So it seems that the volatile Chicagoan weather has calmed down for the time being, but who knows how long that will last!  We had the worst thunderstorm in 2 years here a couple nights ago, complete with tornado warnings and being moved from the canteen into the hallway in my building for a good half hour while it died down.  The picture below was taken by the most time-perfect photographer ever, as lightning bolts struck both the Trump Tower and the Willis Tower at exactly the same moment!!!

I'm hoping that no more crazy weather comes my way this weekend though, because I'm hopefully heading down to the Taste of Chicago event (all sorts of food vendors and samples brought together in Grant Park for a week-long festival).  There are also going to be bands on throughout the day; mainly looking forward to seeing Gavin Rossdale (Mr. Gwen Stefani).  Other plans for this weekend include watching the World Cup matches - USA are playing tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to go watch with the 'soccer' (FOOTBALL!) fans downtown.  Everyone seems to have really got behind the US team this year, which is a lot of fun so I'm looking forward to some good atmosphere!

Work this week has been great, and having been here a full week now I feel like I know my way round a lot better!  Everyone in the office has been recovering from an exhausting weekend and are just about back on their feet now!  So, after the initial clearing up after the Highland Games, I've been looking into how other ethnic organisations in Chicago appeal to young people as well as drawing up a survey to find out what people actually want to be a part of their 'young' Chicago Scot experience.  I'm also going to try and work on the social networking pages over the next few days so that we can reach out to more people.  So all is cool on the work front (especially now I have air-con on full whack to survive the humidity). 

I also have to mention that Thursdays are my new favourite day of the week.  Every Thursday is 'ice cream day' in the Scottish Home, and seriously, best. ice cream. ever.  Can't wait for next week's helping.  People worry about the Freshman 15, but I think I need to be more concerned about the Intern 15!!  It's delicious.  I don't think there's any going back now I've tried it.

I think that's all for now.  Hope everyone else's packing/internships are going well.  Talking of which, I have several cardigans which I packed unnecessarily...there's no need for them here at all.  Sunblock on the other hand...

I promise my next blog will be less weather-focused!

Rachel x