In the final days...

Many exciting and wonderful things happened in the final weeks of our time in Austria.  One of these was Austria Ball!  We were given the opportunity to wear traditional Austrian garb and enjoy the evening having a wonderful, traditional dinner with the professors and their families.  Afterwards, we got to learn some traditional Austrian dances, and see performances by Austrian slap-dancers (quite...interesting and a little bizarre, haha).  We ended the night with a more modern dance party, and then some time spent out under the stars.  

Photo credit to Bernadette Scott of Pure Image Photography.

Photo credit to Bernadette Scott of Pure Image Photograpy

One of my favorite things that happened was a final hike to the waterfall with some of my good friends.  We took our time getting there, enjoying the great beauty of the Austrian countryside in the spring.

Photo credit: Bernadette Scott

Photo credit: Bernadette Scott

Photo credit: Salvador B.

Photo credit: Bernadette Scott

Photo credit: Bernadette Scott (one of my favorites!) 

God's marvelous creation....

The weekend after Austria Ball, some friends and I made a return journey to one of my favorite places: Salzburg.  It was a lovely spring day.  An afternoon trip sort of turned into an all-day adventure, though, due to some confusion about trains and schedules; but that's all right.  It all worked out. :)

Part of the day was spent taking photos at the Sound of Music fountain from the "I Have Confidence" song.  :)  It had been covered when we had gone to Salzburg in the winter, but now it was unveiled and running.  It was beautiful!

Our return journey from Salzburg, after some vigorous shopping (not much of it on my part, but others in the group had specific goals to achieve), and after I finally found some pins to purchase for my German/Austrian hat that I'd brought with me, got a bit interesting.  We accidentally took the train back to Pochlarn instead of getting off at San Polten, and so our schedule was thrown a little.  But we got dinner at the train station (the service was incredibly quick and the food was good).  We got to Scheibbs and then had to wait about an hour for the bus, so we went to find a pizza place that one of the sisters had shown someone in our group, and we ordered, not one, but two Nutella pizzas.  They were delicious!  The cook only spoke Italian and German; but he was great.  The second time we ordered a Nutella pizza, he made it in the shape of a heart.  We loved it! 

Finally, we got the bus back to Gaming.  I figured it would be the last time we would see this place, so I took a picture of the bus stop sign.  

Other adventures included...a field day with the professors' children, creek-jumping, and good memories with friends.  Creek jumping is an exhilarating experience and a long-standing tradition for the students.  I did it on two occasions: 

The first time was the weekend after ten-day...at night.  It was freezing!!! But I did it! Twice. 

The second time was the morning before our leave-taking.  

The next morning, after intense cleaning and packing, midnight Mass, and some difficult goodbyes, we rode away from our European home for the last time.  It was hard to leave; at times my heart ached.  But I had a great sense of peace, too, like you have at the end of several of C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" books.  It was hard to go because of the amazing adventures and wonderful friends I had made in Austria; but at the same time, God kept telling me that I had learned all I could here; that one adventure was over and now it was time for another to begin.  

Peace, love, joy, and laughter!  Thank you all for reading!  

Over and out...

Rachel 

Just because everything's changing/ Doesn't mean it's never been this way before/ All you can do is try to know who your friends are/ As you head off to the war.  -"The Call" by Regina Spektor

I've got my heart set on happiness,/ I've got my eyes wide, it's not over yet/ We are miracles/ And we're not alone/ This is home, now I'm finally where I belong/ Where I belong, yeah/ This is home/ I've been searching for a place of my own/ Now I've found that maybe this is home/ Yeah this is home/ Now I know/ Yeah, this is home./ I've come too far/ And I won't go back/ Yeah, this is home.  -"This is Home" by Switchfoot

Mariazell Pilgrimage

Two weeks after our return from 10-Day, the school provides the opportunity to make a hiking pilgrimage to a local shrine in Austria: Mariazell (translation: Mary's Cell).  The story of the shrine goes like this: a priest was traveling through the mountains to bring the Gospel to the people.  He came to a spot along the trail where an enormous boulder blocked his way.  There was no way around, but he needed to get to the village on the other side.  So he took his wooden statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus and placed it in a niche of the boulder.  He prayed for our Lady's intercession that if God wanted him to continue that he would give him a way to get to the village, and then went to sleep.  The next morning, the boulder was split in two.  He continued on his way and erected a shrine to our Lady, where the statue remains to this day.

The day began early in the morning with an over-crowded bus.  Most of the student body wanted to make the walk.  Others would take the bus later in the day.  Considering that it would be a great experience, I decided to make the hike.
It was a dreary, rainy, and cold day, not exactly ideal for hiking.  But pilgrims are pilgrims, and we decided to continue with our plans, but were advised to wear rain gear.  
The scenery was amazing the whole way.  It reminded me of the scenery from The Lord of the Rings.  :)

The journey begins...

About an hour or two into our hike, we stopped along the trail to have Mass.  

The whole trail from where we started to Mariazell is about 17 miles.  The whole journey was very grueling, and at times a little scary.  We walked along the ridge-sides of mountains on damp boardwalks with no railings, which seemed a bit precarious, but no one got hurt, so that was good.  I kept myself well hydrated, and kept a pretty good pace; but at about the time we reached the halfway point, I was in the group bringing up the rear, and struggling even there from being very tired and sore.  But we kept going, and I had great people with me urging me on and helping me out.  

By about mile 15, I think, I was pretty beat.  My left knee was giving me some significant trouble, locking up and just painful to walk on.  By the time we got to our the final checkpoint before the end destination, I wasn't sure I could make the rest.  Even when they said it should be another half hour or forty-five minutes to walk the last mile, I was sure that, with the pace I was going, it would probably be longer than that and my leg wouldn't take well to it.  One of my theology professors was the one manning the checkpoint with a small van, so I asked what the chances would be of my catching a ride the rest of the way.  He said he'd sell me a seat and a water bottle for 10 Euro, the seat free but 10 for the water bottle.  Haha!  He was kidding.  So myself, one of my roommates, and another student, took the ride (about 5 minutes driving) to town.  I felt bad that I didn't quite make it the whole way; but I hadn't quit up to that point.  

The church was a most beautiful and welcome sight.  

Mariazell_gnadenkapelle.jpg

This is the statue the priest placed in the niche of the boulder.  It's garbed in fine garments that are changed throughout the year.  

vv-wien-mariazell-madonna.jpg 

What was most significant to me, though, was when I arrived and sat down for a time of prayer in the basilica.  I had carried my Bible with me in my backpack, and now I opened it, at random, to the 30th chapter of the book of Isaiah.  

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quite and in trust shall be your strength... Truly, the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you, truly, he shall rise to show you mercy; For the Lord is a God of justice: happy are all who wait for him!  Yes, people of Zion, dwelling in Jerusalem, you shall no longer weep; He will be most gracious to you when you cry out; as soon as he hears he will answer you.  The Lord will give you bread in adversity and water in affliction.  No longer will your Teacher hid himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, And your ears shall hear a word behind you: "This is the way; walk in it," when you would turn to the right or the left...Upon every high mountain and lofty hill there will be streams of running water.  On the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall, The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times greater, like the light of seven days, On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruises left by his blows." -Isaiah 30: 15, 18, 20-21, 25-26

What power these words had on me!  It was truly an answer to prayer, and a great reassurance to me for many reasons.  It was also so interesting that it spoke of mountains and streams of running water after we had just traveled through mountainous terrain along side a running river.  

This is the sanctuary of the Church. The tabernacle is a bit odd to me, because it's a sphere with a snake around it.... Hmm...a bit theologically troubling.  But the Cross is what I really love, and one of the sisters says she thinks it makes up for the somewhat odd tabernacle.  You can't see it very well in this picture, but you can sort of make it out.  At the top is the Holy Spirit.  Then, of course, there is the Crucifix, with the Son of God offering His sacrifice, and behind Him is the Father, beside His beloved Son and holding His hand nailed to the Cross.  

After some time to pray, we had an opportunity to explore the town a little bit.  I found a necklace in a nearby shop that I liked, and got some gelato with friends, the last that I would have in Europe. <3 Then, tired and ready to not be walking anymore, we boarded the buses (seats!!! And heat!!!) and began the return journey home.  The roads were very windy as they wove through the mountains, and the city was so high up in the mountains that it started to snow!  

It was so good to get back.  I grabbed dinner with some friends, and then got out of my cold, wet clothes and shoes.  Warm clothes felt amazing.  Later in the evening, I enjoyed a night of fellowship with friends as we watched a movie together.  What a blessing!  

God is so good.  

"Truly the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you...."