Friday, June 6, 2008

Vienna - Land of Cultural Integration!

Vienna has a very ancient culture and is a home to multi-ethnic, multi-religious and very divergent community. On 1 June, we took lot of rest... just by sleeping as I needed it the most. We also found that the Missionaries of Charity Sisters' convent was not very far from where we were staying. And so we discovered them on the third floor of an old house. It is so nice to see a German, an Indian and two African nuns working together. The house of the M.Cs at Frankfurt really needs some change as the house there has hardly any room even for the sisters. The sisters in these big towns are seen as great examples of Christ's compassion and love. They work with drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes and immigrant populations besides taking care of unwed mothers and abandoned children! May God Bless you Sisters! Sr. Mary Clare at Vienna and Sr Tarsilla at Frankfurt, and all the sisters at these two communities were very welcoming and supportive to us. We also got a chance to celebrate mass with them in the days we were in these cities.
Well, I must come back to Vienna. At Vienna, I could see people of every race, culture and language walking and living together. We were hosted in the house of a Tamil family on 2nd June. Oh, the chicken curry, rice, rasam-- all cooked in South Indian flavour! That was fantastic. I could also see how positively the enterprising South Indian families view the laws and systems of the German and Austrian Governments. They do not mind paying more taxes in these countries, a lot more than other E.U. countries, because they feel that there are a lot of good things that are done with the people's money, besides a very good social security system in place. Thank you Mr. Joy and his family for taking care of us and arranging for my travel back from your home to the airport on 3 June, so early so that I am well on time to be on my way to the United States!

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