By Hayley Perlis

Today we woke up in Chicago and went to the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Our meeting was to be about poverty. Unfortunately, another speaker got assigned to us who spoke to us about Judaism’s connection to social justice. He also told us about a program that JCUA runs for teens. While he did not cover the issue we thought we were supposed to cover, we did have an interesting conversation.

For lunch, we had free time on Michigan Avenue in order to eat and shop. Then we went to the newly renamed Willis Tower which is also “formerly known as the Sears Tower.” We waited in line for a very long time to go up to the 103rd floor but it was really worth it. I learned that the Willis Tower is the same height as 262 Michael Jordans. The view from the 103rd floor was amazing. My favorite part was definitely the Skyledge, which is a brand new 4 ft ledge you can walk out on and stand on a glass ledge floor and see straight down. It looked like you were standing right over the city.

We then did what many Chicagoans do during the summer, we went to the lake and relaxed. We played frisbee, football, and just hung out.

To finish off the first day in Chicago, we went to an Improv Comedy show at the Improv Olympix.

inside Improv Olympix

outside Wrigley Field