#28 A hug fits all sizes and to the Cape I go.

My last night with Adam I sat courtside for the team's biggest game yet. They only dressed 7 so the players had to step up. Adam led the way with 22 points for an exciting victory over the other team. The reason I have more pictures of the cheerleaders than of the basketball game is that everytime I tried to take a picture during the game the other team would do well and our team not so well; so by the 4th try I eased off a bit. (some nice cheerleading shots however). After the game we decided to head out on the town with a few of the teammates to hit up a place that reminded me of vegas, not because it had lights or casinos or fake breasts but because it was this huge club sprung up in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Either way we had a fun night with adam making the most of his chance to drink on a rare occasion. The morning after with a frozen bag of vegies on his ass adam and I reminiced about the game and the night before. (The sore ass may have been from the game or a fall during the outing or a combo of both). And like that I leave another familiar face and was off on an overnight train/bus trip to frankfurt.

I then flew to Vienna where I got to meet up with recently new friend, Monika and her family. We danced the night away on both friday and saturday night with her sister, Ines and her friends who were all a fun and happy bunch. I was spoiled with meals, drinks and tour of the city and a comfortable couch. I headed into Ines's work one day which is a sort of after school hangout place for kids. Here I whipped out some magic tricks and to them I was like David Blane, they just couldn't believe their eyes. I followed the magic up with kicking all of their butts in ping pong (OK, so they're only 10). We spent sunday eating. Seriously, from the time we woke up until we went to bed we were eating. We met Monika's mom and sister, Mary for lunch where there was lots of laughing and great conversation. They joke a lot about sex and I said that in the US we generally don't say things about it as freely as they do with families and such. The impression that many Europeans have is that people in the US are very prude and don't talk about sex as if it's a bad thing. They pretend nothing ever happens while it has the biggest market of porn in the world. (This was just one of our many enlightening topics). We all then headed back to Mom's house to eat some snacks and desserts and meet her brother, Filip.
It was absolutly great to spend time with such a kind, outgoing family that made me feel like part of their family for the few days I was with them.
Monika- Thanks for everything, you are a wonderful person and made me feel right at home during my visit.

I headed back to Frankfurt for the night to catch my flight the next morning to Cape Town. I got a chance to meet up with a German friend Kristina for my last day on the European continent to hang out and go out for a great dinner. Kristina-It was great talking with you and thanks for the gifts, it was more than kind.

The following morning I headed to the airport at around 9 to catch my first flight of 6 hours to Doha, Qatar. Here, I only got to wait around in the airport but had a chance to visit the bathrooms. I was amazed that in the stalls near the toilet they had little shower heads. A little confused I thought about this as I sat there and then realised it isn't used to wash your head and face so like they say "when in rome" I figured it could go for "when in Doha" and it was great how clean I felt.
I boarded my second plane at around 8:30 for my second flight which lasted 12 hours. When we got on board the pilot announced that we would be leaving about 20 minutes late but not to worry because we would arrive 4 minutes early which for a 12 hour flight seemed beyond irrevelant.
I have been very lucky since I left home as far as flight go. Out of the 11 flights I've taken I have been able to get an exit row in 10 of them. I made this very long flight with Emirate air which is one of the nicest airlines I have flown with. The food was tremendous and plentiful. We had our own tv with tons of choices of movies (I watched 4, Nacho Libre, The Breakup, Cellular, and 16 Blocks-all decent) Also, the stewardesses were very friendly. I arrived this morning to Cape Town and beautiful weather and didn't realized that there are no buses from the airport to the city but lucky for me a guy I met on the plane called to me and offered me a ride to the city with his girlfriend and his mom.
So, here I am on my second continent, happy, excited, warm, and ready for more adventures.