Keeping Austin weird.

I love this city. I really didn't know what to expect when I arrived. Just the promise that is would be amazing. I really don't know if I cared where I was going just so long as I was going somewhere. Being a nursing major in college requires lot of sacrifice and one of them was studying abroad. I was hungry for a new place and some new experiences. I don't know if Texas is what I envisioned. I mean I am a good New England girl, cynical and liberal to the core. So was I giving up my maple syrup for BBQ...? HELL YES, ya'll.

So I jumped in my Vibe and drove down here with the nervous excitement of a five year old entering kindergarden. Okay, I realize not everyone marched into kindergarden with a, "see ya Mum", the way I did. I have always been fiercely independent and maybe not always to my benefit. Don't misunderstand me though, I was not a loud or precocious child, I was really quite shy. I was however, and still am, stubborn. I try to think of it as an endearing quality. This might be the result of growing up the youngest child and desperately trying to keep up all the time. I really didn't want to get left behind and if you are the youngest of a big family you'll understand my feelings. So Austin is was!

This is really the most interesting place I have ever lived. And, let's not forget the YMCA I spent ten weeks living in during Americorps. I slept on the daycare floor among twelve other people.....on air mattresses....in Mississippi.  Austin holds a quality to it that is vastly different from other cities. I know there are many places in the U.S. that have the same quirky qualities as Austin, but I don't know if they have to fight to stay that way among the strictly and mostly conservative state of Texas. Austin is like the crazy uncle at your family reunion talking about "the man" and how you got to stick it to him. Meanwhile, he road here on a unicycle with his guitar and asked if you wanted to run a marathon tomorrow dressed as a gorilla. His beard is epic. This is Austin. By the way, the gorilla run actually happens here.

(I found this on the Austingorillarun.com, p.s. my super cool friends the Bullards are front and center!)

Austin has taught me a lot about being myself and being proud of my eccentricities. I have always felt like I was searching for my style or my identity throughout my adolescence and young adulthood. I was never very showy or adventurous with my identity. I didn't experiment with fashion. Austin has helped me to understand the person I want to project to the world. I never wanted to do or wear anything too crazy because in New England it's taboo. In Austin, it's just another bearded unicyclist. There are so many reasons why I love this city. It will be hard to leave them all behind. I am struggling with what I am going to take with me. People here don't want life to be ordinary, in fact they do everything possible to keep Austin weird. Of course these days goodbyes are not forever, but I don't know if I will ever live here again. The reality of that will take time to set in and I hope that when I am sitting by the lake in New Hampshire wishing, or rather craving, some BBQ and a walk around town lake, I will be content with my decision. I am comforted to know that even after I am gone Austin will be helping other young, or maybe old, people to embrace their inner weirdo. Keep Austin Weird ya'll, I know you can.

Me at 5 or 6? I think I was always Austin bound:)