Day 76 / Dzien 76.

Lee and I spent the day exploring Portland. We like it. It's big but it has a small city feel to it. It's easy to get around on free (sic!) light rail and the downtown in condensed so you can walk everywhere.
It's definitely a city with problems. It's hard to walk a single block and not be asked for money. And the beggars are anything but typical. Most of them are young and highly mobile, and seem to be everywhere you go. They kept approaching us at a train stop, so when the train arrived, we were happy to finally get away. Doors opened and… we heard familiar questions. There were more of them already on board. Although it’s not something to make fun of, it reminded me of an old joke about communist propaganda:

“I turn TV on: Lenin.

I turn radio on: Lenin.

I open a newspaper: Lenin.

I’m afraid to open the fridge.”

We went to dinner with Tiffany and Brian at a Lebanese restaurant before heading to play trivia at a bar. We came in third. Didn’t win anything but we still had a blast.

Nachodzili nas na przystanku, wiec kiedy nadjechal pociag, bylismy szczesliwi, ze w koncu sie od nich uwolnimy. Otworzyly sie drzwi i… uslyszelismy znajome pytania. W srodku juz czekali kolejni. Chociaz nie jest to problem, z ktorego powinnam sie smiac, przypomnial mi sie stary kawal o komunistycznej propagandzie:

“Wlaczam telewizor: Lenin.

Wlaczam radio: Lenin.

Otwieram gazete: Lenin.

Boje sie otworzyc lodowke.”

Poszlismy na obiad z Tiffany i Brianem do libanskiej restauracji, a potem do baru grac w trivie. Zajelismy trzecie miejsce. Nie wygralismy niczego, ale i tak mielismy wielka frajde.

*Our first meal in Portland: fish tacos and a shrimp sandwich from a tiny seafood stand. We discovered more of them around the city. There was a Japanese one, an Egyptian one, Mexican, Thai, and many more. We had a carry-out from the Thai one for lunch and were blown away. $10 bought us two giant (and I mean enough for two or three meals) servings of tofu pad thai and chicken curry. And they don’t cut corners on quality neither. It was delicious! No surprise that these stands are so popular.
*Nasz pierwszy posilek w Portland: tacos z ryba i kanapka z krewetkami z malenkiej budki z owocami morza. Odkrylismy ich wiecej w miescie. Byla budka japonska, egipska, meksykanska, tajska i wiele innych. Lunch kupilismy w tajskiej i bylismy zdumieni. Za $10 dostalismy dwie gigantyczne (na dwa albo trzy posilki) porcje pad thai z tofu i curry z kurczakiem. I nie oszczedzaja tez na jakosci. Pyszne! Nic dziwnego, ze te budki sa takie popularne.