i finally have a moment to just bum around and update my blogger! it's been a fun filled week and bit of conference rowdy-ness and shauna visiting me in toba! mind you, i'm sure that i have forgotten a lot of this trip already (all of the drinking and blackouts and hungover-ness and and zombie like states every morning) i'll do my best to recount each and every one of my crazy memories =) you know this is going to be excruciatingly long...so read on if you must =)
day one: the crazy race against time to pack and head over to martin's so i wouldn't miss the damn chartered bus. i only brought three pieces of luggage this time, that's an accomplishment! we watched a bunch of movies, and dozed in and out of sleep. cara and i were the last ones on the bus so we got the seats in the front row and of course they had the most leg room =) we stopped at a creepy truck stop restaurant for supper. it reminded me of a horror murder movie or something. me and cara were not happy at all. the food was so disgusting, and the ice tea tasted like dirty brown water lol anyways after a long and uncomfortable fourteen hours, we finally made it to cowtown =)
day two: we checked into our rooms at the lovely hyatt hotel. cara and i took a quick power nap then showered and got ready for a day of shopping. we took the c-train to the chinook mall, and hit aritzia. i bought one sweater. one
sweater. that's pretty sad. we went back downtown and went to go look at climbing gear for myself. and of course i couldn't find a harness or a chalk bag. boourns.
we head back to hyatt and opening plenary begins. so everyone is going crazy and cheering and chanting and scaring the new members. and all the oldies saying hi and hugging the other oldies. when there is an abundance of new faces in the crowd, that's when you know you're old! anyways we had an awesome powerpoint and instructional video for plenary. ask martin for it hehe
party was weak, only because the oldies went to bed before three to save our energy for new years eve =)
cara got picked up by a creepy creepy guy. and someone said i was supervp cuz i brought the biggest delegation with me to nc2004 =) wohwowhow
day three: point form from here on out...
-the nacho springer show "you don't know me"
-tracks and meeting all of the md peeps across canada! go md!
-getting ready for gangster night/new years eve
-toba spending new years countdown together 5-4-3-2-1 happy new years! and all of the kissing! (and hiding from guys that want to kiss us!)
-going back to the room and finding out that frank the tank is missing!
-cara and i trying "everything" to get it back from the hot french guy
-frank the tank is officially m.i.a. so we have to shotgun beers instead
-more countdowns and more kissing
-dancing on tables
-our paparazi and pictures galore
-reyna yelling "i want to be like melissaaaaaaaaa!!!"
-my hot hot hot and sexy MD girls!
-saved a horse and "rode a cowboy" lol
-french boys. enough said.
day four:
-facilitating local committee simulations (best experience ever being on the "other side")
-i was super nervous asking a question during the member committee presidents q&a session
-first bar night at my apartment.
-free drinks, and shots
-dancing on the stage and getting vip
-dancing meringue with nima
-kevin leaving his friends in good hands hehe
-cara running after a cab in high heels in her attempt to lose the "stalker" but he runs just as fast after her
-"stalker" shares the cab with me, shauna, and cara
-"stalker" asking us if we paid the dude the four bucks (how cheap assed!)
-cara and i dropping shauna off thinking we're going to bed
-bumping into mitch and running into his room and waking up his roommates.
-one roommate jon goes to the 7th floor and makes too much noise with his guitar that the party is shut down (oops!)
-owen stays up and the countdown to 5 am begins
-the 5am club is formed in the hot tub (i miss the 5 am club!)
day five:
-a total of twenty minutes sleep before lcp initiation
-martin becomes "martina" at the hands of toba girls
-martin has freakish feminine features. it still scares me to this day...
-trying to stay up while facilitating lc simulations
-still nervous while asking questions during regional mcp q&a
-second bar night at mynt club
-kevin's friends join us for round two and beer mixed with shots is so good but so bad!
-bar is insanely packed
-back to the hotel and shauna and i with our own melshauna remixes and singing in the hallway =)
-in bed before four am...man we're old!
-missed out on 5am club part two
day six:
-last day of my last conference =(
-emotional and teary eye
-cara and i being sneaking during partner's day
-mcp elections! congratulations araz!!!
-crying during martin's speech at final banquet
-crying during nacho's presentation at final banquet
-all of the picture taking
-wine and beer is a good combination
-i'm glad i don't remember a lot about this night (but the rumors continue hahahah)
-partying until the bitter end
-more hallway parties
-cara and my last kiss (on video)
-hotel lobby parties
-swing dancing with some french dude
-helping shauna and neha with their roommate problems and trying to get their shit out so we could leave!
-teddy coming to the rescue and seeing some "snatch" that he didn't want to see
-kevin being so "gentlemanly like"
-5 am club in the hot tub
-then running on the bus soaking wet at 6:00 sharp
-goodbye cowtown...
day seven:
-slept the entire day away on the bus
-passed out from 6am until 8pm for sure
-getting into winnpeg at 11:30pm
-shauna and i stay up all night having pizza with our tea and an entire box of chocolate covered macadamian nuts
-staying up all night gossiping and chatting till 5am
day eight:
-shauna and i get out of bed only to get ready to hit the gym
-broke in the new rock climbing shoes, and shauna gets a taste of what climbing the wall in winnpeg is like
-used shauna as a pillow
-went out for supper at applebee's with the climbers
-shauna gets a taste of a day in the life of meesa =)
day nine:
-get out of bed at 8am and shauna gets ready to go to school with me!
-missed my first class damn traffic
-so shauna and i plant ourselves in the aiesec office and do what? oh yah md shit!
-finally leave school and shauna and i head off to the forks haha
-stuffed ourselves silly with junk food
-found this wonderful french store in johnstons terminal and we felt like we were somewhere european. feelings of girlieness and happy cheery feminine feelings as we were engulfed in silk and lace and everything pretty pink and sexy and moulin rouge-ish. i'm always gonna go into that store when i'm having a shitty day!
-go home for supper and shauna and i savage on everything filipino (eggrolls, chicken adobo, rice...etc)
-get ready for a night at tyc
-tyc is so weak until shauna gets drunk: 10 shots in 10 minutes
-tequila, jack daniels, dirty hooker, snake bite, prairie fire, dirty sanchez, yagermeister, that's only seven...i forget the rest lol but she was solid. like freakishly solid. i couldn't even tell that she was hammered =)
day ten:
-i get home from work and shauna's been out with the boys to watch napoleon dynamite
-get ready to go to empire
-salsa is so weak but we make the best of it
-all the boys are out with us and shauna and i act like we're drunk but we're not haha
-made a vow to salsa out in toronto this week to redeem ourselves
-shauna is trained to become a model with all the stolen pics red took haha pose when you see the redlight shauna =)
-perkins for after bar muchies with the boys
-shauna becomes aware of my closet food whore-ness as she watches me devour whatever is on my plate (and she's a lil scared)
-come home and i was hoping for a late night gossip chat...but i pass out when my head hits the pillow
day eleven:
-bye bye shauna!
-spent the afternoon packing and shauna saying her goodbyes...
-shauna leaving beautiful bouquet of floweres for her extended toba family
-had our last coffee together at the airport *tears*
-and leaving shauna behind at the gates *cries*
-hugs and wave wave wave goodbye shauna!!! i'll see you on thrusday =) lol
general thoughts:
so there is the past week and a bit in a nutshell. it has been extremely emotional and i have grown and learned so much more about myself in a short amount of time. i'm an oldie and this is my last aiesec conference (at least for now)
the most valuable thing i learned from this conference came from facilitating the lc simulation, and taking the role in leading discussions during tracks. being on the other side, the one doing the teaching and giving feedback and advice was so eye opening. it's a different feeling sharing your experiences and knowledge with someone, and to know that you've made an impact on that person. whether you've motivated them or just given them direction. just the fact that these kids have partied all night, are super exhausted, but when they ask you a question they're all bright eyed and bushy tailed to hear what you have to say. they even take down notes!
the most valuable thing that i have gained in my aiesec career are the friends i have made across the country and the world. never in my life under any other circumstance would i have had the opportunity to meet the most amazing people that have come into my life in the past few years. i could not imagine what my life would be like without these people. and i'm so glad that i know, no matter how far or how often i get a chance to communicate to these people, these people made a difference in my life, and i will never ever forget them! the best part is that where ever i go i know i have a couch to crash on! and i get invited to events like shauna's birthday and cabin fever in toronto cuz of aiesec. and people like shauna come and visit me! and not matter where we live we still have amazingly strong friendships. and even though most of us have known each other for less than two years, i consider them some of my dearest and most cherished friendships hehehe and big props to shauna for being the first aiesecer to come and visit me out in the middle of jaunary! what a trouper! and i hope she had a good time. cuz i sure did! she's now part of my family. officially my cousin cuz she calls my mom and dad tita and tito and my grandma lola, and eats all the filipino food my family can dish out to her hahaha
anyways. nc2004 being the last conference with my current executive team...i will have to say that we didn't get the time to spend a lot of it together. 3 out of the 7 of us are part of the new team, and 1 couldn't make it out. but the time on the eb and past conferences have been some of the most amazing times in my life. as team we had some small issues, but for some reason since wrc2003 we all seemed to click like we were made for each other. made to be a team. and as the months went by and elections drew closer, i could not have imagined our team any other way. you guys have been with me through my highs and my lows in and outside of aiesec. and never would i consider you guys just part of my team, but my friends. that from all faces in life just randomly brought us together, yet we worked so well with one another. our greatest accomplishment would definitely have to be winning the "Award of Excellence" at wrc 2004 in our year! Can you believe that?
anyways...i'm glad this i left this conference and my aiesec career on a high note. and this is so cliched but aiesec has definitely changed my life. and for all the newbies and the new exec and lcps, i wish you all the best of luck in your aiesec careers, keep learning, keep participating, keep on forging those friendships, keep developing yourselves, and keep up that motivation and spirit and passion and potential i see in all of you. as i did, you will learn quickly that the time you have in aiesec just flies by, so make the most of every moment.
even though my aiesec career is quickly coming to an end...like mess said to me today "you know you're not done yet." we will soon find out =)
hehe i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot of ish but more on conference memories and melshauna remixes later =)
inspired.
