Well I've almost been here one week, and all I could think was "There is no place like Vienna". Not to get on a soap box from my last blog but, I just feel at home here. I really do. I got to meet up with some old friends last night by accident at starbucks where the young adults group from church was meeting that night. We laughed, and talked and picked up like nothing had ever changed. I immediately felt welcomed right back into this group of new and old faces of those who you could tell were filled with joy and the love of christ. I didn't feel like a random american out of place or in the way. For once, I felt like I actually lived in Vienna, and I was just spending a saturday night with some of my christian friends. I wasn't a tourist but rather a "short term local" as my friend Alex put it.
Unfortunately, there are times when I don't feel like a short term local and that is when I'm doing "study" stuff. All the tours, journaling, and constant company of those flashing cameras just makes me never forget where I am, and who I am. I mean don't get me wrong; we have already seen many churches, three museums, and countless historical sites and they all are very interesting and exciting because much of the information was unknown to me till then....but still, if thats really how they expect the students to fall in love with Vienna as they keep telling us, its not through that.
Most of my enjoyment and through many others is just walking around the city. Saturday was our free day meaning no journaling and thank goodness. We decided to head to a local market to immerse ourself into the culture, and maybe find some good deals on bread. The place was packed despite the rainy morning and gray clouds. My friends enjoyed looking through selections of scarfs from sketchy vendors while I people watched. Half the market is just a collection of different nationalities gathering together for once massive garage sale while the other half was food, fresh and handmade. Walking through the food sections was like walking around the world. Every type of fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, bread, oil, baked good, and candy was represented here. We learned very quickly though to not make eye contact if we wanted to avoid cat-calls from the more aggressive men who only knew a few english phrases. After we left the market with our goodies, we decided to go just enjoy the main square and indulge in some local cuisine. Kasekrainers (cheese filled hotdogs twice the size a normal hotdog), giant pretzels, and ice cream seemed to hit the spot for our busy day shopping around Vienna. You could tell everyone was much happier then before, and they were amazed around every corner and street performer, just at what really this city was made of.
And then the rest was history. Today was nice though because we got to worship with some of the missionaries here in Vienna. Most I had met the last time I had been to Vienna, and they remembered me which was really awesome, making me feel again like I wasn't just a passer by here, but apart of the life. Worshipping in english and german is such a beautiful thing. It really hits you that God hears my praises and prayers in english and also the ones in german or french or whatever other language, God is there. It always nice to be reminded of how big God is and just even listening to a german prayer or singing a german song can really make a girl think. After church, we had a lovely cookout and prayer walk and before we knew it, it was already well into the afternoon. It didn't even feel like it...i guess because when your fellowshipping with other brothers and sisters in christ and enjoying his word, time flies! Readers, if your still reading, take time to pray for all the missionaries in Vienna and all over the world. The work they do is so important and prayer is the most powerful thing.
And now I'm here, blogging for who knows. But if your still with me, here is a picture of a catholic church I saw two nights ago, lit up for some catholic holiday.
Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment