This will be the last blog post I write in Chicago.  The next one will be from back on the other side of the Atlantic. Scary!!

Tomorrow will be my last day in the office, then Sunday night I fly to London.  I'm going to be staying in London for a couple of weeks, so it's not like I'm going 'home' just yet, but still, this particular chapter is coming to an end...an end that has arrived far too quickly for my liking.   

Chicago is an AWESOME city.  As the saying goes, it's my kind of town.  If you can, I absolutely recommend that you visit.  It is the biggest place that I've ever lived, having grown up in a small town and then going to university in St Andrews.  Despite the jump in size, I settled into Chi-town life incredibly easily (a process which was made a great deal easier by the wonderful welcome that everyone here has given me).  So before I ramble some more about my final week adventures, I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone I've worked with, as well as the friends I have made out of work during my time here.  Having good company definitely makes great experiences even greater.  Keeping in touch with the people here as well as with the other Saltire interns is a big priority for me.  Talking of which, Saltire have been fantastic during this whole experience - I'm seriously impressed with how they managed to juggle the logistics of so many internships and still always reply to my question-filled emails speedily!

Anyway, my final days in Chicago.  About 2 weeks ago, when it properly hit me how little time I had left, my life turned into a bit of a bucket list...trying to squeeze in as many 'must sees', 'must dos' and, in my case, 'must eats' as possible.  I'm shocked that my waistline hasn't expanded three-fold since I've been here, the amount of gorging on various goodies (mainly ice cream and pizza admittedly) that I have been doing.  Talking of which, I might just have eaten some strawberry cheesecake ice cream at work.  Ohh, and I might have had jackfruit, strawberry, and 'pepper and olive oil' ice cream last night.  Woops.

It's been a little bit different at work this week.  I finished my report into youth participation last week, so this week has been a combination of looking to the future of the project and also doing bits and bobs around the office - making gift baskets, sourcing tam o shanters, you name it...on the gift basket front, I'm going to give Kristen a shout-out in this post (she's going to love getting a name-check!) for being a super-competent basket-wrapper.  She showed me the correct way to do it, after she discovered me in the corridor with cellaphane rolled across the floor. 

So, what have I learned during my internship?  How to wrap a basket I would say is number 1.  How to cope with high temperatures and crazy humidity is another.  Most importantly however, I have gained confidence in my independent research skills, have a better understanding of the day-to-day workings of a not-for-profit, and can better articulate my ideas both verbally and in writing.  All in all, my time at the Illinois Saint Andrew Society has been a lot of learning and a lot of fun. 

I have immersed myself into another culture, which despite sharing so many things with Scotland - most handily for me, a language - has many differences as well (and not just in the aubergine/eggplant debate).  The American lifestyle is one which really appeals to me; the can-do work ethic, the incredibly friendly atmosphere, the accent and the sunny climes.  I'm coming back to Scotland with an invigorated ambition to do well in my final year at St Andrews, and then looking forward to life in the working world...goodness knows in what capacity!  The jury is still out on whether I'll go straight into that world or whether my route will be via a little postgraduate studying.  What I do know however, is that I really enjoyed the communications aspect of my role, and the not-for-profit environment really suits me.  I'll let you know when I've came to a conclusion!

For now, I'm off to scribble out the last few items on that bucket list before Sunday night comes around.  After many recommendations, and even a couple unsuccessful attempts due to lengthy queues out of the shop, Cheese and Caramel popcorn is at the top of that list!!

To the rest of you still out there in the world (I'm very jealous of all these 'I'm at the halfway point' blog posts) - work hard and play hard!

Rachel x