Austin: An Out of [Water]Body, Nomadlife Experience.

Well, well, well. As some have already pointed out, Austin hosted a weekend of fun and shannigans..deep in the heart of Texas! Damnit, I was so sick ("ill" for all you Turks!), but what better cure than precious waterbodies, beautiful sunshine, and smokin' Texas BBQs compliments of Jesse? Unfortunately I was so sick, I really didn't take many pictures, but I'll post a few from other's blogs soon.

Save the fact that I could hardly swallow, the weekend was nothing short than a blessing, handed down by the @ gods themselves. It really reminds you of why you joined, why you became active, and why you are still hanging out long after you've been stripped of your @ positions and roles ...It's the waterbodies, the waterbodies, the WATERBODIES! Having been unwell lent itself to an amazing soberness throughout my time in Austin (riiight), which led to an even more amazing ability to recall events that really highlighted my weekend (not really).


-Meeting, for the first time, Sheila Zhao, from China/NJ/Indiana (who the hell knows). Sheila: It's so great you did a traineeship in Turkey in 2002, too! I'm surprised we hadn't met before! I'll be seein you in Beijing!
-Mexican Martini's at Truddys (see the nomadlife.org picture of Sheila and I napping on the couch) and Mix Master telling me that I look "So LA"..haha! Oh Mike, if you only knew where Greenville was!
-Mixing up Trent's name and feeling like an ass. Trent, you're as crazy in person as you are on your blog. Snake blood? Hmm, I'll take another Caucasian, Jackie.
-Breakfast tacos at "Juan in a Million". The highlight of "Juan" had to be the personal account of the "Man Month" by Adam. I'm sure a lot of you guys read about it on "An Irish Experience" back in the day...I haven't been so frightened of anything in my life. But, I've never felt so good after eating tacos for breakfast. Why? Because it's Juans, and Juan's just "makes you feel good".
-Meeting up with Angie after not seeing her since Madison in 2003...and sharing "my obsession" about Kiev. Ang, for some reason everytime I see you it's all a big, grand blur. Hmm. Let's keep it that way.
-Meeting Saki! Even if all of the Chinese people hate you guys, don't worry, myself and Dubya are still cool with the Japanese...well, this month at least;) After talking with you and Sheila, I know that it is just a matter of time before I hit up Asia...The time has come! I want Hong Kong. I want Beijing. Screw Shanghai.
-Learning La Contessa's real name! Why didn't anyone tell me she was cute? Communication breakdown here, folks. Jen, give my regards to WonderWoman in London and enjoy the rain.
-Seein' Celeste and Dana..damn it's been a long time. I mean a LONG TIME. Celeste, I actually have heard so much about you, but it was years ago..I'm gonna have to do some research..Ms. Matl, def. a pleasure meetin up with you.
-MelT, haha! I can't get that song out of my head..."samba, samba, samba". I hope Surya can burn me a copy, but I'm afraid I've burned all my bridges with that POS. Anyway, thx for toting us around.
-Jesse, seeing you rip apart those chickens with your bloody hands really made me see you in a different light. See what I wrote to Angie;)
-Surya, you're a lucky POS..India for 10 days and Turkey for a Summer...BUT, you're also an excellent host (esp. for useless sick pieces of whitetrash). Thanks for nursing me back to health and showing off everything that 'encapsulates Austin': Waterbodies, cute girls, sunshine, Keystone Light(which my high society clothes were packed so nicely in), and good ole fashion Jeese BBQ.
-Dturk, ibne pic. I wanted more stories about Tas Gibi Kizlar.
-Tata, you remind me of Mahbod, perhaps a little better looking (I heard about the Hooters in Spore story), you POS. Now tell me who the half Swiss, half Guatemalan girl was;)
-New Austin @er without a tshirt, you remind us of Devrim. You've got a bright future ahead of you, slime away.
-Dody, what more can you ask for (besides 2 chicks)? Your creation is truly coming alive. It's like a Frankenstein. It's here. It's crazy. It's scary. I blame you.

And to the countless others I met, I'm sorry, I have forgotten your names. Ask Sheila, it just takes some time for me;)

Now, I must say that knowing and visiting different US chapters of AIESEC throughout the years I have seen them grow, die, rise, fall, and everything in between. I was talking to Chantall (ex LCP of Buffalo) yesterday and she was talking about how Blo had to cancel Oozefest this year because of a lack of interest/participation. I remember 2 years ago they were having trouble with basic logistics because there were so many people. I saw the same thing happen in Michigan when we had our Casino Night cancelled our last year. But, I also remember Nick Clark giving us daytime "nature tours" at Lake Kansas. And actually thinking back on it, the Lake Kansas experience reminded me a lot of Austin. An LC running on all cylinders in terms of member participation.

Without knowing too much about @ over in Tehas, my general feeling after seeing Austin this weekend was that I was witnessing an LC that was at it's peak, or at least an coming up to an end of an era so to speak. Be it Surya (and ?) doing Capoeira or Adam attempting to give us a 5am tour (thanks for spoiling it Angie) of Austin, I was glad to be apart of the Austin Experience.
Thanks again everyone, for the weekend, and for allowing me to procrastinate all of my work on this fine Californian Monday morning. I'm feeling better now!! @$#%$! WTF Mate. WTF.