My Chicago Adventure So Far

Well well, I’m in Chicago.

I’ve been here for two weeks, and I really don’t know what to say about it all. I have so many emotions and thoughts running through me, it’s hard to process exactly what I’m thinking.

For the first week or so, we just did a bunch of training and sight seeing. We went from neighborhood to neighborhood, seeing what different cultures lived there and how churches were reaching out to their community. That was really interesting and pretty cool. What was sad about it though was the way all the communities are pretty divided. I never knew how racially divided Chicago was. I remember sitting on the bus, leaving one of the African American communities and watching the buildings change. It was like within a few blocks, suddenly, the buildings went from sort of shabby looking to really well kept. I knew that I was suddenly in a richer and nicer part of the Chicago. The people who got on the bus were different too. They were usually white or just dressed differently. I believe the cause is called gentrification. That was the first time I actually saw the result of it.

I live in the Puerto Rican community. Part of my trip involves just learning to be a part of my community and reaching out to them at the same time. So, we live like them. We have no car, so we only take public transportation. We have a budget to spend on groceries and go to the laundry mat. At the laundry mat, everyone speaks Spanish. I usually can only talk to the kids, because they’re the ones that know both Spanish and English. Sometimes we play “Guess that Spanish word” where they say a word in Spanish and we have to guess what it means. I’m also practicing rolling my r’s so I don’t sound so white when I speak. I'm failing pretty bad, but everyone gets a good laugh as I try. Haha. And any of the adults I speak with, they’re usually patient and we use hand signals to communicate.

The church and community center I work with are great. Right now, I’m just doing a lot of random jobs at the community center, from administrative work, to cooking, to watching over kids.

What I do admire about the Latino community so far is how welcoming everyone is. We went to a block party, and just showed up at a person’s house. This woman named Yvette welcomed us in with wide arms, served us food immediately, and introduced us to practically her whole family, from her mom to her 10th cousin. I felt like I was a part of the family. The Latinos’ hospitality just blows me away as we get invited over for dinner or to hang out.

One of my favorite people that I met so far was a woman named Migdalia. We went into her beauty salon and asked to speak with her just to hear her story. She walked up to us with 2 cell phones in her hands and her head set blinking and asked how she could help us. We told her that Sandra (my director) had sent us and asked if we could just talk to her, but if she was busy, that was OK too since we came in unannounced. Immediately, she hugged us and said, “God bless you!” She asked for a minute or two to deal with the calls and she’d be with us. She then sat for 30 to 40 minutes with us, just talking about her life and how God had been there for her in her toughest times. I don’t think I even told the woman my name, but she made me feel so loved and like I was her family. She was definitely one of my highlights of the trip.

There’s so much more to say and all the stuff I’m learning just blows my mind. I’m still processing it all. It’s been a very interesting adventure here, learning about the inner-city of Chicago.

Random Parts: My director, Sandra, was the lead worship singing at Urbana. This woman blows my mind! She leads our Bible Studies and I walk away feeling like I need to go change the world. I also met the president of InterVarsity. He was pretty fun and relaxed. I’m also the only one from Arizona. Heck, I’m the only one from the Southwest/Rocky Mountain region.

So, if you’re reading this, keep praying for me. I’m still not sure how I’m changing or even how to handle all this information, but I know God is doing stuff. Also pray that my Spanish gets better and that we can really connect with some of the people here.

Love you all! Bye!