I survived!

I survived my very first day of my research fellowship! Even if I didn't realize I was expected to be there at 9 and showed up at 10:30 instead. But everyone seems very nice, and very relaxed, which I'm quickly realizing is the prevailing Portland attitude.

I don't have a lot to report. Today was mostly orientation, going around and meeting everyone, getting a tour, and acquiring articles to keep me busy until I can officially start research.

The NCRAR is part of of the Portland VA Hospital, which also shares a campus with OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University). It's enormous, so I've only seen a very small part of it, but I'll be here for three months so I'm sure there's time to explore it all.

The general recommendation is to take a bus to the VA and then walk down the (enormous) hill and take the bus or walk home from the bottom. M and I ended up walking home and stopping at the food trucks for dinner on the way. I have every intention of going back, since it was delicious and reasonably priced. Plus there are ten more trucks to eat at!

This was the view from the VA, as we were walking home. It's really a beautiful view from the top, and it was a nice day for a walk, if a little warm. I'll have to remember to stick sunscreen in my bag so I don't get too burned.

 

More to come soon!

Anna

Day Two

I doubt that I'll actually number my posts by day, but this was easy, since it was my first full day in Portland, and there was a lot of exploring done!

I woke up obscenely early (5 am; thanks, Eastern Time) and rolled over until 7. M and I decided to go get breakfast at the Brunch Box, and if I eat like that for breakfast for my entire stay, I'll weigh 400 lbs when I get back. It was delicious, though. Then we hit up Target for supplies: hangers, basic kitchen supplies, and some groceries. The perk to living in the PSU dorms is that we have kitchenette access, but we have to provide all of our own supplies. I think I bought enough to survive on for the summer, but I guess we'll see as time goes on.

We met another research intern, J, for lunch at Fat Head Brewery in the Pearl District. There may have been a few too many beers consumed for lunchtime, but we got some fantastic recommendations for local bars and restaurants from our waiter. I'm really excited to check them out! The beer was good, and the quinoa sliders were fabulous - sorry, no pictures! I was too busy eating. We wandered around downtown, hitting up the visitor's center to get some ideas for our stay, and back to Target for me to get a couple of forgotten items, then killing time until meeting up with our fourth intern A for dinner.


Dinner was at the Laughing Planet, which has dinosaurs on display! I had a delicious lemon sugar cookie, due to still being full from lunch, but A's burrito bowl looked good, too, so I think I'll definitely be heading back there to eat.

Dinosaurs at the Laughing Planet Cafe

M & I spent some of tonight hanging out with her suitemate (we share bathrooms and kitchenettes), who's from Brazil and seems very sweet. It'll be fun to get to know her through the summer!

Portland seems to be a very manageable walking city, at least so far. The Pearl District, which has most of the touristy stuff (Powell's, breweries, shopping), is about a mile from our dorm, and is a good walk when it's nice out. We haven't explored too much beyond that, but it was only my second day here, so I'm sure we'll explore further out soon.

-Anna

Day One

I have arrived! In Portland, obviously. My flights went well, thankfully. I hate having delays or issues, but today went smoothly.

I spent most of my Albany-Las Vegas flight chatting with the RPI engineering student sitting next to me. He was fun to talk to, adorable, and very ambitious, even if I can't remember his name now.

Las Vegas is definitely on my list of places to visit now. I mean, slot machines in the airport! I played $2 and lost, but it was still fun.

Portland awaits tomorrow! I'm so glad that I'm finally here.

More soon!
A

Intro

I've decided to start this blog to catalog my adventures while doing research this summer in Portland, Oregon. I need a place to document all the fun I plan to have! Plus this way I have a place to point people when they start asking about my summer. :) 

This is the deal:

I'll be doing research all day, every day, five days a week, for twelve weeks at the National Center for Rehabilitative and Auditory Research (aka NCRAR) in the incredible Pacific Northwest city of Portland.

My goal is to blog at least once a week, hopefully twice, depending on what I'm doing.

My partner-in-crime for most of the summer will be M (whose permission I need to get before plastering her picture and name all over the blog). 

Hopefully I won't talk too much about my research, because while I happen to think it's fascinating, I've definitely seen people's eyes glaze over when I get going. 

So this is what I'm bringing to Portland. Two completely stuffed suitcases, a backpack and a tote. I'll probably (definitely) be repacking/reorganizing/eliminating before I actually fly out on Sunday, but it definitely helps having somewhere to start.

Thanks for following along - hopefully you'll enjoy my adventures as much as I do!

-Anna