Cold.

Yesterday was a frigid spring day in Chicago. It was the kind of day where the wind blasts you in the face, slithers down your body, and constricts your bones of any warmth, until your left feeling as stiff and gelid as the tin man. I did not want to go to my internship at all. I was dreading standing for six hours on the cold sidewalks of Chicago, but I made my commitment to be out there and I had to be loyal to it.

It truly was painful. I never knew that my eyeballs to feel cold, until last night. Only when I would blink did they receive any relief from the atrocious and unforgiving wind. Each stop we went to cleared out 30 minutes early, leaving only the rats and abandoned grocery bags to dance under the moonlight.

I found that it wasn't so easy for me to complain about having to be outside once I was there. I would soon be alleviated of the cold as soon as I walked into my apartment building, I had some place to look forward to. My friends of the streets would not feel this same relief as I.

Towards the end of the night one of the supervisors explained why he comes out here night after night. For an hour or two we can provide a place for these people to look forward to. At the bus they can reenergize and not have to worry about being shot at, someone stealing there things, or being ignored. These stops are a refuge where they talk to other men and not have to worry about a fight; they can talk to women without being rejected.

Last night it hit me almost as hard as the wind rapping at my face, my time here is going to end in 2 months.

I don't want to have to say goodbye to more friends.

I don't want to leave.

I really enjoy my internship.