Austria Journal 6- Salzburg

Mozart's House

After sleeping through the Melk expedition on our first day here, Alex and I were determined not to make the same mistake for the second school outing: Salzburg. The trip was a one day affair, complete with mass, walking tour, and lunch paid for by the school, so we spent significant time the night before planning out all the things we wanted to do while in that ‘Sound of Music’ city.

I had been to Salzburg once before for a brief visit with my family at Christmas time, but the only memories that visit includes are a lot of images of walking through slush, a Native American street band, the lift up the fortress on the hill, and a story about a cow. It’s amazing what the human brain holds on to.

This trip proved distinctly different in that our day there was sunny and warm and much more action-packed. Following our arrival was the school-group portion of events: mass, tour, and lunch, which proved very helpful in getting an idea of the historical and spiritual significance of the city, not to mention helping us appreciate just how tasty German food is (Mark doesn’t really agree, so we’ve decided he has a strictly American palate).

After lunch, which was served in a huge hunting-lodge style hall on the second floor of a restaurant, we started out the self-planned part of our day with the trek up steeply inclined streets to the town fortress. We had learned in our tour that the fortress had never been taken by force and that the only time they had come close was when the defenders were slowly being starved out by an opposing army (I forget who, unfortunately). They were down to their last cow and things were looking desperate until someone devised the plan of promenading it along the battlements, then painting it a different color and repeating the procedure until the attacking soldiers were convinced there was no hope of ever starving out the fortress and gave up (this was the story I remembered from my previous visit).

The fortress

While climbing the hill to the fortress, it was somewhat hard to envision any army having the lung capacity to survive the charge into battle, let alone take the place, which made the stories of its impregnability seem very realistic. The fortress itself was a mish-mash of visitor-accesible spots, but it seemed that there must have been TONS that we weren’t allowed into, because what we saw was somewhat small and the overall structure was huge!

The Dom cathedral's gorgeous architecture and decor

We are the princesses of the castle!

 After ascending stone steps to one tower that was infested with a swarm of large gnat-like insects and where we hurriedly snapped a few squinty-eyed, closed-mouthed shots with the mountainous background, we made our way through a few museum displays on armor, excavations, and medieval torture. At this point, we were all ready to move on to our next planned stop in Salzburg: Nonnburg Abbey.

Maria Elena Von Trapp and Baby Mark Vontrapp
in the Salzburg fortress

Pious Mother Superior Alex turns away small,
petulant child ElenaVon Trapp

It was about this point that I began to discover my somewhat unexpected enjoyment and ease at reading maps. It turns out that my sense of direction isn’t altogether dreadful, either, so I gleefully led Alex and Mark along a stone path on the side of the fortress mountain that led to the abbey rumored to have been the place where the real Maria Von Trapp was a postulant. This rumor was disputed by some travel websites, and we never really found out if it was true, but we did enjoy the peaceful, darkness of the chapel, and after running into a few of our own TOR sisters who told us that the gate to the abbey was the same one where Mother Superior turns away the Von Trapp children in the movie when Maria is “in seclusion,” Alex and I made sure to snap a few pictures there too.

 Asthetic enjoyment at the Mirabell Gardens

Our unicorn went a little crazy...

The rest of the day included stops at the carefully laid out Mirabell gardens by the Mirabell palace, meeting up with some more of our friends, including Fr. Matt (who is just plain awesome, btw), and making our way to the Augustiner beer garden and brewery. This was an especially interesting experience, because not only did the garden seat close to 1000 people (and it was pretty full), nobody appeared to be obnoxiously intoxicated, despite the customary liter sized beer steins easily available for fairly cheap prices. The Europeans just take drinking differently. It truly seems like a cultural practice of fellowship for them, which makes it an enjoyable experience even to those who aren’t drinking (don’t worry, I was).

The Augustine Beer Garden

To order a beer, I had to go up and buy a ticket, then choose a half-liter or liter mug from the shelves and rinse it out in a fountain. Half liter was enough for me, especially when the beer guy generously filled me up, spilling a great deal of foam and beer in the process and thus ensuring that I got my money’s worth. There were several cheap food market stalls where I got sausage and a big pretzel and ta-da, a pretty typical German dinner. Yum.

A bridge full of love

We finished off the night by strolling along the river between tents set up to display a variety of wares (all overpriced) and buying some Mozart kugel: chocolate balls with several different layers of chocolate crème and marzipan inside, an Austrian thing (the Salzburg variety featuring pistachio flavored marzipan). The bus back was quiet as I wrote letters, looked at pictures, and talked about the day, although I heard one bus watched “Taken”…talk about a traumatic introduction to our stay in Europe. Altogether, it was quite the perfect first expedition, helping us look forward to many more to come.

Salzburg, ladies and gentlemen

Austria Journal 5- Man vs. Wild, Spelunking, and Other Misadventures

Thursday, August 29, 2013

The day began innocently enough: A blaring alarm and groggy awakening, a hurried breakfast and flurried few minutes of classroom searching. After my introductory lesson in German phonetics in which the professor taught us a lullaby in round, I walked to the St. Therese room for my first class with the Dr. Newton. Though Aquinas is not exactly the lightest reading, Dr. Newton’s classic British accent somehow makes me feel as if I’m in a Pride and Prejudice movie rather than thumbing through pages upon pages of the Summa, so even that more challenging class added very little stress to the day. Mass and lunch were likewise enjoyable and as I ascended the three stone staircases to my room, I contemplated going for a hike to round out another peaceful day in Gaming. But it was not to be.

Our expeditionary force

DYT meets Austrian Alps

          Halfway up the steps I ran into Alex who, upon hearing my plan also suggested we join a group of girls who wanted to explore some well-known, nearby caves. Two-thirds of the way up the stairs, we came upon said girls, who were already dressed in athletic apparel and obviously prepared for a fun, active afternoon. Spurred on by the promise of wine and chocolate which we planned to have when we arrived, Alex and I ran upstairs to change and then spent the next hour waiting for various members of an our group with slowly grew into a large expeditionary force. Once about fifteen or so people were assembled, we began walking through Gaming. We all knew the general direction and one girl even knew that it was supposed to be about a 45 minute hike, but otherwise, we were largely unprepared, simply enjoying the freedom and sunshine of the afternoon. Thankfully, before hitting the line of trees that marks the end of town and beginning of foothill/mini-mountains, we ran into another student who was just returning from the caves and agreed to show us the way. It was somewhat providential (or not) that he did, because the way there turned out to be one of the most difficult, terrifying experiences I have ever endured. No. I’m not being dramatic.

          Mickey (our guide) led us through some trails which led into the woods and quickly began climbing upwards. As people began to breathe heavily, he laughed and said that we weren’t even a third of the way there yet. At this point, he also asked if we wanted to take the more direct route straight up the mountain or the winding path that took an hour and a half. We all chose the more direct path, believing it would take only 45 minutes. That was our first mistake.

          The second was to disbelieve Mickey’s dire warnings and mutterings, which as we continued to climb up increasingly steep hiking trails, seemed not only to multiply in number but also absurdity. In the superior tone of one who has undergone much and wants you to know it, he kept saying things like, “You think this bad? Just wait. We aren’t even close to the hard parts yet.”  At one point, while scrambling over a large pile of sticks on a 45degree incline, I finally snapped, “Oh come on, how much harder could it get?”  I questioned sarcastically. Whether that was the third mistake or merely an ironic prelude to what was yet to come, I’m not entirely sure, but in retrospect, I’m impressed that Mickey didn’t turn on me then and there and wring my ignorant neck for such a foolish question. The first third of the hike was just that, a hike. A rigorous hike with slippery stones and a bit of a drop next to the path, but compared with what came next, it honestly comes close to catching butterflies in a sunny pasture.

My fear of heights shows as we scale the mountain

          Then came the cliffs. When I say cliffs, I don’t mean exactly like the cliffs of Mohr or Dover or anything quiet that impressive. The main differences between those and these lay in the fact that these cliffs did not go below a 90degree angle and that somehow, miraculously, they had substantial amounts of dirt, loam, trees, and rocks lining their floor. The word floor, doesn’t quite cut it, however, as these cliffs were really more like walls that Mickey expected us to scale as easily as a fly, and that’s really what I felt like: a fly, on the wall, fearing for my life as a fly might fear a human with a flyswatter. Except, we humans were the ones at the mercy of the bugs, which we quickly discovered were quite plentiful. Spiders, ticks, fire ants, grasshoppers, and miscellaneous unnamed crawling things, all could be seen scuttling off into the grass and tree roots as we dug our nails into their mossy homes. We couldn’t just let go if a large spider appeared quite suddenly in front of an outstretched hand either, not unless we wanted to fall backwards down the side of a miniature alp, anyway. Trying to ignore the lower forms of life surrounding us, I focused instead on the spiritual and metaphorical significance of the climb. Somehow the thought that this was just like one’s life on a grand scale: an ascent to the glory of the peaks, through trial and muck and filth, up dangerous incline, was comforting only until I registered that at any moment both metaphorical and literal ascent could be cut short in a dramatic but definite tumble downwards. At that point, I stopped thinking of lofty matters and reverted to every part of me that felt even remotely like a mountain goat.

          Unfortunately, I share little with these hardy creatures, and at this inconvenient time, made the discovery that I am completely terrified of heights. As we crawled higher and higher up what now seemed to be sheer cliff, all I could do was pray and test footholds, grasp roots with shaking hands and thank God for fingernails to dig into the earth. After about an hour and a half, we finally reached our destination: a hole disappearing into the earth between two large boulders. Gone was the dream of cheerfully sipping wine and eating milka in a spacious underground cavern. No, this was spelunking. Legit spelunking.

Entering into the abyss

          Still, after enduring the climb of a lifetime, I was not about to chicken out of what could be my one chance to do something this adventurous. I pulled out my tiny green flashlight (providentially stolen from Mei Mei’s backback zipper the day I left home) and entered the abyss. At first it was merely a steep climb downwards between rocks. Alex quickly decided to go back up to the sunlight, a decision I somewhat envied as we descended deeper and deeper into the blackness. After about 5 minutes of this, we all began to slide uncontrollably down the slope of loose rock shards, dislodging some along the way. One such stone bounced down from above and slammed into my lower back, causing me to shout angrily over my shoulder (don’t worry, I apologized later and we all laugh about it now). We continued down until we reached the point where you have to go headfirst on your chest in order to fit. The space between the “ceiling” and the cave bottom was less than a foot and the slope down into the darkness appeared nothing less than terrifying. At this point, I was all for making the 10 people behind me climb back up so I could get out, but Mark promised that the space immediately widened, convincing me to cautiously inch forward on my stomach into the tight space.

The cavern!

          Sure enough, after a few moments of feeling like I was trying to hide under my childhood bed in the dark, I emerged into the cavern below. It too sloped downward, but the ceiling was vaulted and graffiti of past adventurers lined the walls. We explored the room, finding two tiny passages that didn’t seem particularly safe and then decided it was time to begin the trek back. Pushing through the tight spot against gravity was a little harder than the way down, but the promise of light ahead aided our efforts and soon we were emerging, muddy, numb, and half blind into the fading sunlight. We decided to take the actual path downwards, a wise choice which only took about 45 minutes anyway (apparently Mickey mixed up the times?), but the adventure couldn’t end too abruptly, and being covered in mud anyway, we decided to do the traditional Franciscan creek jump across the road from the Kartause. The water was frigid and refreshing and the jump exhilarating (though I don’t think I would do it again.)Finally, the evening ended with Dunkel beer and Kartause burgers in the Keller (the hotel restaurant): a perfect ending to a slightly traumatic, mostly fabulous adventure of a lifetime.

Creek jumping finishes off a day of adventures

          

Austria Journal 3 and 4- Milka and Singing, oh how I love thee.

Tuesday and Wednesday, August 28-29

Two days filled with orientation meetings hardly make good blogging material. I could write for pages and pages about the University policies on alcohol, traveling, laundry...you name it, but unfortunately the administration has already done that in something called the University Handbook. Not only have I read the handbook, but I've also spent most of the past two days listening to it be read aloud and explained in great detail.The highlights of these past few days, however, can be found in a few key events and adventures and moments that were unplanned but certainly set the tone for this dreamlike state of being I'll refer to from now on as The Gaming Haze.

       The Gaming Haze: The dreamlike state of being each Franciscan Student experiences upon arrival at the Kartause in Gaming, Austria. Side effects may include: excessive chocolate consumption, sudden uncontrolled bursts of laughter, silly grins, and commonly heard mutterings of, "This can't be real life" and "ahhhh."

In the interest of keeping this post on topic, structured, and succinct (because I have to wake up for classes in less than 8 hours), I have decided to organize the occurrences of the past few days into 5 bullet points, ranging from 5=fabulous to 1=dropdeadfantabulousx25. You will excuse my cliche terms as such are the units of measurement in the Gaming Haze. 

5. Milka chocolate, the Mensa (Austrian Caf) donuts, the bakery pastries and all sweet things of great goodness that warm my heart gladden my stomach. The first two days we were here, the Mensa did not have anything sweet. Even the yogurt was sour (or so I heard), so by day 3, I was pretty desperate for something, anything to contrast the copious amounts of salty type foods we had been eating. I broke down and asked Alex and Mark to accompany me to the nearby SPAR (local grocery store), where I quickly discovered a buy 2 Milka bars get one free deal, and .40 bars of cheap chocolate with Hazelnuts, which incidentally, I almost prefer to the namebrand stuff. I bought 5 bars of chocolate for under $5, and we're talking REALLY good chocolate here. Unfortunately, since that time and the discovery of the bakery and Mensa donuts, I have consumed more sweets than I care to reveal and have since begun to question the goodness of Milka chocolate for moral and physical health reasons, particularly in the area of gluttony. For the above reasons, I felt that Milka, donuts, and pastries deserved a spot on the list but ranked them a mere 5 for the unfortunate toll they are likely to have on my physique. 

4. Making friends, particularly international ones. Everyone here, being under aforesaid Gaming Haze is of the attitude that you can talk to pretty much anyone and introduce yourself to everyone. This means that people you would often see on main campus but never meet just walk up to you and say hi and somehow it's not awkward. I think this is due to the spirit of camaraderie stimulated by the fact that we all traveled halfway across the globe to reach this place, that we are all Franciscan students in a foreign place so we need to band together, and that there are less than 200 of us total, which minimizes the choices for friendships. The song "We're all in This Together" from High School Musical would be an appropriate theme song if you could somehow add in lederhosen, yodeling, and if we weren't all in college and beyond such trivial things as "High School Musical". But I digress. One especially important aspect of this friendship making fest is the LCI students. LCI stands for Language and Catechetical Institute, a program in place for students from other European (and asian!) countries to join us here to learn English and Catholicism in a wonderful environment. 

Two of the LCI students I met today are Chung (probably totally misspelled) from China and Martin from Slovakia. Chung was at the other end of the table at dinner tonight, but Martin sat next to me, and it was fascinating talking with him for a short time (he was really quiet and didn't volunteer any information beyond what I asked) about Slovakia. 3 of my Mom's grandparents are Slovakian, which makes me 3/8 Slovakian, a fact I'm pretty proud of, because Slovaks are just cool. It turns out Martin knew of Haluski and perogies  and told me about the terrain and capital city, and his own hometown, which is the 2nd biggest city in Slovakia. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what he called it, partly because it's loud in the Mensa, partly because he's 100% Slovak and I'm not. Also, he looked like a mix between my great grandpa, my grandpa, and my uncle. Altogether a cool experience.

3. The stations of the cross trail up the foothills that is slightly dangerous and majorly beautiful. The paintings could practically be in an art museum and instead they're under little roofed shelters in the open air on the side of a cliff. The "path" is criss-crossed by slippery rockbeds and gnarled tree roots which make things just scary enough to be thrilling. Alex, Mark, and I explored the first 3 stations but had to make our way back because it was getting dark and we all had meetings for ministry stuff, but we plan to go back asap. More on this to come in our Vlog if we ever figure out the video software to edit the stuff we've filmed. If someone wants to send me a mac complete with imovie, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll pay you back in laughs (from the videos) and prayers (said in a monastery from the 1200s!).

2. The opportunities available here. Two major mission trip options to Lourdes and a Romanian orphanage, Poland, Rome, and Assisi pilgrimages, learning pretty much any language you want, tons of local ministries, mass every day,adoration all the time, praise and worship weekly, and audience with the pope, 3 day weekends and two huge breaks to travel all over europe, swop jobs to pay for some of it, beauty surrounding me EVERYWHERE, and the food. Oh yes. The food. Excuse me while I wipe a bit of drool of my keyboard. I think you get the picture. From edible to historical to spiritual, the opportunities to experience and grow are mind blowing. I'm praying I have the time to manage everything I want to do while I'm here. :)

1. MUSIC MINISTRY!!!

Having auditioned my freshman fall semester on main campus and not made it in, I was reluctant to try out again, but something about this place made me want to do it. Maybe it was the smaller numbers and consequent lower level competition, maybe it was confidence from the voice lessons I took over the summer, maybe it was really just God stirring something special in my heart-- a calling to minister in a way for which I was not ready my freshman year (not that I feel much more ready now). Whatever the reason, I decided, somewhat nervously, to audition yesterday night. It went fairly well, but I worried far into the night about it (auditions in general mess with my head). I tried to place it in God's hands. I tried to feel like it would be the best for me whatever He chose, but it's hard to feel that way, when you care about something. Well, anyway, this time God blessed me with far beyond what I'd been dreaming (actually, doesn't He always seem to do that in the end?) When I checked the list this morning, I discovered, to my complete surprise, that I had been selected music lead of the acapella group to sing for Thursday's mass. I was humbled, honestly I was, but it wasn't until Sister Sarah Rose (in charge of music) explained all the duties involved and the sheer responsibility of choosing music and organizing the team and singing lead itself that I was struck by just what a huge honor this was. I honestly don't know where to start, but apparently God has some great plans for this adventure. I put this as number one not only because it was the biggest way in which I felt His love these past few days, but also because I feel like it best characterizes the kinds of incredible things that are happening in my life right now in Gaming Austria.

And with that being said and this post keeping me far past my bedtime, I will bid you Guten Abend. Goodnight :) One of the only words I know...I'm sure that will be helpful in my 8am Elementary German class tomorrow.

Austria Journal #2-Gaming and Settling In

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Kartause from the street

      Having been strictly warned last night to be punctual for the buses to Melk (the nearby Benedictine Monastary) this morning, Alex and I set an early alarm in order to have plenty of time to ready ourselves for our first European excursion. At 5:45am, I awoke and anxiously checked the time on my computer (life is hard without a phone) only to realize that we had nearly 2 more hours of sleep. When Alex groggily awakened me later on, however, we realized that we had accidentally forgotten to switch our clock to Austrian time and therefore set the alarm for 6 hours later than planned. Since we had already missed the bus, we went back to bed for another hour or so and woke up in time to go to noon mass with the Kartause families (the families of the Kartause professors). This was fairly awkward, since we were the only students there, but we got to see the quaint little adoration chapel off the main church and enjoyed a small reverent mass . Afterwards we decided to explore the town and find a grocery store. It didn’t take us long in such a little village to locate SPAR where we found fresh bread, cheese, liverwurst, fruit, and wine for very reasonable prices (for example, the wine was only 3.49).

A pretty village house

The Kartause from behind the wall 

          Since we had been cheated out of our tour of Melk, we meandered through the streets until we reached Gaming’s only church. Inside we discovered that even small village churches in Austria are more gorgeous and ornate than 95% of American churches. I wanted to take pictures but felt irreverent, so I don’t have visible proof of the exquisite architecture. I’ll have to work up the courage to discreetly snap a few shots from the back some day. As we made our way back through Gaming to the Kartause, Alex and I stumbled across a wooded path that leads up the mountains to a field where we ate our European lunch near a large stone wall just above the Kartause. The view was incredible and gray skies did little to dampen the breathtaking beauty of rolling green and dark tree-covered hillsides. The romance of the experience sort of fulfilled a dream of mine and left a slight ache. Too much beauty always does that to me; My mortal existence can’t handle it, I guess.

The hillside where we ate lunch

          

Alex enjoying our picturesque lunch

That afternoon, when the rest of the students returned, we had our rooms blessed, ate dinner, went running, and attended an informational session on alcohol and ministry to mom’s, a babysitting ministry for the Kartause families. Alex and I also started an Austrian Vlog (video blog), so more on that to come!

Experimentation with my new camera

          

Austria Journal #1-Journey Across the Pond

Saturday, 24 August-Sunday, 25 August 2013

          The sun had barely peeped above the horizon when my mom shook me gently awake. I groaned with the grogginess of a 45 minute slumber but knew that rolling over was pointless, I had left myself so little time as it was. Besides, I still needed to remove things from my suitcase in order to avoid extra airport fees; that was the last thing I needed right before embarking on a journey to Europe with insufficient funds. Climbing wearily down from my top bunk, I began methodically going over in my head the things left to do: shower, get dressed, adjust luggage…there wasn't much, but in my weary state, it was about as much as I could manage.

          Half an hour later saw me rushing around frantically as my dad called for me to get in the van. I checked my room one last time. Not perfectly clean, but it would have to do. I clambered into the van, clutching my makeup pouch in one hand, backpack in the other. The drive to pick up Mark and Alex was uneventful. My parents mostly ignored my silent application of makeup in the back seat and instead discussed the plans for their weekend anniversary trip to Indianapolis after dropping us at the airport. Things didn't change after picking up Alex and Mark as the three of us quickly dozed off in the back seat and slept most of the 4 ½ hour drive. It wasn't until downtown Chicago that we woke up in time to enjoy 45 minutes of stop and go traffic to the airport.

          We pulled up to the Swiss Air drop-off and unloaded our bulging suitcases. Mine in particular bulged in an unseemly manner and you could even see a spot of bright red skirt through a rip in my carry-on luggage, a point upon which the Swiss Air lady’s eyes seemed to fixate as I approached the check in desk. “The carry-on limit is 8 kilo,” she said with pursed lips, and “Let’s see if you are under the limit,” she added, in a tone that implied she sincerely doubted it. Sure enough, the carry-on luggage was almost twice the approved weight (I've never had someone weigh my carry-on luggage before and had accordingly stuffed the most heavy items in that bag), but my suitcase was just under the limit, so I quickly proceeded to a less crowded space to transfer items from one bag to the other. Thanks to Mark’s light packing habits (or a masculine lack of fashion obsession in general), I was able to stuff a few things into his bag and once again approach the front desk, this time weighing in at just over 8 kilo. “Since you are just above the limit, I can check the carry-on bag for free,” the Swiss Air lady offered, showing more kindness than I had dared hope for after her first reaction.

Waiting for our plane

          Bags safely sent down the conveyor belt, we said goodbye to my parents, who seemed surprisingly calm. My dad offered a few tips for avoiding scams and pickpockets, and we left them for our first trip through security. The lines were long and smelly (apparently it isn't the custom to wear deodorant when traveling), but we finally made it through with no mishaps and located our gate with two hours to spare. We spent the time talking and writing letters until it was time to board our flight to Zurich. That 8-10 hour flight (I still can’t remember how long it was supposed to be) dragged on despite frequent naps and the option of individual movie screens, but we finally landed in Switzerland.

          The moment we stepped off the plane, the atmosphere felt different. Hundreds of memories that I’d forgotten from our time living in Europe flooded back, particularly the fact that Europeans don’t generally smile to strangers as they pass and the feeling that everything is more subtle, private, and quiet. This became apparent as we walked through the airport and people wordlessly filed past, barely making eye contact. I had very little time to consider this, however, because we had barely 50 minutes to make our way to the other side of the airport via an underground transport and customs. 50 minutes can seem an eternity when you’re waiting to get off the clock at Bob Evans or have to go to the bathroom, but when the American customs line is dragging on and on as the European line moves steadily past, and the clock hand creeps steadily forward, 50 minutes can seem like 5. As 6:57 am and then 7:00am rolled around and we still weren't through for our 7:10 flight, it seemed unlikely that we would make it, especially since we didn't even know exactly where our gate was. I was the first one through customs, dancing anxiously between the doorway through which I had emerged and the stairs that led to my momentarily departing aircraft. Alex finally came through, but as the seconds ticked by, Mark did not follow. Apparently he had gotten cut by a large family and was still waiting to get through. Frustrated by his politeness in a moment like this, I mentally began preparing for the best way to contact the Franciscan pickup in Vienna. “Why don’t you run ahead,” Alex suggested, “Try to get them to hold the plane.”  Not sure how I was supposed to do that but needing to do something, I sprinted off and up the immediate flight of stairs, skipping every other step and hoping I wouldn't trip in my slightly too-big boots.

          I arrived breathless and sweating (from the winter coat of course) at the gate, gasping “No, we have to wait for my friends!” to an anxious flight attendant with braids wrapped around her head. “Where are your friends?” She questioned following my vague hand motion over my back with her eyes. No one. Alex and Mark were still not there. I gasped out that we had gone straight through customs but that the line moved too slowly. “We didn't even stop to use the bathroom!” I exclaimed, using the first excuse that seemed prevalent at the moment in my sleep-deprived state. Fortunately, after about a minute of nervous waiting, Alex and Mark came jogging up and we boarded the hour flight to Vienna with no further mishaps.

The misty foothills of Gaming

          Vienna was gray and rainy, but our spirits lifted when we spotted familiar faces and Baron green t-shirts by the baggage claim. We followed a TOR sister to the bus and began our 2 hour drive to Gaming. The scenery was a mix of greens and grays, interspersed with the occasional village, but mostly, as Alex put it, “it looked like we were still in Ohio.” Ohio became the last though on our minds, however, when we reached the outskirts of Gaming. A patchy gray mist cloaked the increasingly majestic foothills as the road wound into the tiny Austrian village. Tastefully painted houses with bright accent flower window boxes lined the road and up ahead we could see the spire of the Kirche Maria Thron (the Kartause Church). A flurry of excitement passed through the occupants of the bus as we glimpsed several children in dirndls and lederhosen preparing to greet us with yellow roses. Their older brothers and the RA staff made short work of our suitcases and helped distribute our International Franciscan IDs and room keys. Alex and I were paired in a cozy little room at the very top of the Kartause with a tiny tower-like window overlooking the courtyard. We oohed and ahhed over the wardrobe, elaborate door, and curving stone staircase outside before collapsing on our beds.

           That night we attended and tried desperately to stay awake through a beautiful mass and welcoming session, but managed to perk up briefly for an opening night social where we drank beer (from a special keg) and wine for the first time legally. As we made our way back along stone terraces and breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air, I realized what a wonderful semester lay ahead of us. This marked the end of our trip across the ocean but only the beginning of our semester in Europe.

A philosophical reflection

My term paper for Medieval Philosophy:

Love and Beauty

            From the pastel colors of a glistening rainbow to the pudgy, dimpled smile of a toddler, the world is full of physical beauty. While there are individual tastes, shaped by culture, upbringing, or education, man as a whole seems recognize this beauty by some unspoken, universal standard which draws forth a certain level of admiration and attraction. Along with physical beauty there is also interior beauty, which can be more difficult to see, but which further illuminates physical beauty. The Neo-Platonist philosopher, Plotinus, wrote of both as reflections of the Creator that touch and purify the human soul, helping it to become more beautiful in its recognition of beauty. This process, in which man is first attracted by beauty, then transformed by it until he himself is beautiful, directly correlates with a human relationship and the development of true love, and is further a reflection of and connection to the love emanating from the Divine, who Plotinus says is pure Love itself. Thus, by understanding Plotinus’s concept of beauty, one finds that love and its true meaning originate in attraction to beauty and the purification of the soul through further exposure to it.

What is Beauty?

Beauty has been defined in various ways by many through the centuries but it can essentially be broken down into two categories: external and internal. The first is seen in the human body and the rest of physical creation, while the second, more difficult to pinpoint, lies in the spiritual, often referring to a person’s disposition, heart, or soul. While exterior beauty, aside from various differences of personal opinion, is widely accepted, internal beauty holds a far less prominent value in society. For example, when a rosebud blooms on a bush, many find it aesthetically pleasing, but when an old woman with a shrill voice sings loudly in church, most fail to view this as attractive. The beauty of the latter instance lies in the meaning rather than the appearance. It cannot be physically encountered, but rather can only be “seen” through the knowledge that the woman is pouring out love into a song for the savior she worships. This expression is internally beautiful because it characterizes the woman’s spiritual existence, just as when one does an act of kindness it can be considered beautiful because it represents the kindness within one’s soul. The difference between internal and external beauty, therefore, lies in the perceptive ability of the viewer.

            Among the many theories of beauty, one that values internal beauty far above external, is that of the Greek philosopher Plotinus. As a Neo-Platonist, Plotinus holds Plato’s views of the existence of the One as “the source of the whole.” He writes that the One is pure love, supplying life, intelligence, and beauty to lesser beings who reflect this overflow of the One like mirrors reflecting a light.[1] In this way, Plotinus believes the One gives form to matter, making it beautiful. Plotinus gives the example of a sculpture shaping a statue to explain the formation of matter. The unworked stone, says Plotinus is not nearly as beautiful as the shaped statue, because the beauty lies in the life form represented by the statue.[2] Similarly, even the statue cannot embody life as a human being can and is thus less beautiful than a human being. Indeed, a work of art is dead without a subject to embody and a painter to give it form, just as matter is dead without the beauty of form given it by the One.[3] In this way, Plotinus reasons that beauty is a connection between the earthly and the divine: a vestige of the One’s own being, stamped upon creation.

The Relation of Beauty to Man

            The way man sees beauty is wholly dependent on his openness to it. Although it is true that many are able to recognize the beauty of a supermodel, fewer find a pregnant woman beautiful. Still fewer notice beauty in an elderly woman. This is because man is most attuned to what Plotinus terms “sensible beauty.” Sensible beauty is the perception of the aforementioned external beauty as a unity of form, not merely an arrangement of parts, and is brought about by direct experience rather than meditation.[4]This does not mean that man perceives all physical forms beautiful but rather those which he believes to be the most unified, the most perfect. With this mindset, man prefers the flawless skin of a normal healthy baby to one born with a large birth mark on its face. Likewise, the chiseled body of an athlete is often socially admired above the weak limbs of one inclined to the arts or to study. Though the definition of physical attractiveness may change with the fashion of the time and the culture, its basic foundation lies in what the public perceives to be unblemished perfection.

            Known to a smaller portion of mankind, is what Plotinus terms “invisible beauty:” that which is discovered through extensive use of the intellect and which is often the source of a person’s internal beauty. When compared to intellectual invisible beauty, sensible beauty is a mere shadow because while invisible beauty is harder to “see,” it is a degree closer to union with the One.[5]Plotinus explains this deeper connection with the Divine by saying that in the One, “the qualities of beauty and goodness are the same;”[6]therefore, all that is good, by necessity, is also beautiful. The goodness and beauty of the intellect lies within the soul of a being, which is why human beings, as possessing higher souls than plants or animals, are the most beautiful creatures on earth and therefore related most closely to the Divine. Despite the difficulty involved in its perception due to strenuous effort on the part of the intellect, invisible beauty produces feelings of wonder, longing, passion and joy, because one who comes into mental contact with this striking beauty of the Divine must realize that it truly exists.[7] As Gustavo Perez says in his essay on Plotinus’s theory of beauty in relation to art, beauty forms and encourages the soul’s ascendance to the One.[8] Similarly, Ota Gál, in his exposition of Plotinus’s theory of beauty, says that to attain beauty through the intellect is to contemplate it in relation to the One.[9]

            Since beauty, as a connection with the One, is goodness itself, the soul gains beauty when it gains goodness. It is clear then, that to obtain goodness and beauty is to become like the Divine.[10]The beautiful soul is characterized by a righteous life, courage, dignity, modesty, and a pure morality that comes from the illumination of the Divine intellect.[11] Furthermore, it delights in seeking after virtue and goodness because these are the fulfillment of its identity as an image of the Divine. Such values are particularly exemplified in a person like Mother Theresa. In spite of a face deeply etched with the sorrows and joys of her past and a body stooped from years of hard work, the tiny nun attracted even non-religious people, and while some may not have used the word beautiful, they found the life that filled her small frame infectious. She is, though many do not understand the full significance of it, an example of a beautiful soul. Not all souls turn towards this light as Mother Theresa's, however, and Plotinus describes the ugly soul as one that has focused its efforts on obtaining objects of sense. This dilution of beauty by seeking primarily the body and matter drags the ugly soul in every direction as it searches for false beauty in increasingly dimmer reflections of the ultimate beauty of the One. Even the most physically beautiful being can have an ugly soul. Lucifer himself was once the most beautiful of creations, but his pride led him away from communion with God and into evil. The ugly soul is characterized by addictions to the material and bodily which distract the soul’s essence, the intellect[12] and communion with the One.

            Every man has an element of ugliness to his soul by very nature of his humanity, but no matter how far the ugly soul strays from the joys of the intellect, it can always return, wiping away the grime of material focus to uncover the beauty beneath.[13]Plotinus calls for the development of the intellect in order to purify the soul and bring it to greater depths of beauty but explains that training oneself to see beauty is a strenuous discipline. While some recognition of bodily beauty comes naturally to man, it is much harder to focus the intellect on the perception of invisible beauty because it involves disciplining the mind to see that which is not naturally seen and to persevere through education and mental exertion. It is necessary, however, that man focus his efforts on training his intellect because such growth unites the soul to a higher reality and realizes its full potential as a creation and image of the One. When the soul becomes beautiful in this way it achieves a better understanding of reality and an increased perception of beauty, including sensible beauty.[14] Thus, the man’s relation to beauty comes in full circle: First, he is attracted by sensible beauty, so he pursues it and discovers invisible beauty; next, he strives to train his intellect to see invisible beauty more clearly in order to journey nearer to the One; and finally, made beautiful by his ability to perceive invisible beauty in creation and the intellect, man will also be able to see sensible beauty in a new light everywhere he turns. Plotinus adds that those passionately in love with the invisible will have trained their inner eye to see the beauty of structure and form, thus grasping the significance of its existence and the value of life.[15] Without relation to an intelligible being, the body has no substance, but with an intellectualized, metaphysical understanding of the universe, one can come to see the beauty that exists within creation and in recognize its existence as a reflection of and relation to the Divine.

The Connection between Love and Beauty

            Whether it is sensible or invisible, when man encounters beauty, he experiences an immediate attraction. This is easily demonstrated in the physical realm, where most can easily recognize beauty. When one spends time with a person who is wearing a pleasant-smelling cologne, for instance, there is an immediate inclination, however slight, to draw nearer or remain in the company of that person. The aroma brings pleasure to the senses and thus delights the body with its sensible beauty. In contrast, when one is placed in the company of someone who smells unpleasant, the first impulse is to plug one’s nose, or try to avoid breathing in the stench, seeking instead, fresh clean air. In this way, it is easy to see the way in which man superficially loves and pursues beauty. With the discovery of invisible beauty, man also develops an attraction to the deeper and more meaningful beauty of the intellect. Plotinus describes this attraction as one spurred on by a longing for beauty, inspired by an original encounter with “one beautiful body”[16] Once man has encountered beauty, particularly intellectually, a hunger is awakened in him to seek out more. For example, if a song evokes emotion and positive memories that one finds beautiful, one will replay the song to seek out those memories once more. The beauty captivates and attracts man, evoking love, and inspiring him to pursue it.

            This attraction to beauty is illustrated on tangible level in human relationships. When a man and woman first meet, sometimes there is an instant feeling of attraction that many refer to as ‘love at first sight.’ At this stage, the beginning of love, the attraction is primarily sensible, based on physical, visual and auditory appearances. For example, the man might be attracted to the woman’s smile, her petite figure, her long, flowing hair, the rich tone of her laugh. The woman, for part, might like the man’s granite-green eyes, the way she has to look up to see into them, and the deep, reassuring feel of his voice. There may also be some recognition of invisible beauty, in the way the couple’s personalities click, the things they have in common, and maybe even the discussion of their ideals, but the understanding of the invisible can only go so far at this stage because each is putting their ‘best foot forward,’ and the depth of their souls cannot be contained in a mere first encounter, however successful. This initial attraction within a relationship directly correlates with man’s initial attraction to sensible beauty in all forms; It comes naturally and easily as if he were pre-programed to recognize the beauty and respond with admiration because that recognition is a remnant of man’s connection with the true beauty of the Divine.

            Initial attraction within a relationship, if strong enough, next leads to the development of deeper feelings. The couple moves on from occasional, thrilling yet nervous encounters and conversations to a more structured relationship. They begin to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, at first as a kind of intriguing game, but eventually in order to avoid conflict of wills. As the initial excitement and newness of their friendship dies down, it becomes more of a choice to continue in the relationship. This is the stage at which sacrifice is required on the part of both. Because this part of the relationship can stretch anywhere from when the couple is dating to later on in marriage, it contains varying challenges to overcome, but the main focus is learning to see the invisible beauty of the other person. For instance, though a husband may like to rise early, his wife might prefer to stay up late and sleep in. He may become frustrated by an unclean house, while she might be artistic and impulsive, leaving a trail of unfinished projects in each room. Where the excitement and feelings of sensible attraction once masked the ugly parts of the person’s soul, now they are exposed by familiarity and the frailty of human nature. To solve these problems, compromises must be made. She must learn to appreciate his structured lifestyle as a steady force in her life, while he must allow her dreams to add color to his. It becomes a matter of discipline and growth: in effect, the same challenge presented by the training of the intellect. They must participate in the search for beauty, finding and appreciating the good parts of each other’s souls.

            Eventually, through unselfish dedication by each to see the beauty of the other, they will bring out the purification of their own souls. In their search for beauty, they will become beautiful themselves and as a result, open themselves to be able to see increased beauty in both the physical and the spiritual. This is love in which a husband and wife give unconditionally and discover the intrinsic value of the other person’s life. In helping one another, they help themselves to recognize true beauty and thus achieve true love; for as initial attraction to beauty evokes the beginnings of love, so the perfection of beauty because love perfected. Ultimately, the participants will come to realize as Plotinus did that the origin of love is the longing for beauty itself[17] and that the search for love is a search for the beauty of the One imprinted in the life of every human being. In short, with the spiritual consummation of their love, spurring each other’s souls on to perfection, the couple rises to experience pure beauty and love in union with the One.

            In conclusion, by an examination of the meaning of beauty in the writings of Plotinus, one discovers the purification of the soul through true love, which originates and develops through exposure to beauty. Illustrated by the concept of a loving marital relationship, the process of one’s first attraction to beauty, transformed by the development of the intellect into true love and recognition of invisible beauty, demonstrates the connection between love and beauty and the way in which man’s soul is made beautiful as a reflection of the perfect One. In this purification the soul is opened to the abounding beauty of life itself, not only in the rainbow or the toddlers smile, but in the elderly woman’s jubilant song and the lanky scholar’s perceptive wit. For, as the historical scholar Margaret Miles once paraphrased Plotinus, “To perceive beauty is to experience the universe as a gift.”[18]

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            [1] Margaret R. Miles, "Beauty: The Stepping Stone." Plotinus on Body and Beauty: Society, Philosophy, and Religion in Third-century Rome. (Oxford, UK: Blackwell,1999) 35.

                [2]  font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ota Gál, "'Unitas Multiplex' as the Basis of Plotinus' Conception of Beauty: An Interpretation of 'Ennead' V.8." (Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics 4th ser. 48: Philosopher's Index. Web. 4 May, 2013) 178-179.

                [3] font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gustavo G. Perez,. "Plotinus and Contemporary Art: Are, Beauty and the Unifying Power of the Soul." (Universitas Philosophica 56 (2011):Philosopher's Index. Web. 3 May, 2013) 120.

                [4] Perez 121.

                [5] Miles 40.

                [6] Miles 41.

                [7] Miles 40.

                [8] Perez 111.

                [9] font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gál 178.

                [10] Miles 41.

                [11] Miles 40.

                [12] Miles 41.

                [13] Miles 40.

                [14] Miles 39.

                [15] Miles 45.

                [16] Miles 55.

                [17] Miles 55.

                [18] Miles 34.