Non-Stop Weekend

This past weekend was definitely busy for me. From capoeira to pubs to birthday parties, I was out non-stop. Let's start with Friday night . . .

Friday:
As usual, Friday night is capoeira night and we started learning more advanced techniques, which were headstands and handstands. Ay ya ya, my head hurt after that. I also "played," or in other words, went in the circle and kind of sparred against the more advanced students. This was my second time "playing" and I was able to hold my own against them for a bit. Yay me!

After class, I went to meet up with my cousins at The Flying Pig pub. Yes, it is called The Flying Pig. Getting there was an adventure. I originally got directions on how to get there through public transport via Internet but I somehow got lost. When I get lost, the person to call is Raffy. He told me where to go next and whatnot. But I found myself literally at a crossroads. Raffy was trying to describe where to go next after I got off the U-Bahn but I couldn't really understand him. I was at the corner for about 15 minutes until we both finally figured out where I should go next. The street was called Liechtensteinstrasse and the number of the place was 31. Apparently, Raffy didn't tell me that the street was so long. Thankfully, Raffy drove by to find me and we drove to the pub.

At the pub, Robbie was already there along with the usual group of guys: Daniel, Luki, Bernard and Maxi. It was a birthday party for their friend Kristoff, who reminds me a bit of Justin Long from the movie "Dodgeball." I remember meeting him at Maxi and Janna's wedding. Cool guy by the way. The boys played table soccer (foosball) and it was funny watching them get beat by Daniel and another friend of Robbie.

We all somehow managed to find ourselves at the buffet table which had falafel, hummus and other goodies. Thank goodness there was food because I was so hungry from capoeira class. The party was really chill and I was glad. Originally I was going to go to a club with my friends from the U.N. but Robbie somehow managed to convince to go kick it with his crew instead. We didn't leave the pub until close to 3AM in the morning and this was just the beginning of a long weekend.

Saturday:
The next day, we had brunch at Maxi and Janna's place for Maxi's birthday. Daniel, Bernard and Luki were there along with another guy I met at the wedding, Nikki, and three of Janna's friends. Maxi and Janna have two dogs, Neo and Seppie. Seppie apparently liked me a lot or was trying to get food from me because he would rest his chin on my leg and just give me puppy dog eyes the entire time. It was another chill day where I listening to them all speak in rapid German as I looked at photos of Maxi and Janna's trips around the world. We left there around 3PM and I had time to chill before the night's party.

It was a joint birthday party of my co-worker Elizabeth and her youngest daughter Mary. Apparently, they live in a manor way out in the boonies. It was in Stammersdorf, where I went previously with Valentino and Heidi for the Sturmfest.

The manor is really beautiful hunting lodge, very rustic style and made of wood and stone. According to Elizabeth, they rent out the party area and they used to cater before Elizabeth got the job at the U.N. There were appetizers and cocktails, along with different desserts. Yes, we had to dress up for the occasion but I managed to wear pants.

A lot of my colleagues came, including my supervisor Giovanni and his wife Jennifer. The highlight would have to be the karaoke and dancing. Yes, I did dance a lot because Hyoo-jun, my co-worker Ayhan's girlfriend, kept pulling me on the dance floor. I did sing one song, which was "I love Rock n Roll" by Joan Jett. I had help from my other two co-workers Angela and Sasha.

After the party, I got a ride from my co-worker Tobias back to the city where I was going to meet Robbie at Helieginstadt. Apparently, my night didn't end there. Tobias and I got lost a couple times, especially in the area of Spittelau. He calls Spittelau his nemesis. We somehow found ourselves on the road to Klosterneuburg and so in the end, he took me all the way home. At least I knew how to get home and by the time I stepped through the doors, it was past 1AM.

Sunday:
Being that Austria is a heavily Catholic country, November 1 and 2 is All Saints and All Souls Day. So my Tita wakes me up to say that I'm coming with them to the cemeteries (yes, more than one) and then we were going to have lunch.

The first cemetery we visited the graves of Robbie and Raffy's grandmother. It was interesting that everyone would add candles and flowers. It is a tradition to clean the graves and add flowers and candles to the graves. Tita and Robbie added new rocks to the grave so it looks more clean and nice. Funny thing, people sell wreaths and candles during this time of the year. They actually profit from this. Different, huh?

The second cemetery we visited was to see Uncle Roland's side of the family. See, Uncle Roland's biological dad died when he was young and so his mom remarried and the second husband adopted Uncle Roland. Thus, Uncle Roland's last name is Rossi. It was interesting to see that.

For lunch we went to this restaurant which is basically a big converted barn. It was more or less in the middle of nowhere. Well, almost. There were other farms there but it just seems like it. The family took me there the last time I visited Europe, which was in 2000. The food is pretty good and I had a nice tuck in. It was nice to chill with the family and all. Afterwards, we went home and had a nice relaxing afternoon. Until next time . . . and hopefully soon! :)