Being home - feels good!! and sad...

So I'm finally back in College Station. I spent all of last week at my parents house because there was no one there. I really needed the peace and quiet and time to relax and chill with the dogs. When my parents finally came back in yesterday morning I had to go back over my entire trip for them. Since it had been a while since I had talked about the trip with anyone, going over my pictures and looking at some of the things I brought back with me brought up all of the feelings I had when I had originally got back. All I can say is that this trip has been amazing. I don't know if I will ever be able to experience anything like it. Being able to go behind the scences and receive information that the typical tourist wouldn't be able to get is something I am very grateful of. I'm actually having trouble trying to come up with words to describe it all. I do have to say though that as soon as I got home I was ready for certain home comforts that I wasn't able to have the entire time I was there. My sister picked me up from the airport late at night and took me to IHOP so that I could get, according to her, some American home cooking. Not sure that I could qualify the International house of pancakes as home cooking but we'll go with it cause it was good. The very next day her fiancee took me out for mexican food. Oh yeah!! Anyway, I've been able to see all of my family and friends and show them pictures of the trip and talk about what all I did in the big bad world of Europe. Every time anyone would ask me about it, I didn't know where to start because we were able to do and experience so many different things while we were there. Needless to say, every time I had the conversation it went on for quite a while. They all asked me what my least favorite part of the trip was and my answer was, the plane ride home. It was practically torture. I was so tired of traveling because of all the train and bus rides we had taken over the course of the trip and then to have to sit still on a plane for a total of 13 hours, I was about to go crazy. I pretty sure thats what the guy that was sitting next to me on my last flight thought because I could not sit still so I was constantly shifting around and trying to find something to occupy myself. Oh well, I made it home with all of my luggage and nothing breaking so I would say that the trip was a total success. Now that I've had some time to be home and look back, I miss Germany. It was a beautiful country with a great complex history and wonderful people. I'm glad to be home but I almost wish I could mesh the two and then it would be a happy place. :)

My last day in Germany......Again

On the morning of the 9th, Jordan and I went to the airport to catch a plane that was supposed to leave at 11:25. Well, as you can tell by my choice of words in the last sentence, it didn't! Apparently, an eagle flew into one of the engines of the plane we were supposed to take, thus grounding it for the day. Because of this, Jordan and I earned an extra day in Berlin with a nice free hotel room! We didn't leave the airport until around 3 pm, but we tried to make the most of the day so we went to west Berlin to see the remains of a bombed out church from WWII. On our way there, we decided to stop and eat at a Bavarian Beirgarten. After eating, we took pictures of the church, and walked in a few shops. While walking around, we found a guy on the streets that gives people fake tattoos, so we decided to get some! Mine was a cross from the ruined church, and Jordan's was a butterfly. After the tattoos, we did some more shoping and returned to the hotel.
The next day, things ran much more smoothly and we were able to fly back to Texas, making a stop in New York. At first, Jordan and I were not happy that our flight had been canceled, but we realized later that it was a gift to spend one more day in Berlin. I feel that we made the most of it, and now I am glad it happened!

My last day in Germany

For the whole last week of the trip, I debated what I wanted to do on the last day of the trip. My options were to travel from Berlin to Wittenberg (the City of Martin Luther), travel to Potsdam, or stay in Berlin and see more of the sites. The night before I decided to go to Wittenberg. I thought that since I am Protestant, Wittenberg would be interesting to me. On the last day, after we finished at the medical museum in Berlin, I took a 45 minute train to Wittenberg. When I arrived, I noticed that the town was not very big. This was contrary to what I thought, because I had thought that since the town was somewhat historically significant, it would be a decent size. The town had a very laid back small town feel, which was exactly what I needed to relax from the intensity of the previous 5 weeks. I was able to see Martin Luther's house, the university he attended, and the church he nailed the 95 Thesis to. I really enjoyed the day and found it very interesting. I left fulfilled in a way, because I was able to see things that I had herd about my whole life. That night when I got back to Berlin, I met up with the group and we went out for the last dinner. The food was great, and I really enjoyed the final German farewell!

Sweet Home College Station

Yes, Evan and I made it out of Berlin. Oh what an adventure.

When I landed in Houston and saw the U.S. and Texas Flag waving in the sky, it was an amazing feeling to be home. But for 5 weeks, I made Germany my home... and I actually miss it. Certain aspects of the country and the people I met there grew on me, and it is sad to think that I may not ever see them again. I thought it was strange when my parents asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner on my first night back in Texas... I couldn't really think of anything. I definitely got use to the fresh grilled vegetables my host family would make and thought about the amazing pfannkucken we had on our last night with them. So they took me to the nearest trucker's diner near our house... haha, I love my family.

This opportunity was an amazing experience. Going to the bovine veterinary school in Hannover and getting the chance to have hands on experience in Germany was one of my favorite times. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian and just before I left to go to Germany I shadowed a 100% bovine vet, and I found my new passion. Going to Hannover and getting the chance to learn new methods of treatment completely solidified my want to do bovine medicine!

I look back on everything I did in Germany and I have no regrets. This trip was awesome. I made new memories, new friends and new family members (I love my host family)! I probably would have never talked to the people I met on this trip if it wasn't for this program. The awesome people that I met helped me realize exactly who I want to be and how I want to live the rest of my life. They were so inspirational and a hoot... :) So I thank everyone for making this experience a great one for me. Until we meet again, tchuess.

Good Morning, Vietn...I mean...TEXAS!!!

The first day back...ahhh, feels so good. My mom asked me what I wanted for breakfast this morning and my response was "Anything but toast." I downed my blueberry pancakes and cheesy eggs with a big glass of COLD milk. Still feeling the high of an amazing trip while going through the motions of normal life feels quite surreal indeed. My luggage is on its way back to me (since wonderful US Airways lost it in Philidelphia), so I still haven't felt the need to unpack, do laundry, and re-pack to head back to school. Parts of me already miss Germany though. I think its the fact of knowing that I won't be going back for a while and I feel like I was starting to connect with certain things there. I'm going to miss my host family and the house that I called home in Germany.

At this point, I'm really wishing I had blogged more regularly while in Germany because it would have documented the trip much better than my current sporadic blogs. Sharon asked me on my last night in Berlin what my favorite part of the trip was, and my response was "program or not program?" "Both", she said. Well, my favorite part of the program was hands down Bad Oeyenhausen...the whole day there. It was absolutely awesome, not only getting to see surgery, but actually getting to see the facilities and the people (staff and patients) there. My favorite part of the trip not with the program was driving with the Mercedes through the Swartzwald (Black Forest). I've asked other students what their favorite weekend was, and many of them replied that same weekend--the one where we all split off and did different things (Austria, Switzerland, Neuschwanstein). I think its because that was the first weekend when everyone just decided to relax and take a couple chill days. I'm pretty sure I liked the Black Forest trip the most because the scenery was positively stunning and also because we didn't have a set plan. Pulling over on the side of the road for photo shoots and hiking trips was acceptable...we had no place to be other than the train station at the end of the day. I hope my pictures and random jot-downs in my journal (which are as irregular as my blogs) are enough for me to remember the awesome time we had in the forest.

I hope my pictures and random journal entries will be enough for me to remember the awesome time we had in Europe. I know certain memories of the trip will fade, but I hope that by telling stories of our adventures I'll be able to remember most of what happened.

I'm off now to do laundry (since my bag came in the time it took for me to write this blog), disperse presents, share pictures, and tell my family about the last 5 weeks of our lives. Until we meet again, TSCHUESS!!!!!

it's not goodbye; it's 'see ya later'

I didn't say goodbye to everyone; I really wanted to, but somewhere between the the last week and departure I found myself incredibly absorbed in everything I had seen and learned. The awe of the country and the importance of the studies were observed but intentionally never applied to everything I know until the latter part of the trip.

My ethics have been validated; some of my political views are in question and some have been strengthened. I'm more motivated than ever to dedicate my life to my healthcare profession. I think I've uncovered a view of the world that I never knew existed.

I'm looking through my pictures now and already wishing I had just another week or two to stay in Germany and see more. I didn't like or want to say goodbye to my July 'home', my host family, our German acquaintances, or the other fourteen people on the trip. I honestly feel like a jerk because I didn't get to really connect and bond with everyone as much as I wanted to or intended to; there was so much to absorb on the trip that I found myself in my own head trying to rationalize what I was seeing rather than really enjoying the company of my peers.

I told this all to Juice on the plane ride home. Oddly enough, he felt similar. We found ourselves walking into the Houston airport as completely different people. At the beginning of our trip, I think the carefree feelings of studying abroad in Germany were giving me the expectations of a vacation with some learning involved: summer school in paradise. Somewhere in the middle of the trip I felt my demeanor changing from my typical outgoing mindset to one of introverted thought and reflection. It's only now that I can really understand what was going on and the magnitude of the change that the past 5 weeks have had on me.

-

As my old life with school, work, family, and friends resumes, I know that this wasn't goodbye; it's 'see ya later'. I'm going to spend time with my fourteen groupmates this semester and finish the connections and friendships that I started but didn't finish. I'm going to return to Germany soon and see both the people and the places that I don't want to forget. Goodbye implies that we may never see each other again;' see ya later' implies that we for sure will.


So I'll see you all later-

Coming Home

Leaving Germany was hard, but not as hard as it could have been, perhaps. After five weeks there, seeing all of the sights and enjoying so much of what Europe has to offer in as intense of manner as we did, I think we were all pretty tired and ready to return home to Texas (or wherever else we call home). I know I was. Still, I'll miss Germany a lot--I already am, even.

Coming home was surreal--walking out of the airport terminal into the summer heat was a shock to my system, and I realized then that I was still wearing the jacket I had needed in Germany that morning. To see all of the SUVs and trucks again on the road, the familiar but now strange looking American street signs, and the complete and utter lack of SmartCars on the road on the way home was a strange sensation.

Of course, the first thing my parents and I did on the way home was stop at my favorite Mexican restaurant for a late lunch, compensating for the lackluster fare on the airplane. As I enjoyed my fajita nachos, I took advantage of the free refills that I had missed so much to down gallons of Dr. Pepper. There are some areas where Germany just doesn't compete.

And now I've passed out the majority of the gifts to my family, and need only to go get my wine from Amanda. Returning to my underage status is a little annoying now--Germany certainly has the advantage in some areas. But now, it is time to recuperate from my transatlantic flight and try and de-jetlag myself.

All good things must come to an end.

I intended to do my last post on my final day in Germany, but some unexpected travel changes made that impossible. I've been back in the US only a matter of hours now, so I'm still in the European frame of mind (and timezone). We spent this week in the northeastern part of Germany. It's capital city, Berlin, seems less foreign than the other areas we visited. I think it's because urban areas have a lot more shops and businesses that are worldwide, and thus more recognizable. I was more interested in visiting the rural, less global areas. Regardless, Berlin is still fascinating, with plenty of interesting stories and historical sites. I always enjoy seeing the Reichstag, but I'd like to know more about what goes on inside. Germans always talked about American government, neglecting to mention much about their own. They probably assume I don't care, but that's part of the reason I went to Germany, because I do. Even though Americans get a disproportional amount of the blame, we all make assumptions about people like that. Funny enough, I thought the pub crawls were one of the best ways to meet people from other countries and get to know more about them and the home counties. I enjoyed finding out not only what stereotypes they reinforced, but what stereotypes they had about us as Americans.

The excusions from Berlin were some of my favorites. The trip to Dresden was really pretty and getting to see part of Germany which had to go through life behind the iron curtain for a big part of the last century. The parts of the city which haven't been renovated since then still had soviet-style boring buildings. I was strange to think about living through that. I'm thankful that I didn't have to. Our program director said that was one of the problems in Dresden; they had renovated the main part of the city, but had left many of the surrounding areas unattractive.

The trip to the Molecular Medicine segment of the Helmholtz Institute in Berlin was really interesting. I knew enough of about stem cells and genetic techniques to follow along with their presentations and actually ask a few pertinent questions. I don't know if research is an avenue I want to pursue, but if I do, it would be in a related field. The potential benefits from it are enormous. I was really glad we got to see research labs which could contribute to future life-saving developments. I am interested in going back to Germany to a place like that for an internship. I'm thankful for the things I got to learn about Germany during this trip, but given the amount of history there, I could spend much more time there. My personal interest in Germany along with it's central location in Western Europe make it my prime place of interest for another trip across the pond. Hopefully it will come sooner than I expected.

As for now, I plan on readjusting to everyday Texas life, hot weather, and life/school responsibilities. The trip home was much less exciting than the trip over there. It's interesting when the place you're going to is a mystery, and it just seems like a chore when you're going home. I think I was one of the very few that was actually sad to leave. I enjoy being home, but there's still a lot of Europe for me to see. I plan on heading back as soon as my bank account will allow.

.the.end.

so, Sharon and I are sitting in an internet cafe... for the last time. It's amazing to me how accustomed to this way of life I've become. Just taking internet cafes for example, there aren't any of these in the states which is weird to think about. And the fact that today we travelled by S-bahn to Potsdam to see 3 beautiful castles. There aren't many castles in the US either. It's very weird to think that tomorrow is our last day. We leave Tuesday early afternoon so I'm sure we won't do anything that day besides eat and get ready for our schlept.
This week in Berlin was fun. I won't lie though, at the beginning I was not excited about it. While I was packing all of my stuff in Dusseldorf, I didn't really want to be travelling to another city for a week. I felt like I wanted it to be another excursion or I wanted to go home. I didn't want to go through the trouble of carrying allll of my stuff on the train and then dealing with it in the hotel. It has been a bit of a hassle, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The tuesday bike tour was good. I was pretty tired from the travelling so I wasn't as into in as I have been in other cities, but it was an ok tour. Wednesday we went to the Molecular Medicine place which I really enjoyed. Being a genetics major, it was really cool to see everything I've learned thus far put into practice. That was probably one of my top excursions for that reason. The developments they are making with surgeries and the 3D stuff was really cool to see also. That night was the pub crawl, which I didn't stay at long, but was fun while I did.
Thursday in Dresden was fun. I really liked Dresden as a city and wished we had more time there. It was beautiful, and it had great shopping... ha! The museum of hygiene was cool. I wish they had more stuff in english, or the audio guides had more english explanations. I was really curious about some stuff, but couldn't read what is was supposed to be showing me. So that was my only disappointment with that. That was a long day with the travelling and such.
Friday we went to the History of Medicine museum at Charite which was fun. They had a lot of interesting specimens, and I especially liked the bedside cases. It made the cases more realistic when they had the documentation right in front of you. It was pretty cool. After that there was the last lecture and then we were done with the program! Pretty crazy. I still can't believe I've been here over 5 weeks. I know I've said that before, but it doesn't stop amazing me. After we finished Pete, Sharon and I went to the Natural History Museum. We wondered around that for a while and then headed back to the hotel to nap a little before the dinner.
Dinner was A LOT of fun. It was a really nice way to finish the trip with everyone, and also very depressing because most everyone was leavng the next morning. The place we ate was really good. I love potatoes... so a potato cellar was great! It really was a fun night, with a lot of pictures taken. After dinner we pretty much walked around and then went back to the hotel. Some people went to a concert but I and a few others just went back to the hotel and drank at the bar there. That was fun to sit around with everyone before they left.
The next morning we woke up to only four left, Sharon, Amanda, Hannah and I. We slept in very late and then decided we wanted to go the the zoo that afternoon. So we ate lunch and then went. It was an ok zoo. I do think Köln's zoo had better exhibits, but then again, that was a pretty awesome zoo. This one wasn't bad. And I got to see the Hippos! So all was good. After the zoo we went to White Trash again which was good. And then basically bed after that.
This morning Sharon and I woke up to just the two of us left in Germany. Very weird. It's only been a few days but we already miss the friends we've made on this trip.
We went to Potsdam today to see the castles there. They were all amazing. The only one we went into was the Neue Palice. It was gorgeous! I really enjoyed it. The audio guides were really good. I enjoyed that castle a lot. Other than that we saw all of the other major castles in the city. We walked all over that place. We also found the Dutch area, which made us break our pact not to buy anything else... whoops! So we bought a few more things to schlept across the ocean home. After coming home, we ate some din at a random Italian place, which was really good. All random Italian places seem to be real good here.
Tonight we plan on drinking some sparkling wine and just hanging out really. Tomorrow we're going to sleep in and then go the cafe above the huge chocolate store and catch up our journals and just kinda hang out. It's our last day in Germany and we just want to sit back and take in as much of it as we can.
I have really enjoyed being here a few extra days. We were talking about it today; that is was really nice to get to end this trip on a relaxing note, instead of rushing to get everything done. It's nice because we know that we are going to back and hitting the ground running, but for now we can just sit and watch the world go by in a cafe in Berlin.
I am really excited to go home though. It's bittersweet. I don't want this trip to be over but at the same time I miss my family and friends and bf. I am excited to see my new house in NM that my parents moved into while I was here. It will be very nice to get to be there for a little over a week before school starts. It's been a trip of a lifetime. I know I won't go back with the same views on everything. I'm not a totally different person by any means, but I think it would be hard to come to such a different country and culture without changing the way you view certain things.
Time to begin the schelpt home...

(schelpt three times in a blog... Dr. Wasser, what have you done to me?!?!?)

Made it back

Well I finally made it back to the states and my house after 22 LONG hours of traveling. I think that next time I will not pick a flight that leaves at 7:30 in the morning. So of course, I wake up at 4 still feeling the effects from the previous night, and immediately have to throw my stuff into the suitcase and get to the taxi in order to hurry to the airport just to wait around. Everything worked out alright on the way to London, but of course, I have problems in London (on the way to Dusseldorf I almost missed my flight from London to Dusseldorf, its a long story involving going to the wrong section of gates (which at Heathrow is a completely different building) and having to get a ride back to the correct gate from a security guard in his personal golf cart). For whatever reason one of the flight attendants couldn't go on the flight, so we sat at the gate on the plane for 90 long minutes. I normally sit window seat because I like to look out the window and have my own little personal bubble no one bothers, but I had to sit aisle, and let me tell you, that was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, I swear one guy got up every 20 minutes just to walk around the cabin. I now have an extreme respect for flight attendants, because that job must suck royally. And of course, my bag did not make it to Houston. Don't get me wrong I love to travel and go to new places, but I hate the actual act of traveling, especially when it's not me driving. Thankfully, we stopped at HEB on the way back to my parents' house and I got my favorite chips and salsa, and found an imported hefeweiss beer from Germany, which I am currently drinking. I just wanted to blog about how much airplanes and the actual act of traveling sucks.

final destination...Berlin

The past week has been quite an experience traveling into a more modern, historically royal region of Germany. Over and over again I am taken back by the beauty of German cities and really how safe they are, contrary to what I believed to be true. Though rough, pretty rank men with makeshift guitars often wander into the S-bahn cars, they are respectful of personal space and never try to force contributions. I realized this the other day and felt pretty bad for stereotyping them as malicious people, so yes, I threw two euros in his cup.

The tour at the beginning of the week was interesting and I was proud of being one of the people that a few of my peers made bets on that would wreck bikes. Hmm...along with Peter of course who drew blood in the first five minutes we had them...but we all made it out okay, even Jamie who almost tipped with the tower of water bottles in her basket. Molecular medicine the next day was one of my favorite class days minus the part where we ended in a one-way philosophical discussion with the doctor in charge of the project. That night ended with a different kind of tour of Berlin which lasted until the next morning...I recommend doing a pub crawl at least once on a trip to Europe. Evan, Pete, Amanda, Madeline, Jamie and I all made friends with three Germans who were shocked to see Americans on a pub crawl that had a little self control. Props to us...Dr. Wasser, you'd be proud.

Dresden was by far one of my favorite German cities, and I wished that we had longer to explore the castle and culture of the city, as well as the Museum of Hygiene. I realized that day interactive museums are my favorite! The museum successfully intertwined the history of medicine as well as explaining medicine from various different aspects from the anatomy and physiology to the mere hygiene of a person...all affect how a physician should diagnose.

My last German museums, both on Friday, were quite different. One, the quiet history of medicine museum followed by a lecture, allowed us to understand the perspectives of some of the pioneers in vaccinations and finding cures for diseases over the past few centuries. The second was chosen by Pete's eagerness to see the dinosaurs, so Ashley, Pete, and I all ventured through the Natural Sciences Museum near the Hauptbanhof and ended up spending hours in there. I felt like an elementary student again but this time I wasn't being dragged through the museum. I'm pretty sure I read almost every informational post, even when I got to the mineral section...

The Potato Cellar...everyone stuffed their face, took great advantage of limitless free drinks, busted out some mean dragon-face skills, and shared prosts to our last night all together and of course to Dr. Water and Shleppie. Drew, Pete, Jordan and I rocked out at White Trash and lost our hearing for an amazing end to their last night in Berlin...the city that never sleeps.

Everyone has left Europe...
Amanda, Ashley and I ran around the Berlin Zoo and ended up at White Trash with Hannah for another night of F#$? U fries...and today Ashley and I visited Potsdam, a city previously known as the second most royal city in Germany. I'm pretty sure we walked for miles along rows of trees and every row we looked down was another beautiful castle. The whole city was fairy-tale like. In a tour we took through one of the castles, Ashley and I turned to walk down one of the stair cases and were yelled at in German YET AGAIN and the conversation went back and forth between her strong German accent and our laughter and mumbling 'ok thanks...yes ma'am..ok great I have no idea what youre saying..' I think I may be relieved the first time someone yells at me in America, it's way less scary. Ashley and I cut back on our spending until we got to the Dutch market area and busted out another 50 euros or so for some hand made Dutch ceramics. We 'needed' it, shlepp it!!

After making a last withdrawl for Euros, we had dinner at an Italian bistro and are looking forward to unwinding on our last full day in Europe tomorrow going back to the Chocolate Cafe to write and catch up on what we've gotten out of this amazing experience. It's honestly really nice to have an extra day without the noise and rush of the program or being back at home. It's kind of like time has frozen for the next few days and now we can fully appreciate the irreplacable journey we have had the opportunity to embark on. This was the most rewarding experience of my entire life because of an all-encompassing combination of the culture, the academic aspect, the historical aspect, allowing ourselves to try out of the ordinary excursions, and the outstanding group of people we had.

Genau.

THAT Just Happened: German Antics and Things I'll Miss.

It astounds me that I am still surprised/taken aback by some of the purely European culture.  You'd think after being here for 5 weeks my American ways would have dimmed, but no, I still get the feeling that I'm seeing something I shouldn't when I see people blatently making out on the subway...or worse.  I still turn my head when I see a woman in her 60's or older with bright red or purple hair.  I am still in awe of the German countryside.  I am going to miss all the German people who have been unfailingly helpful, but I will welcome the background noise of people's conversations in America.  More than once we were scolded (by faculty and fellow travelers alike) for being too loud and rambunctious.  Given, we were doing nothing that would be out of the ordinary or overly obnoxious in Texas, but the Germans are quiet travelers, so getting 15 excited American's together didn't fair well in their minds.  I will miss the Germans need for order; you'll probably find me standing and waiting at a deserted street corner if the lights instruct me that it is not a good time to cross.  I will miss their tiny European cars that they like to park on the sidewalks and their fast driving...but I'm totally ready to be surrounded by big, loud, half-ton pick-up trucks again.  The German food is AMAZING (definitely not the continuous flow of bratwurst and saurkraut I was imagining) and unless I find a way to make it, I will miss that too.  I wish we as Americans could introduce the water and energy conservation system they have in place here.  I want the motion detector lights in buildings and toilets that have varying ranges of flush loads.  I will not miss bread for breakfast everyday.  It was nice in the beginning, but then it got a bit redundant--bread, salami, cheese, jam, and Nutella...but I will never get sick of Nutella.  I'm looking forward to bacon, eggs, and pancakes...or at least a cold glass of milk.  I am going to miss ice cream on every street corner and johanisbeere juice, but I think most, I'll miss the fact that the Germans take their dogs EVERYWHERE with them! I want to be able to do that at home!!!  I am happy to leave cobblestone sidewalks and streets behind me, but I will miss the bike lane and the ease of eco-friendly transportation.  I am inspired to get a bike and a little bell in the states, but I know I would hardly use them due to the lack of bike lanes (or respect for them) at home.  All in all, Deutchland is an amazing place that I definitely plan on coming back to.  For now, I'm ready to go back home for awhile, but I will take experiences of the culture and lessons learned here to hopefully apply to my somewhat stereotypical American life.  Tschuess!

Charitè

Yesterday was the Charitè Museum of Medicine.  Definitely the coolest museum we've been to so far.  I was most wowed by the room that showcased parts of the human body that ranged from normal to diseased.  The last row exhibited all different types of birth defects, things that you see in horror films or read about in disturbing books, not things I've actually seen before.  Some of the specimens didn't even look human.  I wish I could have understood the German words for the different diseases so I could know what exactly I was looking at.  I also really liked the way they had the room arranged with the normal specimens closest to the center aisle and specific diseases displayed for each organ.  The long room upstairs with the collection of past and present medical paraphanelia was neat too.  I looked at the pictures they had for early forms of plastic surgery, which was interesting to me because I think of nose jobs as purely being something of today's society.  Something I've learned about on this trip that I was not aware of before are the wax models of the patient's diseased faces.  Seeing the whole display case of those there at the Charitè was definitely something I'll remember.  I also liked having class in the old lecture hall there at the museum.  It was cool to know that we were sitting where many modern medicine pioneers sat and learned about the anatomy and responses of the human body.  There were a lot of really neat things displayed at Charitè, and I can't describe all of them without sounding longwinded.  Just know that I really liked this place...it was a good final field trip! :)

My last day in Germany...

The program officially ended last night with a farewell party and final European goodbyes to the majority of the group.  Today was Hannah and my final day here, but we had Ashley and Sharon to keep us company too.  The day mostly involved a lot of relaxing, so I was happy to have the extra day.  Sleeping in, re-packing, reading, enjoying final German meals, and visiting the Berlin zoo at a pace that would be acceptable to a 65 year old...all very nice and stress-free.  I found I was able to pack more than I thought I could into my 2 suitcases and somehow ended up with extra space!  Sharon, Ashley, and I went to the zoo after lunch (at the 1.80 euro/huge pizza slice place), and it was awesome!  They have a larger variety of animals then the Cologne zoo did, but the Cologne habitats were much nicer.  Some of the exhibits just made me sad today at the Berlin zoo.  It is probably because the Berlin zoo is smack in the middle of the city, but some of the habitats made the fact that these animals are held in captivity blaringly obvious.  The elephant house at Cologne was 1000% better than Berlin's as were the large cat and bear areas, not to mention the monkey house.  I wish the monkey's had the freedom to roam around as they do at the Cologne zoo.  To Berlin zoo's credit though, they had orangotangs that were absolutely hilarious!  I stood there and just watched them play for a good 15 minutes.  There were 3 of them in their 25' x 15' light green tiled room, and they were all having a blast with the 3 bed sheets that were provided to them.  The littlest one was having a great time running into and wrestling with the largest one (who was about the the size of 3 Javorski Lanes and covered in dread locks); the middle-sized one was just doing cartwheel after cartwheel inside its sheet.  After the zoo, the 3 of us took naps, Hannah joined us, and we all went to "White Trash" for our last dinner in Germany.  It was an awesome day and a great way to end the trip!

A little town not meant for American students

Allen, Ashley, Pete and I traveled to Zell for our last weekend trip in Germany and stayed at a tiny bed and breakfast which I will not recommend to study abroad students after we realized the small, quiet place was NOT meant for college students. Wine, peach liquer, Italian food, jumping into the freezing Mosel River to claim an island, hiking through vineyards to find a relaxing napping spot along the water, skipping rocks, fireworks & cigars on the dock, and a full night of special scrabble...all in good company made this weekend unforgettable. Oh yes, but also the second most terrifying moment of my life after we left the old German couples' bed and breakfast with a shattered glass door for which Ashley and I were screamed at in German, a couple ripped towels from zip lining at the playground, and a mysterious 'coffee' stain on the table cloth...but it's ok, we gave her a little something to pay it back.

Bad Oeynhausen

Open heart surgery...this was my first open heart surgery to observe and my best surgery experience yet. Ashley and I scrubbed in to watch a 62-year old woman receive a mitral valve replacement. After anesthesizing her, she was moved into the surgery room where she was sterilized and completely prepared for the surgery...pretty sure everyone knows the process. One of the coolest parts was getting to finally watch a surgeon cauterize the chest and saw open the sternum to expose the heart...all within a matter of minutes. Watching a beating heart is one of the most beautiful things a human could ever experience...and something that mechanically still remains a mystery for humans to successfully recreate long-term, which makes it even more of a miracle. After drenching the heart into a cold (5°C) potassium solution, we watched her slowly go into cardiac arrest so the atrium could be sliced open and the mitral valve replacement could begin. This was the long, tedious part of the surgery but the exciting part was the willingness of the anaesthesiologist who stood behind Ashley and I to not only allow us to stand in front of him the entire time but also his eagerness to help us understand what was going on. This was something I was not used to since the surgeon will usually do that instead. Nevertheless, we were so close to the patient that I felt like it was almost hands-on for us as well as the assistant physicians and the whole experienced reinforced for both Ashley and I, our calling to the field of medicine.

Back to Switzerland...

Pete and I in Switzerland...one of the best weekends of my entire life. Favorite moments:
Stepping off train and for the first 20 minutes or so thinking where the hell are we? We had little or no planning when we left which ended up making it the best weekend of the trip.
Listening to to the accent of three guys we hung out with the first night...the South German accent that makes a 'kaahh' sound like they're trying to caugh something up.
Listening to Peter sing Mando Diao with Sandy, one of the guys from Zurich, and realizing how bazaar that two guys with completely different lives from completely different backgrounds could be so similar.
Jumping off the highest dam in the world in a lightning storm (that had calmed at the moment) and watching Peter do the running man 700 feet toward the rock at the bottom like a champ.
Swimming in freezing water in the middle of the Swiss Alps at Lago Maggiore...and relaxing FINALLY.
Walking around with some crazy American wearing all red, white, and blue and an American Spirit hat!

east and west

Juice and I spent the last weekend staying in Duesseldorf with our host family. We visited a few local festivals and explored the Rhineside area; I think everyone needed a good weekeend to unwind from all of the daytrips and excursions that we have experienced in these past few weeks. The more local events experienced in each of the cities helped solidify the difference between them; each city in Germany has its own separate culture. In the US, New Orleans and Houston are close together but no one could really confuse the two with a few minutes of walking around. I feel that exact way about all of the cities we have visited in Germany.

-Berlin and Dresden are two of the coolest cities in Germany; I really wish I could have spent more time here over these past few weeks. There is a blend of architecture: much of it is modern and much of it is from centuries past. This makes the cities unique because much of their identity is equally who they were then, before the wars....and equally who they are now, history-rich cities in a progressive country.
-Some of the most beautiful sights in Berlin are at night. While all of us get picture-happy when we are walking around this wonderful place, some of us have been able to see some equally beautiful shots after the sun goes down.
-Although this city is huge, the public transportation system makes getting around easy. I would say that Berlin's public transportation system is equal if not better than that of Paris.
-East Berlin is a lot better than I thought it would be. I pictured something similar to that of the movie Eurotrip when the group gets off the train to see buildings that are falling apart and no one around to talk to.

Goodbye Host Family, Hello Berlin

It was so hard yesterday to say goodbye. I know realistically I probably won't ever see my host family again. They gave us so much, teaching us about their culture and the language as well as just welcoming us into their family. I could never have asked for better hosts. They made me feel at home almost. Whenever we came back from the weekends or long excursions I always felt like I was coming home. They kept wanting our flights to be canceled so we would have to come back and stay with them. They also offered us and our family or friends a place to stay if we were ever in Dusseldorf again. It was just amazing the kindness the showed us. I have great respect for how they are constantly opening up their home to foreign exchange students. Julia will leave in a week for Michigan to go to school for a year. I would be freaking out if I were her, but she is so excited and not nervous at all. I know she is going to have a wonderful experience there. I hope I can keep up with my family through e-mails. I am going to really miss them for awhile once I'm home again. I almost lost it yesterday when we had to say goodbye. I don't know how they do that every year with new students. They have made me want to host students once I have a home to host them in. Of course I only speak English so that might not be the ideal situation. We'll see.

I have discovered my least favorite aspect of the trip. Moving to Berlin. I think the program should be restructured so that the second week we go to Munich and the fourth week we go to Berlin. It was incredibly inconvenient to pack everything up and move, knowing I would just have to repack in a couple of days all over again. It would be much easier if we just packed for a couple of days instead of the five weeks. After I was packed I almost wanted to go to the airport instead of loading everything on a train. Also, it would be so much more affordable to buy plane tickets when you arrive and leave from the same city. This trip is already very expensive, and it would be nice to leave from in airport we already somewhat know, especially in a foreign country.

I am loving Berlin! I really enjoyed the bike tour yesterday. I really miss riding my bike. I was pretty nervous during some parts though, especially when Hannah and Jon almost got ran over. This is definitely a gorgeous city with lots to see. Today our visit to the Molecular Medicine Center was awesome! I really enjoyed learning about all the research going on, especially the stem cells advancements they are making. The tele-medicine room was incredible! It was wonderful how they incorporate so many different areas of science to create such useful products. Today was one of the best excursions of the trip, right behind the Heart and Diabetes Center.

Almost done.... :-(

This week seems to be going by very quickly. I have to keep telling myself that its really Wednesday. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that we are finally in Berlin and I know that this is the last place we'll be until we come home. I was so excited to come to Berlin. All I have ever heard about it is how awesome of a city it is, but now that I'm here and I know that I'll be going home in a few days, I'm kind of ready to leave. The city, from what we got to see yesterday on our bike tour, is really awesome. I have a feeling that you could spend a good couple of weeks here and probably not make your way throughout the entire city. I just know that I'm pretty much packed up to go home and now I'm really ready. These past 5 weeks have been the most amazing experience I will probably ever have in my academic career. I have seen and experienced things I never would have thought possible and I am so glad that I was able to come. Like today for example at the MDC. We were able to see new and upcoming technology in a field that is relevant to us all...not only see it but actually touch it and play with it a little. It was so much fun and really amazing to think about these techonologies and instruments actually being used on a daily basis. Even the genetic technologies are incredible to think about. Of course, I'm more amazed by the analysis of the data just because I don't understand all of the minute details like the specialists do so I think its awesome how they can look at the data that comes out and are able to interpret it. Of course I know they're trained for this but its still really cool.

The one thing I am regretting right now is not being able to spend more time in Berlin. I wish we could have come on Monday morning so that we could technically have four days here instead of the three, well really two since one day we'll be in Dresden. I just feel like this is one of those cities I would like to just explore, like we got to do in Dusseldorf. I guess thats just one of those things I'll have to do when I come back sometime in the future. The bike tour yesterday though was really informative. I'm glad I got to see the Wall. Anyone who has grown up in the late 20th century and even the 21st century knows about the Wall so it was impressive to see parts of it still standing and yet looked so lightly upon by the residents, because they know it does not stand for anything anymore. I also like how the modern and old structures are intermixed. We have seen so many old buildings and churches everywhere we've gone that the modern architecture is a nice break but its even cooler when the two are just mixed together. I also like that the city has random green areas also. That was one of the things I loved about Dusseldorf and I was really surprised to see it in such a large city as Berlin. I wish some of our cities back home could take in this concept of trees and grass instead of concrete in all the cities.

So all I have left on my personal list of things to do is to see Check Point Charlie, eat a Berliner, and go on a Pub Crawl. After that, I will be completely satisfied with my trip here to Germany.

Prague

Last weekend was awesome! I love Prague! I definitely want to go back for a longer period of time to see and experience more of the city. I've decided the best way to travel is overnight trains. It was great! We pretty much missed the train ride by sleeping. We met a girl from Canada, Leah. She was staying at our hostel and saved us from going on a very crappy tour. Our hostel was really nice. I can understand why it was rated so good through out Europe. Instead of the tour, we walked around the city on our own. We accidentally found the Senate of Prague. The gardens around it were very pretty. We went to the Prague Castle, which seemed more like a medieval palace to me. Drew and I went on the tour and also got to see a medieval prison and torture chamber. The castle was gorgeous inside, with a very different style than the one near Munich. There was an alley way behind it full of shops, and above the shops was a hallway full of suits of armor, weapons, and clothes from the time period. At the end of the hall they had set up a cross bow shooting range. Drew and I both shot cross bows!! It was a lot of fun! The we saw the legendary Charles Bridge. It was under construction and covered with vendors and tourists. I think I liked it better farther away. On the way there we saw a dog almost get in a fight with a swan. That was pretty entertaining. We headed back to our hostel to rest up for the upcoming night festivities. We went on Prague's Underground Pub Crawl. It was so much fun! It was a really good deal I thought. You got 10% of dinner at Bohemia Beagles, an hour of unlimited beer and wine, a free shot at three bars, entrance to a club, and a t-shirt. Bohemia Beagles had such good food, and really cheap. That was something really nice about Prague; the price. Everything was very affordable. I had a lot of fun on the Pub Crawl, and I finally got my dancing in! The next day we walked around the Jewish Quarter. Nothing was open because it was Saturday. Poor planning on our part, but we could still see a little of it. Drew, Evan, and I went to the National Museum, where Mission Impossible was filmed. It was a very good museum, and the building itself was beautiful. On our way back to the train station we met a nice guy from New York who had moved to Prague a couple of years ago. He was very friendly, telling us all about Prague and other cities in Europe. Everyone in Prague was very nice and helpful. A lot of people spoke English too, which I was not expecting. It was amazing how beautiful the city was, being untouched almost by so many of the devastating events in Europe. It was hard for me to imagine that less than 20 years ago it was part of the USSR. I hope to go back some day and spend more time there to really get the feel of the city. Each weekend trip I take makes me realize how much I want to come back to spend more time in each city to really experience the culture. Hopefully that will happen soon.

We're in..Berlin... ya like that rhyme?

Saying good bye to the Kloses was pretty difficult. A lot more difficult than I thought it would have been. I knew from the beginning that everything would be okay and no tears would be shed if our goodbyes were somewhat short, and if there was no hugging. Who was I kidding... there was a lot of hugs, and therefore, a lot of tears. Staying with them helped me adjust to Germany. They didn't replace my family, they just became apart of it and in only 4 weeks. It's silly for some... but I guess that's because I'm just not those some. I enjoyed all of my time with them. I learned and experienced so much during my stay with the Kloses, and I sure hope to see them one day. "Come back and visit," is thrown around a lot but I feel like I seldom take up the offer. And if the opportunity arises to see them again, I hope I take it.

Berlin has already been such an incredible experience. I really enjoyed the bike tour because it wasn't a typical city tour and we covered so much area in less time than if we were walking. It was nice to see everything Dr. Wasser and Stephanie have talked about in class. There is so much history in this town, and it is incredible to see how much of Berlin has changed, and how much of it has relatively stayed the same. Besides the historical landmarks such as the Berlin wall and the Brandenburg gate, Dr. Wasser took us to see a memorial for the Jews that died during experimentation. I believe that the architecture for this monument was perfect. I feel that there is so much interpretation left for the viewers, and that makes it such a strong, symbolic memorial.

Today was a wonderful day as well. We had the opportunity to visit the MDC for molecular medicine. Our first tour with ion channels was interesting because I once again applying my knowledge from physiology- voltage gated ion channels, sodium/potassium, nicotinic receptors, etc... everything was coming back! My favorite tour was after lunch when we got to visit the Surgical Research unit OP 2000. I was just blown away with the level of technology they have been working with and tweaking to make perfect. Their ideas are definitely going to be used someday and I can't wait to see it, and maybe use it!

As each day goes by I can't believe how close we are to the end of this program. It's been such a great experience for me. I look forward to going home and noticing the difference between where I am right now, and College Station. They seem to value everything that they have here and although I value much of everything as a working student, I can see I still take little things for granted.

Talking Politics

Last night, when I was trying to finish my paper, my host brother Florian and his friend decided to talk politics.  It was a heated conversation in some parts, but I found that the issues that I feel are important, they also felt that they were important.  It changed the way I felt about Germans and politics.  Before talking to them last night, I felt that Germans wanted to only talk about American politics with me.  Also, when I try to talk with them about their opinions on American politics, they sound like they are reading the headlines from CNN, and that beyond knowing that something happened, they have no real opinion of what happened beyond what the news tells them.  For example, most Germans I talk to want to talk about the upcoming presidential election with me, and most say they support Obama.  But when I ask what about Obama's policies do they support, I usually would get the typical "He represents change" or "He is a nice guy" which, to me, sound like phrases that can be read from any newspaper article title.  I just felt that they wanted to be confrontational about it, just to sound like they keep up with what happens in America, and that was very frustrating to me.  Last night, however, was the first time I felt that I was able to learn what some Germans actually believe politicians should be doing.  I didn't agree with everything, but most of what they were saying I agreed with.  I was happy, because it has been nearly 4 weeks since I arrived in Germany and I had yet to learn what Germans actually believed, rather than what they heard on the news! 

Good times, good times!!

By far one of the coolest things on this trip was our trip to the heart and diabetes center at Bad Oeynhausen. The staff was super nice and the surgery was amazing to witness. I have never seen a surgery on a human so this was a first time experience for me, not to mention that it was open heart surgery. I mean, I actually say them drain the blood from his heart and then make it stop pumping, yet he was still alive. I was shocked. All I could think about was the fact that his chest was open and his heart was not beating. It was crazy! Luckily, Amanda and I were in the surgery room with the head doctor so he was so nice and explained every step of the procedure and then made sure that we could see what he was doing. If we couldn't see he would move his instruments and wait until we could see. Then he let us stay longer so that we could see more of the surgery. It was so awesome. At the end of the day, I got to see and learn about so many cool things. Then I went to Hamburg. By the way, the train station in Bad Oeynhausen was a little shady. Since it is a small town, there were only three platforms and the bathrooms were in a bar behind the station and it was full of old drinking men. Then the train we got on had no air conditioning so it was the longest half hour ride ever. It was okay though because once we got to Hamburg, we were so glad that we went. My host mom has a son that lives in Hamburg with his girlfriend so we actually met up with her for dinner. Phillip, her son, was in Berlin so we didn't get to meet him. Dinner was nice. Katherine actually works in a lab at the university hospital. She started out working with pediatrics and now she is in the genetics lab so it was cool to talk to her about that. We then went down to the river at night to see all of the ships illuminated because we just happened to show up on the weekend that the Cruise Days were going on so a whole bunch of big ships were all there in Hamburg. The whole next day we just spent down by the river enjoying the view of the ships and all the people. We acutally took a harbor tour but the first half was all about the shipping areas so Jamie actually fell asleep. It was really funny. The rest of the tour was good though and I'm still glad we went on it. So I think that if you are just going to Hamburg to experience the city, you can do it in one day, but not if you are planning on seeing certain sites. I can definitely see myself coming back and spending several days there to see the rest of the city. Once again, the weekend was very relaxing and I'm glad I was able to have some down time. All of us are getting tired and I think we all needed a down weekend so that we can make it through our last week in Berlin.

Ready to take on Berlin

Well after this long, relaxing weekend I am ready to go out in style in Berlin. I had a couple friends last year travel and/or study abroad in Berlin, and they all said that it was a fantastic city, and gave a few recommendations on clubs to go to. I am sure that the last night here I will not sleep, and go straight to the airport and get on the plane back home. Thankfully Madeline is on the same flight, so I'm too worried about getting lost or missing my flight. I will definitely miss Dusseldorf and my host family, and their awesome dinners and free beer at the beer garden every night. I switched from the winter program to the summer program due to the fact that we would be staying with a host family, and my decision proved to be the correct one. Here I come Berlin!

Visit with Family in Munich

In the afternoon in Munich, I visited my father's foreign exchange student whose family lives there. Regina, her daughter and I discussed health insurance in Germany as most Germans seem to love discussing such exciting topics. It's quite a different viewpoint hearing about the system from a doctor versus a German citizen. Their whole family has private insurance which from my understanding should allow them the best facilities hands down. Come to find out, you will get nicer facilities if they will actually profit well off of you. For example, Regina was in the hospital for a surgery, bedridden for days, so was provided a beautiful facility. Her daughter who gave birth to a little girl 3 months ago, a less profitable stay, was placed in a small, very old room in the bad end of the hospital I suppose no health insurance system is to predictable or consistent. I joined the rest of the group that night at the bars and enjoyed watching Peter and Drew skip down the street with linked arms in their Leiderhosen.

To catch up....

The last time I wrote a post was when we were still in Munich so I have alot to catch up on. First of all, the weekend after our week in Southern Germany was amazing. I spent the entire weekend in Salzburg, half of the time by myself. It was so relaxing and exactly what I needed after the physically and emotionally exhausting week we just had. The city itself is extremely beautiful since it is completely surrounded by the mountains. The hostel we stayed at had the most amazing view of the old town. We found this small place that is really more of a restaurant but they had some rooms upstairs for cheap and with free breakfast. It was up on one of the mountains so we had to take an elevator ride just to get up to it. It was just amazing to be there. Walking around the city was so cool because they have so many churches and old buildings and cool looking things that I just spent the two days I was there walking around. There was some great shopping though so the city of Salzburg definitely got some of my money. What was really awesome at night though was that the Salzburg music festival was still going on so I could hang out in my room with the window open or sit out at one of the tables outside and drink a beer while listening to some of the music that was going on. Like I said, the whole weekend was really relaxing. I got to meet some fun people too. The second night I was there, I shared my room with a group of girls who were all interns in Bonn but spending the weekend in Austria. One of the girls was alot of fun to talk to though because she was a foreign exchange student in Texas for a year. She is originally from Ukraine but she just kept telling me how much she missed Texas, which I found really interesting. Anyway, so I got back to Dusseldorf after a ridiculously long train ride but was still relaxed from my time in the mountains. That next day was our trip to Bonn and the federal ministry. I'm pretty sure that none of us really could say we enjoyed our time there. I felt like some of the information that was presented was interesting. I'm actually going to hang on to a couple of the brochures we were given with the statistics of land use and agriculture in Germany, but once we started discussing legislation and other bureaucratic issues I could not follow anymore. This is probably because I don't have any idea how our legislation is passed between federal ministries and other authorities in the United States, so trying to figure it out with the German government was just too much. The museum on anaesthesiology was a good way to end the day though. I thought our tour guide was so cute because he was just so excited to talk about his museum and his collection. I felt bad that we were trying to rush him but unfortunately thats the way it went. He really did have some cool stuff in there, more than I would have ever thought about. I'm glad we got to see it, I guess we just need to plan it for a different time or something next time.
The rhine tour was pretty nice as well. I love the water so I stayed up top and felt the wind blowing and enjoyed the whole thing. We also got some cool shots of a bunch of the small towns along the river which were fun to see. The castle was really cool. The fact that they keep it so well preserved and even make people where the slippers to help with the preservation was really neat. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable so I'm glad we had her. She was also very proud of what she was presenting so it helped make the experience more enjoyable.

Dachau

With a respectful silence that wiped over the group when we first saw the entrance gate, we looked at one another for courage and stepped slowly into Dachau Concentration Camp. Though it is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of terror and saddness experienced during the Nazi period, I felt closer to understanding than any text book or lecture could ever bring me. "Work will set you free" claimed the entrance gate. It's beyond me to gain understanding of how parts of an entire country could have ideas like those so engraved in their minds that over time they began to make perfect sense. The part of the morning that was most appalling was walking into the crematorium. My chest froze and I lost breath when we entered the waiting room. I pictured the crowds of men and women whispering their eagerness to finally have the opportunity to take a decent shower. With toiled feet and dirt and blood stains like patchwork over their clothing, they anticipated their shower. Each subsequent room seemed darker and more gray. Then we entered the last room with several ovens lined along the center. My heart sank and I was so deeply touched that the cold, empty walls almost seemed to whisper as I imagined the thousands of undeserving bodies across Germany in the different concentration camps inhumanely piled on the now rusted metal slabs that slid into the ovens. It seemed that we had just witnessed the world's cruelest crime when we left the camp. The whole experience stirred thoughts about human and animal experimentation and what results of the medical experimentation are appropriate to be released if any, though nothing about the whole period could be in the slightest bit appropriate.

Recharged for Berlin

After a long relaxing weekend, I am ready for Berlin. Berlin is the place I most wanted to visit since the beginning of the trip. I have heard that there is so much to do and see and I cannot wait. I am feeling a tad bit tired at the end stretch of the trip, but I will use my reserves and be active in Berlin. I would not forgive myself if I let this oppurtunity pass me. I am most excited to see the Berlin Wall. For four decades this wall separated the East and West. I cannot even imagine how this must of been for a growing Germany. To be a top notch nation and still have a dividing wall in the middle of its biggest city. It must of been like the elephant in the room for a long time. Everybody knew it was there, but did not and could not do anything about it. Well now it is down for about 20 years so I get to see the results of this major event in German history. I also get to ride a bike in Berlin. That will be totally gnarly. I will get to be 10 again and bust out some bunny hops. I am fully rested for Berlin and fully excited.

Bad Oeynhausen

Last Friday was my favorite excursion thus far of the trip! We went to the Heart and Diabetes Center for the whole day. We started with an orientation/video of the core focuses of the center. I thought the tele-medicine program was very neat. I wonder if there are programs like those in the US? They probably would not be covered my insurance of course. Then came the best part of the day: open heart surgery! Madeline and I got to see the beginning of a mitral valve replacement and bypass. The surgical tech led us into the room and told us where to sit. It was fascinating watching them set up the operating room for the surgery. The tech and the nurses had a system for setting everything up while keeping the room sterile. It was such second nature for them. I had never realized how much equipment was used for surgery, or how many plastic and paper packages were thrown out. The equipment for the lung machine and the heart machine was incredible, so intricate and complicated I was somewhat afraid to go near it. Most of our observation was of the set up of the room and the patient. We could somewhat see the chest being opened up. I was too nervous to ask if we could move to see more since we had been told were to stand in a certain spot. But later the anaesthesiologist waved us over. We got to stand on the platform to see straight down to the surgery. It was amazing. You could see the lungs breathing and the hear beating. There was not very much fat, which was nice. The doctor opened up the atrium and placed a tube inside. Then something interesting happened. Madeline turned to me and said she needed to sit down. As soon as she said that she started leaning on me. I thought she needed help off the platform, but then she went dead weight and fell away from me. She fell, hitting her back and her head. It scared the crap out of me. I was really nervous she had hit her head bad. The nurses helped me pull her back up on the platform, elevating her feet and checking her pulse and pupils. I was so glad they were there. We left and went to the doctors lounge to sit for a little and have some water. I was so glad she was okay. I had not even thought to expect something like that to happen. It was so lucky she wasn't badly hurt. We met up with the group for another cafeteria lunch that was pretty good. We had a tour of the ICU and met three transplant patients. It tore my heart up to hear about the 30 year old who, even though he had a healthy life style, was bedridden for a year. It was incredible how much his health had improved only two days after his transplant. It was sad to see the next patient, who was still bedridden waiting for a transplant. He looked exhausted. The third patient was up and walking about with his new internal heart pump. It was nice that he was able to live his life again for the most part until he could get a transfer. My grandfather had a triple bypass when I was six. I had never thought about the surgery until the tour. It was such a miracle everything went well in the surgery and that his heart is still healthy. He can do everything a normal person can do. The heart is such an amazing organ. Then we went to the MRI department and learned the basics of the MRI. He took us to see the machine and showed us how powerful the magnet was. He placed a metal sheet inside the tube and had us try to move it. It shocked me the resistance I had to overcome to pull the sheet out, and when I got near the machine, my ears started turning up because of my earrings. It was really funny. Then he attached a hanger to a string and let it get sucked through the machine. It was so neat to actually see the magnetic power instead of just a picture of the machine. It was an amazing day! I'm so glad I got to see another surgery! I really love surgery, but I don't think I could do it as a profession because of the lifestyle. Man what a day!

July 17th and 18th

Watching a tiny lung gradually develop and bring life into another by positive pressure filling every tiny sac in the lung is one of the most miraculous medical events I have ever witnessed. It was truly a reminder of why I am in this field. The discussion of German medical practice enlightened the group on what is really working, what has worked, and what is being changed. My conclusions were that absolutely no system can please society as a whole, but learning the differences between what works for who and adopting those successful ideals is the key to bringing nations as close as possible to developing an effective system. That day altogether was an experience I undoubtedly will not forget but will be able to apply to my own future in research, medicine, and politics as the lines between them continue to diminish.
The day at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne was also quite interesting, allowing us to see medicine from a different angle. Their focus seemed to be allowing for longer flight duration made possible someday by human centrifugation to develop microgravity and so forth, which was the coolest part of the day. If they can sustain human conditions from physical health to the human psyche as close to normal as possible, they will be one step closer to sending a group to Mars. It was outstanding how they had a multitude of different specialists right there in their facility, which reflected the efficiency and precision in every step of their research. Their innovative new techniques inspired me and I realized how many different things you can do in medicine. I have entered into a field of neverending possibilities and one in which you never stop learning. That excites me more than anything.

Rhine Excursion

So I have gotten a little behing in blogging with all of the adventures going on, so time to catch up. Last week we went on a Rhine Excursion! It was an amazing day! I was a little bummed out it rained during our boat ride, but it was nice to just sit and relax. And it was still beautiful outside. I love the countryside here. Then we toured Stolsenfels Castle. It was on the small scale for castles, but it was still really neat! I loved the room with all the suits of armor and weapons. I had not seen anything yet from the medieval times. It was also very intersting to learn of the contributions the owners had made to the construction of the Cologne Cathedral, having already toured it. The sugar model was an incredible replica. After we went to Ahrweiler Winzerverein for winetasting. That was by far my favorite part of the day! I had never been to a winetasting, and I loved it! Going down into the cellar where all the wine was kept was really neat, and getting to learn more about wine (especially since I pretty much know nothing about it) was a lot of fun. I actually really liked the medium red wine, which is a first for me. I generally only like the whites. I bought some more wine to take home. I'm really hoping all the bottles make it back okay. The food at the winetasting was really good too! The lady was very helpful in teaching us about winetasting in general. It was nice to learn something a little different than medicine or history. Overall, it was a wonderful day!

Heart Surgery and Hamburger... not to be confused with the American favorite and Ritterfest

Bad Oeynhausen was awesome! My face was less than two feet away from a man's heart!  It definitely up there on my list of coolest things I've seen since I've been here.  I liked being able to see them prep our patient for surgery as well.  I saw an open heart surgery my junior year in high school for my AP biology course in Houston, but we didn't get to see how everything was prepared.  Our anesthesiologist at Bad Oeynhausen was very helpful as she explained all the machines that she was monitoring and it was awesome to apply what I've learned in physiology!  That Wiggers diagram!    The entire aortic valve replacement surgery was a complete experience, we got to be right there as they cut him open and you could smell everything.  Me and Drew could see absolutely everything from hooking up our patients heart to the heart machine, stopping his heart, and seeing the surgeon cut out his aortic valve.  And the entire time my tummy was rumbling cause I was sooo hungry.   I guess that's a good sign I may be in the right field if I can think about food while there is heart surgery going on right in front of me?  We also got the opportunity to visit transplant patients and it was a great feeling to see them doing so well.  It was very touching to hear them say they were given the gift of life again. :)

After our tour of the heart and diabetes center, Susan and I caught a bus to the Hauptbahnhof... very different.  Bad Oeynhausen is definitely a small city.  There were two platforms.. and that was it.  Our train ride to Hannover, our connection was gosh awful.  All the wagons didn't have air... I was sweating bullets.  The train ride was only one hour but it was one miserable one at that.  When we caught our train in Hannover to Hamburg, we jumped on any wagon, and guess what? no air, bleh!  So Susan and I kept moving down multiple wagons until we found one that was quite empty and amazingly cooler than any other wagon- jack pot!  When we arrived in Hamburg we met up with Susan's host brother's girlfriend, Catherine.  We got off the subway at Jungfernstieg and when we walked up the city took my breath away.  This was by far the prettiest place I've been to in Germany.  We were surrounded by water and white bridges and an incredible amount of swans in this little lake.  While Susan was trying to find Catherine, I sat on the steps near this lake and watched a man near me feed these beautiful swans while I took many pictures.  The city was illuminated- beautiful!  We finally found Catherine, or I should say they found me taking pictures of everything... and we went to dinner at a restaurant on the river.  After wards we went to the harbor and got to see huge cruise ships.  Susan and I got lucky because this weekend was cruise days 2008 and all the cruise ships were in the harbor.  I loved how they all lit up, so once again I was taking a ton of pictures.  The next morning we woke up at a very decent hour and headed to the harbor for breakfast and a harbor tour.  Then it was time for lunch!  We had really good fish and chips with homeade tartar sauce, strawberries with champagne, and delicious crepes.  Then headed back home later that afternoon.  All in all it was a very good day.  

Saturday our host family took us to Ritterfest in a town about 20mins from here.  We got to see another castle, eat delicious food again, and see a lot of medieval things.  My favorite was getting to buy my crepe for 2.50 with exactly 2.50 euros in change.  It was definitely meant to be.

I've really enjoyed this trip.  I feel that I would not have gotten the same experience if I was not living with a host family.  I'm not one to leave my comfort zone like I've said in a past post, and I think putting me with a host family made this trip much more memorable and helped me come out of my comfort zone.  I am really going to miss them.  I am flying Lufthansa and since they were on strike last week my host family keeps telling me that maybe it will happen again so that I can stay with them a little longer...  I would love to but I miss home.

Catching up...Paris

An eventful but hectic weekend in Paris turned sour on the train ride home. I was riding alone since I had no eurail pass and I was interrogated for the first time in my life, probably one of the two most terrifying moments in my life...both being on this trip. Dressed in suit of no real uniformity, they came all at once, all three stern faces glaring down at both of us shining their badges from thin black leather cases. "You travel together?...Why you here?" they forcefully asked. The men demanded it was in my best interest to hurry and pull out my ticket and passport. Before I could ask why, they snatched it from me and already were pulling the girl next to be by the arm to take her in the back to search her. Now empty handed, my heart pounded...was I next? One man stayed by my seat to make sure i didn't do anything of suspicion and snapped quesions at me right and left, trying to intimidate me. He asked where I was heading, why, for how long, who I was with on each of these days and so forth before the other men returned. They pulled me up by the arm to search me the same as they did her but told me to leave my things, which seemed a little odd. All they asked in regards to them was if they contained anything of interest like cigarettes, alcohol, or an amount over ten thousand euros...but they didn't ask for weapons?? They brought me back and tossed my passport on the seat next to the German lady and walked away to the next cabin as everyone in the train eyed them, whispering back and forth. I realized all of the sudden how terrifying it really is to not know your rights in another country...to not know what personal boundaries they can cross without resistance and who has the authority to do that. I felt more vulnerable than I ever have...if anything opens your eyes yet makes me appreciate the rights I have in America, it's traveling. We must never take for granted the advantage of those rights, safety, and opportunity given to us every day in America. Even the ability to trust that we can recognize out law enforcement and utilize our rights if they are imposed upon. I have always formed my political views based on what I thought to be right or wrong but traveling is broadening my perspective of the "why" I think those views are right or wrong.

Bad Oeynhausen

Bad Oeynhausen on Friday was by FAR the coolest thing we've done so far.  I loved going to the vet school the second week, but the Heart and Diabetes center totally trumped it because now I can say I've seen open-heart surgery.  SOOO awesome!  Dr. Mirow, the surgeon in our room, was really great about explaining everything that he was doing to our patient who he lovingly referred to as the "Walrus".  I guess I never really thought about replacing a coronary vessel with a saphenous vein, so I was really intrigued by the whole procedure.  It was interesting to see the differences between human and animal surgery, like how they sterilize the ENTIRE body for human surgery and have a table the size of Rhode Island full of instruments.  Susan and I got to stand basically right above the patient's open chest and had a view almost as good as the surgeon's...I can't imagine that visitors would get to be that close in the states.  The hardest part of the surgery for me to watch was when they were using a metal crank to spread his ribs.  It kind of made my chest cavity sore.

After lunch we toured their ICU and MRI facilities, which I also really enjoyed.  I liked being able to see and talk to the patients who had received or were awaiting transplants.  I totally didn't expect heart transplant patients to bounce back as quickly as the one patient we saw.  I wonder what its like for other types of organ recipients.  All of our guides that day were awesome--they explained everything in detail, showed us everything they could, and spoke amazing English to boot!  Playing with the MRI machine was fun.  Whenever we walked close to the magnetic field it pulled any form of cheap jewelry toward it--Christine and my ears pulled forward because of our earrings.  It was probably the weirdest my ears have ever felt.

This part of the program was the best so far, and I totally think it should happen every single time students come!

Passing out...

So I fainted for the first time in my life while we were observing surgeries last week...that was interesting. I think it was my ponytail that saved my head. Right after all this blood came out that I wasn't expecting, I got this really weird feeling of all the blood draining from my upper body. I turned to Christine and said that I was going to go sit down. That was the last thing I remembered. Apparently, right after I said that, I fell backwards, hit my back on the edge of the platform, and then hit my head on the ground. Thankfully, I guess I didn't hit it too hard, but I definitely felt light-headed the rest of the day. I have observed surgeries before, so I don't know what my problem was...hopefully this won't be a reoccurring thing!

So this weekend was really relaxing! I staying in Dusseldorf and got to write my paper without being in a rush, take a long run, eat whenever I wanted and then Friday night we went to the Beer Fest that was in Benrath. It was really fun! We got to try a lot of beers and then we headed out to Altstadt. And of course I went home "too early" because Germans are crazy and stay out until 6am! I can't do that! Not if I want to be mildly functioning the next day! So on Saturday, Susan and I just went to Altstadt and bought some souvenirs and just took it easy. Relaxing here is a little different from relaxing at home. At home, would either lay on my couch or bed and watch TV or read a book. Well...there is no couch at my host house, and I don't have a book to read...sooo relaxing composed of sleeping this weekend. Oh well! I think I'm caught up for now!

On Sunday I went to Koln for mass at the Cathedral. It was like the mass at Notre Dame. Both of those masses did everything that we do at home, so that makes me think we're doing something right! I really have enjoyed experiencing all the different masses like I said before, and I am proud that I have made it to mass every Sunday. I told myself I really wanted to, but I didn't know if it was going to work with my schedule! And it did! Whoop! I kind of wish I had gone somewhere more exciting this weekend, but I know that I will be back to Europe in the future, so I'll just have to keep a list of places I want to go! We just started our last week! I am sad that the trip is coming to an end but I am excited about going home! There are just some things that I miss about home that will be nice to have again (like ice...)! So tonight is our last night in our host family's house. I think we are doing something bigger for dinner...we shall see! Then off to Berlin! Whoop!

Final Days in D-stadt

I began to pack last night, but couldn't finish because I was just making myself feel sad. I've still got a week in Germany but it feels like just a matter of hours before I'm taken back home. I say taken because if I had the money and time to spare, I would stay. I think just about everybody loves visiting Europe, but I feel compelled to stay. The U.S. is great, but there's something about the history you can find around EVERY corner here that keeps me forever interested.

I also feel like a better world citizen over here. I don't think it's necessarily America's fault for being so detached. We're only really bordering two other countries, and the cultures that most resemble ours are an ocean away; I guess most places in general are. I've been watching a little of the German news which I hardly understand. It's remarkably identical in style and format to ours back home. The difference is that when things are happening in other countries, many of them are just a train ride away. I've been away from news outlets over here just because I'm busy, but I still feel more connected, and I like it.

The Last Weekend

Before I begin let me say, Jon and I are not boring people. We like to go out every now and then and have a little fun. However for this our long and final weekend of the trip, we choose to play is cool and have a chilled weekend in Dusseldorf. So much traveling around the country on buses and trains will make a person dread going anywhere and when program fees aren’t paying for hotel rooms, they get rather expensive. Plus we had heard of some fun things happening in Dusseldorf during this weekend.
So because of the long weekend, we had Friday free and we decided to hit up the beer fest in town. This place was awesome; maybe a little bit too awesome. Beer stand after beer stand from across the country lined the street and people were flocking to the scene by the train load. After closing down the beer fest, we hit up Aldstadt. Finally we all got tired and decided to head home. Now it was late and many trains had stopped running. So I took the advice of a local guy and got on what I thought was the right train. Several stops later and almost out of Dusseldorf I was advised by another local guy to get off the train and take another one back to the main station. After some deep late night thought, I made the decision to walk home from where I got off the train. 1 and a half hours later and 4:30 in the morning I made it home. My lesson: do not take trains you do not know where they go, and do not decide to walk home if you do not know where you are. That’s all I have to say about that.
After sleeping in on Saturday morning, Jon and I hit up the local wine festival in town. Jon informed the wine was good, however my stomach and liver choose not to partake. The rest of the weekend was spent pretty chill walking around Dusseldorf and eating like kings at our host family’s house. You know, that’s how we roll.
Jordan “Juice”

"I think something just broke"

This one was a pretty good week. It's hard to justify any one week being "the best", but I'd say this one was on par with the others. The Food and Drug Ministry was interesting, as far as seeing how Germany controls and runs the different regulations and policies. I'm not going to lie though, I was excited when lunch came around since we had found a place that had 1.50 döners last time we were in Bonn. It was great. The Rhine tour was also great, I was a little disappointed with the boat though. It seems that up to this point we hadn't really done touristy things in the traditional sense, and while it was a very nice boat and I had a great time, the number of tourists on the boat bothered me just a little. And yes, Ashley was being "emo" by standing out in the rain on the boat. The Castle was also great, Europe seems to be all about ornate-ness as far as buildings and especially churches go, and this places was no exception. It wouldve been amazing to live there back in the day. The wine tasting, of course, was a delight, even though I prefer white wine. Thursday was a day to remember, I had never seen a surgery before, let alone an open heart surgery. I was amazed at how rough it seems the surgeons were with the patient's body, maybe its just from their experience but I would've been a little more delicate with a 78 year old woman's body that had already gone though a valve replacement.

This weekend was great as well, Pete, Sharon, Ashley and I just took the weekend off and picked a tiny town along the Mosel river to just chill all weekend. We had nothing planned except for the B&B we stayed at, which was a nice old couple's house on the edge of the main drag with a great view off the terrace of the surrounding hills with vineyards and the river. Friday night we had a great dinner, a bunch of wine, and walked 4 kilometers to the next town to a wine festival where we saw a german oompah band and some fireworks above the vineyards. Ashley and Sharon were scared walking back to our town in the dark along the river, but by this time I had had enough wine to feel for the most part invincible, so me and Pete werent worried at all.

Saturday we schlepped around until we found a random spot along the river where there was no one around, and just layed around all afternoon. I am amazed at how many good skipping rocks Germany has, one rock I swear got at least 20 skips. That night we found a really good Italian place, picked up Pete's phone that he left at the restaurant the night before, a couple wine bars (literally a bar in the town square where they only serve wine from the major winery in town, Schwarze Katz), and headed back to terrace at the B&B to chill. Thus far we had been the only people to stay here, so we made ourselves at home with our bottles of wine and a game of scrabble we found. It was getting pretty windy, and all of a sudden we heard a door slam and the crash of glass. We were about to go back to our game when the landlady (Frau Gertrude) came up and told us to come down. Since we figured it was something we probably did, we sent Sharon and Ashley since (and this is a known fact) girls get better treatment in foreign countries. It turns out we were getting sort of blamed for the breakfast room door slamming because of the open windows and breaking the glass within it. They said it was the most terrifying experience of their lives being yelled at in German by an old German lady. It might've also been the fact that it was almost midnight and four American exchange students were on their terrace drinking wine and being a little loud. Either way it all turned out and we didn't have to pay for it, but it was still an experience nonetheless. The ride home was uneventful, and I am really looking forward to Berlin. This is also a huge post, sorry.

Heart Surgery to Scrabble on a Zell Terrace

Right off the bat, the heart surgery we saw last week was the best learning experience I have had this entire trip. To actually see a chest being split open and a beating human heart was quite the DELIGHT. I had never seen a surgery of that scale and it was extremely enlightening into the world of a surgeon. First off, they appear as gods to me. Their long flowing scrubs and completely covered faces make them untouchable. There was always a nurse or assistant to dress them, hand them their tools, put on their gloves, or give them a high five being so awesome. The surgeons were definitely the rockstar of the operating room. They did not even flinch while sawing through the sternum and blood splattering onto their glasses. It must be their war paint. I love how they have the most intense job, but seem to think nothing of it and were able to chat and answer questions from us. I am looking forward to watching future surgeries now and corrupting my mind with the medical gore. I could get used to being a surgeon.

This weekend was absolutely relaxing. To start, Sharon and I got tricked into going to Zell, but it turned out to be quite all right. We all had a jolly time. So we had a small group of 4 with us which was less hectic and more chill. Zell seems to be a haven for creepy old people who love to eat and drink wine and go to bed by 8. We kind of disrupted their lifestyle. The hotel/house we stayed at was ran by a peeping tom old man and crazy laughing woman. They were hilarious. The old man would sit on the terrace with his binoculars and watch us swim in the Mosel river while the old lady would refuse to make the girls coffee and laugh hysterically instead. The first night we saw fireworks at a wine festival in a neighboring town. I fulfilled my dream of seeing a traditional German band. I also mistakenly walked into the girl's restroom. That was quite awkward to say the least.

Saturday we laid by the river all day and had lunch and listened to music. It was very relaxing because we all wanted to forget about our papers for a while. That night we sat on the terrace with the local wine. We ended up playing "special" scrabble. Sharon turned out to be the best and we all learned a lot from the master. During our thrilling scrabble run, a mighty gust swept through our house and a loud crash ensued. This was followed by loud German yelling and the old lady and taking Sharon and Ashley downstairs. It turned out the wind had slammed shut a glass door and broken it. The lady blamed it on the Americans of course and the girls got yelled at in German. There is always a first for everything I suppose. The physics were totally off and it was in no way our fault. After that ruckus, we continued to play scrabble and have pleasant conversations. The next morning the old lady had a epiphany and figured out it was impossible that we were the cause of the shattered door. It was a hoot.

Favorite Week Yet

So this week started off kinda slowly. The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection wasn't very interesting to me. That could have just been me, but I had a hard time getting into the conversation. Talking about policies and rules for the food industry just didn't do it for me I guess.

But then Tuesday it picked up quite a bit! That was our Rhine Tour on the boat and then wine tasting. And let me tell you, that was a great day. It was raining, but not that badly really, so I just stood out on the deck (being emo according to Allen....) and watched the little towns go by. There was lightning going on just over the hill so every once in a while I would get to see lightning over the hills with vineyards covering them, and the river... it was gorgeous. Then we went to our wine tasting, which was awesome as always. It was a really nice place we went to. And the wine was really good. So that was a good day.

Wednesday was class and working on our paper all day, so nothing to really write home about. It was an interesting conversation during the class though dealing with ethics. It's interesting to hear different people's take on different situations and how different some people are from my own opinions.

Thursday we went to Bad Oeynehausen to the Heart and Diabetes Center which was amazing. Sharon and I were in a mitral valve replacement, and got to see pretty much all of it. We walked in while they were still getting the woman preped. So we got to see them crack the chest, which was amazing. I've never seen that before, so it was awesome. (That sounds sick when I write that... I guess I know I'm in the right field. Also because both Sharon and I were starving during the surgery and could have easily eaten something while watching...) But it was awesome to see them crack the chest, and then they got to the heart. They put her on bipass and replaced the valve. We had to leave as they had just finished putting the valve in and were getting ready to sew up the heart and take the woman off bipass. It really was awesome. It will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. Seeing an open heart surgery in Germany... how many people get to have that experience?

This weekend we (Sharon, Peter, Allen and I) went to a tiny town on the Mosel river in the wine country. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing, which is exactly what we wanted. There is a funny story, but I feel that Allen and Peter can do it so much more justice than I can, so I will let them tell it. But we got to see fireworks over the vineyards after a wine festival in the next town and we swam in the river... and napped... a lot. it was perfect.

I can't believe it's almost over though! Tomorrow starts our last week of the class! It's crazy to think I have only about 8-9 days left here and I started with more than 40!!! I have no idea where the time went, all I know is it's been a blast. I have a bitter sweet feeling about going home. I miss my family and friends, but I have had such an amazing time here and I'm not sure if I really want that to be over. It will be interesting to go back home, back into that culture.

It's my Prague-ative

This weekend we took a night train to Prague. It was undoubtedly one of the best experiences of my life. I felt almost like camping, only there were strangers in my tent. I wasn't really affected by the horror stories, and I had friends in my car, so I could focus on the trip and not worry so much about the shady middle-aged man above me. In a previous time I would have been very uncomfortable in such confined spaces with so many people, but this trip has helped me tremendously in that regard. Now I relish the opportunity to meet new and interesting people.

This weekend we made a new friend from Canada and spent the weekend sightseeing with her. She's been backpacking across Europe for a few months now and had arrived in prague before us so she showed us around. She's actually going to Berlin next week just when we are so we made plans to meet up again. I haven't been making any long term friends on my trip this far, so I'm excited to see her again. Her confidence that allows her to spend 3 months alone in foreign countries was inspiring. I hope to do something similar in my lifetime. I should have a year of free time between undergraduate and whatever else I do, so we'll see what happens.