While I was out...

I suppose I should have expected that I would not have been able to live-up to my expectations to have posted at least one entry while on my whirlwind three-and-a-half week tour of the United States. Still, I am disappointed in myself for not writing just once. I barely even wrote in my personal journal. And I find that when I procrastinate [or avoid prioritizing] my written reflections, I tend to forget the pithy phrasings and descriptive language to which I sometimes dedicate hours of internal editing.

Alas! I have forgotten some of the whimsical and some of the refined observations on America and my American interactions that all seemed strangely familiar.

Flatirons, CO

I Would Pay For Some of This

3/23: Eager eyes

In its 48th year, Ann Arbor Film Festival is the longest running experimental film festival in the world--or so they claim, and I am disinclined to investigate. I am generally intrigued by the ways that people use moving media to convey the human experience or the human imagination, so I am generally intrigued by the films at the festival. As many of you may or may not know, I tend to take advantage of freebies and have a good ear for good deals. So, I am volunteering 15 hours for the festival this weekend in exchange for a free weekend pass. I prepare my eyes for the avant garde and abstract.

(N.B. I am not preparing my eyes for the avant garde as Bunuel and Dali would:



Ew. I am sorry. Though the rest of "Un Chien Andalou" is strange and occasionally funny in its absurdity. Deemed a "classic" by many, I would hesitate to actually recommend unless you plan on partaking in a dialogue about cinema, theory, genre, and the avant garde in film. Basically, that film would be a crucial part of the primer for the AA Filmfest.)

Setting Sail From Portland

Well, amigos,

I am moving once again. Portland has been a beautiful city with wonderfully accommodating people who are eager to befriend newcomers. Alas, Portland cannot sustain me at the moment: No one in PDX wants to hire me. I have loved my time with my friends here, and I have loved exploring PDX's nooks and crannies; I yearn for moments with other good friends in other locations before I embark on another international adventure--one that may be longer term.

I am still waiting to hear from Princeton in Asia for a teaching fellowship in any one of many Southeastern Asian countries. Also, I attended a wonderfully collaborative group interview in NYC last week for a fellowship with an NGO sponsored by the American Jewish World Service (in India). This morning, I interviewed with a teaching program sponsored by the Chinese government. So, we will see. All these posts would start in the fall.

Until then, I am returning to Ann Arbor to reconnect with my friends and family there. I have love there, and I am embracing it, her, them. I am also helping International Medical Relief standardize their community health education courses.

I will think of my time in PDX fondly. I have come to realizations about some of the stark realities ahead of me because of my experiences during the past three months living in PDX. Life after college is difficult, especially in a struggling economy. Competition for positions I desire is fierce, even though those positions are about collaboration, cooperation, and constructive interaction. And while I am aggravated while watching my bank account dwindle down, I have found ways to stave off hitting zero. And while I bemoan this stress of dwindling funds, my time in Haiti and working with disadvantaged youth at the NELA center has once again shed light on what I should really worry about and stress over and value and consider.


Sure, I had a few moments when I walked past Stumptown or Voodoo Donuts or Pioneer Place and felt resentment for a city that seemed to be rejecting me. But I will remember PDX as a unique experience and experiment in my life. I will miss:

-Stumptown and Voodoo Donuts
-Generally good food everywhere
-Food cart culture
-The constant presence of good cookies in my house
-The daffodils growing out of mossy stones that border the steps to my house
-Meagan's additions to our house (e.g. Tibetan prayer flags)
-The incense of burning hookah in the living room
-The various gifts Meagan received from suitors that went onto our coffee table
-Sheet music wallpaper
-Music everywhere and all the time
-Blackboard walls in our dining room--with neurological maps and David Byrne quotes
-The wind chimes from a neighbor
-Rain lulling me to sleep
-Antony smiling, laughing, and practicing his crafts
-Meagan spinning poi
-Travis eating his toast and milk with me every morning ("Good day sir")
-Walking past Chipotle on the way to and from The Max--free scents
-Free light rails
-Pub Trivia with We Heart Brains
-The ESL students and their odd assignments at the NELA center
-Bikes
-Thoughts of Yo!Mocchi
-Everything being green all the time

Farewell, PDX and friends.