The Phenomenon of the Wiener Cafe

Question: what is something intriguing about Vienna that shows up often in varied ways and is something I could document during my time here?

Answer: Cafe's!

Austria is known for its coffee, it's relational and laid back culture (people take coffee break seriously here- at 10:30 on the dot everyone drops their work for a 15 min-30 min enjoyable coffee break; often the same happens in the afternoon) and its sumptuous delicate deserts. As I encounter these wonderful places during my time here in Austria, I thought I would share them with you!

May I introduce you to

What a lovely place! It's located in the Innerstradt (inner city) of Vienna by the Stephansdom (one of the tallest cathedrals in the world that is oh, so beautiful!) and has been around since 1911! It has an elegant yet casual feel with a 50's flavor. I found a short review on it that, from my firsthand experience there tonight, described it more than adequately well:

"Solemn-looking waiters sport classic bow-tie garb at this expansive cafe on the Ring. Still, in spite of a few old school traits, Pruckel is not one of the stiffest stars in the Viennese firmament. The much-loved cafe attracts a vaguely arty clientele who look like they're pondering some conceptual conundrum."

I got the "Special Pruckel Eiskaffe" which was fabulous! It was espresso, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream with a waifer cookie on top. I was very pleased. :) Even the "frou frou" coffee here isn't as sweet as in the US (they also don't have artificial sweeteners here) but it has a rich flavor that I really appreciate.

I highly reccommend this cute cafe and look forward to returning (hopefully with some new friends from language school that starts on Monday!). Check out Cafe Pruckel's website here.

I hope you're enjoying your coffe today as well. :)

:::thus ends review number ONE of the Phenomenon of the Wiener:::

...until next time :)

*love

Snow, Visas and Challenges

Snow today! Beautiful.

Still getting into the swing of things here... I'm feeling very adult-ish- budgeting, shopping and cooking, buying spices and trash bags, decorating our apartment, riding public transportation by myself. This is the most freedom I've ever had but also the most responsibility. I'm thankful for the previous years of training because though I still have more to learn, I feel equipped to be a good steward in these things! That's exciting. It is a bit overwhelming at times but I think soon things will become normal. :)

Today we are working on getting our visas so that we can stay in Austria! Please be in prayer about this as there are not many spots left to receive visas and nothing is guaranteed. We are just doing our best to meet all of the stipulations and through prayer, leave the rest up to God! We just found out this week that we must have Austrian health insurance in order to be considered for the visa, so we had to purchase additional insurance today for about $50 US dollars a month. This was not in our budget so I'd welcome you to join me in seeking God's provision for this. If you are interested in sponsoring this need, please contact me at mckenzie.conn@bcom.org.

Also, since being here my laptop has not been working. :( I had some problems with it before I left and thought they were all fixed, but it's now returning to its old ways and refuses to turn on. There's an IT guy who works for Operation Mobilization who will probably be able to take a look at it at the end of the week, so please pray that its able to get fixed! I'm thankful for teammates who have been willing to share theirs with me. :)

Tonight the team is diving into studying the book of Galatians! This is one of our classes for internship and I'm really excited to get into the Word with my team. We are all really enjoying one another and team life is going well! Currently all of us girls are making couch and chair covers and other aesthetic endeavors to make our apartment feel like home! It's quite exciting really. :) Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product! 

Orientation of my new nation!

Greetings from Vienna!

Click here to check out a video of my new apartment! I'm loving it! It's awesome to be in a community again. My team and I have been diving into orientation, covering a plethora of all the things that pertain to life here in Austria! On Monday, we explored downtown Vienna and invaded a cell phone shop to pick out our new "handy's" (what they call phones here). I've also discovered that the Viennese have laws about separating garbage and that on Saturday's after 12:15 PM until Monday morning, you can't mow your lawn or you get fined! All the shops are closed on Sundays too- these Austrians take resting and relaxing seriously! I love it!

I'm pretty tired but am adjusting to the new time zone and am sleeping great! I really love my team and the leadership who is here.

Team Austria with leaders, Robert and Ulla Suhonnen!

We're going to be able to be working closely with the Operation Mobilization team who is already here (there are five families). Today we got to hear the vision of what they're all about and the opportunities we will have to join in and even expand their outreach. I can't tell you how ecstatic I am to be here and to be apart of this ministry! This is what I've wanted to do my whole life and I'm so happy to be here!