My Chicago Adventure

Our home...we live in the taller building on the right. 

"Encuentro" means "I find" and although I am no longer involved in the Encuentro Dominicano program after which this blog was named, I think it is still a fitting title because I am still discovering so many new things about myself, the area where I live, and about life in general. I want to tell you everything I have done since I have been here in Chicago, but I have had so many amazing experiences that it would be nearly impossible!!! So I’ll share a little bit about my new city, and my community, and my ministry. All are wonderful and I am grateful every day that God has given me this opportunity…

First, Pilsen. This primarily Mexican neighborhood is where I call home. It is pretty close to downtown, just a little South and a little West, but it seems like a completely different city, and at times a completely different country. I have had some of the best Mexican food I have ever tasted, and as I walk down the street I can hear the sounds of Bachata, Meregue, and Mariachi music blaring from houses and from car speakers. This neighborhood is so alive and vibrant, with murals on every other building making sure that every resident and visitor knows that they are in Pilsen. A mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe always tells me when my bus stop is coming up, and I need to get ready to get off the bus and go home.

Our home is very close to the center of Pilsen, and right across the street from St. Pius V school and church. We’ve built some community with the church with the help of the Dominican priests that live above us and run the church. Fr. Brendan, one of the three priests we share community with, has invited us to street mass, to festivals in Pilsen, and even mass on the beach one morning, where we entered into community with other churches from around the city while others were having mass on different beaches in Chicago, all promoting peace and an end to violence on the streets. I have felt so welcome throughout these few weeks, and have enjoyed the smiles and greetings of the people here. I’ve also enjoyed the street festivals that seem to go on every weekend! It is amazing how much life this neighborhood has.

Living in my house with me are Stephanie and Sean, and the three of us have been exploring the city, cooking meals, and discovering interesting things about our house every day. It’s been great having someone to explore with, but even better to have someone to eat with, laugh with, and pray with just about every day. When its not just the three of us, we share community with Lisa, a volunteer from last year that lives downstairs, Julia and Morgan, current volunteers living with two sisters in North Lawndale, and once a week we share meals, prayer, and lots of stories with four sisters that live in South Chicago. I look forward to Wednesday nights so much, because they make dinner for us, and we get to talk about our week, and get their feedback, which is incredibly valuable from people with so much experience serving. It’s been great getting to know them, and I am really looking forward to sharing meals with them this year.

Finally, my ministry. As is with any new job, it takes some time to get into the swing of things and figure out your role in the school and exactly how things run. Unfortunately I did not get the chance. School started 1 ½ weeks after I did, and although I got my classroom set up, I had little time to prepare myself for anything else. I am the 3^rd and 4^th grade teachers assistant at Visitation Catholic School in Englewood, and on the first day of school we had 3^rd and 4^th graders in the same classroom and realized that wasn’t going to work. I volunteered myself to take on the 3^rd grade and be somewhat of a homeroom teacher, and Ms. Matula, the 4^th grade teacher, could come back and forth to teach lessons. So Friday morning, I took the 3^rd graders into my classroom and practically became the 3^rd grade teacher. With the help of Sr. Gloria, a Dominican sister who came out of retirement to help me, I was able to make it through the day with as few setbacks as possible. However, I am still working to make the day go smoothly. When it comes to lesson planning, I will have help, but classroom management is another issue. And these kids are something else. I’ve dealt with behavior before, but its going to take a lot of patience and positive thinking to not get as stressed as I did by the end of the day on Friday. I wish I could have some training or ease myself into it like a typical job, but that is not an option. I really like where I’m at, and I’m praying for help from God to guide me in the right direction and help me improve myself so I can better educate these kids that really need someone to be there for them.

So that has been my first few weeks in Chicago. I can’t even get into my time in New York, although I will say that during the first week, I was convinced more and more every day that I am in the right place with the right people. I’ve never felt so much a part of my community, and at the end of the week in New York, I couldn’t believe that I had to say goodbye to everyone I met there as they went off to their own ministries. I can’t wait until January when we all meet up again. And I hope to get more sleep this time!!! I was just too excited to be around everyone to sleep last timeJ