Saba Imtiaz: Everyday is a winding road..

The quote of this conference has been by one of the AI members: "AIESECers have no idea what they're doing next year but they know what they're doing for the rest of their life" I think that is so true. I know for sure, what my action steps are for next year - but I keep rethinking the situation. How will I feel at the end of the year? Will I be exhausted and not want to do another year of work? Will I be excited and enjoying my AIESEC experience so much that I will want to do 5 more years? I guess time will tell. I've been talking to a number of people about what their future plans are and its quite interesting. I've also resolved to not try and justify anyone else's work ethic. It is just not me.

I have had a tough term. But the highs have made up for the lows, and I know for sure what I need to do to ensure that I don't feel this disconnect that I currently do.

If I could relive the past one year again, what would I do differently? Thats not the question. The fact is, that it only matters if everyone resolves to do everything differently.

I need to have a cup of coffee and curl up on a couch, not try and catch some sleep on the benches in plenary!

In other random IC news..

..our work habits have become quite strange. Ask Joanna :P...
...we like to whine. a lot. please get Kurt some juice!!
...the amount of networking happening in the queue to the girls' bathroom is quite fascinating! People are resolving SN visa issues, being updated on how their common friends are doing, complaining about the lack of sleep, promoting exchange opportunities, getting advice...someone needs to include that in the conference prep packs as a ER networking tool!

Love from a rainy Warsaw,
Saba

So I have just gotten back from the Electrolux launch at IC and am now blogging in the HP cafe and trying to desperately catch up on the deluge of emails.

IC 2006 is a phenomenal experience. Despite being exhausted from the late nights (well, I'm to blame for those :P), intense sessions and lack of food - I am loving every second of this experience. There have been so many amazing and emotional moments during this conference that I am finding it hard to actually be able to put it into words. Its funny - everyone seems to talk about reflection but there actually hasn't been anytime to do that. I also don't really like sharing personal thoughts out loud - but thats a interesting challenge that I overcame this morning when we shared the picture of our life and what made us the people we were. I have these rather strange moments - and have had many of those this year - where I am trying to come to terms with certain events in my life. This conference, for me, has had many of those moments.

The conversations that I have had - the passion that the Plenary at IC 2006 has - is absolutely phenomenal. There is not a single moment when I have not felt blessed to be here.

And in other random, funny moments..

..the screen flickering at the HP cafe launch and the Microsoft rep saying "Must be running on OpenSource" (I thought it was SO like something I would've said. Yeah, I'm mean like that :P)

...getting 18 litres of Pakola into Poland without paying excess baggage!

....someone asking me if I was MCP (while Emad was standing next to me) and then a few hours later someone asking Emad if he was from AI

.....David being __ bitch!

.....Ms AP Night and Ryan's traumatized look! (For very good reasons, I must add)

.......Joanna actually being angry at something (Thats a sight I never thought I'd see!)

Thats all from now. I think dinner's being served right about now (quick agenda check - YES it is!)

And everyone who isn't at IC - check out Virtual Insanity! We're live, baby!

IC 2006 - :)

Thats all I will say for now.

Its funny, how noone tells you that you'l have to do all this when you get elected LCP..

..like rifling through Emad's bags TWICE to find his passport (Its worth it when you flip through it, I tell you) and once to find his ticket for IC (which eventually, turned out to be with him, hundreds of miles away in Lahore!). The good part is that I now know where he keeps money so the next time I'm starving and broke I know where to go..

I've spent the major part of the past 2 days at home, because of the endless rain that has broken down the civic infrastructure of the city. I've spent this time doing lots of work, and watching movies! For me - this is a big deal, because I never get the time to watch movies the entire year. I saw Being Cyrus (horrible, even Saif Ali Khan was no good) and Fanaa (which I actually liked, despite the fact that its gotten horrid reviews) and I started watching Rang de Basanti again but then I remembered I had to get tons of stuff before I leave on Sunday..

Today's been such a strange reminder of how my life used to be a little over than a year ago. Drifting along lazily without a sense of purpose or direction. No early morning text messages or calls that require immediate attention. Nothing to do really - but to just curl myself under the comforter, eat Cornettos and Slims and forget where the time flew by.

:)

Our (the EB's) newest obsession - Google Spreadsheets! :D

P.S: Rabia, sorry for messing with your excel sheet!

We decided on these words a while ago - but I just recently got around to making this image and sharing it with the LC. Now, as I sit down to write, I realize how much this statement - our team stand - means to me. It describes our journeys from being AIESEC members to our current positions - our evolution to the leadership team. It stands for the committment we have to ensure that every single AIESEC member evolves through their time in AIESEC and follows a journey that is even more amazing than the ones we have taken to be here. We want to empower every single AIESEC member with the skills, knowledge and acumen that will enrich their AIESEC experience - and enable them to excel personally and professionally, alongwith us - we want to excel and make our visions come true, together :)

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll challenge you to try something.
3. I'll pick a colour that I associate with you.
4. I'll tell you something I like about you.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, you must re-post this on your blog

I saw Vanilla Sky again after ages, and while I've been completely mindfucked since then and have been having incredibly warped dreams that are merged with figments of reality and my deepest nightmares, this line leapt out at me - and it completely defines my LCP term to date :)

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.

:)

JNC 2006! Learning to Stand :)


AIESEC Karachi at JNC 2006 - Doing 'that thing we do' ;)

From the moment I stepped into the hotel lobby on the 27th, I knew this was going to be one incredible conference. From ensuring registration went smoothly, to taking time off in the midst of a crazy morning to plan out my personal conference objectives, to welcoming Gursimran Khamba from @India as Chair for the conference - the next 3 days were a combination of intense learning experiences and realizations, renewed committment and motivation, constantly discussing legislation and reviewing it, long conversations about AIESEC Pakistan that went on till 5 every morning, and some of the funniest moments: the egg/fanta cocktail, sohaib's moment of glory during the selling simulation, emad's evil side while playing mafia, the aqeel/sohaib jive, the hasan/sohaib dance, the rollcall by @lahore about me, javed sutringer...this conference was beyond anything I had ever expected..and made me realize how all the hard work was just SO worth it.

Thankyou to everyone who made this conference a success - AIESEC Pakistan's MC 06-07: The Firestarters, Khamba and Manish from @India, Puneet, Lena, Pascale, the AMAZING OC, the EB: Evolve, Empower, Excel and all the delegates :) 2006-2007 looks great baby!

AIESEC Pakistan at IC 2005

And today, as I wrote the same email for the second year in a row about outfits for IC Global Village and Opening Ceremony, I realized how a year's passed and so much has happened - that even putting it down in words is a challenge.

Funnily enough, while my sister cleaned our room she found a notebook, which included my personal objectives for YouCan 2005! Its going to be great to see everyone from YouCan at IC this year.. :)

And since I'm on a 7 day break, and quite bored..I was reading through old chat logs and came upon a conversation with Kurt, before he had formally applied for AIESEC Pakistan's MC..

Kurt: "who is ____@hotmail.com?"
Me: "Oh thats Emad Nadim, VP ICX for @Lahore and prospective MCP candidate.."

Whats even funnier is that I remember a conversation with Emad where he went:
Emad: "Who is Kurt?! How do we know him?"

Maybe I should have saved this conversation for their discharge next year :P I'm just bored now..