I have been reading and researching and listening to the podcasts religiously and feel ready to get my feet wet. 

It could have religious undertones.

There are exemptions for owner occupied, religious organizations and fraternal type organizations.

One can make a killing during months of October (Formula 1 race in Austin and Austin City Limits music festival) as well as March (South by Southwest).

If you say "show me your paychecks, W2's", they said their religious order provides for their housing, food clothing, but they don't issue paychecks.

After two months of religiously studying this board and reading numerous books, last night I finally attended my first REIA.

Mine are much different because I am in an area that hosts many festivals and we just had Coachella so views are very high:1) # of views in the past 30 days: 1,0922) Average # of daily views in the past 30 days: 403) Average Booking Rate since 1/1/2017: 0.625%My booking rate is so low because my property is usually booked up 3-4 months in advance.

For stories that are covered worldwide (US presidential elections, the Olympics, etc), you will already sort of know what the story is, which can help you fill in the gaps.If you get any TV channels (satellite or cable) in your target language, watch them with the closed captions turned on.If you are very familiar with any religious writings (like the Bible, Torah, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, or anything else), look up a version of that in the target language. 

I'm not a religious person at all.

Every summer, they have outdoor festivals called Water Fire, where they have the river that runs right through town lit up, along with bands, vendors, typical festival type stuff- brings a lot of people in.