My Life Without A Desk Job: San Francisco! Day 2

Dwoira Enjoying Herself at the Cafe

Woke up with Dwoira feeling really nice after sleeping off all that traveling! She was going to be going to cardio at the circus center in the morning but decided she'd rather sit at a cafe with me ^_^ It was so nice to do that! We basically walked down the street one block and we were at this wonderful place called Cafe du Soleil. Really nice place with great tea and pastry stuff. We sat outside and it was absolutely gorgeous out. San Francisco had some really nice weather when I was there. I like the slight chill it always has, makes me feel good =) It was so amazing to be that close to a cafe and just hang out with a friend. Arg, makes me want to live in a city so badly. I'm so sick of driving everywhere... =/

Fun Times at the Cafe du Soleil!

After spending about an hour or so there we walked to the circus center but took some detours along the way. We went into this cool natural foods place where the guy running the store had this awesome Indian accent and said all these stereotypical Indian convenience store lines... I was amused. As we were in there some crazy black chick with a boom box on her shoulder blaring music went dancing by the store. I managed to take a picture of her. haha she was awesome!

Crazy Woman Dancing with Boombox

Got to see a lot of cool stores in the Haight and fell in love with a lot of the places. They were all so unique and interesting. I know that if I moved there, they'd get old fast but still, there are so many things to do! Saw a cool pair of legs sticking out of a window and there was a ton of interesting graffiti everywhere.

Sexy Window Legs

Made it to the circus center at last and it was already pretty busy. I decided to stretch on my own in the morning instead of waiting for Serchmaa's contortion class later in the day. This way I didn't get pushed too far, I had just started stretching again so I thought this was best. I once again warmed up really well and felt good stretching! Yay! Then I went with Dwoira and her friend and worked on some trapeze stuff. I didn't do a whole lot but it was still more than I had done in a while.

Funny Graffiti on the Sidewalk

As it got into the early afternoon I met some more of Dwoira's friends which included Christopher, Elliott and others. I then followed Elliott up to the advanced Mongolian contortion class to see if Serchmaa would let me watch the class and not participate in it (I was done stretching by then). There were only four people in the advanced contortion class so it was nice and intimate.

Outside of the Circus Center

Serchmaa was so nice! She let me stay and watch the class. They started with some pretty painful leg stretches then moved into back stuff. The class is two hours long and she had promised them they'd do more back stuff today so they did around an hour and fifteen minutes worth! That's a lot of back! She didn't really stretch their backs until the end of the class but she did have them working on a lot of skills. They were mainly working on pushups into handstand and handstands themselves.

Serchmaa Helping Lance with Hanstand Push Ups

Very interesting to see her teach. I love the fact that they don't explain a whole lot because it simplifies it. I think people ask too many questions sometimes and try to "figure" acrobatic stuff out like there is some kind of secret. I agree that there is technique involved but I feel like asking so many questions is just them trying to get out of practicing it =P But that's just my feelings on the subject... heh.

Serchmaa Spotting Some Tricks

Once everyone left after class I was able to talk with Serchmaa about a variety of things. She was very knowledgeable and helpful. I feel like I could learn so much from her. I gave her an idea of where my skills are at and she gave me an idea of what she could help me with. We knew a lot of the same people so that's always a nice ice breaker with someone. She was genuinely sweet and fun. We talked about all sorts of contortion stuff which was fun ^_^

Me with Crooked Glasses

After that Dwoira was still in her lesson so I wandered out onto the streets of San Francisco to find that Starbucks I had seen. Luckily I had gotten lost on the Muni on my way to the Circus Center or else I wouldn't have known where lots of stuff was in the area =) I went there only to be disappointed by the fact that they didn't have their own wireless internet. Boo! I walked up the street a bit and walked into Cafe Gratitude, a raw foods restaurant that Dwoira had talked about going to. I was looking at the menu outside and this chick came out and said, "You hungry? You should come in and eat here! It's great!" I told her I was going to be coming back with friends later so she agreed to let me go lol. Strange and fun times!

Dwoira, *enter name here*, Marina, Michael, Elliott at Cafe Gratitude

Went back to the Circus Center where Dwoira was just finishing up her lesson. Called Marina and she said she'd be there at 5pm to meet us for dinner with Michael, her ex. Then that time came around and she came and I was so excited!!! I gave Marina the biggest hug EVER and the biggest kiss too! We were so happy to see each other. So after all the merriment we went down to the car where I finally got to meet Michael. We all went to Cafe Gratitude and we were all so excited about the food and friends and everything!

Michael's Awesome Warehouse!

The experience at Cafe Gratitude was sooo amazing! The food has cool names like "I am Grateful" and "I am Lucky". Things like that. Very nice. A little expensive but that's to be expected with organic raw foods. I had a watermelon juice with cilantro and mint then I had a "I am Mahalo" which was a pineapple pizza thing. So good! Then we all got something for dessert and shared them. They told them it was my birthday (it will be tomorrow) so they came out singing with the desserts with a candle in some raw ice cream! It was so nice! And that chick that had hassled me before came over and was so excited I had brought all these people. It is a very community oriented restaurant and I wish I could eat there everyday. There are a few in San Francisco so check it out if you go!

http://www.cafegratitude.com/

Precarious Toilet

After the awesome Cafe Gratitude, we all went over to Michael's warehouse where he lives. He was super nice and took me on a little tour of downtown San Francisco. It was so fun hanging out with Dwoira, Marina and Michael. His warehouse was the coolest thing ever. He built it with a friend and it looks like an adult tree house inside. There was even a toilet precariously sitting on the edge near the common area. Funny!

Heron's Head

We then went for a walk at Heron's Head. A nice little walk out into the bay area. It was getting cold and lovely outside. It smelled like the ocean and I was in love. It was one of those really special moments walking with the three of them and just talking. Behind us was a beautiful view of the setting sun and the glowing city. We went to the end of the walk and just sat there huddled together from the cold. It was a highlight of my trip for sure. It was kind of a deciding factor for me loving San Francisco. It was almost equal to that time I was in China looking outside of my hotel window (you might know about this if you know me well).