Just got back from my 2nd night in a row of watching the Twins beat the White Sox in Chicago!!
My boss was nice enough to give Linda and me tickets so we got to go twice!! And I had friends there tonight so fellow Twins fans to get dirty looks with me.
Gotta love keeping the Minnesota pride strong even in Chicago!!
Last night we destroyed them with a 7-0 win.
8 homeruns in the game tonight, 5 of them being from Minnesota! So we got to see 3 sets of fireworks (tradition at Sox field when they win or get a homerun) but still got a win
That's all for tonight...Go Twins!!
Oh, and I am super pumped because I am going home this weekend for Adam and Steph's wedding! It is going to be a blast and I can't wait for their special day, to see the fam, and to make a trip up to school on Saturday!
My life is all about Minnesota right now!! Yay!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
more updates from the beautiful windy city...
I wrote this on Thursday, it is now Saturday...sorry!!
Well, life has been pretty crazy (as usual it seems for my life in Chicago) and I haven’t had time to update this, so I apologize. Last weekend we were able to stretch my birthday celebrations from Thursday to Sunday and did lots of random, fun things and hardly sleep at all. Thursday we went to a local bar and played pool and darts and then the neighborhood boys took me to a burrito place also in the area. Friday we went to a happy hour up north at a bar called Uncle Fatty’s. There were only a few Amate people brave enough to give it a try but our stories of the sand, palm trees, and live music got everyone excited for another adventure there this weekend!
During the day Saturday we bummed around, Kate and I went for a run, and then Kate, Jessie, and I tried a coffee shop in the next neighborhood over (Bridgeport). It was really cute and it was nice chatting in a smaller group and getting a chance to just chill. Saturday night was a Mexican Independence Day party at the Little Village house and we got to meet some other volunteers from MercyHome (the other place I applied to this year) so that was fun making new friends. Of course after the party the neighborhood guys were ready to hang out so they came over to my place and we chatted until way too late, especially for waking up for 9:30 mass the next morning. We also had Sunday brunch at our house which was fantastic to come home from Church to the smell of pancakes, French toast, and hash browns. Sunday afternoon Kate, Michael, Meghan (his girlfriend who was up visiting for the weekend…I am not starting to talk in 3rd person, no worries) and I explored the Celtic Fest downtown and got to watch Irish dancers, hear some Irish music and look at all the art and projects that were going on. Then Kate and I traveled farther up north to a Catholic Open House at a cute coffee shop to learn about different parishes, services, youth groups, and education opportunities available to us in the Chicago area. Of course there was free food involved and it was delicious. Sunday night I got to experience the Bears and Packers play on the big screen in the teen center, I have to say that I was only attentive to half time and then my ADD-type personality took over. It was fun eating pizza, drinking beer, and hanging out with lots of Bears fans (and one Packer fan) and seeing how into the game they got. After 4 interceptions and in the last 2 minutes the Packers secured the win and the guys’ moods became a little sour. There was talk of duct taping the nearest Packer fan (Linda) to a pole somewhere…she escaped unscathed, fear not.
This week was fun and crazy as well and all the excitement contributed to me getting sick this week. My running hasn’t been up to par but hopefully next week I’ll get back into the training. We got to go to the Cubs/Brewers game in Wrigley field on Monday. As a south-sider I wasn’t allowed to cheer for the Cubs, as a Minnesotan I wasn’t allowed to cheer for Wisconsin so I just enjoyed Wrigley field and watching baseball.
Tuesday night John Lucas, the Amate House executive director, made our house a delicious dinner. He is a really awesome guy and shared with us all about his life and all that he has done. It was really cool to hear about such a great and inspirational guy in such a down-to-earth way and feeling really comfortable around him. Linda and I get to know the staff better than our housemates because we are around in the morning because we go to work later so I have been able to talk to him but it was nice that my roommates got to interact with him as well and that he was so willing to serve us. This year has really shown me all the love that people have for others and how a year of service is not only learning to serve but also learning to accept the generosity that people want to share. I don’t always have to be the one helping people, I can accept things from people as well and that is okay.
Wednesday night we had community night at MercyHome (the friends we made on Saturday night) and got VIRTUS training, learning about protecting children from child molesters, a less than cheerful topic that left us all a little depressed and me worrying about my kids.
Tonight we had a former volunteer over for dinner and she brought us brownies! (we love having guests…but a batch of brownies is gone in under 5 minutes with the 13 of us digging in) Then we had a house event of watching “The Office” season premiere and now are just bumming around the house and one by one my roomies are heading to bed. Tomorrow is Friday (TGIF!!! It’s been a long week…) and after the radio show in the morning I’ll be on my own at the Teen Center because Linda is leaving for the weekend for a wedding. It should be interesting going at it alone but I think the guys will come and keep me company for most of the day.
The job is going well, still getting used to the kids and having fun stuff for them to do for 4 hours with all their pent up energy from sitting in school all day. They are interesting to figure out and I am trying to get inside their heads and see where the heck they get some of their ideas on school, life, and relationships. Already I have gotten really close to one of our most quiet girls. It has been intense having her share her life story with me and hearing all she has gone through after knowing her for only a couple weeks. I can’t go into details but just know that her life has been much, much different than mine. It was really nice because at their school’s open house last night she introduced me to all her teachers because her dad wasn’t there with her. She was so proud having me there and getting to show me her school and meet her teachers. It was great sharing that part of her life with her.
We got to experience a planning meeting at the middle school today and I felt more informed about what was going on and what they are doing to help the kids (rather than just hearing from the kids everything they hate about school). Linda and I decided we are going to practice our Spanish since most of the parents only speak Spanish…hopefully that will go well and it will come back to me. I’m still working on synching the databases and getting everything organized. It is going to be a long project but I have faith that next years’ volunteers will come into the job with a much better sense of what is going on. We are also starting to research grants and figure out different ways we can get money into the center. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, we need, need, need money so we can give the kids more, have a larger staff, and provide more opportunities to make the center great. I’m still working on my volleyball and pool skills but doing some homework help and I enjoy working with the kids and seeing them get stuff done and maybe learn a little (even though they will never admit it).
Linda, E-O, and I get to go to National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City in November! Jim is bringing some kids and was able to get enough funds for all 3 of us to go as well! I am super excited but I will talk more about that in a later post, this one has gotten much too long already and it is bedtime. Hope all is going well wherever you are reading this from and you are able to have adventures of your own. Love and miss you all, you are in my thoughts and prayers as always.
-Meg
Well, life has been pretty crazy (as usual it seems for my life in Chicago) and I haven’t had time to update this, so I apologize. Last weekend we were able to stretch my birthday celebrations from Thursday to Sunday and did lots of random, fun things and hardly sleep at all. Thursday we went to a local bar and played pool and darts and then the neighborhood boys took me to a burrito place also in the area. Friday we went to a happy hour up north at a bar called Uncle Fatty’s. There were only a few Amate people brave enough to give it a try but our stories of the sand, palm trees, and live music got everyone excited for another adventure there this weekend!
During the day Saturday we bummed around, Kate and I went for a run, and then Kate, Jessie, and I tried a coffee shop in the next neighborhood over (Bridgeport). It was really cute and it was nice chatting in a smaller group and getting a chance to just chill. Saturday night was a Mexican Independence Day party at the Little Village house and we got to meet some other volunteers from MercyHome (the other place I applied to this year) so that was fun making new friends. Of course after the party the neighborhood guys were ready to hang out so they came over to my place and we chatted until way too late, especially for waking up for 9:30 mass the next morning. We also had Sunday brunch at our house which was fantastic to come home from Church to the smell of pancakes, French toast, and hash browns. Sunday afternoon Kate, Michael, Meghan (his girlfriend who was up visiting for the weekend…I am not starting to talk in 3rd person, no worries) and I explored the Celtic Fest downtown and got to watch Irish dancers, hear some Irish music and look at all the art and projects that were going on. Then Kate and I traveled farther up north to a Catholic Open House at a cute coffee shop to learn about different parishes, services, youth groups, and education opportunities available to us in the Chicago area. Of course there was free food involved and it was delicious. Sunday night I got to experience the Bears and Packers play on the big screen in the teen center, I have to say that I was only attentive to half time and then my ADD-type personality took over. It was fun eating pizza, drinking beer, and hanging out with lots of Bears fans (and one Packer fan) and seeing how into the game they got. After 4 interceptions and in the last 2 minutes the Packers secured the win and the guys’ moods became a little sour. There was talk of duct taping the nearest Packer fan (Linda) to a pole somewhere…she escaped unscathed, fear not.
This week was fun and crazy as well and all the excitement contributed to me getting sick this week. My running hasn’t been up to par but hopefully next week I’ll get back into the training. We got to go to the Cubs/Brewers game in Wrigley field on Monday. As a south-sider I wasn’t allowed to cheer for the Cubs, as a Minnesotan I wasn’t allowed to cheer for Wisconsin so I just enjoyed Wrigley field and watching baseball.
Tuesday night John Lucas, the Amate House executive director, made our house a delicious dinner. He is a really awesome guy and shared with us all about his life and all that he has done. It was really cool to hear about such a great and inspirational guy in such a down-to-earth way and feeling really comfortable around him. Linda and I get to know the staff better than our housemates because we are around in the morning because we go to work later so I have been able to talk to him but it was nice that my roommates got to interact with him as well and that he was so willing to serve us. This year has really shown me all the love that people have for others and how a year of service is not only learning to serve but also learning to accept the generosity that people want to share. I don’t always have to be the one helping people, I can accept things from people as well and that is okay.
Wednesday night we had community night at MercyHome (the friends we made on Saturday night) and got VIRTUS training, learning about protecting children from child molesters, a less than cheerful topic that left us all a little depressed and me worrying about my kids.
Tonight we had a former volunteer over for dinner and she brought us brownies! (we love having guests…but a batch of brownies is gone in under 5 minutes with the 13 of us digging in) Then we had a house event of watching “The Office” season premiere and now are just bumming around the house and one by one my roomies are heading to bed. Tomorrow is Friday (TGIF!!! It’s been a long week…) and after the radio show in the morning I’ll be on my own at the Teen Center because Linda is leaving for the weekend for a wedding. It should be interesting going at it alone but I think the guys will come and keep me company for most of the day.
The job is going well, still getting used to the kids and having fun stuff for them to do for 4 hours with all their pent up energy from sitting in school all day. They are interesting to figure out and I am trying to get inside their heads and see where the heck they get some of their ideas on school, life, and relationships. Already I have gotten really close to one of our most quiet girls. It has been intense having her share her life story with me and hearing all she has gone through after knowing her for only a couple weeks. I can’t go into details but just know that her life has been much, much different than mine. It was really nice because at their school’s open house last night she introduced me to all her teachers because her dad wasn’t there with her. She was so proud having me there and getting to show me her school and meet her teachers. It was great sharing that part of her life with her.
We got to experience a planning meeting at the middle school today and I felt more informed about what was going on and what they are doing to help the kids (rather than just hearing from the kids everything they hate about school). Linda and I decided we are going to practice our Spanish since most of the parents only speak Spanish…hopefully that will go well and it will come back to me. I’m still working on synching the databases and getting everything organized. It is going to be a long project but I have faith that next years’ volunteers will come into the job with a much better sense of what is going on. We are also starting to research grants and figure out different ways we can get money into the center. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, we need, need, need money so we can give the kids more, have a larger staff, and provide more opportunities to make the center great. I’m still working on my volleyball and pool skills but doing some homework help and I enjoy working with the kids and seeing them get stuff done and maybe learn a little (even though they will never admit it).
Linda, E-O, and I get to go to National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City in November! Jim is bringing some kids and was able to get enough funds for all 3 of us to go as well! I am super excited but I will talk more about that in a later post, this one has gotten much too long already and it is bedtime. Hope all is going well wherever you are reading this from and you are able to have adventures of your own. Love and miss you all, you are in my thoughts and prayers as always.
-Meg
Thursday, September 10, 2009
birthday #23
9/10/09
Happy Birthday to me!
I woke up this morning to one of my roommates pounding on the door because she had made me breakfast in bed and a jumble of missed calls and text messages of friends saying Happy Birthday. I am going to lunch with Uncle Shawn (who lives in Washington DC) because he is in Chicago for business, I couldn’t have asked for much better of a birthday present. It’s promising to be a great day.
Since Labor Day it has been a pretty crazy week. All of Amate House got free tickets for the Chicago White Sox game versus the Oakland A’s on Tuesday evening. John Lucas (our executive director) had extra tickets so the guys from work (including Jim Kozy of course) were able to come with as well. Jim took all of us in his 15 passenger van so we didn’t have to worry about CTA or driving, what a great boss! It was a fun evening not because of the game (we were sitting about as far up in the bleachers as you can get and the Sox lost 11 to 3) but because of the company. My housemates lived up to their usual standards of being the best house by doing the most dancing, taking tons of pictures, staying longer than all the other houses, and dancing through the stadium after the game was over.
Tuesday was also the kids at the Teen Center’s first day of school so they had a lot of energy when they got to us. Don’t worry though, they are already sick of teachers, were texting in class, and didn’t want to learn anymore, it was a great first day…Seriously though, we have been slightly struggling with activities for the kids and finding stuff that they all want to do. Some love playing basketball, some like playing cards, pool and volleyball occupy them for awhile, but then there are the kids who say they’re bored but don’t want to do anything we suggest. And 4 hours is a long time to be bored or to just do one or 2 things; we’re working on a weekly schedule that will have stuff that has something for everyone throughout the day or at least sometime during the week. I think we are going to plan a big kickball game for Friday and put up signs today!
Yesterday we were only with the kids for an hour but I got to experience kicking out my first student. He had 2 warnings and still insisted that he didn’t do anything wrong and Linda and I had to call in reinforcements from Jim to get him to finally leave. It was pretty sad, I know that he causes a lot of trouble but I know that he is a good kid at heart. Jim and I were talking and the problem is that he causes us so much trouble at the center and creates so much extra work for us, but the center is exactly where he needs to be so he isn’t causing trouble on the street or at home and to get him on the right track for life. However, Jim had told me on Tuesday that this youth needs to be on a short leash and needs to know who is in charge so if we start out tough hopefully that will be better for all of us later on. Hopefully he is right, I do not like kicking kids out of the center, I want to give them all second chances. You can definitely tell that they are seeing how far they can go with us right now; I am trying hard to be their friend while still being an authority figure and not becoming a pushover.
Hopefully we will have a fun day with the kids today and then it’s tacos for dinner and hanging out for my birthday! Hope everyone has a fabulous day and end of their week. Stay in touch, I would love to hear back from you!
Keep living for the big guy upstairs!
-Meg
Happy Birthday to me!
I woke up this morning to one of my roommates pounding on the door because she had made me breakfast in bed and a jumble of missed calls and text messages of friends saying Happy Birthday. I am going to lunch with Uncle Shawn (who lives in Washington DC) because he is in Chicago for business, I couldn’t have asked for much better of a birthday present. It’s promising to be a great day.
Since Labor Day it has been a pretty crazy week. All of Amate House got free tickets for the Chicago White Sox game versus the Oakland A’s on Tuesday evening. John Lucas (our executive director) had extra tickets so the guys from work (including Jim Kozy of course) were able to come with as well. Jim took all of us in his 15 passenger van so we didn’t have to worry about CTA or driving, what a great boss! It was a fun evening not because of the game (we were sitting about as far up in the bleachers as you can get and the Sox lost 11 to 3) but because of the company. My housemates lived up to their usual standards of being the best house by doing the most dancing, taking tons of pictures, staying longer than all the other houses, and dancing through the stadium after the game was over.
Tuesday was also the kids at the Teen Center’s first day of school so they had a lot of energy when they got to us. Don’t worry though, they are already sick of teachers, were texting in class, and didn’t want to learn anymore, it was a great first day…Seriously though, we have been slightly struggling with activities for the kids and finding stuff that they all want to do. Some love playing basketball, some like playing cards, pool and volleyball occupy them for awhile, but then there are the kids who say they’re bored but don’t want to do anything we suggest. And 4 hours is a long time to be bored or to just do one or 2 things; we’re working on a weekly schedule that will have stuff that has something for everyone throughout the day or at least sometime during the week. I think we are going to plan a big kickball game for Friday and put up signs today!
Yesterday we were only with the kids for an hour but I got to experience kicking out my first student. He had 2 warnings and still insisted that he didn’t do anything wrong and Linda and I had to call in reinforcements from Jim to get him to finally leave. It was pretty sad, I know that he causes a lot of trouble but I know that he is a good kid at heart. Jim and I were talking and the problem is that he causes us so much trouble at the center and creates so much extra work for us, but the center is exactly where he needs to be so he isn’t causing trouble on the street or at home and to get him on the right track for life. However, Jim had told me on Tuesday that this youth needs to be on a short leash and needs to know who is in charge so if we start out tough hopefully that will be better for all of us later on. Hopefully he is right, I do not like kicking kids out of the center, I want to give them all second chances. You can definitely tell that they are seeing how far they can go with us right now; I am trying hard to be their friend while still being an authority figure and not becoming a pushover.
Hopefully we will have a fun day with the kids today and then it’s tacos for dinner and hanging out for my birthday! Hope everyone has a fabulous day and end of their week. Stay in touch, I would love to hear back from you!
Keep living for the big guy upstairs!
-Meg
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Fall Newsletter
http://www.amatehouse.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MLQ_hA_1gB8%3d&tabid=1338&mid=2946&language=en-US
Fall newsletter is out with a special article about Linda and me and our job!!!
Fall newsletter is out with a special article about Linda and me and our job!!!
Monday, September 7, 2009
another long post from a wonderful long Labor Day weekend!
9/7/09
Trisha and I spent the weekend exploring Chicago. Walking was the theme of her 2 days visiting chi-town…
She flew in Saturday morning and I showed her around the house and the neighborhood so she could get a feel for where I’m spending all my time and the community I have become a part of. We bought tacos at a random little place in a grocery store near my house that my boss had introduced me to. The tacos were huge but amazingly delicious. Then after a little down time and getting ready for the afternoon/evening we hopped on the el and headed downtown. Our first goal was to find a Caribou and an hour or so later we finally found one, it was worth it, I miss my chocolate coolers (especially getting them with Sista either before a long day of work or a long day of studying and running away from school). Then we wandered around Millennium Park and took some bean pics then walked down to the lake. We decided we needed to see Navy Pier so we made the long trek over there and then walked more to see all that Navy Pier has to offer. Finally we got smart and took a bus and found a pizza place for an early dinner. Lou Malnati’s (sp?) is one of my new favorite restaurants and had some of the best pizza I have ever had. We then took the el up north farther to meet some of my roommates and some Little Village people at McGee’s bar in Lincoln Park for a free happy hour. That was a lot of fun and Trisha had one of her friends come and so we all enjoyed getting to chat and meeting new people. We finished the evening back in McKinley Park neighborhood at a birthday party of a friend of one of my co-workers.
Sunday was eventful as well, we ventured downtown again to visit Trisha’s friend at work (Starbucks) and get free coffee. Then we decided we wanted pancakes so we used the map and GPS on her phone (these were our best friends this weekend) and found an Original Pancake House somewhat in our vicinity. But, as had been our luck for the weekend, we were within 200 feet of the place and couldn’t find it for like 10 minutes, haha, we are so good at life. We finished her trip by hanging out in McKinley Park talking to one of my kids and one of my friends from work.
After Trisha left Kate and I went for a run and then watched some of my kids play football. I went to mass at the church below the teen center because it is supposed to be an evening teen mass but no teens go and we want to change that this year. My boss is hoping that we can get some of the kids to come to mass and then open the center for a couple hours Sunday evening to give the kids more opportunities to be around us in a positive setting.
Today was a fun and eventful day as well. Kate and I made some friends a few weeks ago (they are more friends of a friend) and they took us thrift shopping today all over the Chicago-land area! Because it was Labor Day all Salvation Army stores were 50% off so we went to 5 different stores! They also introduced us to an authentic Chicago-style hotdogs with mustard, relish, onions, peppers, and French fries on them (Gene and Jude’s). And make sure you don’t ask for ketchup, they don’t have any; it is not a part of a real Chicago hotdog! We also spent time at Dave (one of the guys’ house) eating and playing batmitten (no idea how to spell that…). I really enjoyed being around his family and feeling a little more like I was back home, as much as I love my roommates, it was nice to be in a domestic setting around parents, siblings, and pets and just to be at their house. It was also nice being around different Chicago-ers, I love having lots of friends and really enjoy hanging out with a variety of types of people. Btw, my total purchases today came to under $7.50 and I got 2 skirts, 2 button-up shirts (one plaid and one striped), a sweatshirt, and a t-shirt!
Kate and I did a long run after a long day of shopping and I am physically exhausted from that and all the walking this weekend. However, we had yummy veggie and chicken (the chicken was a gift from one of my roommates’ mom!) kabobs and corn-on-the-cob (one of my favs) and then chocolate chip cookies that another roommates’ dad made! We finished our evening with a game of hotseat and fired questions at 2 of the roommates to get to know them even better. It’s about bedtime now, it was a long but fun weekend and I need to rest up for work tomorrow. It’s the kids’ first day of school and they are either going to have a lot of energy or be super tired and cranky from a full day of classes and new teachers.
Hope all is well back home and wherever you may be reading this from, I miss you all lots and lots.
Lots of love,
Meg
Trisha and I spent the weekend exploring Chicago. Walking was the theme of her 2 days visiting chi-town…
She flew in Saturday morning and I showed her around the house and the neighborhood so she could get a feel for where I’m spending all my time and the community I have become a part of. We bought tacos at a random little place in a grocery store near my house that my boss had introduced me to. The tacos were huge but amazingly delicious. Then after a little down time and getting ready for the afternoon/evening we hopped on the el and headed downtown. Our first goal was to find a Caribou and an hour or so later we finally found one, it was worth it, I miss my chocolate coolers (especially getting them with Sista either before a long day of work or a long day of studying and running away from school). Then we wandered around Millennium Park and took some bean pics then walked down to the lake. We decided we needed to see Navy Pier so we made the long trek over there and then walked more to see all that Navy Pier has to offer. Finally we got smart and took a bus and found a pizza place for an early dinner. Lou Malnati’s (sp?) is one of my new favorite restaurants and had some of the best pizza I have ever had. We then took the el up north farther to meet some of my roommates and some Little Village people at McGee’s bar in Lincoln Park for a free happy hour. That was a lot of fun and Trisha had one of her friends come and so we all enjoyed getting to chat and meeting new people. We finished the evening back in McKinley Park neighborhood at a birthday party of a friend of one of my co-workers.
Sunday was eventful as well, we ventured downtown again to visit Trisha’s friend at work (Starbucks) and get free coffee. Then we decided we wanted pancakes so we used the map and GPS on her phone (these were our best friends this weekend) and found an Original Pancake House somewhat in our vicinity. But, as had been our luck for the weekend, we were within 200 feet of the place and couldn’t find it for like 10 minutes, haha, we are so good at life. We finished her trip by hanging out in McKinley Park talking to one of my kids and one of my friends from work.
After Trisha left Kate and I went for a run and then watched some of my kids play football. I went to mass at the church below the teen center because it is supposed to be an evening teen mass but no teens go and we want to change that this year. My boss is hoping that we can get some of the kids to come to mass and then open the center for a couple hours Sunday evening to give the kids more opportunities to be around us in a positive setting.
Today was a fun and eventful day as well. Kate and I made some friends a few weeks ago (they are more friends of a friend) and they took us thrift shopping today all over the Chicago-land area! Because it was Labor Day all Salvation Army stores were 50% off so we went to 5 different stores! They also introduced us to an authentic Chicago-style hotdogs with mustard, relish, onions, peppers, and French fries on them (Gene and Jude’s). And make sure you don’t ask for ketchup, they don’t have any; it is not a part of a real Chicago hotdog! We also spent time at Dave (one of the guys’ house) eating and playing batmitten (no idea how to spell that…). I really enjoyed being around his family and feeling a little more like I was back home, as much as I love my roommates, it was nice to be in a domestic setting around parents, siblings, and pets and just to be at their house. It was also nice being around different Chicago-ers, I love having lots of friends and really enjoy hanging out with a variety of types of people. Btw, my total purchases today came to under $7.50 and I got 2 skirts, 2 button-up shirts (one plaid and one striped), a sweatshirt, and a t-shirt!
Kate and I did a long run after a long day of shopping and I am physically exhausted from that and all the walking this weekend. However, we had yummy veggie and chicken (the chicken was a gift from one of my roommates’ mom!) kabobs and corn-on-the-cob (one of my favs) and then chocolate chip cookies that another roommates’ dad made! We finished our evening with a game of hotseat and fired questions at 2 of the roommates to get to know them even better. It’s about bedtime now, it was a long but fun weekend and I need to rest up for work tomorrow. It’s the kids’ first day of school and they are either going to have a lot of energy or be super tired and cranky from a full day of classes and new teachers.
Hope all is well back home and wherever you may be reading this from, I miss you all lots and lots.
Lots of love,
Meg
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Blog #1 -- Livin' the dream...the first month of my life in Chicago
Hello family, friends, and others interested in my experiences in Chicago!
As many of you know I have moved to the fantastic city of Chicago to volunteer for a year in community with 12 other housemates in South Chicago, the McKinley Park neighborhood (we are near White Sox field if that helps with location). I am doing a program called Amate House which is a faith-based program that supports volunteers for a year of service in the community. We get room and board paid for and get money for food every month, we receive a $100 stipend once a month and will get the Americorps education award at completion of the program.
My house, South House (SOHO!) has 13 people, 10 women and 3 men, and we are living in a converted convent. We each have our own rooms but share bathrooms, kitchen, living area, food, cars, and lots of other fun stuff. My roommates are the best and we have become extremely close already. It is crazy to think we’ve only been here a month, I am confident that these will be lifelong friends. There are 2 other houses with Amate; North House has 14 people and is up north by Wrigleyville and Uptown, Little Village is west of downtown and has 9 people.
I am working at Blessed Sacrament Teen Center as 1 of 3 staff members. We are an after-school program serving hundreds of high school and junior high students living in the area. Once school starts we will be providing a safe place for 40-60 kids to hang out after school on a daily basis. I work 5 blocks from my house so I get to walk to work (as opposed to the hour+ commute some of my roomies have). Linda is from Amate House as well and is also working at the Teen Center with me. The center is run by Jim Kozy, my boss, who has had to go down to working part-time this year because the center lost most of its funding when the state of Illinois did not give the program its major grant. The center almost did not re-open this year and is really struggling financially. A large part of our job when the kids aren’t around will be writing grant letters and letters to congress people and state workers and trying to get funding from wherever we can. It is going to be a big job with that, programming for the kids, trying to get them to work on school and tutoring, and getting the place organized and running more efficiently.
Because I work in the neighborhood I have really gotten to be a part of the community quickly. I can hardly go for a run or walk around the park without seeing one of my kids or someone else I know through the parish or my boss. Today in fact I went and watched a pick-up football game that a bunch of my boys had gotten together. One of my 8th graders, Ray, asked me to come watch them play and made sure that I was going to come all week. It is a wonderful neighborhood and I am so excited to be here for the year. It is largely Hispanic and the income level is lower but is very family oriented. McKinley Park is a block away from our house and is wonderful, there are always people running, walking, playing basketball, tennis, baseball, football, soccer, having birthday parties, or just hanging out. We have had great weather and it is fun walking everywhere and getting to know the area. It is a fairly safe community but is still a part of South Chicago so we are being careful and not walking alone at night but are perfectly fine during the day. I have also gotten to be good friends with 3 guys from the center. They are about my age and grew up going to the teen center and now are just back volunteering when they have time. One of them used to be a staff member but was laid off this year when we lost our funding.
Our time in Chicago began with 2 weeks of orientation which included lots of community time getting to know our housemates and the other houses, speakers and discussions about the tenants of Amate House, team building at an outdoor learning center, dinner with board members, and a photo scavenger hunt throughout downtown Chicago. Fun stuff we did outside of orientation during the first 2 weeks included, painting our rooms, going to the beach, movies, free happy hour, donut delights, outdoor movies and outdoor summer dances downtown, whiffleball, hotseat, and lots of laughing and getting to know each other.
Our jobs started the 3rd week and my roommates are working in a variety of places including 3 pre-school teachers, HIV/AIDs outreach center, torture center, Uptown Ministry, school librarian, Girls in the Game, a retreat center, and WomanCraft. Some jobs are more stressful than others but everyone has been pretty worn out from these intense and demanding full-time jobs.
I have found a running buddy and we are in training for a 15K race (about 9 ½ miles) in November. Kate was a soccer player at St. Ben’s and is from St. Louis Park and we have tons of mutual friends (we didn’t know each other at all, it took us moving to Chicago to realize how much we had in common and that we should have been friends long before this year!) Being a soccer player she is a faster runner than me but isn’t used to running constantly for long periods of time. We are a perfect pair because she pushes me in speed and I push her to run longer. It has been a lot of fun training with her and getting to know her this year. We helped each other paint our rooms on day 3 and 4 and that was a pretty good bonding experience.
Weekends in Chicago and with my roommates are lots of fun and you’ll have to look at my facebook pictures for all of our adventures. My boss is fantastic and has taken Kate and me boating on the Mississippi River in Iowa, taken us out to dinner and lunch multiple times and came to our house to unclog the drains in our showers. He is an amazing guy and has committed so much of himself to help hundreds, maybe thousands of youth, he is definitely a role model I look up to and respect immensely. He is very caring and fun to be around and a great guy to know and a wonderful boss to work for.
At my house we have dinner together every weeknight (we each cook one night a week) and spend a large amount of time together in the evenings and on the weekends. We have prayer nights and faith sharing. Every Wednesday is community night run by Amate and is 4 hours long and we spend the time doing a variety of self-growth and community building activities. Like I said before, my roommates are great and we have tons of fun together and are learning to live together in a simple community living off a minimal amount and trying to be better stewards of the earth. It has been trying at times but is looking to be a fabulous year full of learning, laughing, and loving.
We just finished up a fun weekend and have labor day off of work so I will have to write more about that later, my housemates are about to start a movie so I am going to go join them.
Sorry this first one was so long, thanks for bearing with me, I will try to update this regularly so the posts are not always so lengthy.
I hope your lives are going well and would love to hear about them, feel free to respond on here, email, call, text, facebook, or snail mail me. I would love to hear from you!
Happy Labor Day, stay safe, God bless,
-Meg
PS food in Chicago is AMAZING!!! Tacos, pizza, sandwiches, donuts, tamales, coffee, tacos, funnel cakes, Gyros, pancakes, and more tacos (I’m not talking Taco Bell style but legit Mexican tacos that are delicious!) we LOVE food at Amate House
As many of you know I have moved to the fantastic city of Chicago to volunteer for a year in community with 12 other housemates in South Chicago, the McKinley Park neighborhood (we are near White Sox field if that helps with location). I am doing a program called Amate House which is a faith-based program that supports volunteers for a year of service in the community. We get room and board paid for and get money for food every month, we receive a $100 stipend once a month and will get the Americorps education award at completion of the program.
My house, South House (SOHO!) has 13 people, 10 women and 3 men, and we are living in a converted convent. We each have our own rooms but share bathrooms, kitchen, living area, food, cars, and lots of other fun stuff. My roommates are the best and we have become extremely close already. It is crazy to think we’ve only been here a month, I am confident that these will be lifelong friends. There are 2 other houses with Amate; North House has 14 people and is up north by Wrigleyville and Uptown, Little Village is west of downtown and has 9 people.
I am working at Blessed Sacrament Teen Center as 1 of 3 staff members. We are an after-school program serving hundreds of high school and junior high students living in the area. Once school starts we will be providing a safe place for 40-60 kids to hang out after school on a daily basis. I work 5 blocks from my house so I get to walk to work (as opposed to the hour+ commute some of my roomies have). Linda is from Amate House as well and is also working at the Teen Center with me. The center is run by Jim Kozy, my boss, who has had to go down to working part-time this year because the center lost most of its funding when the state of Illinois did not give the program its major grant. The center almost did not re-open this year and is really struggling financially. A large part of our job when the kids aren’t around will be writing grant letters and letters to congress people and state workers and trying to get funding from wherever we can. It is going to be a big job with that, programming for the kids, trying to get them to work on school and tutoring, and getting the place organized and running more efficiently.
Because I work in the neighborhood I have really gotten to be a part of the community quickly. I can hardly go for a run or walk around the park without seeing one of my kids or someone else I know through the parish or my boss. Today in fact I went and watched a pick-up football game that a bunch of my boys had gotten together. One of my 8th graders, Ray, asked me to come watch them play and made sure that I was going to come all week. It is a wonderful neighborhood and I am so excited to be here for the year. It is largely Hispanic and the income level is lower but is very family oriented. McKinley Park is a block away from our house and is wonderful, there are always people running, walking, playing basketball, tennis, baseball, football, soccer, having birthday parties, or just hanging out. We have had great weather and it is fun walking everywhere and getting to know the area. It is a fairly safe community but is still a part of South Chicago so we are being careful and not walking alone at night but are perfectly fine during the day. I have also gotten to be good friends with 3 guys from the center. They are about my age and grew up going to the teen center and now are just back volunteering when they have time. One of them used to be a staff member but was laid off this year when we lost our funding.
Our time in Chicago began with 2 weeks of orientation which included lots of community time getting to know our housemates and the other houses, speakers and discussions about the tenants of Amate House, team building at an outdoor learning center, dinner with board members, and a photo scavenger hunt throughout downtown Chicago. Fun stuff we did outside of orientation during the first 2 weeks included, painting our rooms, going to the beach, movies, free happy hour, donut delights, outdoor movies and outdoor summer dances downtown, whiffleball, hotseat, and lots of laughing and getting to know each other.
Our jobs started the 3rd week and my roommates are working in a variety of places including 3 pre-school teachers, HIV/AIDs outreach center, torture center, Uptown Ministry, school librarian, Girls in the Game, a retreat center, and WomanCraft. Some jobs are more stressful than others but everyone has been pretty worn out from these intense and demanding full-time jobs.
I have found a running buddy and we are in training for a 15K race (about 9 ½ miles) in November. Kate was a soccer player at St. Ben’s and is from St. Louis Park and we have tons of mutual friends (we didn’t know each other at all, it took us moving to Chicago to realize how much we had in common and that we should have been friends long before this year!) Being a soccer player she is a faster runner than me but isn’t used to running constantly for long periods of time. We are a perfect pair because she pushes me in speed and I push her to run longer. It has been a lot of fun training with her and getting to know her this year. We helped each other paint our rooms on day 3 and 4 and that was a pretty good bonding experience.
Weekends in Chicago and with my roommates are lots of fun and you’ll have to look at my facebook pictures for all of our adventures. My boss is fantastic and has taken Kate and me boating on the Mississippi River in Iowa, taken us out to dinner and lunch multiple times and came to our house to unclog the drains in our showers. He is an amazing guy and has committed so much of himself to help hundreds, maybe thousands of youth, he is definitely a role model I look up to and respect immensely. He is very caring and fun to be around and a great guy to know and a wonderful boss to work for.
At my house we have dinner together every weeknight (we each cook one night a week) and spend a large amount of time together in the evenings and on the weekends. We have prayer nights and faith sharing. Every Wednesday is community night run by Amate and is 4 hours long and we spend the time doing a variety of self-growth and community building activities. Like I said before, my roommates are great and we have tons of fun together and are learning to live together in a simple community living off a minimal amount and trying to be better stewards of the earth. It has been trying at times but is looking to be a fabulous year full of learning, laughing, and loving.
We just finished up a fun weekend and have labor day off of work so I will have to write more about that later, my housemates are about to start a movie so I am going to go join them.
Sorry this first one was so long, thanks for bearing with me, I will try to update this regularly so the posts are not always so lengthy.
I hope your lives are going well and would love to hear about them, feel free to respond on here, email, call, text, facebook, or snail mail me. I would love to hear from you!
Happy Labor Day, stay safe, God bless,
-Meg
PS food in Chicago is AMAZING!!! Tacos, pizza, sandwiches, donuts, tamales, coffee, tacos, funnel cakes, Gyros, pancakes, and more tacos (I’m not talking Taco Bell style but legit Mexican tacos that are delicious!) we LOVE food at Amate House
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