02 May, 2013

24 hours in austin….

Sehba Sarwar
02 May, 2013

I meet up with my Macondo friends Liliana Valenzuela and Vicente Lozano and we go pay homage to Patti Smith, who offers a sold-out concert at Stubb’s BBQ.

After the concert, we hang out on Sixth Street, but when I return to my car, I discover my car has a flat tire. Vicente calls his AAA, but it’s 2:00 am before I return to my room. In the morning, I’m getting ready to return to Houston with a stopover at Sears, when I stumble on Leal’s Tires in East Austin on Cesar Chavez Street. I eat breakfast at Mr. Natural across the street, while my tire gets repaired.

As I eat the hottest and most spicy migas I’ve consumed for some time, I ponder over how my worlds are circular; the wonderful bnb which I stumbled upon after a search on airbnb, belongs to Diana Soliz, an ex-Houston resident who used to follow VBB while she lived in Houston, and was familiar with my voice on KPFT; we also have a mutual friend through my past life when I used to teach in East Houston, where I’m now based. And Mr. Natural was one of my favorite eateries when I was in grad school in Austin.

All in all, despite the flat, my trip is a wonderful, easy experience – reconnecting with friends and spaces, as I ponder over personal history.

«
»