Florida to Chicago in two days. This is my first major road trip and I will be seeing Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky for the first time. As we travel north in early February the weather gets colder and the sky grayer. The seven of us in the bus stay warm when the sun goes down by cranking up the music and dancing. During the day we entertain ourselves by reading stories to each other, writing, and staring out the window at the slowly changing landscape.

Miles later we see the dazzling Chicago skyline against the night sky. At that time I thought my stay in Chicago would only be a few months and then I would go to my European placement.

It is eleven months later and I am still in Chicago, working at Inspiration Café. (My intended European project was dismantled, so I will be staying here until departing for Belgium next spring.)

Inspiration Café is a restaurant for homeless people and works to serve Café guests with dignity while assisting them in finding housing and a source of income. My time at the Café is split between office duties–writing proposals, arranging outings to plays, etc.– and working in the Café supervising dinners twice a week.

My first time working the Monday night dinner shift, the rhythm of the Café is inviting and invigorating. I am introduced as "the new Allison" (she was the former BVSer at the Café) and am received with smiles. Many Café guests want to find out about me–where I am from and how long I will be staying, etc. When I tell them Massachusetts is my home state, many of them give advice on what to do and see in Chicago.

It takes a while longer for guests to tell me about themselves. Gradually they began to share pieces of their lives. Café guests, like people everywhere, have joyous, silly, fun, frantic, trying, tiring, defeating, and inspiring moments that make up their lives.

J.C. traveled to every state in America excluding Hawaii. Bob was a bus driver for twenty years and is a Chicago expert. Oliver was a horse trainer in Ireland. Tracy was in a rock band called the "Weaker Six," that played at Chicago's eternally hip club the Aragon.

Some stories are not exciting or humorous. I listen to first accounts of rape, abuse, and drug addictions that were dangerously close to death. Hearing these things directly from the people who survived the destructive elements that dominated their lives increases my knowledge and respect for the human condition.

Despite many drastically different pasts, all Café guests are homeless and are working toward stable independent living. The Café's community, the motivation of some guests, as well as their humor and hope are inspirational.