Day 8: May 21st, To Learn Something New...

When we visit a city during vacation we don't often think about the inner workings of a city. We usually focus on getting from point A to point B and seeing and doing all the things we want to see. For the most part my trip to Europe has been much of the same, but his trip wouldn't really count for college class if we didn't go beyond what other people see on the surface. That is what we did today during our Shades Tour. The Shades Tour in Vienna is a tour given by a homeless guide to show and explain the homeless situation in Vienna while also seeing many of the iconic sights of Vienna. I have to admit I was a little intimidated by this tour when we were told what it was going to be about. After all though I would try avoid thinking about on my own vacations I couldn't help but worry about the homeless people I see in other city and Vienna was no different. After all just today before the Shades Tour when I went to go help my roommate Caroline find a bathroom and coffee there was a homeless man outside the shop we were at. It's always a struggle for me to decide what to do internally. I want to help them but I don't know if they will always use my money for honest means (something drilled into me by other people mot likely) and getting them food isn't really going to solve their problem. With my mind on the tour ahead I went inside the shopped bought the man a sandwich in the hopes that at least today he could feel a little better. After that I started to fear what else I would see on the tour, would my heart break more after what happened this morning? However that was no the case, instead of learning about how terribly handled the homeless situation in Vienna is handled I learned about although the situation is not perfect it is a lot better than other places in the world. The city of Vienna created a program called the Winter Package (through the help of the university students) where there would be additional beds and help for homeless people in Vienna during the winter. Before this they could stay in various shelters around the city, sometimes in the State Opera House, or out in the streets. While the city doesn't cover food there are many organization and churches all across the city that offer meals to people that need it all day long. Sadly during the Summer they don't offer as much but there is still hope due to their three stage program they have. In this program based on how people are defined in their homeless situation they can get different levels of help over time. The first step is the overnight shelter for people who are recently homeless or who have not lived in Vienna long enough to reach other levels of help. The second step in the transitionary housing where they have a house they live in with other people as they try to support themselves and do other things as they wait for the final stage. That final stage is Social Housing that the city has offered sine 1920. These are buildings holding many flats that are reserved for people who are either homeless or struggle to afford a flat in today's market. Once someone has a flat they get to keep it for the rest of their lives if they meet the requirements. That's not all the city does to help. They also have great health care system in place  to help those who need it as well as other NGO's helping out. Even organization that give opportunity to homeless people like the Shades Tour help incorporate a big industry in Austria. Overall how Vienna handles its homeless population is miles ahead of other countries. Most often try to blame the people or criminalize them, but Vienna actually tries to reach out and help those it can. Which is really encouraging to someone like me who often does worry if the people in these situations are getting the help they need. It has inspired me a lot as a person and I hope to try my best to help improve our situation in the USA as Viennas has improved theirs.

To try and lighten up to mood a little bit I'm goin to highlight some of the other things I did today. We visited the Victor E. Frankl museum which was really inspiring. He was a jewish psychologist who came up with a new branch of psychology at the time that I still haven't heard much of today. He was sent to concentration camps but survived and went on to inspire millions of people around the world with his books, and his museum though small was just a inspiring and exciting. It has encouraged me to look up more of his works and hopefully read them soon. I also visited Sigmund Freud's house/museum which was very disappointing. There was very little exhibit and the information was quite boring, this could be due to the controversy around his character. We also went to Hundertwasserhaus which is a place a lot like Eureka Springs and the Gardens of Barcelona rolled into one. I loved the architecture and feel of the place, it was a lot different from the rest of Vienna which was very refreshing. Okay while I would love to talk more I should be off to bed for an early start to Slazburg tomorrow. Until next time!