Traveler Interview: Stranded in the States!

At the free ice cream social on Tuesday we stopped to talk with this traveler. He was enjoying some great free ice cream on the warm spring day!

HI: What is your name?
Juan Pablo Donoso

HI: Where are you from?
Chile

HI: How long have you been staying here at the hostel?
10 days. There was an earthquake in my home country you know? So I was supposed to leave earlier but no planes could get in. So I stay here for 10 days now. But I leave here tomorrow. I am very excited to return to my home country.

HI: What brought you to Chicago?
I came here to learn English. I was a lifeguard for 2 months in Wisconsin at Wisconsin Dells. But then I came here to know the city and to catch my flight home.

HI: But then you got stranded?
Yes

HI: What do you do back in Chile?
I study Business and Economy in Santiago.

HI: So what have you done here in the city?
Well, I went with the hostel for the free tour. I went to the restaurant of Al Capone.

HI: The Green Mill?
Yes

HI: Yeah that’s a great place.
Yes. And I went to the bar neighborhood, Addison and Lincoln Park. The Field Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art.

HI: Which of the museums was your favorite?
The Contemporary Art. Yes it was very good (smiles) a lot of famous art like Picasso and Monett. The Magnificent Mile was very amazing too. And the Navy Pier I liked too.

HI: Wow you have seen a lot of the city!
Yes. I stay here for 10 days and I walk all over. (laughs)

HI: Yeah I bet! So are you excited to back to Chile?
Yes, I miss my family a lot.

HI: Is your family okay from the earthquake?
Yes all of them are fine, but my city is destroyed. The city is made of really old buildings, so they are all destroyed. The new buildings, they are all okay, but everything else is gone.

HI: Wow, I bet that will be strange to go back and see all that!
Yes, very strange.

HI: Well, thanks for talking with me! I hope you have a safe trip back and enjoy being at home finally!
Yes thank you. Goodbye.

HI: Bye!

Traveler Interview: The guitarist

This traveler was in the dinning hall playing his guitar for the hostel one morning. We wanted to get his story and learn more about him!


What is your name?
Martin Saville

Where are you from?
I was born in South Africa and I was raised in the UK.


How long have you been in Chicago?
On and off for about 4 months I would say

What are you doing here?
Well I was working for 6 flags, then when the season ended I went to live with some family in Tennessee. I just missed Chicago so I came back! (smiles) I am looking for jobs and an apartment. So I’m playing in train stations and bars for now, thank goodness for that so at least I can sustain myself. (laughs) I’m staying in the hostel until I can get an apartment.

When did you first start playing music?
Well I’ve been singing since I was born (laughs) and guitar…for about 3 or 4 years now.

Wow! That’s not a very long time!
Yeah

What style do you like to play?
Well soft rock is my favorite. But I like to have a lot of rhythm so I put that in there too. (smiles) So a lot of soft rock with good rhythm

Have you played anywhere else other than Chicago?Yeah! (smiles) I played in Memphis for a while. I got to open for the Wailers. That is my biggest achievement. My inspirations are Bob Marley and John Lennon and stuff. So it was really cool to open for the guys who knew Bob Marley personally! (smiles) Yeah but I messed up the opening set. (laughs) You know there were so many nerves and pressure, that I just messed the whole thing up. But I kept going and it was fine (laughs.)

Do you have an interesting story of something that has happened while you have been in Chicago playing?
Oh yeah! Lots of interesting stories (laughs). One about music…well just the other day I was at the train station playing. And one of my guitar strings broke. (smiles) That was the first time that had ever happened to me before. It’s one of those things that as a musician you know it will happen sometime but you don’t ever plan for it. So the way I got around it was I just kept playing! (laughs) It was okay.

So how long are you staying here at the hostel?
Well until I can find an apartment. I just got a job so I start on Friday. So I’m hoping in a week I will have an apartment.

Well good luck! And thanks for talking with me!
Yeah no problem, enjoy your day!

A Great Winter Vacation Stop with a Nearby Hostel

For those of you who are sick of this winter climate, I just discovered a very quaint and historic Florida destination. It is Saint Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. Archeologists think this city had its beginning as an Indian village called Seloy, in what is now a national archeological park. In the year 1513 the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed near here while searching for the fabled “Fountain of Youth”.

Ponce de Leon was an explorer and named the land for Spain. Other explorers who followed, later concluded that an investment in the land was not worthwhile. It was filled with dangerous animals like alligators and snakes, as well as insects. Also, European agriculture did not prosper on the coasts. Based on these conclusions, the Spanish simply ignored risky Florida.

In 1562 however, French protestants arrived to settle there. In 1565 Admiral Don Pedro Menendez set sail from Spain to conquer Florida and on the feast day of St. Augustine, August 28, he sailed through an inlet and named the area after the saint. The town of St. Augustine fulfilled one of its major roles – serving as a haven for the treasure fleets on their way home to Spain.

Afterwards the English came and started a colony nearby. The city was later attacked by British ships. It was at this point that the Spanish Crown decided to invest in the construction of a massive fort. The Castillo was built and was never captured. St. Augustine remained a Spanish colony until the Treaty of Paris in 1763 when it was given to England.

The Castillo de San Marcos, built 1672-1695, has long protected the city and has been used under Spanish, American and British forces. It was made a National Monument in 1924.

In the city there is also a living history museum depicting the life of
Spanish soldiers and their families in 1740. Visitors will see the blacksmith, carpenter,leather work and other crafts of the 18th century. Houses where the
soldiers and their families lived, gardened and prepared food are also depicted.

The city of St. Augustine is beautiful and quaint. It is a must-see. FYI, it has a hostel near the center of the city as well.

-Marilyn Williams, Hostel Volunteer

Peace Love and Hostelling! Fun, friends and fundraising

HI-Chicago thrives because of the support of so many people including staff, volunteers, travelers, organizational partners, teachers, students and in particular our donors big and small. Thank you!


Four times a year we get our friends together for Peace Love and Hostelling happy hours. We raise money for education at the hostel and raise a glass to toast our working together for a more peaceful planet. The turnout was great at our most recent event at Waterhouse Tavern and Grill at Paulina and Lincoln. Waterhouse was generous giving us plenty of room with our own bar and bartender. The Winter Olympics where on the big tv’s in the background and after a busy week, everyone was in the mood to relax, make new friends and enjoy the excellent beers on tap.

The forty-five supporters that came out on Friday night included volunteers, staff, board members, teachers, friends of the hostel and friends of friends. As a nonprofit, HI-Chicago depends on the support of donors to fund the educational programs for students here in the Chicago area. The money raised at Waterhouse enables teachers and their classrooms to participate in peace-building programs like Cultural Kitchen and Exchange Neighborhoods. Each year we struggle to meet the increasing demand from teachers, students and their schools for our programs. Every dollar raised helps fund a student. Thank you.



Our next Peace Love and Hostelling will be a very special one. On Wednesday, June 9th we join forces with one of the hostel’s great attraction partners, Bobby’s Bike Hike, for a cycling fundraiser. Ride along the lakefront with new and old friends and support a great cause, Hostelling International Chicago. I hope to see you then, and bring your camera for great skyline photos!

Grab a pint at Waterhouse Tavern & Grill
Go on a bike tour of Chicago with Bobby’s Bike Hike

Volunteer Spotlight: Emily Johns

World-traveler and world-class travel educator!


Tell us about the types of volunteering positions you've had at the hostel.
I've done a number of things at the hostel since I started volunteering two years ago. I started off as a Chicago guide, which I still do sometimes. I especially like going to concerts in Millennium Park. It's nice to go to something I was planning to see anyway, but taking along a bunch of interesting people and showing them the city. I've also done a few lectures about how to travel and places I've been. The most fun was the Taste and Travel last week--after talking about Brazil for half an hour I got to go and talk with other travellers and volunteers while the chef at Whole Foods made one of my favorite Brazilian meals! My favorite volunteer activity is Cultural Kitchens, though. I love cooking and I love interacting with the funny, bright teenagers who always seem to be in the kitchen!

Do you stay involved in the international community in any other way?
I have a lot of friends in different countries all over the world, so that's my main outlet to international affairs other than the news. I haven't been able to travel as much lately as I'd like, but I have a trip to Uruguay coming up in March!

What is your most memorable traveling experience?
There have been a lot of great travelling experiences, but one of my favorites was in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. After trudging around the beautiful old city all day I went back to the hostel, only to find that I was the only woman staying there that night. No big deal. But I was quite surprised an hour later to find myself sitting on a couch, surrounded by boys, eating warm homemade linzertorte and watching the latest Reese Witherspoon hit (not my selection).

What's your favorite place in Chicago?
My favorite place in Chicago is the Cultural Center. I've always loved it--when I was a kid I would walk through the rooms and plan where my furniture would go when it was my private home. I think it's the most beautiful building in the city (and one of the best I've ever seen in the world) and I love that it's open (and free!) to the public, full of great lectures, concerts, and art galleries, and right across the street from one of my other favorite places in the city!

Come party with us, for a great cause!

HI-Chicago has been bringing the world to Chicago since 2000. In that time, we've hosted 100's of thousands of travelers and served over 4,500 youth with our strong educational programs. In addition,a million travelers voted, and HI-Chicago won "World's Best Large Hostel" for 2009 by hostelworld.com

Please come party with us in recognition of our achievements and help us raise money to reach more youth in Chicago with our programs! Funds raised will support the hostel's meaningful cultural awareness-building programs, including Cultural Kitchen, Exchange Neighborhoods, and Community Walls. Through these programs, students become more open-minded, caring world citizens.

Who: Friends of hostelling!
What: $30 for all you want of domestic beer, cocktails, wine, sangria
Where: Waterhouse Tavern and Grill (at Paulina Brown Line stop)
When: Friday, Feb. 26th 8pm-Midnight
Why: To have a great time and support education at the hostel

Please invite your friends! Respond to: rsvp@hichicago.org

Amy's Downtown Nightlife Ideas

Looking for a couple of cheap drinks downtown Chicago on a Saturday Night? Here are a couple of good places to try out, all within walking distance of HI-Chicago.

Franklin Tap
325 S. Franklin St. (300S, 300W) (Franklin – Between VanBuren and Jackson)
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 212-3262
Saturday Night Specials
½ off appetizers after 5 pm with a drink
$3 call drinks
$3 all bottled beer
$5 Patron Silver Shots
$5 Jameson shots
Free WII – get your golf on!
Run-of-the-mill bar with some video games, great, high windows made for people-watching, and good service. Honestly though, it’s the $3 Bacardi drinks and half-priced pretzels appetizers that draw me in. For $3.50, you get 2 generously-sized warm pretzels.

Stocks & Blondes
36 N. Wells St. (50N, 200W) (Between Madison and Washington)
Chicago IL 60606
(312) 372-3725
Everyday Specials
$10 High Life pitchers
$4 Miller light and Coors Light stadium drafts & $3 refills
This place is a classic dive bar and kind of random for downtown. Perfect to just get some cheap beer, served in 85 Bear themed pints, and enjoy some greasy fries.

Exchequer Restaurant & Pub
226 S. Wabash Ave. (200S, 100E)
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 939-9128
Everyday Specials
$3.75 Monthly Beer Special
This is not my favorite of the four, but their good drink specials and delicious pizza are worth noting. Also, the hostel offers coupons for 10% off. Girl loves a deal!

Brando's Speakeasy
343 S. Dearborn St. (350S, 50W) (VanBuren & Dearborn)
Chicago, IL 60604
(773) 216-3213
Best Special
$2.00 PPR
The bar is more of a lounge with super friendly service (we got a free round of drinks after chatting with the bartender - score!). A mixed group of patrons, so the people-watching is great. On Saturday nights expect some karaoke in the early evening.

-Amy Weber, hostel volunteer