Jacket Extraveganza

Though we had a brief break from the rain, it's officially come back more powerful than ever. I'm still on a high from the novelty of my move to Portland, so it's kind of exciting. I wonder how long that will last...

I went to REI the other day to check out the rain jackets. It's time to purchase a new one now that I'll be spending my winters ducking for cover from the rain rather than hiding my body under layer after layer to stay warm in the miserable cold. They had an ample supply of your standard jackets in every major brand. I tried on about four different jackets and decided I would come back in a few days after thinking about whether or not to make that purchase (I had $75 of dividend to spend so most of the jacket would be paid for anyway).

So upon my return to the store, turns out the rain had driven people in droves into REI--also to buy rain jackets. There were almost no size mediums. I got lucky and an employee found me one downstairs, but I've officially learned my lesson: If you need a new rain jacket in Portland, buy it by mid-September!

Cabbage Nostalgia

Apparently I'm missing Korea right now because I just made kimchi fried rice for lunch. And it's DE-licious. I guess I'm hungry after spending a few hours getting myself sore at the climbing gym... Kimchi Power!

Chased by Rain(bows)

I'M NOT READY!

It's still early, so chances are this dreaded Pacific Northwest rain isn't here to stay just yet... But WOW what a reunion between me and that dreaded force!

It got me good twice on my drive to Eugene a few days ago--to the point where you can't see no matter how fast your wipers are going, you have a death-grip on the steering wheel and the freeway has turned into a lake and you know that at any given moment, you might hydroplane. But the coolest thing about this drive? At one point when the sun was peeking out momentarily behind me (but the rain kept falling), I was being chased by a rainbow! No joke! In my rear-view mirror I could see a rainbow following me on the highway behind my car. Cooool.

Today, the rain and I met again face-to-face, as I risked walking the one mile to my local branch of the library. Luckily, I grabbed a rain jacket at the last minute just in case. I have to say, though, it feels good to be back in the rainy PNW. Despite not wanting the sunny blue skies to be over, being gone from here for so long I am actually kind of embracing this rain...

Maybe it can just wait a little longer, though... ?

Squirrel!

There is a squirrel (hopefully not a rat) eating the inside of the walls of my room. Let's hope he or she is not a night owl...

On the other hand, this is closer to a squirrel than I ever got in my 3.5 years in Asia!

New Connections

Job or no job, I feel so lucky in this world and know that moving up to Portland was the right thing to do (no matter how much money I lose in paying rent without an income). I mean, who doesn't love unexpected run-ins with the FBI, or living a block away from the "bike highway" that I swear has more rush-hour traffic of the two-wheel variety than it does of its four-wheeled friends? Or, how about the fact that I am two blocks, four blocks, six blocks and eight blocks away from a variety of restaurants, cafes, bars, brewpubs, wineries, grocery stores and a public library--all in different directions, and ALL within walking distance.

I have an amazing network of friends up here, who come from college, grad school, traveling in Mexico and Korea--and that network is only expanding. Every time I'm out wandering about, with or without a purpose, I can't help but smile and just feel content. One week into my new life here in Portland, and I couldn't have conjured up a better concoction of life if I wanted!

In addition to an expanding social network, I'm trying hard to develop a professional network by going to volunteer expos and networking events, and taking people up on their offers to meet up--you never know what might happen! Today, I had lunch with a lovely woman who's the friend of a grad school professor, and who is considering a move out here after retirement. Her daughter has been here since 2005 and works for Nike opening stores for them around the country. If not in gerontology, an in with Nike would be quite the Plan B, I think! To be quite frank, I've always wanted to incorporate my gerontology background with them by getting them to start an adult day center or senior center for Nike employees' aging parents. How cool would that be? "What do you do?" "Oh, I run a senior center for the aging parents of Nike employees, who otherwise would be stuck in an assisted living facility or nursing home." Cooooool.

And, this morning I had coffee with the president of a nationally prominent nonprofit organization working with youth and he was kinder than I ever could have hoped for. He brought such a positive energy to our meeting and it's easy to see why he's at the top for the Oregon and SW Washington chapter. He provided a lot of insight about various organizations in Portland and different networking ideas. As appreciative as I am  to hear insights like that from a successful professional, perhaps what will make the biggest difference in me finding a job is that he told me to email him every time I apply for a new job and he'll see who he knows at that organization, and if he doesn't know an employee or the executive director, he'll check their board, and if he doesn't know a board member, he'll find someone who knows someone there. BAM!

This is a man who, if and when I ever find myself in a situation where I can give back to him, I most certainly will. Thank you world, for bringing him into my life!

You know, even if nothing comes out of a connection with the two people I met with today, it's a step in the right direction, gets me just a little more connected, helps me learn a little more about Portland and gives me new ideas about how to find employment. Most of all, however, it gives me a glimpse of hope again just when that hope starts to disappear...

Let the amazingness continue!

Coyote Girl

My dad used to always call me "Coyote Girl" when I was growing up...

Man it feels good to be a Portlander. It's only 2pm and I've already spent several hours outside hiking in the Columbia River Gorge and eating pizza and drinking beer at Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River. The day started out with wet ground and a very slight misty drizzle outside early this morning, leaving me a little skeptical about the day's weather and our hiking adventure... But, before we even got to Hood River the skies had parted and it was nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Beautiful!

We hiked Coyote Wall (appropriate given the childhood nickname!), on the Washington side just past Hood River, Oregon, and it was beautiful! The contrast of the golden grass on the ground the the blue skies was quite a sight, mixed in with all the little lizards and oak trees with their filberts on the ground. The trail winds around the mountainside in a gradual ascent until it comes to a high point, not long before you start the descent--but not before you reach Coyote Wall, a high cliff of basalt columns that would certainly lead to one's death should you somehow make it over the edge. The trail gets decent mountain biker use, and apparently a guy rode off the wall recently to his unfortunate death. Don't mess with sky-high basalt column cliffs!

Nothing tops off a nice early morning hike in the sunshine like a Hop Lava IPA and wood oven pizza... Perfection!

Some Friends Just Aren't Worth It

Since I returned home at the very end of June from several months traveling in Asia, things haven't been quite right with my digestive system. Given the fact that I had a run-in with some kind of parasite or bacteria at the end of my trip while in Vietnam (which was bad enough to prompt a visit to a doctor), I figured my issues were a result of the residual effects of whatever happened then. So, I waited. And didn't get better. And waited. And then my hair started falling out. A lot. Not in clumps, thankfully, but certainly by the handfuls. I will spare you the details of my other symptoms...

After two months of knowing something wasn't quite right and nothing seeming to improve, I decided to see a doctor. Being unemployed and American, health insurance isn't something that I am privileged enough to have, naturally. But, thanks to my friend the internet, I found a doctor in Eugene who approaches her Western medicine practices in alternative ways (i.e., charging only $60 for a full hour-long visit with her).

We came to the conclusion that my symptoms most resembled some type of parasite so we proceeded with some tests, the results of which I just got back today. Turns out she was right--positive for Entamoeba coli the protazoa, not to be confused with E. coli the bacteria. Just another one of those little unwanted creatures that come from "fecal contamination of food or the water supply" (according my my test results. Gross!

Either way, the only way to get rid of this guy is by playing the waiting game, along with some minor changes in my diet, including no wheat, limited dairy, probiotic supplements and some herbal remedies that might help. Blood tests show my white blood cells are doing their job (in other words, their levels are elevated) so now the responsibility is on me and wait it out until my body gets itself back in order.

So, ladies and gentlemen, meet my friend the amoeba (aka protozoa), Mr. Entamoeba coli. We met in Vietnam, and he's been traveling around with me for almost three months. We've developed quite the budding friendship, resulting in intestinal issues and hair loss. However, I think it's time I become a little more selfish and let him know that this friendship really isn't working for me...



Let the gluten- and dairy-free life begin!

Feelin' the Love

Well, Day #3 in this grand city hasn't been without its surprises! I went on a nice leisurely hike in Forest Park with a friend I made in Korea (who happens to be in the same just-returned-from-abroad-and-looking-for-work boat as me, so we had a lot to share with each other right now). He was kind enough to think of me a few days ago when, for his own current part-time job, he was visiting an adult day center. He mentioned me to the woman who ran it and she gave him her card to pass on to me to call her. That, in and of itself, was amazing.

It gets better.

Turns out, this woman is the boss of my graduate school friend, who just happened to call me this evening out of the blue. So, long story short, I'm heading there tomorrow morning to meet my friend and her boss, who, in turn, might be able to help me out on the career front. At the very least, let the networking begin! Oh, and did I mention that this lovely woman has already offered to call the woman who runs the senior center where I really, really, realllllly want a job? Couldn't hurt, right?

Let the Portland adventures continue! I LOVE this city!

A Warm Welcome to Portland--from the FBI?!

Before I get to the good stuff (read: my question-answer session with the FBI), I want to write about how great I felt last night, my first night in my new house in Portland. The whole drive up yesterday, things felt right. Walking to the local grocery store, things felt right. Looking around, breathing in the perfect summer evening air, things felt right.

By golly, I do think I've found myself a home!

Now, on to the juicy details of Day #2 in PDX!

After a GREAT night's sleep in my new bed and a trip to good ol' Trader Joe's for some groceries, I set out on foot to make a big five-mile loop around my new hood. First stop: the public library for a new library card and a few books on local hiking. The next stop was a stroll along Alberta Street, full of restaurants that I can't wait to try (Indian, Ethiopian, sushi). Not long after I started south on Mississippi Avenue a teenage girl wearing an over-sized red t-shirt tucked into her under-sized short denim shorts asked if she could use my phone. I didn't see the harm in that so I handed over my ancient flip-phone (aka the dumb phone).

She made her first call standing right next to me, so I couldn't help but listen to her side of the conversation as she asked this person to come pick her up. She was obviously a little on the distressed side, hair a little messy and black eye make-up smudged. She handed my phone back to me, and then not two seconds later asked if I was in a hurry because she wanted to call a second number. This time it was her boyfriend, which I deduced by her use of the word "babe" (and which she later told me), and she was asking him if he was still going to talk to her--"like, in life."

It was by this point that I was a little worried for her--she was definitely stressed out. My first reaction was to ask her if she was okay, to which she hesitantly replied "Yes. I'm just paranoid." I offered to wait with her and she was happy to say yes to that. She wanted to sit inside somewhere because it was so hot outside, but the closest thing we could find were some tables and chairs just off the sidewalk by a group of food carts. We took a seat and I tried my very introverted-best to make small talk (while trying to dig a little, too): "So, what's your name? How old are you? (Sixteen) Are you in school? (No. I was going to beauty school but I stopped because I have a two-year old daughter. She's mixed.) Are you paranoid about something specific that happened, or is it just a stressful day today?" (Both).

She spent the previous night in a Motel 6 with her boyfriend, but they got in a fight and she went to another friend's place, who dropped her off near a detention center, but then she ended up over where I met her, usually she does herself up "professionally" but this morning she woke up and didn't feel like it so she didn't have her usual make-up on... I couldn't keep her story straight, but what I did see was a teenage girl who was going down a path that could end up badly.

Anyways...

We were chatting when suddenly, out of nowhere, a man and woman in decked-out FBI vests walked right up to her and handcuffed her. Right before they reached her she stood up calmly, turned to me and said "I have to go now." And that was that. The woman took her around the corner and she was gone. The male FBI officer implied he wanted to ask me some questions so I waited until he returned with his notepad. He took my name, number, address, and my short story about what I knew about her from my brief interaction with her. He informed me that she's a runway that they've been looking for for about two days, has a warrant on her and they believe she's involved in Portland's sex-trafficking scene.

Surprisingly, something about all of this was not the least bit shocking. Maybe that's why I stayed with her that whole time and didn't want to leave her--I knew something was off (that, and the life of the unemployed isn't as rushed as the employed so I had nowhere else to be). Needless to say, it was a bittersweet ending: sad to see such a sweet girl involved in potentially harmful endeavors, admittedly glad to see her being taken into the hands of people who maybe--hopefully--help her out of it.

To think, I was this close to going to get my car and drive her home...

"Welcome to Portland!" says the world... I can't wait to see what Day #3 has in store!

Zig-Zagging Through Life

I've been struggling a little lately with a mild case of career-identity-crisis.After spending the first half of my 20s doing it "right" and the second half of my 20s fulfilling the wanderlust in me, I suddenly find myself stagnant at the end of a long zig-zaggy line that is my life.

In the beginning, I followed the (straight and conventional) path any parent would be proud of: I graduated from high school and college with high academic honors, went right into a master's program complete with an assistantship, and then landed myself in a great 'first job' in research that was actually related to my studies.

Then, I had a moment.

It happened not six months into that first job and once it was set in motion, it couldn't be stopped. I needed more. I needed to see the world, experience it through all its sights, sounds and smells. I needed to feel empowered by taking myself out of my comfort zone and tackling whatever came my way, like going into full 100-meter sprint mode to chase after the bus that had all of my worldly possessions on it and nearly left me stranded in the parking lot in Mexico. I needed to exercise my freedom as a young, culture-curious adult and set out without a plan, but with a backpack, to Guatemala and Mexico... Then Korea... And Mongolia... And India... And eventually even more of Asia...

Now, five years and fourteen countries later, at age 30, I find myself back home and ready to start off where I left off. But, there's one problem:

It's been a painstakingly difficult process.

I'm over-qualified for the entry-level jobs and under-qualified for next level. That leaves me somewhere in between screwed and f***ed..

Okay, not really. Something will work out and I know it. But it's really hard to get back into the swing of things after taking the long way around!

Thankfully, there's a place on the map called Portland. Known to many for its good beer and the "cool" place to move these days, I've always wanted to end up here. And well, that day has come and it's time to start a new chapter in my zig-zaggy life; it's time to make a life in Portland.

Put a bird on it!