1st & 2nd May

Wow! What a week that was. As you can see that I started off writing a daily blog but after the 3^rd day, i.e. Monday 30^th April, it was just not possible to keep pace with the week that sped full throttle. Before we realized and blinked the week was over. Our bodies were working 2 and half times faster than our brains. No kiddin!!!

Well, so now that I have some breather I’ll tell you what happened while we blinked? On Tuesday, 1^st May, May Day, Labor Day, Maharashtra day, Gujarat day, we visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Remember seeing those guys shouting out loud with some funny sign language in the movies trading something…yea that’s exactly what we saw. Brokers and agents trading in Commodities like Corn, Soya, Wheat, etc. etc. Although we could not take pictures in there, we got a great guided tour of the place and got a lot of insight into the world of commodities trading…doesn’t mean I’m in ‘em again.

The next destination was the most coveted Rotary place on earth, Rotary International World Headquarters. From shaking a hand with Paul Harris’s statue, to touching his furniture, glancing through the huge list of major donors, proudly holding India’s flag and a visit to the office of Rotary International President, Kalyan Banerjee, we did it all. It sure was an honor and I can’t thank Rotary enough for this respect.

After that overwhelming feeling, we drove past the beautiful Bahai Temple, a few ethnic neighbourhoods and a quick stop to click pictures with Michael Jordan…I mean with his statue ;-), we retired for the day. Dinner was at a lovely Mexican restaurant with Bob’s daughter Jenny and her 6 month old Austin…He’s shooo cute!

2^nd May, Wednesday was the day of our 1^st presentation. So we did little rehearsal at Marie’s house before we left for the Oak Park River Forest Rotary Club Meeting. It went off pretty well. Better than expected with the amazing response we got from the club members, who said this was the best GSE presentation they had seen so far. That was a sigh of relief!

Heard about Frank Lloyd Wright? I had not either, before some architects told me how lucky I was to visit his home, studio and some of the houses designed by him. Boy, was I in for a walk of a lifetime? I saw some of the most beeeeaaauutiful homes I could not even imagine existed. Architecture, so pretty, so thoughtful, so advanced for its time and made even more passionately. If ever you plan to visit Chicago, you simply can not not not miss this one. Take my word for it.

Following this awe striking tour, we were in for another pretty tour of Oak Park Library. A library that is hardly just a library. It’s a knowledge treasure, an art gallery, a technology park, kid’s paradise and everything you think a library cannot be. The automatic book collection system and the sorting system were so cool. They even had a little garden on the top of their terrace. It is an amalgamation of art, science, technology, history, architecture…can you imagine what that would look like? No? You have to see it with your eyes to know what I’m talking about.

Day ended with Chicago’s most amazing pizza’s at Giordano’s. Just what we needed at the end of a hard day’s job.

               

Monday, 30 April

Monday, 30^th April

After taxiing around for 2 days, our trip finally took off the runway on Monday. After a lovely breakfast with Bob and Merilyn, I was dropped off at Marie’s place by Bob. We then walked up to the train station and took a train to downtown Chicago to go to the Art Institute. 

The train ride was a different experience. I would not say the trains were in the best of their condition but yes, the efficiency was good. In spite of a Monday morning, the train was not crowded, which shows that it’s a least preferred commuting vehicle. People prefer to use their own transport than depend on public transport systems. The impression I got was that only those who cannot afford their own vehicle would use a public transport. The train went above a lot of industrial areas and also some slums around.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed every bit of the experience.

So finally we reached the Art Institute where Marie’s friend Marie Pierre, an art enthusiast and a freelance lecturer of art, was waiting for us at the gates. Marie took us in to a completely different world of paintings and life of these painters. The collection of the ‘Impressionists’ was remarkable at the institute. Listening to the stories and emotions behind the paintings of some of the great painters such as Monet, Picasso, Seurat, Van Gogh, took us on a different plane altogether. It was an out of this world experience.

Then after lunch at the Institute, our coordinator Marie Olmos, took us on a walking tour around downtown Chicago and showed us beautiful buildings with architectural brilliance. After the big fire which burned down practically the whole of Chicago, this city stood up in no time into an architectural wonder. It was not hard to believe that Chicago was blessed with such great Architects.

The day ended just right with all of our host families gathering together at the Greek Island Restaurant to enjoy the most sumptuous Greek food I have ever had. I don’t think the bakhalawa tastes that good in Greece as well.

29th April

Sunday morning was pleasant and we were all well rested by then. We were looking forward to the orientation program where we could meet a lot of prominent Rotarians and formally discuss our plan of action for the upcoming days. The itinerary planned for us is overwhelming and it was clear how hard the 6450 Chicago team had worked on it. They gave us each minute detail about where we would be at what time, whom we would meet and also the kind of attire we are expected to come in.

We were introduced to a lot of interesting Rotarians and also the outbound Team who had visited India in Jan this year. Later after warm and encouraging speach by DG David Templin, followed by a sumptuous brunch we all had to check out of the hotel. We were then introduced to our host families, and like little kids we were taken away by our families to their homes.

Robert (Bob) and Merilyn Giles are going to be my family for this entire week. They took me to their beautiful house in Oak Park. And boy, was I ready to get pampered by them? My room was all prim and proper with everything arranged, taking care of the minutest things that I would need.

They drove me to the Willis Tower (Sears tower) and took me right up to the sky deck. Bob made sure he pointed out every structure and building of significance and also told me a brief history about the city of Chicago. We then had dinner at the Navy Pier and drove me around showing Chicago downtown, the Chicago river and the Lake Michigan.

They day ended with a little chit chat in their TV room where we talked about India, Chicago, families and some of the goodies I had brought for them from India.

28-April-2012

Team 3060 reaches RI Dist 6450, Chicago, with a welcome that was quite unimaginable. We were received at the airport by District Governer David Templin, GSE Coordinator David Baker and David Woodcock. Outside waiting eagerly were Marie Olmos and Robert Blackburn.

Ah! what a start to a day it was with so many big-wig Rotarians receiving us with the warmest of smiles and highest of spirits early in the morning at 7.30. I am sure none of our team members would ever forget the grand welcome to the grand city of Chicago.

Later they dropped us at our Hotel Carleton, and after we checked in we were invited by our coordinator Marie to her beautiful house for a typical American breakfast with bread, variety of cheese, spreads, fruits and unlimited coffee. David Baker briefly reviewed the itinerary and answered all our queries. Marie was kind to let a few of our team members to use the skype at her home to get in touch with family to let them know we landed safely.

The rest of the day was spent getting a feel of the Oak Park city, which is the suburb of Chicago downtown. A pretty place with picturesque houses which looked so cozy and gardens with trees and plants of a variety of colors.

The day ended early as we were jet lagged, but looked forward to a beautiful tomorrow!

The final lap!

Good morning all!

We, the Group Study Exchange (GSE) team 3060 going to District 6450 in Chicago, gave our final presentation to the 3060 GSE Chair, yesterday on the 1st of April (2012), and fortunately, did not make a fool of ourselves on this April Fool's day ;-)

We are now in the final lap of our preparation to go to D6450 and the ball has started rolling for all. The excitement is high, the challenges are well accepted and above all, the team dynamics is profound. We all meet religiously almost every Sunday, in spite of our professional and personal commitments to make sure we serve the purpose of our month long trip to Chicago.

We are called the 'Ambassadors of Goodwill'!

Keep visiting our blog for regular updates!

Regards,
Arundhati (Team member)