Austin, Texas

Temperature 97º. Humidity 58%.
and the place I am calling home for the summer.

My apartment: Located in Downtown Austin a few meters from Town Lake, across the street from the largest Whole Foods you can imagine, and walking distance to just about everything, except maybe my work. Its the largest apartment I have ever lived in and having my own bathroom and bedroom (with a full bed) is unreal. Granite countertops and a stove that has more than one heat setting
Austin, Texas. is also a miracle. But just to make sure I feel back at home in my LA apartment the dishwasher doesn't work so well. And the girls we are subletting from were not much of decorators so everything is rather sparse.

But the complex as a shallow pool and a mini gym (which as boring as it is put to use since its sweltering outside). We live right next to some railroad tracks and trains come barreling cacophonously at every hour of the day.



Town Lake: Not to be mistaken as a 'River' this portion of the Colorado River is the liveliest place in town. People jog, walk their dogs, bike, and socialize all day. I wake up to run here at 7:30am and already it is too hot for me. I don't understand how people can run midday. On the lake itself kayaking, canoeing, and fishing are popular. Barton Springs is a natural swimming hole and a great place to swim. The water is freezing but after the initial shock its a great





The City: Austin is a vivacious city. People are out and about walking, jogging, socializing all day and night. There are no accents nor cowboy hats but Nikki and I plan on checking out a Honky Tonk soon. I explored Zilker Botanical Gardens this afternoon. My bus driver (I ride free with my UT id!) told me that it was in the morning news that 4 Coy fish were stolen from Zilker Botanical Gardens. I thought it was crazy but I was obsessed with the fish too. They were HUGE!!!! Last week I visited the capital and went to the Texas History Museum. Its fascinating to see
their take on events as well as their reverence for the countries of their heritage (Mexico, France, USA, Confederate States etc).





Work: I am working in the Environment and Water Resources Engineering Department at UT Austin. There are two projects I am working on. I am helping Erin, a grad student, conduct her experiments American Clay, a natural clay plaster that seems to
reduce ozone and air pollution levels indoors. We started running tests in the 'Test House' this week. I am also doing an independent project on the effect the Gulf Coast Oil Spill has on indoor air quality. People around the coast have been complaining of gas smell in their houses. The EPA is looking for answers so I am researching air purifiers and how effective they will be at doing the job.




Nightlife: There is always something going on at night. Whether its bats or live music Austin has a LOT to do. 1.5 million bats
live under Congress Bridge and they fly out every night to go feast at dusk. Unfortuantely this year has been very rainy and there are lots of bugs so the bats don't fly out until after 9:30 and by that time it is too dark to see them. Last year, due to drought the bats would swarm out at around 6pm and travel up to 50 miles to get their fill. Another highlight of Austin nightlife is a bar that we found that has the worlds largest Jenga set cut from 2x4s. We played an epic game and had a crowd of bystanders watching after the tower surpassed us in height.



Soccer: And of course we watched the world cup. We decorated tshirts to show our support for Spain. We got to the sports bar over an hour early but inside was already packed so we had to watch in the patio. We stood in the sun for nearly four hours. I drank about 120 ounces of water (thats about 15 glasses) and peed only once. We were so exhausted after the game we slept until Monday morning.