Hello and Basics

Here's my new blog devoted to my year as a Young Adult Volunteer in Chicago. It's unlikely that anybody reading this blog doesn't know about what a YAV is, but here are the basics.
Young Adult Volunteers is a program run by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). In it, people devote themselves to a year of service somewhere in the world (there are 16 sites this year, from Tucson to Kenya). When possible, each group of YAVs in a city also lives together in intentional Christian community, splitting chores and providing a support network for each other. My program in Chicago is also a part of DOOR, which stands for Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection. DOOR is a half PCUSA, half Mennonite organization that aims to teach people to "see the face of God in the city". They host anything from week-long mission trips to year-long service volunteers, like us.
This is the first year that Chicago has been a YAV or year-long DOOR site, and there are six of us living in Faith House. Faith House used to be a two-flat apartment building, which makes it pretty spacious for six people. Our site director, Krista, also lives around the corner from us, so we can hassle her if we have any pressing 3 A.M. questions.
The past two weeks have been orientation, both for general YAVs and Chicago DOOR people. The first week, spent in Stony Point, NY at a PCUSA retreat center, was focused on more general information and social theory. We had some time to hike and relax with our fellow YAVs, but spent most of the time in discussions about privilege, globalization, culture shock, and other topics which have affected us for years, but we are rarely conscious of. This week's Chicago orientation was more focused on logistics -- how to get around on Chicago's public transportation system, organizing our grocery budget, the things we needed to function in the city. One day a week will be spent learning about social injustice in Chicago, so we have quite a bit more time to explore it. We've also toured at each of our individual placement sites, so we understand what our roommates are doing during the work-week. It's been a lot of fun, but right now I'm really excited to finally start work next week.