safe in the arms of strangers

i arrived in chicago midway airport last night anxious and nervious. i read most of the way (anne lamott's blue shoe) and chatted some with the girl next to me who dropped her cup of water right between her legs. apparantly i wasn't the only one who was nervious. at least i hide it better. i mean, come on. get a grip. (if you could see my eyes you'd know that's a joke). so i arrived wondering if i'd be able to work chicago's transportation system. if i'd find my way through the airport alright. i was a little sad that i had to travel by myself. i despise the fact that everytime i have to do something challenging on my own i start reconsidering the whole single thing. my thoughts naturally go there. and then reading anne lamott whose character is sad about being divorced and wanting to date any man, even a married one...

but i've decided that almost anyone with any sense could work the transportation system here. it's pretty easy. it's true that my friends (who were at first only friends of my friends, but now definitely my friends as well) have helped me through it, telling me which line to take where, but i was still scared that i wouldn't find the line or that i'd miss my stop or not have put enough money on my card. i was really scared that i wouldn't even be able to find the trainstation from the airport. there's signs everywhere (with directions) and for those who don't want to read or notice, there are voices overhead telling you what to do. "this is the red line to howard," "this is argyle. the doors open on the left at argyle. you can connect to the purple and brown line here," "the next stop is loyola..." and so on. i think if i moved here i could definitely make do without a car, and i can't tell you how much that excites me.

i left the house at 7:30 this morning and took the red line to fullerton and then walked about a block and a half to the depaul student service center. i registered for the conference and found some people from waco! yay! not alone. see? single's alright. there were so many great sessions today - on agrarian farming and it's relation to urban life, on the catholic worker's movement. i heard three different takes on the use of imagery in worship and christian formation - one from an orthodox perspective, one from a catholic perspective, and one from a mennonite perspective. it was very interesting. i also went to a seminar entitled, "beyond sunday school: christian formation and subversive worship." also very good.

i walked by loads of great books that i stopped myself from buying, but i'm going to pray about it tonight and may end up buying one or two of them. i don't know yet. there's a 40% off discount conference price, so i feel like it's a good deal. i just don't know which ones would be most beneficial.

i've met lots of cool people. today i met several from reba place and even went by there tonight with one of the ladies i met. i met up with her at the train station, and she offered to show me how to get to reba place and then drive me back to where i was staying. but i only knew one way back to this place and that was from the train station. she thought she knew how to get here, but we ended up getting lost. i had forgotten my cell phone.

reba place is not what i imagined it to be. i thought it would be some gated community where they grew vegetables and had a church building at the center of the place. i was pleasantly surprised. it turns out that the fellowship is made up of a bunch of different apartment buildings and houses on one street where people live. there are several households - that is, around 5 or 6 people live together in the house or apt. complex on different floors. the church is within walking distance on the corner of a street. there is a garden where they grow their vegetables, but i haven't seen it yet. i think i may get to work in the garden on thurs.

i have also met a lot of neat people who are leading the conversations about things like how to live faithfully in a world marked by consumerism and materialism. and by leading i mean they're the ones writing books and articles on these type of issues and having them published. today at dinner i met a delightful lady and had wonderful conversations with her. then as we were getting ready to leave she says, "i have to skip out and make a call. i saw the cover of my book today, and i was surprised...i didn't really like it." she said it all as though it was her fault that she didn't like and as if she felt she should like it no matter what. then she and the others at the table talked about whether or not she had any say in the matter and if so, how she should go about saying something. i just smiled - i have nothing. i've never had a book published.

now i'm off to the futon. tomorrow is conference in the morning and reba place in the afternoon. night.