My mom started crying at the airport. It was very uncomfortable for me to be around. I quickly left them all after completing the mandatory embrace.

The flights went smoothly. No delays, plus both planes flew at roughly half capacity, nice to have a whole row of seats to myself. The picture below depicts the moon rising from an endless, flat bed of clouds. The sight was most impressive when it had only come through a third of the way, glowing a pale orange. It created a very convincing illusion that the plane was flying higher than the moon. I was so taken by the view that I grabbed the camera, but it’s up to your imagination to overcome the blurred photo.

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— Monday, 6.8 —

Initial striking aspects of mpls: an unusually large # of residences/establishments have ceramic lion statues at their entrances. I’ve only seen 3 such places, but that still seems alot considering how little time I’ve been here.

The light rail cars have a beehive-like black mesh covering their glass, so if you’re at a window seat, it’s strenuous on the eyes to look outside. As far as I can tell, however, there’s only one light rail line. Most public transport is via the bus system, which is extensive.

The humidity here has been about perfect. It has been more humid than Fairbanks, yet less humid than I expected. It has also been quite cold. I could see my breath all of last night.

As you would expect, incidence of police/ambulance sirens is higher, too. Within 24 hrs I heard about 8 separate instances. It could be that I was in a bad neighborhood, but it didn’t look too sketch. I’ve not been messed with yet.

It’s such a relief to be in a place where virtually no vehicles run on diesel fuel.

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This is a picture of my preferred water source. It’s in the middle of a park I came across. Unlike the tap water at most places, there’s no hint of chlorine, possibly due to being masked by minerals.

This city has an amazing support system for the homeless. I walked into the salvation army office and was handed a thick booklet filled with lists of places for free clothes, food shelves, free meals, health services, transitional housing, and shelters. I was lucky to arrive on a Monday, since every monday night there’s a lottery for available beds at 3 shelters. I missed out on a bed that night, but got spot #2 on a shelter’s waitlist.

You know you’re homeless when you catch yourself scoping out places to sleep on the ground while walking through a city. I briefly considered sleeping in one of the trees at my water source park, but found my backpack was too heavy to safely climb branches. I rejected lying down on one of the many benches in the area for being too visible. this is where I ended up staying:

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It’s in the front lawn of a cathedral-like building whose function I’m not sure of, but the two people I saw exiting the place were blind; one had a dog, the other a stick. The best thing about this spot was that the wall of shrubbery kept me well hidden. I’m really lucky it didn’t rain, as all I have that’s waterproof is a rain-jacket, and even wearing all clothes layers I still shivered. I laid out my towel so as not to contact the moist ground directly, and used my backpack as if it were two pillows stacked together and filled with oddly shaped objects instead of feathers. Despite the discomfort, I managed to sleep a few hours. I awoke around 11pm having to piss, and couldn’t subsequently fall asleep. The remainder of the night was spent wandering about the general vicinity, sleeping lightly and intermittently on a hidden bench at the back entrance of the blind building, thinking of fire to stay warm (no, not really), and eating trail mix/drinking water.

— Tuesday, 6.9 —

Arrived sleep deprived and sore, but otherwise fine, at a place serving breakfast. Many of these places have particular requirements regarding a person’s eligibility to receive food, so I was thankful that my State ID sufficed. The place also offers 30 day storage locker rentals for a mere $1, but they were understaffed that morning, so I was unable to take advantage of it.

I walked up to downtown. It’s pretty nice. Clean. Some creative architecture, office buildings/skyscrapers with reflective glass sides. There are lots of 2nd floor corridors between adjacent buildings, so that you don’t have to step outside if you don’t want to.

Went to the public library. Really nice library, ugly on the outside, though. On the 4th (top) floor they keep their old collection in an area called the Dewey Stacks, where the books are catalogued according to Dewey decimal, a system the library stopped using. The Dewey Stacks are 21st century book shelves: they’re on tracks on the floor, and lock together side by side. If you need a book shelved on one of the stacks, you press an arrow on an adjacent stack and all stacks on that side move a couple feet, creating an alley for you to walk down to find your book. Even though there are safety measures in place, I couldn’t help but imagine the stacks closing while I was in-between them. Outside the stacks there’s a reading loft, comprised of a line of desks with modern/minimalist looking lamps. I’ve been issued a temporary library card.

Near the library’s main entrance there’s a coffee joint. I hadn’t had a coffee bean beverage in years, but ordered a mocha because I didn’t know what they’re like. A few sips into it and the abundance of coffee shops was explained. What an easy habit to get into! I want to get a latte next because I still don’t know what those are like, but I can’t justify it financially.

I love how there are sidewalk newspaper dispensers for The Onion.

Per the instructions on the form declaring my waitlist status, I called the shelter before 5:45, leaving a message stating that I still needed a bed. I was at the shelter’s entrance around this time, too, the doors scheduled to open at 6:00. While I was waiting at the entrance, a number of the shelter’s current residents similarly waited. So far, I’ve found the homeless people here to be friendly and talkative. They were surprised that I’d come from Alaska and were sorry to hear that I’d spent the previous night outdoors.

At 6:00, this girl who looks to be about my age opened the door and we all walked in, forming a line whose destination was the front counter, where a breathalyzer was administered. The girl asked people their bed number, but the guy ahead of me was similarly waitlisted and she told him they didn’t have any openings and to try again tomorrow. My hopes sank, convinced that I’d have to spend another night outdoors, but my rejection was less harsh: she said try calling at 8:00, they might have an opening. I walked to the lobby area to rearrange my things and overheard her tell another waitlisted person that he should try again tomorrow. The only legitimate reason for this difference in treatment is that I had a higher waitlisted spot, but I got the sense that that wasn’t even being considered. I was feeling conflicted about the whole thing and decided not to bring it up. I stepped outside and pulled out my map, staring at it absent-mindedly, as if it could tell me how to sleep indoors. Within minutes, the girl opened the door a crack and shouted that they had a spot for me.

The bed I’ve been given is good for 28 days. It’s pictured below (top bunk).

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Extensions of up to 90 days are possible if agreed to by your case manager within your first week at the shelter. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering. If I can’t find work as a dishwasher or other menial task within 28 days, then I deserve to sleep outside and succumb to exposure.

Saturday I’m going out for a drink with a friend of my uncle’s who owns a business and is looking to hire a new EE grad. I’ll have to opt for a soda or water instead of a beer since the shelter is sober and apparently one resident lost his bed for registering a blood alcohol level of 0.03%. I hope my meeting goes well.