After Vienna we headed south to Graz. We were accepted by a group of Pakistani graduate students, and we went to the student housing where they lived.. We were welcomed warmly: they gave us our own room and fed us some very spicy Pakistani food. (This was very humorous, because we are such wimps with spice) They were all very religious, so at times there was a bit of tension for me. Even with such generosity, there was an unspoken knowledge that the presence of a woman in the house caused unease for some of the roommates. Some of them would not even shake my hand; physical contact of any kind was out of the question. I do not begrudge them for this, because they never treated us with anything but kindness. I did my best to be respectful; I always made sure to keep my body covered. Nonetheless, it was a little uncomfortable.
Graz is a very pretty little city. The streets are lined with buildings in a spectrum of colors. The trams that run through many streets are charming. There is also a hill that rises up abruptly which you can climb to view the city from above. We had a wonderful time.
