seeing the world through rainbow colored glasses: week 4

Welcome, Ben! Also reppin' the ELCA so nicely. 

So much gay pride this week between the SCOTUS ruling and Pride parade! So much love. Congratulations to all of my friends who are able to marry, and to be legally recognized for their marriage, across the United States. So much color this weekend.

WH intern bean selfie

Before all of that though, many adventures were to be had this week. Ben's first visit to the Bean. Movie in Millennium Park--"Back to the Future". The DeLorean even made an appearance! The World Hunger interns definitely know how to party :) Watching "Inside Out." We had all the feels. And the feelings had the feels too. A great movie, but really puts you in touch with the emotions. We had a few false starts with the movie (wrong times, no tickets, late to the show when we came back the next day), so in the meantime we went out to sushi. It was the first sushi experience for Anna. You know I'm all about corrupting people with my sushi love.

DeLorean! 

dat skyline

I went to an incredible contemporary class this past week also. Dance really just does feed my soul. I didn't realize how much I needed the class until I was there. Speaking of dance, I headed to a performance of the Chicago Tap Theater this weekend. In honor of the 2-week circus here in Chicago, it was "Circo Tap." They were amazing tappers; what a show! The founder of the company actually spends his time teaching deaf children tap, which I thought was cool.

Chicago Tap Theatre: "Circo Tap"

This week's reading included "The Rules of Civility," "Friendfluence," and "Omnivore's Dilemma." I also finished Once Upon a Time on Netflix. Being so busy lately has cut into my Netflix binge-watching time...such a shame. ;) (kidding) I have, however, been reading so much more on the bus/train rides! I'm also getting a sense for where I am in Chicago and enjoy people watching and seeing the neighborhoods as they fly by the windows of the busses and trains.

And now for a random factoid: there's a laundromat right across the street from my apartment and I really love it. The whole neighborhood smells delightfully of freshly cleaned laundry (although likely this is a terrible environmental hazard and will affect the birth outcomes of my children, but I like how it smells). Clean laundry hands down is the best smell in the world. I'll take my short-lived environmental toxin exposure for happy olfaction.

And now for Pride:

WH loves everyone! 

Gina love. 

gay & lesbian Hall of Fame

I <3 my gay kids. 

of course there's a gay marching band,
cause why not?  

Dykes on Bikes.
Really got a kick out of this one!
There were probably close to 50 bikes thundering through the route. 

victory #tommysballoons

Chicago #tommysballoons

Pride 2015 #tommysballoons

well deserved post-Pride falafel 

rain, rain go away!: week 3

walking out and about in the neighborhood

I'm so tired of the rain. For real though. It's been raining almost every day at some point since I've been here. And it was rainy in Omaha for several weeks before I came also. I need some sunshine and vitamin D in my life pronto!! An unfortunate morning of rain and missing the bus resulted in some of the worst blisters in my life. I have new respect for dancers who deal with blisters more frequently than I care to. I was quite stoic through it all, I assure you. I promise I didn't whine or waddle around like it was the end of the world or anything... ;)

Other than the dreary weather, this week was a good one. More Netflix watching and more reading ("Sea of Tranquility",  "Breathing Space", and "Friendfluence"). If you haven't read "Sea of Tranquility," I recommend you stop whatever you're doing and go read it. Now. I couldn't put it down! This week also featured lots of great projects at work. Bowling with a friend from my MPH program in Omaha and her Chicagoan boyfriend and friends. I even got over 100 on 2 of 3 games! Pretty stellar for my bowling abilities. Homemade chile rellenos (thanks Pedro! They were delicious!) and fun conversation with Chicago transplants from Nebraska. I actually lived with/in the apartment of one of them in Lincoln the summer before I started med school. The world is small. I am so happy to have "home" people around while I start getting homesick.

Glazed and Infused donut stand

Another bonus was the fabulous care package from my parents. I got Eileen's cookies!! The taste of home was the most perfect Saturday surprise. I feel a little guilty that I haven't shared the goodness of Eileen's with the other interns or my roommate, but selfishly I want them all to myself! :)

This week the interns had lunch with Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the presiding bishop of the ELCA. She's sort of the figure head (and does lots of other things too) of the ELCA. She's absolutely hilarious also. She shared with us her favorite place she's visited since becoming bishop and also told us more about her job. We talked about many other things as well. We also had lunch with the Young Adult Ministry team--the always lovely, Rozella White. The fiesta they provided for lunch was especially delicious, but also the conversation rewarding. If you're a young adult and think you're alone in this church, you're wrong. It might seem like we are few and far between, but I promise amazing things are happening here. Let me know if you want to be part of them too!

The week was a bit of an emotional one for me, truthfully. The Charleston shooting hit close to home for ELCA congregations. Bishop Eaton, our presiding bishop, released this statement:

It has been a long season of disquiet in our country. From Ferguson to Baltimore, simmering racial tensions have boiled over into violence. But this … the fatal shooting of nine African Americans in a church is a stark, raw manifestation of the sin that is racism. The church was desecrated. The people of that congregation were desecrated. The aspiration voiced in the Pledge of Allegiance that we are “one nation under God” was desecrated.

Mother Emanuel AME’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, as was the Rev. Daniel Simmons, associate pastor at Mother Emanuel. The suspected shooter is a member of an ELCA congregation. All of a sudden and for all of us, this is an intensely personal tragedy. One of our own is alleged to have shot and killed two who adopted us as their own. 

We might say that this was an isolated act by a deeply disturbed man. But we know that is not the whole truth. It is not an isolated event. And even if the shooter was unstable, the framework upon which he built his vision of race is not. Racism is a fact in American culture. Denial and avoidance of this fact are deadly. The Rev. Mr. Pinckney leaves a wife and children. The other eight victims leave grieving families. The family of the suspected killer and two congregations are broken. When will this end?

The nine dead in Charleston are not the first innocent victims killed by violence. Our only hope rests in the innocent One, who was violently executed on Good Friday. Emmanuel, God with us, carried our grief and sorrow – the grief and sorrow of Mother Emanuel AME church – and he was wounded for our transgressions – the deadly sin of racism.

I urge all of us to spend a day in repentance and mourning. And then we need to get to work. Each of us and all of us need to examine ourselves, our church and our communities. We need to be honest about the reality of racism within us and around us. We need to talk and we need to listen, but we also need to act. No stereotype or racial slur is justified. Speak out against inequity. Look with newly opened eyes at the many subtle and overt ways that we and our communities see people of color as being of less worth. Above all pray – for insight, for forgiveness, for courage.

Kyrie Eleison.

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

I'm struggling with how I am supposed to respond to the very many events of racial tension and violence that have been in the media much more frequently over the past year. I know that, unfortunately, these events are not new. These types of events have been going on for years. It's only now that mainstream media has been picking them up. And it's only now that the conversation about racial injustices have become trending topics. I am thankful that those conversations are happening, that I can be part of them, and hopefully that change is possible. But I am sure that there is much more to be done beyond conversations. Still working out what that actually means for my life practically though.

What a week.

the week without wifi: week 2

such a blurry photo, but delicious!

I spent the majority of this week without wifi (and sort of terrible cell service), so it was quite the adventure. I got lots of reading done (finished Chronicles of Narnia, "Bang Bang" by Chelsea Handler, parts of "Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx by Pr. Heidi Neumark--an ELCA Pastor). More grocery shopping, too. And even laundry at the laundromat (which conveniently had wifi)! All in all, it was an excellent week.

Outside of work, this week was filled with other activities including eating delicious homemade French bread (by my roommate!) and fancy cheeses, a tour of the mailroom at work (which also entailed eating ice cream at 10 am and it was awesome), going to Chicago Ribfest and a summer series performance by the Hubbard Street dance company.

taste of summer: Caprese salad all day e'reday!

I thought I'd give y'all a bit of a better idea of what I'm doing this summer. My official title is "Jennifer Sharrick, Intern for Constituent Engagement of ELCA World Hunger." Or some iteration of that. What it means is that I am part of the team that is in contact with our thousands of leaders in the Church that are passionate about combating hunger and poverty. For now that mostly means making sure databases of names are updated and accurate. I also support the work of the other team members in any way I can.

mailroom tour treats!

We have the National Youth Gathering coming up in July and the other interns and I are hard at work fleshing out grand plans for the space we will occupy there. We are inviting youth to considering water. Water is a huge part of our every day lives, but for many it's also a challenge. A challenge to walk (on average 3.7 miles) to the nearest clean water. This job of water retrieval is often for women, which gets into all sorts of questions about inequality of education, paid work, etc. It also gets into conversations about human rights for clean water. And what are the health consequences if people consume water that isn't clean (diarrheal and parasitic diseases)? Or are living near stagnant water (...mosquitos!)? We are creating a track that has obstacles that you will have to maneuver through while carrying a jerry can of 5 gallons of water to simulate the experience. There's also a hang out space area with other games about water and hunger. It should be really awesome. Look forward to photos in a few weeks!

Ribfest: pulled pork nachos

We are also re-vamping one of the educational curricular tools called the "Gender and Hunger Toolkit" with some members of the ELCA Young Adult cohort (I seriously promise that a blogpost--or two--is still in the works about my time at the UN). It's been both rewarding and challenging to consider how hunger, health, and gender are interrelated.

As part of the internship we had to do the Strengthsfinder tool. My strengths are input, learner, woo (!), communication, and individualization. I haven't had much time to look much into them yet, but I look forward to capitalizing on my strengths in the future.

We are already mid-week of week 3. I will try my best to be better about getting updates out in a more timely manner! Hope everyone is well.

It's like an ice cream popsicle/sandwich of yumminess!
Pretzel rod dipped in caramel and dark chocolate
as the stick with vanilla ice cream coated by a thick layer
of dark chocolate and pretzel pieces.
Rain can't stop my food festival going!

I want another one of these. 

Ribfest: Dinky Donuts...creme brulee sugar!

Hubbard Street Summer series

Catch 35: shrimp & crab bisque

Catch 35: lobster mac & cheese

Catch 35: yellowfin tuna pokie with cucumber salad

Catch 35: creme brulee

new city, new me: week 1

Wow, I can't believe it's already the middle of June. My sincerest apologies for letting this past month slip by without a post. It was a bit of a doozy though and I needed some time to myself.

Momentum with my lovely new roomie, Kelsey! 

But since then I've finished up the year of my certificate program, looked for a new apartment with a new roomie in hOmaha, moved all of my stuff to storage, moved to Chicago for the summer for an internship, and a dance recital, among many other things. Like I said...it was a little rough. There's been lots of big changes happening and although they've been exhausting, I'm so happy to be where I am now. It's absolutely been the most perfect opportunity for me! More on that later.

In preparation for moving to Chi-town I had a Chicago (veggie) dog

Congrats Dr. Lizzie, DDS! 

"Lay Down" --dance recital, contemporary

"Choo, Choo"--dance recital, tap

"Big, Bad Handsome Man"--dance recital, lyrical

One of the many things that happened in May was the filming of this low, low, low budget commercial. As it turns out, acting is not my calling. But in the interest of saving myself embarrassment down the road, I share it now. If any my loyal readers would like to become a hunger leader, you can also let me know and I can get you hooked up too!

I moved to Chicago for an internship with the World Hunger team at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I have a beautifully decorated cubby (okay it actually could use more things...for instance postcards that my wonderful friends and family send me....?). And on the first day I was greeted with a welcoming box of candy, a coloring book, AND glitter crayons. My boss knows me so well! We also had an ice cream social the first day, so you know that I fell in love with the place immediately.

My cubicle. It now has a few more decorations even!

The first week was pretty much back-to-back meetings from 9 am - 4 pm every day, which exhausted me but was really exciting also. My supervisors will only be around for 7 and 9 days respectively this month (5 of which were during my first week), so we had to get lots of training/orientation and planning underway beginning the Day 1. I'm really excited for all of my projects (check back next post for more on that) and am looking forward to some time to actually work on them outside of meetings.

You can see who else I'm interning with here. We are quite the motley crew. We have also committed to experiencing Chicago by way of street festivals (commentary on the irony that that World Hunger food interns are the ones most excited about eating is unnecessary. We are already well aware...). There are also 8 other interns that we get to see throughout the day if we're lucky, but definitely at lunch. They have a special table for us to all sit out. It sort of feels like assigned seating in high school lunch, but it's nice to check-in with everyone daily. 

Here are photos from our first food festival...Taste of Little Village: Flavors of Mexico! We were also planning to go to another food truck festival, but the rain put a damper on our spirits a bit. There are many more to choose from in the coming weeks though! 

Bienvenidos a Little Village!

a cool refreshment as I wait for the others

Hunger Interns!

cheese enchiladas

Outside of work I found a dance studio to attend. The first class I went to was great, very different from what I'm used to but great. I look forward to continuing to explore classes at Lou Conte. I also have been reading lots on my commute (when I'm not people watching). I've finished the later 4 Chronicles of Narnia books (I read the first ones a few summers ago) and one of Chelsea Handler's books. She is strange human, but she does make me laugh quite a bit nonetheless. My Netflix binge-watching is also on point right now--although there was a short break in the ability to watch when our wifi went out for a week. I am ashamed to admit how much I rely on wifi and how hard it was to not have it, but I have somehow persevered.

I've done lots of exploring including finding the grocery store, laundromat and getting lost plenty of other times. Here are some photos of my time so far! 

Vegan BBQ burger on Amtrak?
Could have gone many ways. Turns out it was yummy!

I got a welcome sign at my new home!

homemade fried rice, blackberry margaritas,
and caramel candied apples as a welcome wagon?
I love this place! 

My first attempt to find the grocery store got me lost.
I ended with a delicious, happy accident dinner though!

public health in action in my neighborhood! <3
They had a sign for free condoms and free HIV testing in the window!

This place is on my walk during my commute. 
Seemed to be the weirdest combo of foods they served...
biscuits and pie. Goodness was I wrong, 
this place was DELICIOUS! I've already been back for more pie.