Fall is Here

I don't really have much news since the last post. My job search has still yielded nil, and all the Portlanders I've talked to groan about how bad the job market is here. So I'm trying not to take it too personally. Most of my days are spent at the computer searching jobs and apartments, since I have to be out of this one in a month. That kind of stinks because, aside from the cat, this apartment is working out quite nicely.
Oh the cat.
Generally I like cats. But this one is the devil. He attacks my feet and legs with his claws and teeth for no reason. He cries all the time for no reason. It's so annoying and I'm always afraid of being bitten while walking across the room. He darts in front of you so you trip over him with your momentum. It sucks. He's a bully. I have to carry a squirt bottle around the apartment to keep him in line. At least he doesn't pee in my bed like my sister's cat used to do.
The weather has turned chilly and the rainy season has begun. It will last until summer probably. My roomie says it's "wool socks time." But he's a California boy and after years in Portland, still isn't quite adapted to cold winters. He said he never wore a hat and gloves until he came here. But I have started wearing long pants and socks around the apartment. Partly because it's chilly and partly as protection against the cat.

Two Weeks In

I am still surprised at how easily I've adjusted (so far) to a totally new city where I know so few people. Gabe was the only one I was in touch with in the days before I arrived, and I've only seen him once! He's a busy bee in his 2nd year of med school. I finally got in touch with Ian and we spent Saturday night at a brew fest on the coast. A few home-brewers brought in their beers, and the large group of partiers tasted each one and voted for the two best. Some of us took a hike around the property on a blackberry hunt/feast. Blackberry bushes were everywhere! Later three bands played into the wee hours and we camped out on the host's 5 acres of forested coast land. It was a beautiful place, and the rain waited until we were packing up the car to leave the next morning.
I've applied to a few jobs in the area, but not enough time has passed for me to have heard back yet. I did, however, interview and get accepted to an exclusive doula group called PDX Doulas. The doulas in this group are assigned one shift a week in which they are on-call for 12hours. Women who arrive at OHSU to give birth are offered a free (volunteer) doula and if they accept, whoever is on-call comes in and stays for the whole birth. Right now PDX Doulas is supported by a grant from Care Oregon, so the volunteer doulas do receive a small payment for each birth (regardless of how many hours it lasts). I am so excited to start assisting laboring women, and I feel privileged to be a part of this special organization. It is a large commitment, but I'm happy that women who ordinarily wouldn't or couldn't have the benefit of a doula now have that opportunity. I am so lucky to have found and been accepted to participate!

portland!

I made it! I'm sitting near the one window in my apartment that anyone can get an internet signal through. The whole city has free wireless, but for some reason it doesnt penetrate buildings very well. So I dont have to really hang out the window, but we did have to push a desk right up against it. No problem, free internet!
I've unloaded most of what I need from my car, and I've arranged to rent a storage locker in an apartment building across town. I'm trying to decide if I should bother with it, though, because last night I met a woman with a lot of connections, one being free storage space. She's a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital and wants to help me get a job there because they will pay 75% of your tuition for medical-based degrees. Which would be awesome! She was very friendly and wants to offer me all sorts of help getting situated. I'm waiting for her to call me around noon, we're going to have lunch and she will show me around.
The apartment is big and my room already has a queen-sized bed in it, so no more air mattress for me. hooray! my roommate is very nice. he works at planned parenthood. i think he's a nurse. right now i'm starving because i havent gone grocery shopping yet and i dont want to eat his food. so i'm off to get food and laundry supplies because i got bike grease all over my new shorts last night while unloading my bike from the roof of my car.
hasta luego

couch surfing

Rather than on a couch, actually, I spent Thursday night on climbing crash pads in the gear room at the house of a friend of a friend of a friend. Got a brief look at SLC, but I didnt want to waste time walking around. I drove to the Temple Square Friday morning after a nice breakfast out at a place called Eggs in the City. It was surrounded by a high wall, looked unwelcoming. So I didnt park or go in.
Friday I drove to Boise and had a nice evening with Kathryn. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Bardenay, where they also distill their own liquor. It was a neat atmosphere, with a big copper distillery thing and lots of handsome waiters. Afterwards, we saw Death at a Funeral at the local movie theatre. Very funny English flick. Highly recommend it! Saturday morning while Kathryn had a class at Boise State, Blake took me out on his sweet new motorcycle to Big City Cafe where we had a great breakfast. I had Belgian waffles with honey, yogurt, raisins, and granola on them; an unlikely but delicious combination. Later, the three of us hung around the house for a few hours, listening to music and catching up. Blake went to work and Kathryn and I threw our bikes in the back of the truck and drove to a really nice park, where we mounted the bikes and rode along the Green Belt, a paved bike path that follows the Boise River. That night, we showered and got dressed up pretty to go to dinner where Blake is a server. We sat in his section, of course, and he pampered us with a four-course steak dinner at his expense. He served us delicious appetizers and salads, expensive wines and fantastic steaks. We ordered berries napoleon for dessert and he brought a caramel creme brulee in addition! We were so full we could barely get out of our seats! Our leftovers were actually our dinner tonight as well.
This morning Kathryn, Blake, and two of Kathryn's Boise friends and I went to brunch at another fancy shmancy restaurant. I feel like a princess with their star treatment! We gorged on the brunch buffet and then drove back to the same park where we rode bikes. We dropped off a car there and drove to another park about 5 miles away. There, we inflated tractor inner tubes and floated down the Boise River for over 2 hours. It was relaxing, and exciting when we had to go over little rapids and baby waterfalls. There were hundreds of people doing the same thing, on rafts and tubes of all shapes and sizes. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. The river was cold, but not unbearably so. We had our bottoms in the water the whole time because we were in tubes instead of rafts. It really was a great day. Now Kathryn and I are planning to have dessert out in town somewhere since all of our leftovers are gone. (There were no dessert leftovers because of course we found our appetites again once dessert arrived!) Tomorrow is Labor Day, we will grill out for lunch before Blake has to work again. Other than that, we havent made plans for the day yet. But Tuesday I get back on the road, so we'll have some sort of a last hurrah for this visit I'm sure.