Well, Dave and I arrived in Portland Oregon yesterday morning (3/14/09). It had been a really long train ride (31 hours!) and we were ready to get off. We got our luggage and built our bicycles outside of the depot and made our way to the hostel.

We're staying at the
Northwest Portland International Hostel & Guesthouse just outside of downtown Portland (and when I say just outside of I mean two or three blocks away). Two large houses make up the hostel and each hostel has its own kitchen area so you can make food and visit. Dave and I were lucky and got the super secret room - a private room with a double bed
and a bathroom suite. Apparently they don't tell people about this room since they can't guarantee it will be available.
Dave was feeling sick after we arrived at the hostel, so we napped for a couple hours. (This morning he's still sick and is slumbering beside me. I hope he doesn't feel this crummy for five days.)
After the nap (and some
advil for Dave) we set out for food and ate at Escape From New York Pizza a few blocks away. I was baffled, it was really great pizza! The proportions were just right! Dave - well he thought I was being a little over the top, but really, it was great! The place was dolled-up with pictures, anti-bush art (*swoon*), and the pizza guys were friendly. Slices were cheap too. Afterwards,we made our way to the Saturday market downtown. We couldn't figure out the bus system despite the helpful advice we received at the front desk, so we just walked. It was really rainy and cold out, but we had umbrellas and made the best of it. I bought a couple things at the market and we made our way back to the hostel. It ended up being quite the trek, we stopped briefly at Powell's book store and a record store to warm up,
and we bought soup at a grocery, but we finally made it to the hostel around 7. We made soup and took it easy the rest of the night.
Today, I'm not quite sure whats planned. Dave's still sick and as much as I
wana wake him, it would probably be best to let him rest. I suppose I'd like to explore the northeast part of the city today. There a shop I must go to as well, but I can't quite tell you what it is.... ha! Oh, I think we're planning on going to Powell's again - it was so busy in there my head was spinning. Hopefully it wouldn't be so busy on a
monday, but I'm not
crossin' my fingers. Oh, and Dave wanted to go to a
museum. Me Too, I can't wait!
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I'm still struggling through a identity/spirituality crisis. The past two nights, I've had three nightmares which rouse me in a fright. In the first nightmare, I was being screamed at by my former roommates and pushed out of the house, I was balling and balling and when I screamed back they were gone. In my second dream, I was being given advice by a hostel staffer about Portland she afterwards she said 'That will be $50's'. I protest but she said it would be added to my tab where I liked it or not. In the third dream last night, I was in a gang being used as a sex slave (which many women are forced into - that is gangs, and sex slavery). The man who had ownership over me shot dead my girlfriend and then came after me. He shot me in the stomach and fell over me since he was so drunk. I tried fighting back, and I was able to get his gun from his inebriated figures, but he had used his last bullet on me,... so I just died, right there, with his drunk self hanging over me.
I used to believed dreams meant something. I had a dream dictionary and a dream journal where I would try to figure out the meanings. When I became engrossed by
christianity I stopped listening to the voices within me. Now, I'm trying to backtrack, I'm listening again to myself. In my women and religions class we're learning about indigenous faiths. There are women who have listened quietly and found within themselves and in all things a guiding voice. I cannot deny their words, their experiences - and no longer and I going to deny my experiences - those guiding voices. I prayed to creator yesterday. Today I may pray to Goddess. Tomorrow I may pray to Mother Earth. Our spirituality.