Farewell Portland, today we leave for the coast. What a time we have had. We have been staying with Devidas, a friend we met on couchsurfing. He owns a McMansion in a classy suburb of Portland. The neighborhood is the type you see in a model railroad. Everything is perfect, so immaculate you wonder if people actually live here. I made sure to park on street this time. As soon as we arrived Devidas offered us real chai tea and asked if we had already eaten. He is from Bombay and proceded to make us a vegan cauliflower curry and dahl effortlessly and from memory with the kind of attention I would pay to making a grilled cheese sandwich. No curry powder or measuring here, just pinches of spice from his stainless steel container and a feel that defines cultures. I hesitate to say it cannot be learned but it would require many years of steeping to obtain that kind of intuition.
We spent the next day wandering through the Alberta district past organic coffe shops, vintage boutiques and music stores. Later we went to the Lucky Labradoor Brewing Co. intending to drink with the cousurfing community who meet weekly for 'Tightwad Tuesdays'. Two pints later they are nowhere to be found. It turns out there are three Lucky Labs in Portland, and I was in the wrong one. Not that I was overly concerned, we were really just wasting time till Devidas got back from work. Back at the estate we all sat to watch Guru together. It was my first Bollywood film and I can honestly say I thougherly enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the six pack of pint sized cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon I got at the grocery on the way for only $4.57.
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