This morning saw me getting up at 6:45, surprisingly to a new roommate (I knew I was going to have one for the night, but when I woke up, it was a different fellow than the guy who had asked to sleep with me), and heading out to attending a mass and a celebration for another Red Cross in a neighboring district with Markus and Chris and two other gentlemen in an ambulance. The mass itself was amazing - in an old church and in traditional style, the organ accompanied a large wind band that played from the balcony. My Germany isn't amazing, but I'm getting to the point where I can understand at least a little of what the priest was saying this morning.
After the mass was over, the entire congregation went outside to bless the new ambulance car of the region, and then we all paraded down the street (yes, we marched to actual marching music and walked in time behind the new car) to the Red Cross building, where there was a celebration much like the one Hawkins and I attended in Neuseidl am See our first day here.
I have decided Austrians are some of the most generous people I have ever met. I swear I'm going to gain 15 pounds just from the amount of food people want to buy me to "try their culture." I'm loving all this culture so much! The food is spectacular.
Tomorrow begins the "real" ambulance work - I'll be on call from 7am-7pm, meaning I'll be at the station in uniform waiting for an emergency to attend to. For now, I'm just relaxing, and probably going to try and nap away some of the weight I gained at the mass celebration. It works that way...right?
I'll let you all know tomorrow how my first day on call goes!
-J
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