Back to Reality

Well I've been back in the States for month and a bit now, and as much as reality has set back in, I dream that I'm still in Europe. I knew that after I got back it would be a hard shift back to real, boring, mundane life, but I forgot how mundane real life actually is. We didn't have much time off to miss Germany before school started up again, and now being back in the hubble and jumble of tests and homework it is easy to get distracted; however, every time I see the biomedical engineers who were on the trip I remember Germany. I miss Germany. I really got used to the European way of life, the trains, the trams, the weather, the sights. I loved getting to see really cool things every day; I loved experiencing completely different things from one day to the next. Here, we see the same kids, the same professors, the same places day in and day out. There is nothing particularly exciting about College Station/Bryan, and regardless of whether there is anything interesting or not, it's absolutely nothing compared to what you could see in Europe. In some ways I'm glad that I'm not studying abroad all of the time because I'm not sure how much studying I would actually do, but I like to dream we're all still there having a blast.

Looking back, I can see that I wasn't that shocked at anything I encountered while I was in Europe. The European lifestyle did not take me by surprise, and I was prepared for most of what we saw. What I was not prepared for was experiencing Europe as an adult, traveling with peers, traveling to completely different countries than the 'supervising adult', being treated as adults by those supervisors. That is what made the trip so memorable for me; the freedom and responsibility of being abroad as an adult helped me grow so much more than I had anticipated. I miss Germany, it's true; I don't miss carrying my passport with me everywhere I go!

Back in the States

A couple of summers ago, my friend mas went to study abroad in germany with dr. musser and dr. wasser. We wanted to go together, but at the time i couldnt afford the trip, so i decided to wait an extra year. The following Fall semester when i first met up with Mas, i couldnt shut him up about the trip. Everything we did, he would trace back to some experience he had in Europe that summer. I was getting annoyed, but not because of him, but because i was jealous that he was able to go.
When i got back to the states this summer, i told myself that i wouldnt bring up the trip unless someone brought it up. That didnt happen. It was hard not to tell anyone about my time in germany. Everything reminded me about something or someone in Europe. For the first couple of weeks i would look at my pictures multiple times a day, and was always glad to show them off to people.
Here at A&M, i feel like i belong to a special group. I've seen several of my classmates from europe and i try to say hi to all of them. It feels like we have that special connection with each other. Everytime i talk to one of them, it's hard not to imagine being in europe with him/her this summer. It's unfortunate that we have not been able to get together as a group. But i hope that we will soon.

It's Just Not The Same!!

Life, as I know/knew it, has changed. It's been about a month and a half since I've been back in the States and it sucks here even more than it did before. I wasn't too happy with the US to begin with, but I got by alright because I didn't know what I was really missing, and now I do.
For a while after I got back, I was pretty depressed. I had nothing exciting to do (aside from riding horses, which I missed a lot!), nothing old and exquisite to look at, nowhere worthwhile to go. I missed my new friends, learning things about medicine, history, and culture, and being amidst the German people. You know the first thing I saw when I got off the plane after a full day of ticket misunderstandings, lines, delays, and sleeping in an akward position? A HUMUNGOUS FAT PERSON... welcome to America.
It took me about a week to stop trying to speak German to people. Since I'm from Miami, I first had to adapt to speaking Spanish again, THEN when I got back here to Texas, I had to switch to English. I've looked for bread that is at least similar to what they have in Europe, but even in the so called "artisan" bakeries there is none to be found. I miss taking trains everywhere. I miss seeing dogs everywhere. I miss NOT seeing children everywhere.
As soon as I can, I am going back to Europe. I know I want to spend some time at the research farm we visited before I go off to vet school, and I eventually want to move to somewhere in Germany or Switzerland. That's my goal.
I long to be back on the other side of the pond, but I suppose I can always look foward to returning. But it won't be soon enough!

I miss Europe too!!

So I realized today it’s getting close to the end of September, which is pretty crazy, so I need to do my last blog. I can’t believe it’s been almost a month and a half since we were in Germany. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday, and then at other times it feels like I wasn’t even really there. The trip home was not so fun for me. I was so ready to be home, and then of course what happens, my flight in Berlin got delayed and I missed my flight in New York. Made it even worse that I got to see the airplane I was supposed to be on leaving the gate. It really sucked, and the New Yorkers are not the most sympathetic people. I made it to Atlanta that night, but had to stay in a hotel by myself, when I really should’ve already been home, with my family, sleeping in my own bed. But I finally made it home Saturday morning, and so did my luggage, which helped me to reconcile with Delta airlines. But I don’t plan on flying anywhere anytime soon though.
I absolutely love being home, but I miss Europe a lot. I guess it helps that I’ve been pretty busy with school and stuff that I haven’t had much time to think about exactly how much I miss it. But anytime I look at my pictures or see someone from the program, I get a little reminder of what an amazing experience it really was. It’s hard because I try not to talk about it too much to my family and friends because I know they get tired of my stories that start with, “In Europe…” And really, most of my stories, you just had to be there to really understand! I guess that’s what makes it special. And that’s what makes me so happy to have several people from our program in my classes, or just seeing someone on the way to class, or at the rec, or at a football game, or at the Texas Hall of Fame :) (seeing Dr. Musser dancing with his wife there was definitely a highlight). I haven’t seen everybody, and that makes me sad, and we seriously really need to have a reunion someday, with everyone there.
I have had a little reverse culture shock, but it hasn’t been as much as I expected. Using dollars again for the first time in 5 weeks was probably the weirdest thing, I don’t know why, but it was weird. But there’s way too much to go into, and I have a lot of studying to do because I have my first biochem test this week! So I hope everyone’s semester is going great so far!! Beat the hell outta Baylor next weekend (I’m trying to pretend the Miami game just didn’t happen at all)!! And hope to see all of ya’ll around!!! :)