c. scott andreas

I have been in Oregon for a day, yet it feels like I grew up here. Not that it even remotely resembles Columbia City (though it’s true - Porlanders have no accent). But it seems familiar.

Both of our flights were delayed last night. The second delay prevented us from catching a train to our hotel. I called Josh (the Arts director at Imago Dei whom I hope to work with this summer) in hopes of figuring something out. Upon discovering that our hotel was twenty miles from the airport and his house a mere two, he explained the situation to the family he lives with. He picked us up from the airport and offered us some incredible hospitality - we enjoyed a night with Josh, Tony, his wife, kids, and pets.

We had breakfast at a local place called Cricket Café, swapped stories about life, the universe, and everything for about an hour, and enjoyed some great pancakes and omelettes. Josh explained that Portland is a city in which people sit in coffee shops or bars (depending on the time of day) pretending to be angry about the rain. Darrell later explained that he did not see one thing about this city that did not somehow resemble my character. I may never leave.

My interview with Imago Dei’s executive pastor went well also - it’s always great to sit and talk with someone about vision, direction, and goals. To my surprise, he proposed an Arts / IT combo internship. I’d secretly hoped to do this all along but did not realize it was a possibility. Cool.

Afterward, I caught up with Darrell at a coffee place next to the office called Grendel’s. There was a dog sitting on a chair out front who seemed to know what he was doing. We grabbed our luggage out of Josh’s car and began what turned out to be a two-hour journey from the office to our hotel on Portland’s TriMet mass transit system. After walking 1.5 miles with our luggage to our hotel from what turned out to be the wrong train station, we sat down to rest for a minute. I hopped online to find a better way back to the office (I made it in just under an hour) and went back into town for a birthday party.

After a piece of cake, Josh and I got together in his office to brainstorm for awhile. There’s nothing like hanging a big sheet of paper on the wall and scribbling wildly with a marker. I can’t wait to see what might come out of it…but more on that later. We’ll be doing the same tomorrow morning. Also, the church’s Office Manager (who happened to have some random connections to Fort Wayne’s YFC group; cool) hooked me up with quite a get-togethers and projects going on in the church this week. I look forward to meeting some other members.

After a quick trip back to the hotel, Darrell and I grabbed dinner at a Mexican place, picked up some groceries for the week, and decided to call it a night.

Finally, two quick photos:

the first: I was surprised to find that US 30, which runs not one mile from my home in Columbia City, IN, also runs through downtown Portland. A quick glance at Google Maps indicates that this is in fact the same US 30.

the second: I’m told that Powell’s is the world’s largest book store; it’s several stories high and takes up an entire city block. I rode by it on a bus and just caught the corner of a sign for it as we drove by. Look for a more thorough exploration of this treasure trove later.

Goal for tomorrow: Pick up a “Keep Portland WEIRD!” bumper sticker.

grace and peace from the land of milk and honey rain and coffee,

c. scott andreas