Heal the world, volunteer!

This was THE day. The day of volunteerist and service, the day of our group. We started at 9 am at the office as usual. Today Peggy and Anya came with us. Lisa stayed at the office as they are having another group at the same time from UK, with severe peanut allergies.



We walked to Adams/Wabash corner and went to the Chicago Area Project / Youth as Resources headquarters. It’s basically an NGO for resolving problems in the youth communities by youth. The also have an office on the east coast and several offices throughout Chicago. We met an African American group there, they were just full of energy. We taled a lot about volunteerism and organizing it and volunteerist by youth (YAR). We also created ideas of Youth organizations and events in 15 minutes.



It was time for a typical Chicago lunch. A very special group of youth served us beef sandwitches and hot dogs, in the Chicago-an way. It was all delicious. We had a “talent show“, where the youth from CAP rapped and sang to us, it was so cool, they are really creative. We took a lot of group photos and all sorts of pictures and it seemed like noone wanted to leave.




We ran to the CTA station and ended up waiting there for 50 minutes until the Dream Leaders came. We went to the very tought side of Chicago to Clara’s house. Clara is a very strong old lady who has had a shelter for homeless kids and their Moms for 25 years, she is determined and she has a big heart. We went to the backyard with the kids and everyyone got a child to read with. I ended up with a two year old girl Simone, the prettiest and cutest thing I’ve ever seen on Earth. We read some books, mostly looked at the pictures and counted the apples in them and said the names of the animals in them.





Eva was taking pictures throughout all the time there, I was too busy with Simone. She played with my locket and she seemed to be happy with the situation. We went to the table and she draw a picture, that she later gave to me- the best souvenir from America. She was sitting on my lap and we chatted a little, as much as possible with a two year old. It really was a facinating experience to have and it made me want to go to Africa to volunteer with kids or do something like that.





It was time to take the group pictures and say our goodbyes and we took the CTA back to the office. We did some reflecting with Lisa and now we are driving home with Metra. I still have Simone’s face in my mind. :)

Loco Mexico

On Monday we had the tolerance diversity day. In the Morning we took the CTA to Pilson, the Mexican neighbourhood in Chicago. It was the first time for me take the L, it was just loud, very loud. I prefer Metra. We walked through the blocks and avarything around us was very colorful, a lot of paintings called mirals, even in the train stations. It was very interesting for me to see the different parts of Chicago.





First stop was Radio Arte, a Mexican radio channel for youth, functioning on the volunteer work by the youth themselves. We were taken on a tour at the station and then we had an interactive session about immigration and getting the citizenship of the USA.





We had lunch at Mexican restaurant, not my taste, but it was a very typical place at that neighbourhood I guess and it was nice to chat with the girls from Radio Arte.



We were supposed to go to the Museum of Mexican Art, but it was closed on Mondays, so we went right back to the office, started with the action planning and then had some free time for shopping. I liked many shops on the State street (Urban Outfitters, Charlotte Russe), but we had to little time, so I didn’t buy anything.

We went home afterwards and met Lauren, finally. All the family has been talking about her and now she’s finally home from the camp. She’s a very pretty girl, much more quiet, but she seems to be have a very outstanding personality and much inside. We had a very good dinner: salad and noodles with vegetables.

After dinner Jeff invited us to his friend’s place. (I’m not sure if I spell Jeff’s friends’ names correctly) On our way there we stopped by Dominic’s, a huge supermarket and also Jeff’s and Lauren’s school. From 9th to 12th grade they have 5000 students. (Yes, there isn’t one 0 too much) It was just huge, they have tennis courts a swimming pool, two cafeterias, performing arts hall etc.

Arriving very late me, Greta, Lauren and Jeff went to Lukas’ (Polish) apartement with an ice cream cake saying „Happy Birthday Jas“. Jas is an Indian friens of Jeff’s and it wasn’t his birthday actually. I guess it was just an inside joke. There was also Lukas’ girlfriend and Gracian. These guys were really funny, especially Jas. We played monopoly and we had a kind of an alliance with Greta, so we were kind of winning. But we had to go home, so Gracian drove us there, it was scary to say the least, the turnes and the speed...õõh.

All in all it was a really fun day. We got to see more of the real Chicago life, going to the Mexican area and meeting Jeff’s friends and seeing the monsterous school.