Dish Duty

Vienna Day

Jeff got us through the U-bahn. We saw St Stephens cathedral, Volksgarten, Hofburg, and Naschmarket. We walked by where stallion horses Stallburg are supposed to be, but it was set-up for a wedding. I presume for the couple shown in this carriage. Believe it or not we did it! We got the hot dog by ordering hot dog! That was too easy.

Debra in kitchen

Al is making cross

Haus Edelweiss at night

Walk by the monastery

A lady let us pet her 4 mth old puppy.

Salvation bracelet

Prayer Partners, Salvation Bracelets and more

Now that the students have arrived and classes are in session things have been busy. Since the student count is lower this session we have all been working on special projects. Diana has a list though so not to worry we will be kept busy.

We know who our prayer partners are now. Mine is a female student from Moldova. We have not had a chance to speak yet, but I will be praying for her while we are here. Since we still must protect the identity of these students I will not be able to share her name or picture. While Moldova does not necessarily persecute Christians, she may cross borders that do and block her passage through.

We passed out the salvation bracelets today at dinner, used them as napkin rings. They were received with mixed reactions. A note for next time is to put multiple languages on the explanation card, including English. However, most students were able to read the Russian and said the translation was ok.... At first some students thought they were Native American symbols but quickly learned that the symbols represented Jesus coming to earth, Jesus dying for our sins, Jesus being resurrected and going to heaven, and one day he'll come back and pick us up! Most students did like the and have been wearing them.

Since I'm napkin lady, I have learned how to make this job more fun by folding them different ways. I recruit people everyday to help me fold, but I have a feeling they will soon run away from me as it's a never ending job to make these folds for lunch & dinner. Most of it gets done during our breaks.

Tomorrow no breakfast duty so Jeff & I both get 30min extra sleep, yeah! So far we've had opposite days so both still have to get up a little earlier than normal. Jeff has been getting lots of kudos from the kitchen team, they just think it's wonderful that he's willing to do the heavy lifting to the smallest task without complaint.

More to come later...

Carrot duty

Squirrel!

Kitchen Tour

Everyone in the cooler and more kinds of baskets than I could have ever imagined.

The Slicer

Today I sliced Ham, Turkey and Gouda for breakfast that is used for breakfast platters.

The slicer is disassembled and cleaned along with the meat prep area, then reassembled looking shiny and new. You know how I like taking things apart.

Kitchen

In case I forgot to mention it, I am serving in the kitchen this visit. We got an early start helping to prepare meals for the last several days. Today we received our official areas we are responsible for and the ones that are shared.

They have five areas in the kitchen assigned to different people: Broken bread, Fruit of the spirit, green peace, whiter than snow, a-count-ability, and ministry of helps. Debra is (broken bread) responsible for baskets of bread and cereals in the morning. Sharon is (fruit of the spirit) responsible for fruit platters for the students and getting the baskets ready for breakfast. Jeff is (green peace) responsible for recycling and meats for breakfast. Norma is (whiter than snow) responsible for laundry and cheeses for breakfast. Shelly is (a-count-ability) responsible for making sure the right number of dishes and sides are plated for the dining room and yogurt for breakfast. Bev is (ministry of helps) responsible for helping robert and sunny with special projects and breakfast duties. Everyone prepares their breakfast area the night before so that the pair responsible for getting everything out in the morning can just take things out to the dining room while still waking up.

Hike to Durnstein castle ruins

Pretty steep but we made it to top.

Danube River to Durnstein

We took boat down Danube River to a town called Durnstein. Great views along the way. One mishap, Sharon didn't get off boat with the rest of us, but Robert & Sunny found her. Jeff is strapping her to his back when we're in Vienna.

Stift Melk

Monastery in Melk, Austria. Sunday outing for short-term workers and professors.

Margie & I are in Guest Services

Students arrive Monday

This year students will arrive from Russia, Hungary, Germany, Armenia, Romania, Bulgaria & Moldova.

Orientation Rainy Today

Preinsfeld Walk & Horses

We are in Austria

The Iowa team arrived on same flight with us. Austria airport has been remodeled, looks a lot different.

A Quick Hike

We took a quick hike up Preinsfeld road to make sure we were wore out and would sleep Friday before bed.

We made it

All of our luggage made it and everyone is settling in to their rooms and stretching their legs.

Vienna from above

A view from the plane landing in Vienna. Looking closely you can see farmland and wind power turbines.