Universitat Wien

On Thursday afternoon Jacob and I ventured to the Universitat Wien, where Jacob's office is and where he will be working each day.  Hersh stayed home and spent the afternoon with his Sabba and Savta, which they all enjoyed very much.
The University area is very nice and felt very much like other University areas that we have frequented.  While Jacob worked, I had the chance to walk around the neighborhood, sit in the sunshine in the park, read my book ("Four Seasons in Rome" by Anthony Doerr, I highly recommend it ), and have a cappuccino.  I was ready to come home before Jacob was, so I pulled out my map, found the nearest U-bahn stop, and ventured home.  Overall, it was a lovely afternoon.

Yet, throughout the afternoon something felt strange and I couldn't quite figure out what it was.  But, as I sat on the train coming home, it occurred to me--I was alone.  Here I was, for the first time in months, completely anonymous.  No baby, no partner, in a city where I know no one.  To those around me I was just another woman riding the train.  I wondered, "can they tell that I am a mother?"  Even when I got off the train at our stop, Huttledorferstrasse, I still had this feeling of, for lack of a better term, normalcy.  For a brief moment, I was just me again.  As I think about how I felt more and more, I realize that this must be the way lots of women feel after they have a child, and what I realize is that now and forever, my new normal will be slightly different.  I can still be me, but there is now an extension of me, Hersh.  

flags flying outside Universitat Wien

Scottish Pub on the ground floor of the building where Jacob's group has their offices