How Was Austria?

This has been the question I've been asked the most since we returned nearly 3 weeks ago.  It is a question I both love and hate at the same time.  I love it because I hear "Austria" and a billion wonderful thoughts come to mind.  I hate it because I know there's no way to describe the time I had in a few short sentences.  We went over all of this during debriefing before we left and when we returned to Philly.  But it's still hard to put into words.  I hope I'm not coming off too aloof about it or like I don't want to talk about how glorious it all was.  I guess I'm just still processing it all.  Sometimes, I wake up and I still feel like I should be able to walk outside and down to Stephansplatz.  Other times it feels like I've been back for ages.

I don't really know how to end this post other than to say to please keep praying for me and for my other teammates as we continue our transition.  I don't think I'm alone in this process because we are all transitioning differently.  I've noticed I've become more reflective and pensive about it and I want to share in the joy that it was with my friends and not feel like it's such a dreaded thing to talk about.

Oh yes, Irene did hit but she was so weak that it only caused our power to go out for a few hours around here.  After having been in numerous hurricanes most of my life, this was one of the more tame ones I've lived through :-)