Carpe Diem...

I had a great 2006 year, it was a must to part ways in the best of manners:

Première étape: Do as you please land

I started bidding my farewell to 2006 on the 23rd of December when I headed to Amsterdam with 2 buddies of mine, Onur and Onur.

I didn't know what to expect from a city that is synonymous of debauchery for some, freedom for others and made a pop culture icon by pulp fiction's "royal with cheese" scene with Samuel Jackson and John Travolta, Vincent vega telling stories about Amsterdam, the do as you please city...

whether you enjoy it or hate it, It's not possible to remain insensitive to the free-spirited liberalism of A'dam. In this hedonistic city no big deals are made of pleasures, sex and drugs are on the shelf, just help yourself.

Weed and hash menus in the coffee shops have a detailed explanation of the expected feelings and the crew is always available for an advice on which trip to have. Same goes for the smart shops, which offer other types of drugs that can be highly trippy: magic mushrooms and herbal extasy.

The red light district is something to see, girls in little apartments offering their charms behind a glass door on top of which there is a red light bulb to make them recognizable. The red lights are spread all over the neighborhood, mixing with houses and even surrounding a church.

The city is beautiful and worth discovering, built on water and surrounded by canals. Water is definitely a huge factor in the city's architecture and personality. A city that was always known for its tolerance and hospitality for religiously and politically oppressed people as well as fishermen and merchants landing for business and some pleasures en passant...

Deuxième étape: Zakopane A Malakas town

I headed after A'dam to Poland looking forward to meet a special group of people: Los Malakas.

Common points between Malakas: All are party animals with a good dose of craziness and a strong sense of friendship. A group of good fellas from all over the world that summarizes what AIESEC can do best: bringing people from different parts of the world together.

All met initially in Tunisia where most of the malakas were doing AIESEC internships. There the malakas spirit was born. Present members in this reunion were from Mexico, Germany, Poland x2, Czech x2, Tunisia x3, Croatia x2, Romania x2, Taiwan, Russia, USA and France

And so we met in Zakopnae, this peaceful little town in the Polish side of the Tatras mountains, and all we wanted to do was simply to rock the planet.

The reunion of old friends meeting again was intense and very emotional. but as soon as we got together the party started, and that was the menu every night.

We managed to do some stuff during the day though, we went hiking and after countless falls and shouting for help, we could reach the top and admire the Tatras mountain heights from above, a beautiful moment. We also did some sightseeing in Zakopane, but the main objective was to spend time together and have fun. Dinners were lots of fun and the room parties were great.

On the NYE, after spending the day skiing or at least trying to, we headed home where floods of alcohol were waiting for us: 72 beers 50cl, 3 bottles of champagne, a bottle of tequila, and a few other bottles of home made Romanian Palinka, Croatian rakija and that half a bottle of absint that was still fighting back after a couple of days trying to finish it.

We had a kind of a big bar room in the chalet for us, there we said our final good byes to the year. Katie had a surprise for everybody, she brought each one of us a glass with his/her name and "malakas New Years 06/07" written on it. It was a great surprise and we made a good use of it: we had personalized tequila shots and champagne, thanks katie. Happy new yeaaaaar !!!!

We spent the next day chilling in Zakopane, playing the tourists, buying souvenirs, had a good dinner just to warm up to... party :)

On the way back to Krakow we spent 4 hours to make the 100km between Zakopane and Krakow in a train that changed direction three times. It was so packed you couldn't make your way through the alleys, no controller came to see us and therefore the trip was free. We spent the journey standing in the alley passing the bottles of Palinka and rakija back and forth, it makes your trip pleasant ah Fabrice ? :)

In Krakow, after a (very) quick sightseeing tour, we ended up in a chicha bar, where we spent the last hours together in a relaxed mood. Then we had to say good bye...

Unfortunately not all Malakas could join and those who couldn't make it were very missed, I can't imagine what would happen to the world if all malakas could one day
meet in the same place.

For those who were there, thanks a lot for this wonderful reunion, thanks Fabian, Kasia, Elena, Sin-hi, Peter, Nesrine, Tomi, Charko the Absinth man, Ozzy, Katie, Orshi, Jochen, Fabrice and Jirka...

Thanks Beata and Big malakas for the organization, it was to the standards of the best events organization companies :) You rock !!!!

Next reunion we'll make it in Amsterdam, it's like pouring oil on the fire... and carpe diem baby.
A.