Chicago Summer Project: The Arrival

Well, the moment has arrived: I am in Chicago.
I have been here for roughly 27 hours and I have to say these have been the busiest 27 hours of the year, even more so than when I was at The Ohio State University. Ever since I arrived yesterday, I have been running all over the apartment building and all over the city, unpacking, buying food, and hanging out with the 60 other students that have moved to Chicago for project. Needless to say, it has been hectic around here so far, and I suspect it will be that way for much of the summer with all the things that the staff have planned for us.

So now for a little recap of what has happened over the last day or so.
First thing I did when I got here was unload my stuff and get it up to my room. We were able to move everything in one load, which was nice since I strongly dislike making multiple trips to and from the car. Once all my stuff was in my apartment I got a chance to look around at our setup here. It's always encouraging when people keep telling you that you have the best suite in the entire building. And none of them were kidding at all. The first thing you notice about the apartment when you come in is the view. Our suite is locate on the corner of the building overlooking Morgan Street and Van Buren so we have a clear view of the surrounding area. Additionally, we have a straight on view of the Sears Tower, which is such a sight to behold. I couldn't ask for a better view of the city.

This may not be the best example, but looking out on the Sears Tower each day is pretty cool

This is the view down Morgan St. I think it's cool how the road just goes off into the distance.

Our suite is also incredibly spacious. You barely notice there are six guys sharing this space, except for the stuff all over the floor. The main room includes a full kitchen, a lounge/living room area and space for a dinner table that can fit us all. There are four bedrooms of which I have one all to myself, which is great because I like my space. And there are also two bathrooms so that all six of us are not sharing one bathroom. You can imagine how much of a disaster that would be after ten weeks.

As far as my suitemates go, they're pretty cool. Stephen, whom we call Coan (it's his last name and it's fun cause it sounds like Cone), is my fellow Ohio State Buckeye in the room. Caleb hails from Muskingum University and actually just arrived back from a friend's wedding. From what I can gather he's kind of a techie like me and a very intelligent person. Then there's Taylor and Dan from Michigan State. Taylor is a pretty smart guy if a little hyper and disorganized. He also eats a lot, so I have to guard my food well so that it does not meet a mysterious fate in the middle of the night. Dan is quieter but still talkative, kind of the 'dad' of the group. He just left to get groceries for tonight's dinner if that explains the designation. Finally there's Adam. He's kind of like an organized version of Taylor: pretty hyper but not much of a mess maker. Overall we make a pretty good group. I think this summer will be pretty fun in our suite.

Caleb (left) and Adam (right) trying to figure out the vacuum

Taylor (left) and Dan (right) cooking our dinner

Stephen Coan looking fly. I stole this from his Facebook since he wasn't available to be photographed

Aside from my suitemates I've met a lot of people on the project in the past day. Most people are pretty friendly and welcoming, so it was nice to get to talk to a bunch of different people from other colleges. I feel like the chemistry of the group is good, so things should go well over the next ten weeks. We've already done a few group activities that have been fun. We went to see the new X-men last night, which was fun, although the theater we went to was really weird. They had reserved seating so that we couldn't sit where we wanted to and had to split up. And there were four security guards in the one theater we were in to make you move if you sat in the wrong seat. It kind of ruined my enjoyment of the movie, but it was still good. Then today we got oriented to the city by the staff and then went on a tour of Downtown, where we went around different stops on the subway to pray for the city. We got to go to Millennium Park in the middle of the city and check out some of the sites. Among the things we saw at the park were the famous "Bean" statue as well as two weddings and a large crowd of Zombies. Yes, there were zombies in Millennium Park. Apparently we arrived at the same time as the 2011 Chicago Zombie March so there were a multitude of people shambling around the park looking very undead. It was actually kind of cool, although some people had in fake contacts that made their eyes discolored and weird.

Millennium Park in Downtown Chi-Town

The Bean

After we escaped the zombie apocalypse, we walked through some of the parks down Michigan Avenue and then made our way back to the Lofts to relax before dinner. This is the first period in the past day that I've been able to sit down and relax, and boy, does it feel good. I feel like I've done as much walking and standing as I did in all my time at Ohio State. But it's all been fun so far, so I think I'm definitely going to enjoy myself.

Before I close, I want to thank all of you who are supporting me on my mission this summer. I could not have made it to this point without your faithful giving and trust in me and our staff to use your money wisely. I can assure you that the money you donated has been very well spent so far and will continue to provide us with the funds we need to accomplish our goal of bringing the light of Jesus to the Chicago area.

Thank you all so much for your support,
-Brad Girdwood