My first four weeks in the Rose City — Portland, Or.

I’ve done it.

I have survived three weeks in the beautiful city of Portland. From the amazing food, gorgeous scenery, and kind people, where do I even begin?

First let me give my back story. This summer I have been offered a software developer internship at a company called CDK Global ( which I will discuss my experiences with in another post) in Portland, Oregon. I am originally from New Jersey but as the daring seventeen year old I am, I have decided to venture out to the west coast by myself and live in an apartment along with a college roommate whom I’ve never met till I actually touched down to Portland. I knew absolutely no one in the city but did not want to waste an amazing opportunity to learn and craft my programming skills. So I hopped on a plane to Portland on June 19th and never looked back. Not really as dramatic as it sounds, it’s only for two months.

I am currently residing at The Vue on PSU campus which is actually a miracle. There is a whole different story as to how I was even able to acquire housing. But luckily, I did, and for cheap too! I was also blessed with the nicest roommate who has a rad personality which I was absolutely terrified for. It’s a 15 story high (I think) building with a rooftop, gym, and it is right in the heart of downtown which means many, MANY FOOD OPTIONS. It is food carts and restaurants galore. I’m too afraid to even step on the scale because I do not want to know how much weight I’ve gained. I’ve also discovered a love for Veggie Grill even though I think vegetables are absolutely evil.

I’ve also been able to go to so many cool events such as a Fourth of July celebration that was also a Jazz/Blues Festival and Salsa Dancing at the park. The fourth of July Event was right at the WaterFront Park and the day leading up to the fireworks was a lot of dancing and great music. Then at 10 pm, the fireworks show began and it was a beautiful sight to see over the river.

Here in Portland, I’ve also found a love for Salsa Dancing. I was looking for meetups on meetups.com related to Dance and saw that there were Dance lessons for Salsa at a dance studio 20 minutes away from my house. So I decided to go one week and fell in love. It’s a very social dance and it was a great way to just let loose. I went to an event where people where just salsa dancing at the park and I realized that dancing is a beautiful way to bring people together. There’s no harm in dancing. If you think someone is going to judge your skill or your two left feet, you are absolutely wrong. People are way too focused on themselves to worry about you so just GET UP AND DANCE.

I only have about 5 weeks left which makes me extremely sad. But I’m looking to make the most out of it and meet great people along the way.