A Day in the City by Allison Theune

            This semester has been so much more than the incredible Internship I’m involved with. I’ve ventured across the city from Chinatown in the south to Rogers Park on the north side. There are so many cultures and so much diversity to explore and be a part of! It’s been an incredible semester so far, and each weekend has been another opportunity to be a part of this beautiful city.

            A few weekends ago I had a day full of adventure. My roommate Bekah and I decided to meet up with some Hope students (the school I attend) that were visiting Chicago for the Chinese New Year. We had no clue the day would be filled with so much diversity, or that we would literally cover the entire city throughout the day.

We began the day by attending “Living Stones Church” in Rogers Park for the first time. As we stepped into the front meeting area, we soon discovered that the 10’ by10’ room was in fact the ENTIRE church. We were immediately approached by eager members full of energy and love for the Lord. Although the congregation is small, they are all passionate about their faith and digging deeper to reveal the truth of God. After the service in which there were about 15 people in attendance, there was a short time afterwards that we spent talking to one of the ladies who was encouraging and sort of took us under her wing. We decided this was the right church for us this semester.

As the day continued, Bekah and I took the red line train all the way down to Chinatown for the New Year’s parade. We arrived and met up with some of Bekah’s friends from Hope to watch the festivities. Although it was a relatively short parade, the costumes were fun and the traditions were reflected throughout the parade. As we were leaving to meet up with other Hope students, we even stopped in a small Chinese bakery to buy some Chinese buns for only $1!

Our next stop was West Rogers Park where we explored Little India. We stepped into a clothing store filled with saris and other Indian attire. I was still in Chicago, yet I felt like I had stepped into a whole new world! This is one of the aspects of the city that excites me the most. You can encounter so many cultures, beliefs, languages, and dress. And it continues to blow my mind! We finished up our day with the Hope students by going to the Viceroy restaurant. This beautiful restaurant has a buffet of Indian cuisine that was amazing! With unlimited amounts of vegetable curry, tandoori chicken, and vegetable samosas in my stomach, the evening had ended successfully.

However, the night was not over! Bekah and I then headed downtown to the Museum of Contemporary Art to watch a dance performance by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Bekah had managed to score us $10 student tickets, when the original price was $35 (oh the advantages of being a college student)! Boy am I glad we went! The dancers were such intriguing movers. I was very impressed by their performance of contemporary dance!

With our sore feet and tired eyes, Bekah and I decided to call it a night. Looking back at that day, I felt so blessed to be able to have that experience. Chicago has so much to offer, and even being able to see a glimpse of it made me begin to fall in love. Since that weekend, I have had many other adventures around the city. Only four weeks in Chicago, and I already feel like I’ve been around the world!