Portland Day 2 (6/24)

Well, I didn't sleep too well last night. I fell asleep quickly, but I kept waking up every 2 hours. Like clockwork. It was weird. I've heard that a human needs to get at least 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep in order for it to be thoroughly restful. So I didn't get that. One other thing: It is charming that there is a large tree directly above skylight. I woke sometime between 4 and 5 to the sound of birdsong quite near. I thought "oh, how nice, birds in the morning." 20 minutes later, I thought, "I am going to kill that bird."
(Figure of speech. I wouldn't really kill a bird. Really. Honestly.)

Anyway, I was only operating on 1/2 or maybe 2/3 of a tank, so to speak, when I boarded a bus at 8:30 am. It was pretty easy to get to the Pearl district. After I arrived at class it was revealed that in addition to our class schedule, which meets mostly in the mornings, there would be several lectures offered in the afternoons. So what I thought was going to be a 1/2 day turned out to be a full day. (It doesn't matter, because Alex flaked anyway, although I left him 2 messages like a stalker.) I wasn't crazy about all the lecture offerings and considered going back up to the guesthouse for some of them, but ended up just crashing in the lounge area at the school, in a loft with comfy couches where I swapped life stories with one bright-eyed junior. Ah, college. This rest period did me good, as I was able to rally myself for the last lecture of the day, on webcomics, which was very useful and informative. (Links to follow.)

Also, they treated us to brunch, which was really awesome. I had this wild salmon hash with poached eggs. It was quite good, as was conversation at the table. This girl and I were eyeing each other in class and doing the "you look familiar" thing, well it turns out she lived in Oly while I was there and she is the creator of Tammytown, the movie, which I attended a fundraiser fashion show for at Capitol Theater in 2000. (I know that last sentence was awkward, but I totally don't care.) Another Oly/Portland connection.

For dinner, I walked up the street from the guesthouse to a restaurant I noticed yesterday which featured organic food of various cuisines. I had an Indian dinner which was quite good-a combo of Subji (cabbage, potatoes and peas sauteed in garlic, ginger and cumin), Dal (not as mushy as some dals I've had, with whole kidney beans, very flavorful-although I found the addition of raw red onions on top to be distracting rather than complementary, although normally I love me some raw onions.), with rice, chapati, mint chutney, and raita, and a tasty rice pudding. It was all served on a metal plate with each thing in a small individual metal bowl. At first I thought this was just supposed to be cutesy presentation, but then I realized it kept each individual portion warm, which was appreciated. Also, they were willing to cook it mild, (which means I could actually taste my food), and since the chutney was spicy I could add a bit of heat if I wanted. Yum.
It's also fun to get your check and have it be the same price as your food. I know if you live here they take the tax out in other ways, but as a visitor, it's always a nice surprise.

Full and content, it's time for me to go to bed for a big day tomorrow, all day and evening downtown.