Drawing to a Close

It's hard to believe that my time in Chicago is almost over.  The days and weeks are starting to fly by now.  

Last week Wednesday for art class we went to Christ Temple in downtown Chicago for the noonday service.  A group of Japanese musicians were there and played a few songs on traditional Japanese instruments.  In the afternoon I went to the Jane Addams Hull House Museum on UIC's campus.  Jane Addams is widely known throughout social work and according to the website I've linked above, the "Hull House, Chicago's first social settlement was not only the private home of Jane Addams and other Hull-House residents, but also a place where immigrants of diverse communities gathered to learn, to eat, to debate, and to acquire the tools necessary to put down roots in their new country."  It was fairly interesting but to be honest, I was more interested in the actual house than the story behind it all.

On Thursday my supervisor took me out for lunch at the restaurant Rosebud Prime where a cheeseburgers costs about $17 and the wait staff wears suits.  This isn't the kind of restaurant that I ever want to become used to going to.  

Saturday afternoon Megan and I headed down to Shedd Aquarium but after waiting for a bus for 30 to 40 minutes and then seeing the length of the line we decided to just go for a walk along the lake.  We took some pictures and had some good conversations while enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.  We ended our walk with a stop at Jamba Juice for smoothies.  

Sunday after church we went to Elly's Pancake House.  I had a HUGE plate of the most amazing pancakes ever--Cinnamon Apple.  I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and reading another book for class.

Today I had my final evaluation at my internship site.  My supervisor had all good things to say which is definitely a confidence booster!  

I still have a lot to do (and see!) before I leave Chicago.  This coming weekend Sherry and I are ushering at Blue Man Group so that we can see the show for free!  I'm also hoping to meet up with some extended family that I haven't seen in years.  Here's to making the best of the last week!!!

Loving the Quiet

Last week I went home for Easter!  Everyone got to leave work at about 3:45. I had a bit of time to kill before heading to the airport so I grabbed a coffee and read my book for awhile.  Once I got to the airport, things got...ridiculous.  My confirmation papers said my flight was from terminal 2 so that's where I headed.  I went to the US Airways counter where I was told to go to the United kiosks.  Once there, the screen told me that my reservation required "special handling" and that I needed to see a representative.  Well guess what...there are no United reps in Terminal 2! So I had to head over to Terminal 1, pick up my ticket, and then go BACK to terminal 2 to find my gate.
Once I finally made it home I was amazed by how QUIET it is! I don't think I ever really appreciated it before.  But after living here, where it is NEVER quiet--not even when you're sleeping!--I really appreciated it.
Friday night all the girl cousins had a "Girl's Night" at my sister's apartment.  We made supper together and then did manicures/pedicures.  We actually had 7 girls soaking our feet in the bathtub at one time...good cousin bonding time :)
Most of the time that I spent at home was filled with swimming--since we had "accidentally" heated the pool to 94 degrees!--and a lot of family time.  We ended up with 27 people at our house on Sunday which was really great.  And I finally got to hold my new baby cousin, Raylan!  I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time with him once I move home.
Monday afternoon/evening I headed back to reality--Chicago...and work.  As of today, though, I only have 16 days left in the city, and only 8 more days of work.  Guess that means I should get to work on all that homework that I have left to finish in the next 2 weeks!

I'm Alive!

Don't worry, I'm still alive!  After receiving an e-mail today that said it was "disappointing" that I had quit posting, I decided I should probably come back.  My response to said e-mail was this: "I have no excuse other than the fact that I 'just haven't felt like it'.  Though if I used that excuse for everything I didn't feel like doing...nothing would ever get done." (maybe that's why I haven't started my final art project yet!!!)  So now I'm here...writing.  


The only thing that happened during March 20-28th that was important enough to stick in my mind was an incident on the Red Line on the way to an art event.  Megan's version of the story is much more entertaining than I'll make it so if you want that version you can find it here: http://chicagolife--megan.blogspot.com/.  If you'd rather hear my version, here it is:  We were all just chatting away as usual and were a few stops from where we would be getting off when two men started yelling at each other.  Usually I just ignore those kind of people but I started hearing people gasping so I turned to look at the commotion and found a man about 3 feet away from Karla and I waving around a knife and yelling "What you gonna do about it?!?!?" There was another man at the other end of the train who was yelling back at him but I couldn't really see him.  Every one who was seated between the two men started jumping over seats trying to get out from the middle of the fight.    Karla was gripping my wrist and quite honestly, I was glad. Because I was feeling the same way.  At the next stop the people on our end of the train would have liked to get off the but man with the knife was in front of the door so we all stayed put.  At the next stop, where we were supposed to get off, a man got up and took the lead to snuck out behind the man so we all followed suit.  Once we were off and new we were finally safe, my heart started to slow and was able to think again.  I think the thing I was most afraid of was that the man would turn around and start waving the knife in our direction.  I don't think I've EVER been as afraid as I was in those 5 minutes.  Needless to say, I was a little afraid to get back on the Red Line after that!


This past weekend Betsy came to visit!!!  She got in Thursday night so I took the day off on Friday to spend a little more time with her.  We went to Afternoon Tea at the Drake Hotel (a 4-star hotel!) where we each got our own pot of tea (I got Darjeeling, Betsy got Bombay Chai), and then got a 3-tiered tray of sandwiches( roast beef, cucumber & tomato, egg salad, and salmon on pumpernickel), pastries (banana bread and scones) accompanied by preserves, lemon curd and English Double Devon cream.  It was SO much fun and definitely not something I would have ever even considered doing if it hadn't been for my sister!  Afterwards we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art which was...interesting.  I guess contemporary art is just NOT my thing! That night we went to the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind Saturday we had sushi, went shopping in Wicker Park, and went out for supper at Little India with a bunch of NWC grads for Betsy's friend's birthday.  Sunday was church, shopping, and supper at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba for Tapas.  She kept me so busy over the weekend that by the end I thought I was going to die of exhaustion!  ...Maybe that's why I was sick on Tuesday!


I now have only TWELVE more days of work!  Tomorrow I'm flying home to spend Easter with the family--which I'm VERY excited about!!--and then I'll only have 3 weeks once I get back.
Well, once again, I'm sorry for getting so behind on my blogging!


Happy Easter, everyone!