Awkward Adventures & Indigenous People's Day
Hello all~
What a week it's been! Fall break has come and gone leaving me a little tired, but much more relaxed for more classes as we near what my academic advisor, Professor Bob Mandel, would proudly proclaim is the "true mathematical midpoint of the semester."
My free time this fall break was spent valiantly trying to go to events in and around Portland, but alas, most of my attempts were in vain. I missed my bus to get my to the Portland Queer Film Festival to see "Freeheld", and then the next day I got to another event - a lesbian-centered mingle - way too early. My last chance to try to get out was Saturday night when me and a friend went to what we thought was a costume event.
Unfortunately, when we got there, we quickly realized we had not understood what the event actually was and were the only people dressed up. Awkward...
Hello all~
What a week it's been! Fall break has come and gone leaving me a little tired, but much more relaxed for more classes as we near what my academic advisor, Professor Bob Mandel, would proudly proclaim is the "true mathematical midpoint of the semester."
My free time this fall break was spent valiantly trying to go to events in and around Portland, but alas, most of my attempts were in vain. I missed my bus to get my to the Portland Queer Film Festival to see "Freeheld", and then the next day I got to another event - a lesbian-centered mingle - way too early. My last chance to try to get out was Saturday night when me and a friend went to what we thought was a costume event.
Unfortunately, when we got there, we quickly realized we had not understood what the event actually was and were the only people dressed up. Awkward...
While we did look pretty good, we were a little embarrassed, so we left, but it did leave us hoping to to a true costumed event in Portland soon... But that's the really cool thing about Portland - you can find almost any event for interest imaginable. There's always something going on.
It was "Columbus Day" yesterday, or as Lewis & Clark refers to it: Indigenous People's Day. Portland actually recently replaced "Columbus Day" with "Indigenous People's Day" - which is a fantastic thing to see, especially given that Portland has one of the largest Native American populations in a major US metropolitan area. The MRC, or Multicultural Resource Center, via the Native Student Union, paid tribute to the day by hosting a really popular event yesterday where students could make prayer ties and eat delicious snack based on the five original foods: water, roots, berries, game, and fish. Students could also learn about the history and effects of Columbus Day, Sacagawea, as well as about the tribes of the Pacific Northwest.
Tonight was a really fun event - an academic screening of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." We read the short story it's based on for my English elective, and I'm looking forward to discussing it in class tomorrow. I haven't watched this film since I was much younger, so it's really interesting to look at it again now that I'm older.
Apologies for the short post - I'll be posting a lot more next week, since I have a really packed week ahead of me.
Till next time...
- Nicole