Austria!!

   We're here, safe and sound! Although we were both nervous about the cold, it's actually quite manageable. Unfortunately, that means no snow. Wie traurig! How sad! But maybe it will snow later on in the week.
   When my mother went to Bogenhofen (the Austrian ACA program), she had a friend named Maria. Now, years later, Kalifa and I get to stay with Maria in Austria! She has two sweet daughters at home, Jennifer and Janet, and another married daughter, Jessica.
   On our first day here, we went to church and Sabbath School. The lady we're staying with, Maria, has a sister and nephew - Daniella and Benjamin - who speak English well, so they kindly translated the church service for us. I tried really hard to pick out any words I could, and was able to figure out a few things. For example, kraft means "power" and kraftlos means "powerless".
   That afternoon, all the cousins came over to our host family's house. We had so much fun playing cards! Even though Kalifa and I couldn't understand all the things that happened, and we lost quite badly.
   Afterwards, Kalifa and I went to a Christmas market with Daniella, Benjamin and Marcus, another of Daniella's sons. It was so cool! The air was brisk and cool, but not freezing. Everywhere, beautiful, tall people were speaking German. And of course, delicious smells filled the air. We got a pastry called bauernkrapfen; it's kind of like a doughnut (but not as sweet or rich) with fruit preserves in the middle. It was so good! Although my raspberry filling was too sweet to eat and I smeared some on my llama-hair mittens. (Don't worry, it washed out!)
   I seem to blog about local pastries a lot...
   The amazing thing about the Christkindlmarkt was that it had such a casual, normal air to it. It doesn't have the sense of foreign excitement that they have in America. It feels like an accepted, normal part of the city.
   Today, we drove to a beautiful view point above the city. There's a huge, beautiful church and an adorable Christmas attraction. We went into an artificial cave and boarded a small train that went in circles. The wall niches were adorned with dwarves pranking each other and performing everyday dwarfish tasks. Then we went downstairs to a miniature city, complete with market stalls and elaborate fairy-tale scenes. Austria seems to love the Brothers Grimm! We even learned a few more fairy tales we had never heard before.
   Only one bad thing, and it's driving me crazy; I forgot my camera in Spain! I couldn't believe it. Fortunately, one of my friends still in Spain is going to mail it to me. Please, please, God, let it get here soon!
     

Jennifer, Jessica, her husband Walter, me, Kalifa, and Janet

Thanks to Kalifa for the use of her camera!