We got together with some American friends for the 4th of July andwent to TGI Fridays in Vienna to celebrate America’s birthday Americanstyle. Unfortunately the waiters refused to sing “Happy BirthdayAmerica” for us when we asked…
We also brought our new Afghan friend John along with us (sitting next to Oliver) to introduce him to the 4th of July and American food. We made him order a BBQ Beef sandwich, which he thoroughly enjoyed. John really likes hanging out with our kids because his family is still in Afghanistan and his kids are the same age as Elora and Ollie.
Oliver was having a great time performing for everyone. He goes to music class and there is a song where kids bang their hands on the floor and lift their hands above their head saying “woooo!” He did this same action over and over and over and over after dinner until everyone joined in with him as you can see here. The picture looks blurry because Oliver grabbed the lens with his greasy french fry, alfredo sauce fingers.
(this picture is having fun with a slow shutter speed, steady hand with a slight intentional “jerk” at the end of the exposure)After an American style dinner we went to a Viennese open air theater festival at the Rathaus. They are showing Operas and Ballets (and randomly a Cure Concert) at night all summer long. The Ballet this night was a performance telling the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It was labeled as a Ballet, but it wasn’t classical ballet and more like modern dance. It was certainly interesting to see the politely stunned reaction of our Afghan friend John to the strange dancing, partially nude man on screen. I wondered what was going on in his head having come just a year ago from one of the most oppressive countries in the world. But, it was getting late and the kids were tired so we went home after 40 minutes or so. We still didn’t get to put the kids to bed until midnight that night, and we’re still paying for the transgression…
Who’s that lady in the center of the picture? Why is she smiling for the camera? If anyone knows who she is drop us a line…
