Chi-Urban Excursion

Post Chi-Urban Excursion

Let me just say this, I did not enjoy waking up at 4 in the morning today.

Was I glad to go home? Yes, definitely. I was tired of being suffocated in a room that you had no idea how to turn down the heat.

Would I come back to Chicago? Yes. As a young adult, the city has so much to offer. The culture is rich and vibrant and the people are relatively friendly.

To be perfectly honest, I thought I made a mistake coming on this trip. For a split second, I wished I had gone to Vegas like every other Gonzaga senior, but after this week I don’t regret my decision at all. I got the opportunity to Chicago, definitely not your stereotypical tourist side (which I am very grateful for), but I got to see the many different elements of the city — socio-economical, racial, environmental, and a little taste of the political side. Through the Gonzaga education, I’ve been aware of the socio-economic and racial problems our society has through academia and community service perspective, but this trip has allowed me to observe events as they happen. It gave me a different perspective that ties in all the theories I’ve read in books and brought them to life.

Overall this trip has made me realize a lot of things. It has helped me clarify what kind of person I want to be as I graduate and enter the real world; deepened my understanding of culture and the importance of diversity in our society; most of all, taught me that opportunities are limitless. I realize that I want to be a lifelong learner so I can make conscious decisions that won’t attribute to the already existing problems. I understand that by learning people’s history and culture, you are able to develop respect for them. You are able to break through or understand stereotypes, but those stereotypes will not limit you and your treatment upon that person. Lastly, I didn’t even know that a program such as the Chicago Center existed. If I knew about it during my undergrad, I would’ve definitely tried to get an internship so I could learn about the many different ways I can be involved in a nonprofit.

Catch phrase of the entire trip: “If you ain’t clappin’ then you hatin’! & It’s a hater freezone!”

– SG

Thursday- last day of scheduled events

It was a cold Thursday morning and after a quick breakfast(usual, toast and fruit) at the hostel we left for one more adventure. We headed to Jose Guerrero’s art studio. This building was old and cold inside, however his studio was warming and unique. Jose showed us his families day of the dead memorial  and some of the work artists do at his studio. As he said to us many times throughout our visit with him, there is no art only for art sake, there is always going to be political and social connections to the art pieces. And it’s true, the works he showed to us were representing social and political issues especially in their community. Most of the murals we saw on our walking tour of the community represented social issues like education, hunger, safety, and families.  After an interesting but quite chilly tour around we stopped by the national museum of Mexican art where we got to see some quite fascinating art peaces. Guess what was next? Lunch time, we went to this great mexican food place called mi Tierra, the food was authentic and the restaurant’s atmosphere was very welcoming. At lunch we got to meet with more organizers from the Chicago Center. Scott sat at my end of the table and it was nice to be able to talk to a sociology major and to see how he went from taking classes that he was passionate about to having a job that he loves as well.  It was also very interesting to hear his take on the communities in Chicago that we visited throughout the week. He made a clear point that with the students whom he works with he tried to get them to understand that it is not about coming in and solving problems because there are many people in Chicago, some of which we were lucky enough to meet, who are very knowledgeable about their community and it is from them that we can learn from. The biggest point made was that it is not that people do not know how to solve problems, they just do not have the resources to do so.

Later, we visited new  communities program organizer of ‘enlace chicago’ alheli Herrera. She told us what the program does for their community. I was interested to hear that they set up these different sport tournaments for the children as well as after school activities to help provide them a safe place to go in their neighborhood instead of getting  involved in gang activities.  This was our last official activity of this trip.

For dinner we had chicago’s famous deep dish pizza, it was a great meal and it also allowed us time as a group to reflect on our trip. We also were blessed with some surprise visitors who were connected to the Chicago Center in some way and or active in Chicago’s community.

They were able to share with us what they do as well as becoming another resource for us especially when it comes to ways that we can become involved in organizations that fit our interests.

We finished our night by going to an improv  comedy show, which was a great way to end our time in Chicago. Now its packing time, tomorrow we are leaving for Spokane at 4 am. It has been an amazing and very beneficial time in the windy city, thank you all who helped to make this trip possible.

P.S. We are now in the denver airport for our layover and it seemed like just a few hours ago we were all sitting here anxious to get to Chicago.  I have learned so much in the little time we spent in the community but I know I have just barley scratched the surface of what it really means to live in Chicago and can only imagine how awesome it must be for the students who are able to spend an extended amount of time learning at the Chicago Center. It’s always nice to be involved in service but I also think it is equally as important to step back and take the time to learn about different communities; their struggles, culture, community life, politics, etc.

Marija Vareikaite and Ashley Martin

Wish you were here! No, seriously, Chicago has again and again shown us the inspiring efforts made by people passionate for a cause. During our reflection meetings, every person in our group shared insightful comments about our travel experiences.

It’s all about community! On Tuesday we went to Altgeld Gardens and visitied with Cheryl Johnson, a grass-roots leader for an environmental justice organization. Her devotion to environmental awareness was deeply admirable and so was her faith in community.

Today, more culture! Navigating our way to the South side of Chicago through the morning mist, we explored the DuSable African American History musuem which displayed valuable learning tools and artifacts from Africa, African Amerian roles in various war periods,  popular culture pieces, as well as paintings and essays. The group was also given an informative tour on various neighborhoods, including Hyde Park, Pilsen, Bronzeville, Bridgeport, and Chinatown. Pilsen has amazing murals and we can’t wait to go back tomorrow! Agenda tonight? Wednesay mass and enjoy another community to learn from 🙂 Peace

~ Annie

Goodness, you did not want to see our tired faces this morning when we arrived at the airport at 5:30am. We had a two hour layover in Denver, ate some chili, and knocked out on the plane to Chicago. In no time, we were welcomed by cold wind and sun (surprisngly).

The city is amazing though. Imagine the Chicago skyline showcasing old brick housing complexes, a wealth of historic monuments and landmarks, artistic expression at every corner, a plethora of cultural communities, and an array of diverse food inviting us to dive into the diversity that Chi-city has to offer.

We spent our first night at the Les Fleur de Lis Restaurant, a Creole restaurant in Kentwood. We were embraced with Chicago hospitality and good eats! Dishes ranged from shrimp po-boys to jambalaya to (my personal dish) blackened catfish, rice dressing, and fresh asparagus. Delicious! The dim-lit atmosphere was a great segway into the night. It was Asylum Sundays at Les Fleur. The restaurant was slowly filled (and eventually packed) with a community of pariticipants who enjoy spoken word poetry and live music. Artists, or rather, your average folks from the community, came to to the restaurant to express feelings of happiness, grief, anger, joy, humility, empowerment, strength, sadness, and love. The emcee applauded our guest appearance and the community welcomed us into their world. We went through a well of of emotions and after three hours of performances, we finally retreated to our hostel for a good night’s sleep reflecting on the reality that we were really in urban Chicago.

-Giselle

Day 2: so today was all about seein other cultures from a new perspective. We went to a lgbt center which was one of the largest centers in the country where we were joined by anothe group from north carolina. A speaker from the lgbt community spoke about his experiences as a homosexual in a heterosexual community. It was great to see the dynamic between our group and the group from north Carolina. After that conversation we switched gears and listened to a woman talk about her experience as a south Asian immigrant. Then it was off to the bulls game!!! Mhayes