'm so used to being able to choose every setting that it's a little hard to get used to.

I hope everyone is doing as well as I am. To my Texas family, I'll see you in just a few days! I come bearing gifts (as long as they fit in the car :) ) and I can't wait to see everyone. I love you guys.