With every new adventure comes new experiences and a new location.  The next adventure in my life is Teach for America in Chicago.  I’m here in Chicago for interviews and certification tests and it’s amazing how fast my lsit of adventures has already grown.

I flew in from D.C. thanks to my mom for driving me and dropping me off at the airport.  It was so nice to see her because it’s been nearly 4 months.  My room has dramatically been changed -in a good way - from being completely blue teenage dream to a nice off-white guest bedroom.  The room looks like it was taken straight out of a Bed and Breakfast in England and is very welcoming.

I flew to Detroit and then to Chicago and immediately my experiences with Chicago and the midwest were AWESOME.  I was nervous and excited because I knew this is where I would be spending the next two years of my life so I figured I better like it.  I’ll save you the trouble of reading the rest of my blog: Nothing, absolutely nothing, so far has made me second guess choosing to do Teach for America in Chicago.

My first interaction was with the L operator in the airport.  I know the D.C. metro line like the back of my hand but it was going to take some getting used to a new system.  I asked the woman what to do because I only had 2 dollars and the fair was a 2.25 flat rate.  She brought me over the credit card machine and because it wasn’t working she opened the gates and let me ride for free!

Then on the train everyone was their typical train self - very isolated and very introspective.  Then a man came on the train with his daughter on the train in a stroller and told everyone he was laid off and needs money for his girl.  I felt badly for him but knew I only had two dollars and I needed it myself.  That was my real shock that I was no longer in Williamsburg but truly in a big city.

Then I switched trains and ran into a band playing with beautiful voices and great charisma.  They truly sounded great!  A woman mentioned one of them had a great voice and I agreed and she told me about how the Jersey Boys were raffling tickets off but she didn’t win.  It was just amazing how I could strike up a conversation because that typically doesn’t happen in D.C.  On my way to Millenium Park for 5 minutes I wasn’t sure what direction to walk in and so I asked a nice looking girl which way.  As soon as I asked the buildings opened up and the bright green patch of beauty was staring at us while riding the L and I felt like an idiot but she thought it was funny and said I would really enjoy it.  I was still carrying all my luggage and walked down to the Park.  Sadly I couldn’t stay long but saw Cloud Gate and the Face Fountains and was SO EXCITED TO BE IN CHICAGO!  My heart was fluttering and I must have had the biggest dumbest grin on my face.

Then I met up with my host who knew/knows R.J. Archer who is the past quarterback at William and Mary and who’s house/room I stayed in my junior year.  They used to play childhood sports together.  Small world!  Then he took me and the other TFA Corps Member JayCee out to dinner and have a beer.  We came back and pretty much passed out only to get ready for our intense day of interviews…….