Pavel is our CouchSurfing host in Portland. We spent 3 nights with him. He is from Bielorusia and he came in US with a Phd in semiconductors and when he finished it, he got a job at Intel. He lives the American dream: a nice car, a big house with a huge garden for a future dog. On the other hand, he doesn’t have too much time, since he works 7-19 and each three weeks, he is on night call.

Pavel dated an American girl. Once, after about 2 months, when he came to her place, there was on the table a magazine specialized on marriage diamonds. Pavel said that the girls are programmed that ‘if marriage then diamonds’. The same story I had heard from Viorel, that the custom is that the diamond is 30% of the yearly revenue of the groom.

He goes once a year in Bielorusia. He says that if you accept corruption, you can have a good life.

India is from India. She is a work colleague of Pavel. We met her at a Sunday grill. She is very emancipated, she drives a 1200cc chopper, very big and heavy. As the other Indian at the party, she is married with an Indian who is living far by 3 hours flight. The problem is that in US, even as a Phd doctor, working for 6 years, if you don’t have a job, you have to leave the country. So each of them sticks to the job they got after graduation and wait to get the citizenship.

Pavel is sharing his house with Vladimir, from Ukraine. He has tough stories with colleagues and friends who went in the war, and some died.

Despite all these sad stories, we had a very good time with them.

Portland is known for roses, the climate is apparently perfect to grow them.