Update Part 4 of 4: Contemporary Art ESSL Museum, Sturmfest and Lacrosse Team Birthday Bash

Now I am catching you up to last week. There were several events going on and I got a chance to attend them all. Starting with a cool art exhibit at Klosterneuburg's Contemporary Art ESSL Museum. Robbie, Raffy and I wanted to see this exhibit called "Overlapping Voices: Israeli and Palestian Artists." It showcased sculptures, photographs, videos and films. Robbie and I met at Heligenstadt and took the bus to ESSL. There we met up with Raffy and also saw their friend Jacob was there by chance. At the same time, the major newspaper of Vienna Die Presse was hosting an event and having private tours for the people there. They were serving drinks and stuff but we decided to first check out the exhibits.

I saw a lot of interesting bits in the exhibit. I thought the wooden crate drawing made of all ball point colored pens was very cool. Raffy and I agreed that the black and white individual photos of the people in a Kabbahla style Woodstock-ish festival were pretty powerful. I also like the media exhibit of videos of people singing a chant in different languages was pretty cool. There was also a film of people living in this small community in Israel that revere military as a great thing and even take care of army tanks that are decommissioned.

Afterwards, we all got a ride from Jacob back to the house and just chilled for the night.

Photos of the exhibits I saw. These are on the website:









On that Saturday, which was October 11, I went to two events. One was a sturmfestival with my friends Valentino and Heidi with their friends. It was held in this little town called Stammersdorf. If I haven't mentioned it before, sturm is very sweet wine. They take this during the first part of fermentation where there is less alcohol and more sweetness. It was very cheap at the festival, where at most one glass of sturm was 1 Euro 80 cents. We took the tram to the 21st district and walked for about 45 minutes to Stammersdorf. Walking through the festival I passed by so many wine places, food places and heard lots of music. The place was pretty packed when we got there, even though at the time there were many people who were heading home. Heidi's friends Sabine, Kai, Julia and Anita found an ideal spot upstairs, overlooking the street below. Above us was the perfect decoration, grape vines. We got some food to eat and Valentino got white wine, which was ok as we all have had better. Heidi, Valentino and I stayed for a bit and left as Valentino had to get up early to study the next day. We all walked and took the tram together. I even got to get myself some cotton candy for the trip back to Helingenstadt.

Once I arrived at Helingenstadt, I called the boys to see where they were and Robbie told me to meet them at Nachmarkt as they were heading to the lacrosse team birthday bash. Since I knew guys on the team, I said I would meet up with the guys. I met up with Robbie and we went to find Luki and apparently they had girls in the car. Kristina and Vanessa were friends of Robbie and Daniel and were visiting for the weekend. So the boys decided to show them a good time. Luki was designated driver (aww) and so he dropped us off first and went back for Daniel and Raffy (who also had girls with them too.) It took us awhile to find the place which was called Kolar until we called Andy and Andy told us how to get there.

Apparently, the debauchery had started early as people were getting drunk off their butts super fast. Both the girls and guys national teams were celebrating the birthdays. Two on the guys' side and two on the girls' side. I knew Theresa, Andy's girlfriend, was on the girls' team so I looked for her to say hi. Two of my favorite guys, Phillip and Andy were there of course, so I had a fun time talking and hanging out with them. Raffy, Daniel and the two other girls (another Kristina and I forgot the other girl's name). The Kristinas and Vanessa knew a lot about me courtesy of the boys so we were spared the small talk. But, boy can these girls drink! According to Robbie, Kristina and Vanessa came from Oktoberfest which pretty much says that they can take a lot. Since Luki was designated driver, he couldn't really drink much.

Robbie somehow got me to try this alcoholic drink called a Jägermeister, which is basically herbs and liquor. The size he gave me was a 2 ounce sized bottle for shots. It is not that big. Thankfully. Tradition dictates that you have to put the cap on your nose and drink this small bottle hands free while the cap is on your nose. Robbie and I are part Filipino, so we don't have the tall nose to help us out there. I couldn't stop laughing because we looked so funny, but I managed to drink it. It tastes like medicine.

Here is what it looks like, but the one I had is smaller



We stayed until about 3:30AM and managed to fit in Luki's truck. It was Daniel, Kristina, Raffy, Luki, Robbie, Vanessa, Raffy and me in the truck. After we dropped the girls off, we had more room in the back. The boys were so funny, cracking jokes and talking about funny things that happened that night. For example, Raffy thought a table was a stable chair and when he sat on it he fell over. Oh those boys. We had fun though. Raffy, Robbie and I didn't get home until close to 5AM.

So now you are well caught up in my adventures so far. Until next time . . . which will be much sooner than last. :)