A Day in the Life....

I often imagine that people often wonder what a typical day might be like for me in Chicago, even though I only got here last week and people could probably care less. Nevertheless, if you decide to continue, I will subject you to just that. Except I haven't taken pictures of my apartment yet because there are still boxes everywhere, and it is, in general, a huge mess. So we'll start with me walking out the front door:

This is Ye Olde Apartment Building, better known as Linden Crest Apartments. It was built in 1924, which makes it old (my apologies if you were born around that time but my perspective on time is pretty limited). I would say which one of those windows is my apartment but I'd hate for someone to come by and try to rob me. However, I will say that the local, one woman neighborhood watch is located in the right bottom window in the center. This lady is perched by the window at nearly all times, eyeballing you as you walk into and out of the area.

This leads out to the street from the courtyard. You have to watch out for those steps there. They're very treacherous. From here you turn left toward Linden Avenue. The rich people live across the street in those million dollar homes I'll never be able to afford.

When you cross Linden which is right on the corner, you turn left toward work and this is what you see. In the distance to the left you have the Baha'i House of Worship, which I get to see every morning and evening as I enter and leave work. There's also a grocery store across the street to the left. In fact, I pretty much never have to leave a two block radius of my apartment. There's a grocery store, two cleaners, a hardware store, my insurance agent, my work place, my apartment, two Chinese restaurants, the EL stop, and the bus stop.

This is the door to the office. We're not located in the main Baha'i National Center, which is sometimes a good thing. For instance, there's a new dress code that's been implemented, which states that men must wear ties (which necessitates a dress shirt). Since we're a satellite office away from the prying eyes of the National Assembly we manage to get away with having our top button on the dress shirt unbuttoned. Such lackadaisical behavior wouldn't be tolerated over at the main office! Sure it seems minor but trust me when I say that the increase in comfort has resulted in at least a 5% increase in productivity.

This is my cubicle. I know it looks uninhabited except for the papers everywhere, but I've only had it a week. My co-worker, Sonia, shares the space to the right. Hopefully those bookshelves will be full of books soon and I'm sure I'll soon have so many papers spread out that you won't even be able to see the desktop.

Where are pictures of my co-workers, you ask? Well, you can't fault me for not making an effort but every time I tried to take a picture of one of them they vanished faster than the speed of light. Maybe with some time I'll be able to sneak up on them and catch them in their natural environment, hunched over a desk peering into the computer screen.

One of the nice things about living in Chicago is the presence of a major international airport. Of course this presents wonderful opportunities for travel so I've been watching some of the airfares online. Today I noticed that I could purchase a ticket to Montego Bay, Jamaica ($125) for less money than a ticket back to Little Rock ($199). Of course I guess that's little surprise given how important of an airport O'Hare is. It's the second busiest in the world, and it used to be the first before 2005 when Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson took over the top spot. More than 76 million passengers passed through O'Hare last year - imagine!

Things at work aren't quite in full swing yet since so much of the operation is still based in Atlanta, so I've had quite a few opportunities to read through the news. There's been plenty of interesting stuff but the most ridiculous has been from everyone's favorite crazy South American leader, "President" Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Apparently he's gotten into a spat with the leader of Colombia, who happens to be fairly pro-American in sharp contrast to President Chavez's very anti-American stance. This has led him to question whether or not the remains of Simon Bolivar, returned to Venezuela from Colombia in 1842, are authentic. "Are those really Bolivar's remains in the National Pantheon? We're going to verify this."

That's exactly the sort of nonsense you expect to see in an African paper. It always amazed me how simple-minded politicians there would be and how they would use cheap ploys like this to strum up support among the uneducated masses. What's worse is that people eat it up. However, what's more hilarious is a goof on CNN's part. Apparently their Spanish-language channel ran an image of President Chavez with the caption "Who killed him?", which led Chavez to declare that CNN was trying to incite an assassination attempt against him. CNN apologized and said the caption was meant for a picture of Sean Taylor, a football star who was shot and killed.

These are the people who are running the world.

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A School's End

I learned a day or so ago that Maxwell International Baha'i School was closing by order of the National Spiritual Assembly. It appears that it's no longer able to sustain itself financially and that, coupled with "other issues," is forcing the school to close. That's little surprise since enrollments have apparently fallen by half in the past 10 years. I'm not particularly well connected with the Maxwell community but of course you hear rumors in the wider community. Every school is plagued with difficulties but it's sad to see an institution of Baha'i education suffer from so many problems of the "real world" as it were.


I must be prematurely turning into a crabby old man for feeling like some fault is with the students. Then again I've never had a very rosy outlook on youth in the community. They're either extremely committed or woefully disobedient to the Cause. I know a lot of youth go through a rebellious stage where religion means nothing to them and more often than not they end up returning to some moral lifestyle. I can only imagine what faculty and staff members at the school must have to deal with when parents send their bad kids to the school in the hopes that they'll reform.


I don't know exactly how I feel about the school closing but I do commend the National Assembly for "daring" to take a bold step. Sometimes I feel Baha'i institutions allow themselves to be paralyzed to take a bold step forward out of fear of blowback from conservative community members. So maybe it wasn't the right decision but at least they made a decisive decision. Hmm...that doesn't seem like proper grammar.

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Here, There & Back Again

Last week, I started work. Officially I work for the Baha'i Distribution Service (BDS), which is an arm of the larger Baha'i Publishing Trust (BPT). I'll be the lead customer service representative once they close down the BDS branch in Atlanta in January but up until that point I'll essentially be in training and doing on-the-job training during the transition. In addition to filling the orders that come by e-mail, fax, phone and the website, I'll be handling some of the international accounts, which should prove to be interesting.

As for the training, they are running us ragged...

By the middle of December, we're supposed to have learned what takes most people two months, so essentially we're learning at twice the pace. Last week and this week I've been in Atlanta, but next week I'll be in Chicago. Following that we go back to Atlanta for a week, back to Chicago for another week and finally to Orlando for the Social & Economic Development Conference. At the conclusion of the conference and our Christmas break, we're back in Chicago for the foreseeable future, supposedly fully trained and fielding orders.

All of this traveling around leaves me with only this holiday weekend to move into my new apartment, unless of course I wanted to try to move in on a Saturday and Sunday only. When I arrived back home on Wednesday I have to rush to pack up the few remaining things that my parents didn't pack so that on Thursday we can begin driving the moving truck up to Chicago after Thanksgiving dinner. Naturally we won't make it all the way, but part of the way is better than nothing. That gives us Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do the majority of the moving. My parents are also staying over until Wednesday so that while I'm training down the street a few other things can be done.

So far, things are going fairly well. I've been enjoying my time in Atlanta, although the near constant traveling and stress of wrapping up things at home is wearing on me. Nevertheless, the friends here in Atlanta are all a joy and despite some tedious moments of training now that we're all getting to know one another better there's a great deal more humor involved (which of course I enjoy!).

The hectic pace is keeping me on my toes, but I'm really very much looking forward to moving into my own place! My eye is surely on that prize.

Leia Mais…

A New Beginning

I've decided to pick up blogging here again. Everyone seemed to enjoy it during my time in Africa, so I thought I'd continue the tradition of cataloging new steps in my life. Next week I start work at the Baha'i Publishing Trust, which will necessitate a move to the Chicago area. It will be my first "real" job, as well as my first time living away from home. People seem to think that my time in Africa will have prepared me well for being on my own but I know it didn't provide me with the sort of practical experience that would assist in a place like Chicago. But I'm steeling myself for a lot of baptism by fire, which I know is soon to come!

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Chicago with my parents to try to find an apartment. Next Tuesday I leave for Atlanta for training. It's a little unclear at this point how long that might take, but I was encouraged to find a place in Chicago "as soon as possible." Since I'll be working during the week starting Tuesday with only the weekends off (flying back and forth between Little Rock and Atlanta), I've had to give myself a crash course in apartment finding so that hopefully we can pin down a few leads up there between tomorrow and Sunday. Aside from scouting out the area, it will give my parents an opportunity to visit the Baha'i House of Worship and see the area where I'll be working and living, which I hope will ease whatever anxiety they may have about the move.

Incidentally, I won't be living and working in Chicago itself. I'll actually be working in a little town called Wilmette (also home to the Temple) and hopefully living in either Wilmette or Evanston. My goal is either to live within easy driving distance or near enough to public transportation that I can take the EL or bus to work. Thankfully, the office is half a block from an EL stop so that simplifies things. It's actually a great relief to me that I won't be forced to live and work in Chicago. While I enjoy the amenities of a large city, I don't necessarily think I'd enjoy living in one. The Wilmette/Evanston area (especially Wilmette) is a pleasant area, largely residential, with tree-lined streets and nice little shops and restaurants. It's far more reminiscent of my home town than a place with the hustle and bustle of downtown Chicago. But it's a comfort to know that all the greatness that is the city is only half an hour or so away so that a young person like me who is supposed to be (in theory) enjoying life can partake in all that the city has to offer.

For all the excitement of leaving my home and striking out on my own for the first time in my life, it's still a little bittersweet. I've lived here all my life (save a brief jaunt to Tanzania) so I have a certain attachment to the place. The South is a very unique place filled with unique people and unique experiences, and I'll be hard pressed to find its warmth and comfort in a place like Chicagoland. I'll also be leaving the Baha'i community in which I've essentially been raised (in the Faith), where I've served side-by-side with loving people for four years now. They are very much like my family and leaving them will be just as difficult as leaving my actual family.

But still the excitement outweighs the anxiety and the worries, the sadness and the reluctance to leave behind everything you know. As `Abdu'l-Baha said, "A moving object is a living object whereas that which is motionless and inert is as dead." It seems that I've been "as dead" long enough, so here's to movement and life.

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