Yippeeee!
I finally have some internet set up in this place! It's been an off and on sorta thing so I haven't been able to update that much. Had to ride my bike up a lot of hills to get a copy of my lease to the internet providers to prove I'm a real person/resident, since I have no credit.
Things are going swimmingly here! Starting to feel sorta settled, which has made things so much easier. I made a HUGE pot of chili last night and ate some frito pie, and I brought home several bags of food from school today, so I'll have polenta, rice, and fresh pasta to last me a while. Everything at OCI has been incredible, my instructors are really great chefs and teachers. We get 3 hours every day in the kitchen, 2 in the classroom. Right now we're going through kitchen group rotations so we all get to make different potato/grain/starch dishes. My knife skills are getting better by the day, and I made some really good deep fried battonet (french fries) yesterday, made rice pilaf and creamy polenta today. Homework is also really interesting, I think that's made it a lot easier for me to sit down and do it. I get to read about knives and flavor profiles and spices every night.
I'm currently waiting for my laundry to run, I have too many uniforms (work, school) to put it off much longer. But 2 weeks isn't too bad for 2 loads of laundry.
It was pride weekend this weekend, so my Starbucks was super busy, but full of characters. And I managed to switch shifts with a girl so I could catch Bikesnob NYC, a bike blogger my dad reads and loves, at Powell's. Even got him a signed leaflet and everything. This weekend was also the end of pedalpalooza, a two week long bike craze in Portland.
Summer is finally taking over most of the weather, though every native Portlandian has complained that this is the worst summer weather they've ever seen. It usually starts pretty cloudy in the mornings, but we get a few good hours of warm sun till about 6 or 7. I've slept with my windows open every night, this morning I woke up and was a little chilly. But it's been nice otherwise. Most of the time I get out of school around 1:30 and get to ride my bike home in the sunshine. Think I might take advantage of today and sit at a park and finish up my homework and reading.
Work has been really awesome, busy but without a drive-thru so I couldn't be happier. All the people I work with have been super nice, and very welcoming.
I've added a few more pictures to the album that's linked down below, so feel free to check those out. I think I'll more than likely just keep doing that, maybe update the link if I get a new album started.
Missing everyone, but really groovin' on my city. I do think this is where I need to be, can't wait to get to know a few more people, want to make friends, but it's just sort of an odd deal. I meet people randomly, and everyone here is really nice, I just don't know how to say "okay, let's hang out all the time and get to know each other." But it has only been a couple of weeks, so I'm sure It'll get better.
Much love!
-Cait