A Week in Chicago

and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.--Micah 6:8

We're coming to the end of our orientation week in Chicago. Tomorrow is our last opportunity for packing, laundry, buying last minute American goods, feeding any expected cravings for food and then we're off. Tomorrow is our last day for familiarity. But really how familiar is Chicago to me.

This is the first time I've spend any significant time in the mid-west portion of the U.S. And I can definitely tell the differences. The most significant difference being the weather. Being mid-August New Mexico is usually hot, dry, with afternoon rainstorms usually lasting no longer than an hour. This week has been warm, humid, with rainstorms lasting no more than 23 hours. Thursdays seminars were interrupted by a tornado warning causing us to have to move locations to the underground parking garage for about 30 minutes till the tornado had passed.

Although this week has been a great one, the highlight was easily having the opportunity to spend and hour and a half in the Art Institute of Chicago. I love art galleries and could spend hours on end looking at the artwork. I spent most of my time looking at European pieces from artists such as Lucas Cranach (cause I'm a good Lutheran) to Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, and Picasso. There were also some modern pieces which looked very similar to those I received from my preschoolers. I don't understand modern art at all!!!

Most of the week was spent indoors listening. We did a lot of listening. Occasionally we broke into small groups and did some more listening with some actual speaking thrown in. I've grown to despise our meeting room. However the speakers that we've had this week have been wonderful.

Our morning Bible studies were led by a Lutheran pastor from Crenshaw, L.A., Cali. He was simply amazing and inspirational. We've heard stories from the alum team throughout the week relating to each day's Bible verse. (anyone interested in these verses, let me know!) For the late morning seminar and early afternoon seminar we've had various speakers kind enough to share their wisdom with us. We've learned about globalization, accompaniment, partnership, community building, culture shock, gender issues and racism. It's all been so intense. Great and informative, but intense.

I'm getting very excited to leave on Monday. Once in London, Amy and I will be navigating our way through the "tube" to our train station to catch our train to Buxton. Thank God we have about 6 hours to figure it out!!! Amy is from Minnesota and will be living with me in Buxton with our host family and a few other volunteers. She will also be working at the Good News Family Center, but I believe her work will have her doing different things than me.

I've loved getting to know the YAGM group better and meeting the YAVs from the PC-USA church. We're such a great group of young people and it's really inspiring to see all of us so excited to make a difference in the world and live out the Gospel rather than just discussing how we can work on living out the Gospel. I truly believe every one of us has the desire to live out the verse from Micah. Please keep all of us in your prayers. I'm lucky to be placed in a country of relative safety, and I admire those who are choosing to go to the Philippines, Mexico, Argentina, Northern Ireland, Ghana, and India where violence becomes part of everyday living.

I'll have a new blog posted as soon as I get settled into Buxton and figure out the internet situation. But in the mean time feel free to email, facebook, myspace, or comment here!

Love you all!