Our Angel in Vienna

           Hana is her name. She and I met through mutual German friends my freshman year in college when my brother and I spent Spring Break in Munich, Germany and Cap d'Antibes, France with our friend Raphy and about 10 of his friends. All together, Hana and I have only probably spent 3 weeks together...adding up spring break and a day here and there when traveling in Europe and going to Oktoberfest. I don't know much about her personal life, her family, her likes and dislikes, and other things you would normally know about a close friend. Seperated by the Atlantic Ocean and some land on either side, not to mention a 7 hour time difference, we have never spent hours catching up on the phone, or just met up to grab coffee on a random Wednesday. With the details of our friendship, you would at best call us acquaintences under normal circumstances, but this is not how we act whenever we are together for there is something special about Hana and the way she gives of herself, her time, and her love so freely to others that you cannot help but forget the details and focus on feeling like you've known each other for years and are the best of friends.
            I hadn't talked to Hana in a good while when I facebooked her to tell her I would soon be moving to Vienna. Currently she is living in Vienna, working for the largest company in Austria, and spending most of her free time working on finishing her university thesis so that she can graduate next semester and hanging out with her friends and boyfriend, Matthias. After getting my facebook message she immediately called me, of course screaming with excitement at the news and making sure I would call her as soon as had arrived so that we could see each other as soon as possible! Defying the odds, I think she was more excited about my move than even I was!!
            Friday, December 17th:  I was four days in Vienna before Hana, Alina and I had the chance to meet up for coffee in the city center in one of her favorite coffeeshops close to the Albertiner. Wow! My soul soared when we saw each other! She exudes such love and happiness that you can't help but be happy around her! We proceeded to have coffee for several hours during which we caught up on life...what she is doing in Vienna, what she has been doing the past year, her relationship with her boyfriend, as well as why Alina and I are together her in Vienna, what we are doing for Heart's Home, Alina's background, and all that has happened in my life over the past year. Alot of catching up to say the least. It was also our first German lesson...Hana is intent on writing down all the new German words we learn during our little meetings and then quizzing me when she sees me next! We told her all about our living situation, our new apartment, and she asked what we needed and offered to help in any way she could. She also came bearing gifts!! She had a little 'Welcome to Vienna' package for me complete with a map, a notebook, a subway map, a traditional Viennese candy, and a CELL PHONE...so, as she said, she can get ahold of me anytime she wanted! And then, upon leaving insisting that we see each other again as soon as possible! I don't think words are adequate to describe to you what this encounter meant for me and taught me! Here is a friend who I have spent time with three times in my life, had not talked to for a year, and who acted as if I was her greatest treasure in life and the only important thing for her was to make sure I was happy and well situated in Vienna. I was left speechless at her example of love and friendship.

Hana and Alina at coffee

            Tuesday, December 21st: Alina and I met Hana and Matthias (her boyfriend) and two of their friends for pizza in the city center. There was a lot more learning German, getting to know one another (especially her boyfriend who I had never met), sharing memories, laughing, eating, talking, laughing some more. Hana and Matthias continuously ask us what we need and how they can help us...advising us on which bank to use, which phone and internet service to use, where to go for furniture and appliances for the apartment. They give of themselves so much...to meet with us, to teach us German  and be patient when I am confused or just can't learn, to listen to us go on and on about the experiences we have already had, and our hopes for the future. Hana and Matthias are truly two more angels God has sent us to help us navigate our new Viennese lives...I don't know what I would do without them, especially without the friendship of Hana, which provides me with a little familiarity and feeling of home in a completely foreign life. My heart can take a little rest whenever I am around her!
              We also spend alot of time explaining Heart's Home and what exactly we are doing in Vienna, which of course is always a challenge. I can't help but think it is a little hard for her to understand, why I am doing this, living this way, focusing so much on God. Hana and I became friends when I was not really into practicing my faith with my heart and my life, when Catholicism was more of a habit and Sunday formality and not something I really lived; before I really had my conversion of heart and desire to embrace my faith. And since we haven't spent alot of time together, we don't know alot about each other in this way, or know these more detailed things about each others lives. And yet, she doesn't shy away from asking about what I am doing here, and trying to understand what exactly our mission is. She doesn't get uncomfortable when I talk about God or my faith and answer her questions in ways she probably wouldn't have expected and is surely not used to. I am sure all this talk of God and mission work and living a life of simplicity, and chastity, etc. is about as foreign to her as the German language is to me, and yet this does not stop or deter her from desiring to spend as much time with me as she can, from helping me, from loving, accepting, and welcoming me into Vienna. With passion, excitement, and authenticity, she loves fully and gives of herself without regard for what is unfamiliar or potentially uncomfortable. Like WeWe for Monika, Hana teaches me what it is to love and offer friendship without reserve, to give of yourself totally, to make yourself completely available to the needs of another; she sheds light on what it really means to be Catholic...she is a missionary, an angel...to me! Surely this Christmas is not void of gifts...instead of material things, Christ is giving me the gift of friendship in this new life and new city...and Hana is one of them! Thank you God!

christmas lights in vienna: walking home from dinner with hana and matthias