The One Woman Wolf Pack Goes North

[July 17] Since it sometimes takes money to get lost, I figured out a way to save: use the Eurail pass to ride a train to Hamburg from 1 a.m. to 6:30 and just sleep in a chair. Though, don’t assume that because the train runs at an ungodly hour that there won’t be a ton of people on it. I spent the 20 minutes between Bonn and Köln standing, then snuck into a first class car and fell asleep. When I woke up to the sun rising, the pass in my lap had been stamped and no one had kicked me out. Whoop!

I spent the morning wandering Hamburg, munching on a breakfast of sesame pretzels and chocolate cake that were given to me (with a great deal of fussing) by my wonderful host family seven hours earlier. When I finally found the tour boat that would take me sightseeing around the harbor, they handed me a poorly laminated packet of English blurbs about the Elbe and I learned to make sure that the tour isn’t only in German before I spend twenty euros on it. Still, I enjoyed those two hours of looking at anonymous riverside buildings and occasionally falling asleep to a presumably eloquent German tour guide.

A little frustrated by the situation, I invested in a little book for a self-guided tour and walked around with a map and an objective, for once. As Hamburg is famous as a port city, every inch of it seemed to be adorned in sailing memorabilia. Every other street is made of water, every restaurant sells fish as a main dish, and sometimes I thought I could smell salt on the freshwater river. But something genuine was missing in my short stay. The tourists’ quarter stretched on forever, or at least I never escaped it. The quirk in the theme was almost too contrived.

For lunch, I had a hamburger. I know I should have had a fish or something Portuguese, but like the ignorant tourist I am, I wanted to eat a hamburger in Hamburg. Around 7 pm I decided to go back to the hostel and take a nap until 10 so that I could go back and see the city at night—I heard it would be particularly beautiful then—but then I slept for twelve hours straight. I spent the morning wandering the Fish Market, where the merchant-folk yell at you to sell their wares and a band played to a giant restaurant full of people eating fish and beer for breakfast.

I took a train to Bremen, ate and walked around the altstadt with no real purpose. At the end of that Sunday I was just tired, so I took the early train home and took the evening easy. I probably could have stayed longer, but I’m learning that sometimes it’s better to just sit around and do nothing for a few hours.

The Black Forest

The only things I wanted to accomplish in Freiburg were seeing the Black Forest and relaxing. I booked a stay at a bed and breakfast in the eastern region of the city and the charming little house looks like a Thomas Kincaid painting on the outside and an Ikea store on the inside, at least if you ignore the Holsteins that can look in the bathroom window. However, the complementary pair of wineglasses and all the candles make me think that solitary college students may not be the target demographic for this particular residence. I’m not complaining because at least I get to sleep in a huge bed.

After settling in, I took the bus back to the center of the city and walked around. Several times, I had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and gawk at the beautiful forested hills rising in the background. In was rainy and foggy all day, which makes for both miserable weather and gorgeous scenery, as columns of mist rise out of the woods and the humidity blurs and softens the view until it looks like a painting.

The upside of not doing any preparation for this trip is that every time I turned a corner I was surprised by what I found. One second, shopping district—the next, soaring red cathedrals and store fronts that look transplanted from a Renaissance Faire. I just spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs and exploring the town. The only downside was as soon as the church bells rang 18:00, the streets cleared and all the shops and restaurants closed. It was like a monster movie where the whole town has to be inside by sundown. Since there was nothing to do in town, I found some trails through the forest and walked around until it started getting dark and scary.

On Saturday morning, I headed straight for one of the hiking trails. I ate my breakfast next to a small stream surrounded by ancient conifer trees. The morning air was a bit chilly, but I stayed warm walking through the woods for several hours, up and down hills. Occasional joggers and dog-walkers kept the path from feeling too deserted. The forest was very still—I saw only four songbirds, a pair of ducks, and one rustle in the underbrush that was probably a rabbit. I would have thought that forest would be replete with squirrels, but I guess at I was there at the wrong time.

The afternoon, I headed back to town and soaked up more of the scenery, and ate more than a little bit of ice cream. Disappointingly, I couldn’t find any place selling Black Forest cake, but that was probably for the best since I was running low on cash at that point.

My stay in Freiburg was over too soon, and before I knew it I was on my way to München. It was a quick ride, since one of the trains I took happened to be a high-speed train, which isn’t covered by my Eurorail pass, but thankfully no one checked my ticket for that leg of the journey. When I arrived in the city, it was drizzling of course, and I was burnt out on sight-seeing. I met up with my friends, and we just spent the evening eating really good Italian food and relaxing at our hotel. While I didn’t feel as relaxed and recharged as I had hoped, I was ready to get to Vienna and get back to the program.

Sign my poodle, s'il vous plaît

For the second Friday in a row, I found myself blowing into a strange and beautiful city in the middle of the night. After the exhausting train ride, I was overwhelmed by the noisy crowds of late-night partiers and neon lights against a backdrop of towering cathedrals and ornate palaces. In Amsterdam, we wandered around in the drizzle for half an hour puzzling out the transportation system to get to our hotel. In Paris, we made straight for the taxis like the veteran travelers we were. That ride took us by the Moulin Rouge and monuments, cafes and nightclubs.

The next morning, we rendezvous’d at the Eiffel Tower, where we faced a line of tourists that would probably stretch for blocks if uncoiled. I was feeling rushed by our group’s schedule, so I went off to see the city by myself. I wandered south, where I found a farmer’s market and bought what I hoped would be several meals worth of pastries. I then found a place to sit and just boggled at the fact that I was eating French pastries IN FRANCE. I probably looked like an oversized five year-old sitting there with a huge grin on my face and my lap covered in flaky crumbs from my pain chocolat.

My goal for that day was the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Since I had no concept of how huge the city was, I decided to walk there. It wasn’t too long before it started to grow cold and damp. Dampness turned to drizzle, and over the course of the day drizzle morphed to a miserable rain. I was too excited to have my spirits lowered, and I just strolled along the Seine River, taking in everything there was too see. After not too long, I came across a collection of life-sized black stone sculptures of rhinos, horses, and elephants outside a museum. They were obviously of great importance since they were guarded by soldiers with automatic weapons. Other tourists were giving the artworks and their uniformed guardians a wide berth, but since I’m an American, I feel right at home with firepower of that magnitude. I wandered over and took pictures and spent several minutes contemplating the fact that I was contemplating a bunch of sculptures IN FRANCE.

I continued my walk until I saw Notre Dame’s blocky towers rising across the river. Having spent a chunk of my childhood watching the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney movie over and over again, I was elated. It may have taken nostalgia for my Esmeralda Barbie doll to lure me into caring about masterpieces of gothic architecture, but my mood changed after I waited out the long, snaking line and entered the cathedral. The atmosphere felt holy in a way the insides of the Dom in Köln and the Munster in Bonn didn’t. I’ve been a nonbeliever since elementary school, but I was raised catholic. While probably not attributable to a divine presence, a sense of reverence came over me as I sat in the huge hall. The other sight-seers with their camera flashes and noisy children faded out, and I was alone in the dark with the smell of incense and the faint sound of hymns.

Recharged, I ventured back out into the rain, protected only by a surprisingly waterproof pink pashmina shawl I had picked up at a souvenir shop that morning. I trudged along the river until I spied a garden dotted with abstract if somewhat suggestive sculptures. I had reached the Jardin des Plantes, which for whatever reason was adorned with several vaguely butt-shaped works of modern art. To be fair, there has also a piece that looked like squiggles and a feed trough and one was a likeness of the Grim Reaper squeeing with glee.

Across the street lay the campus containing the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, The Grand Gallery of Evolution, a Menagerie, and assorted buildings which interested me less. First stop was the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, which is French for “Football Field-Sized Hall Full of Skeletons and Assorted Preserved Squishy Bits from Every Creature that has Ever Lived.” Entering the hall, I was met head-on by an army of skeletons of all things that walk, crawl, fly, and swim. The remains of tigers, rhinos, whales, and deer were arrayed like a nightmare version of Noah’s ark. Glass cabinets containing smaller and curiouser creatures lined the walls.

I was going through reading the hand-written and semi-legible tag that described each specimen, and then one name suddenly jumped out at me. A Steller’s Sea Cow was sitting there chilling next to all the other critters that hadn’t been extinct for, say, the last 250 years. Now, I’m completely fascinated by creatures, but I find the animals that humans drove to extinction within the last few hundred years particularly compelling. Almost without exception, they are weird fairy-tale like creatures. Moreover, I love sad stories, and the tragedies of the Steller’s Sea Cows and quaggas and thylacines and all the other extinct creatures nestled in among their still-existent relatives in that hall are entwined with their bones. At one point during my visit, I sat down on a bench, and glancing over my shoulder, I saw a dodo staring back at me from a glass case. All I could think was, “Wow, several hundred years ago this bird was just chilling on its island with its family, doing whatever dodos do in their daily lives. And now all trace of their life is gone and the only evidence of their curious existence in a handful of bones, a mummified head, and whatever records humans deigned to keep of this race of strange birds they wiped off the face of the earth.”

One other highlight was Lucy. At the time I didn’t know it was a reproduction—though the fact that the iconic skeleton off by itself in a relatively deserted corner should have clued me in. Beyond that, I spent some time at the Evolution of the Horse display, and also oohed and awed at the dinosaur fossils with all the other six-year olds.

While I was one of the only visitors who wasn’t either a sticky little kid or a worn-out parent, I feel I lacked the knowledge base to appreciate many of the exhibits. Jars of hundred year-old preserved tracheas from kangaroos, tigers, rhinos, and hyenas are cool, but I really can’t glean anything meaningful from those displays. Maybe next year after I’ve taken Anatomy class….

Oh, also: that case of fetus skeletons displayed standing up like palm-sized big-headed aliens? It’s nightmare fuel.

My next stop that day was the Grand Gallery of Evolution, where my presence skewed the mean age of visitors upwards by several years. Most of the exhibits were rows and rows of taxidermy animals sorted by habitat, presumably the trophy collections of 19^th century big game hunters repurposed into something educational. Giraffes and leopards were shot, posed with, maybe served as a conversation piece in some rich guy’s smoking room, and now teach thousands of children every year to care about the natural world. A few preserved creatures were displayed more creatively. In one corner near the stairs, a ferocious tiger was forever pouncing on an Indian elephant, the prey permanently contorted in pain and fear. Off by itself across the room, a faded panda pawed at the walls of its glass gazebo.

A few of the displays were more strictly educational—an exhibit about domestication and the influence of humans on nature dominated the top floor, and many of the walls were lined with cases of insects and other small invertebrates accompanied by sizable informative posters with no English translations.

After exploring all four floors of the Gallery, I headed to the Louvre. It had closed by then, so I decided to call it a day.

The rain fell harder, so I ducked inside a café and ordered coffees until they closed at 8 pm. Afterwards, I got drenched trying to find the correct busstop, but made it back to my room and fell asleep shortly afterwards.

The next morning, I made it to the Louvre shortly after it opened. The scope of the museum was overwhelming, so I just chose an exhibit hall at random to begin my explorations. A cavernous glass-ceilinged room full of marble sculptures. Classical goddesses and medieval martyrs loomed larger-than-life. The back of the room branched into passages filled with smaller works—intimidating stone skeletons and preserved cathedral decorations.

The rest of the museum blurred together, as there was something beautiful everywhere I looked. I saw a hall of gold icons from the dark ages lit by stained glass, a sea of tourists near the Venus de Milo, room-sized canvases portraying battle scenes, countless Passions of Christ spanning several centuries, Rubens, Rembrandts, Renoirs, peasants and farm scenes, crown jewels, cat-headed goddesses, paintings of poorly proportioned animals and fish-eyed people with odd balloonish hands, royalty in ermine cloaks, Egyptian sarcophagi, Islamic treasures, and many more wonderful objects. Oh, and the bathrooms were surprisingly gross.

Five hours later, I was ready to leave the Louvre. As I was looking for a place to eat lunch, I counted nine pet stores on the block directly east of the famous art museum. I played with a few puppies and bunnies, but I really have no idea why so many petshops were there, specifically.

The last landmark I needed to visit was the catacombs. The grey stone building was so non-descript, I worried that I was in the wrong place until I saw the line snaking out the door and down the block. I queued behind a pack of rowdy teenagers with skinny jeans and stupid haircuts, and prepared to wait. After a few minutes, a large official-looking woman came over and told everyone at the end of the line that since there was a two-hour wait, we wouldn’t be admitted before the ossuary closes, so we might as well leave. The teens left, but I decided to stick it out and only had to wait about 45 minutes before I got to climb down the claustrophobic spiral staircase into the old quarry tunnels. I had to stoop in some places to avoid brushing my head against the rough damp ceiling as I walked through the old sewers. The crowd thinned out, and I was alone in the darkness.

At a place where the tunnel widened, miniature buildings and streets were carved into the basalt wall. The plaque stated this hidden artwork was project of long-dead quarry workers. After walking a while longer, I passed through an arched doorway and got my first glimpse of the remains. Long bones were stacked like firewood along the sides of the passage, serving as a levee to hold back a sea of clavicles, digits, pelvises, and other less-tidily shaped bones. Rows of skulls decorated the retaining walls of long bones. In a large chamber, bones were stacked into several urn-shaped columns.

Throughout the ossuary, small skulls were intermixed with the adult ones. Some had large foreheads, or pointed cheekbones, some were toothless, or still had perfect dentistry. I tried to imagine what the 6 millions sets of remains I was looking at and had looked like alive, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. These bones belonged to people like me, people like my parents, people like the obnoxious teenagers in line ahead of me, and in less than a hundred years, we would all be these aging, cracking bones.

Half the bone rooms were closed for security reason, so my tour was cut a bit short. I climbed about 80 stairs and emerged into the daylight. At the exit, my backpack was searched to ensure I hadn’t helped myself to any grisly souvenirs.

The rest of the evening passed quickly—I met up with my group for dinner, and then we caught our night bus back to Köln.

Oh Yeah, Also I Learned Some Stuff

[July 15] I feel like I have learned more German in one week than I knew after an entire semester in Spanish class. Now I couldn’t hold a conversation with a German, but I can pick out enough words in what a server says to respond with ‘Ja’ or ‘Nein’. Of course, the moment I open my mouth, they instantly realize that I am not a native speaker and answer me in English. Whether that’s convenient or offensive, I haven’t decided.

Tuesday, we went to Köln. It is a city of pride and flippancy, manifest of the sort of ironic beauty that you would more readily expect from the French. Upon first exiting the Haubtbahnhof, the giant Dom cathedral greets you like a terrible, but handsome, hostess to her touchable, but delicate, home. Boy statues moon you from the sides of buildings while archaeologists excavate an ancient synagogue from the middle of the street. And where Kölsch is King, I spend the allotted shopping time touring breweries.

There we also visited the Elde Haus, a Gestapo prison with restored cells that still contained inmates’ thoughts and hopes scrawled on its walls. The tour was interesting but, like most Nazi-themed things, ultimately depressing. Between that trip and Thursday’s bioethics lecture, I hardly anticipate that future discussions on the topic will be any less disconcerting. I know it is important to understand and remember that time in this country’s history, but I will probably not be able to appreciate future lessons on the subject as anything but educational.

I much prefer the ‘Medicine’ half of this program’s title. Our visit to Bonn’s University Clinic was the first time that I’ve shadowed human surgeons. I saw a cyst removal and part of a hip replacement. To be honest I was surprised at the similarities between the doctors’ treatment of a human body and the abrasive and exploratory techniques of a veterinarian’s operation on a dog. Those hours of bloody, physical practice were a sharp contrast to the next day’s tour of a garden with a homeopath. I know a lot of people were incredulous when they learned about the spiritual levels of healing and the less-is-more mentality of basically pure drugs, but I genuinely thought the lesson was interesting. I’m a strong believer in the power of the mind to project and, in turn, heal, but I do admit that I probably won’t consider it as even a piece of my career—at least, not without a little more research.

From the Europeans’ contribution to the space station to the Rococo elegance of Schloss Brühl, this week was an exploration of German culture. I saw a giant football game between France and the US two nights after a neighborhood choir production of Mamma Mia by my host brother’s school. Between the language and extensive history, I have definitely learned some stuff.

second weekend

Friday July 15th

Today I woke up early and packed my backpack for the weekend I was about to spend in Switzerland. My host family was nice enough to make me food for the weekend so I didn’t have to spend money in Switzerland which is expensive due to tourists. They made me schnitzel from chicken and ham sandwiches. These would last me all weekend and save me around 40 euros. Before we left for Switzerland we took a tour of DLR and the ESA (European space agency). This was interesting to see how NASA and the ESA differed. Apparently the rest of the world is dependent on Russia for space travel. They used to rely on the USA. We also toured a castle from the 19th century and saw how the Dukes of Germany lived before uniting into one country under the Wilhelm Empire. We arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland around 1130 at night and walked to our hostel in Bonigen. This was an easy 20 minute walk and ended up being a very nice and quiet hostel. I wasn’t on my own like I had planned because other peoples plans for Paris had started to fall through. The others should have booked the train to Paris a few weeks in advance but decided to do it the day before. So four others joined me in Switzerland. We entered our room around 1200 pm and everyone was already asleep so this was good for us and bad for them.

bonn week two

Monday July 11th

Today our group went to the museum of anesthesiology. When we arrived at the museum we were greeted by an older man. He is a retired anesthesiologist with multiple doctorate degrees. We started in the early days of anesthesiology when chloroform or ether was used to anesthetize patients. The museum then progressed into the modern age. They had the second largest collection of historical anesthesia equipment in the world. They had an interesting collection of vet equipment as well. It was neat to see all of the old equipment. It was rather hot today which made the tour seem extremely long. The building had no AC so it was probably 80 degrees. Everyone seemed glad when the tour was over to get some cool air from the outside.

Tuesday July 12th

Today was our first trip into Koln. Once we left the koln Hbf we instantly saw the dom. The dom is the large gothic cathedral in which the three wise men are kept. The three wise men are kept in a golden tomb in the center of the cathedral. The size of the dom was amazing. It took three pictures to get the entire structure. Once inside we got a wonderful guided tour. We learned various things about the seal of koln, the three crowns are for the wise men and the 11 tears are for 11,000 slain virgins. We also got to see the roman ruins under Koln. It was neat to see how advanced the romans were with sewage and water supply. For lunch I had my first jager schnitzel which was served with Gaffle Kolsch (bier) and some kind of thick noodles. The jager sauce was a mushroom based sauce which was extremely good. The Gaffle kolsch was good, but nothing I would kill for. After this we saw the Elde house which was the house the Gestapo worked out of. From the outside one would never know what was contained inside the house. Once in we got to get a glimpse of what life was like during the Nazi reign. What shocked me was the amount of people they would detain in a 4x10 cell. After the tour four of us Josh, Travis, Drew and myself walked around the central market. The girls all went to H&M while we went to the European version of Rei. They had a freezer to test your jacket and even a lake to test a boat in. I bought Chlorine tabs to clean out my nalgeen because I am sick and don’t want to stay sick. I also bought a towel because I have found out that hostels don’t have the best towels. From here we went to the Fruh brauhaus and had a few beers before we were supposed to go onto the roof of the dom. Once we arrived at the dom we waited for our tour guide outside. While waiting a crazy homeless guy came up to our group and just silently stood in the middle of our group. Idk if he was on drugs or if this was his tactic to get money. He made everyone feel awkward, but finally Niles asked him to leave. After 30 minutes of waiting in a slight rain we found out that our tour guide wasn’t going to show up so we didn’t get to go up the dom. I was disappointed but what can you do if there is no way to fix the situation. Niles made up for the mistake by taking us on a pub-crawl in Bonn. Our group had a blast learning german drinking games. There was one game with dice and disks which was my favorite. I need to learn what it is called so we can bring it to the states. It used three dice and a cup, certain hands would be better than others and the loser takes an allotted amount of disks. If one person gets all of the disks they buy a round for everyone. I never lost but I did get two free rounds of drinks. There was also a long pour device that was fun.

weekend one

Friday July 7th

It wasn’t hard to wake up this morning after a night of drinking but it was still very early. We had to catch a 7:45 train to Norrdeich mole further north in Germany. Norrdeich Mole is on the north sea and is a very small island. It is known to have to lowest pollution in all of germany. One could tell this just by walking around, the island was a great change of pace. We saw a recovery spa for patients and got to see how the german medical system works. The recovery spa is for German citizens who need to rehabilitate themselves after injury/perform preventative medicine. It was more or less a free 5000 euro vacation for 3 weeks. I thought it was ridiculous that the government would send people to a 3 week day spa for free and give them sick leave. I wouldn’t want our government to do something like the german system because I don’t want to pay more in taxes. After leaving the clinic we went and swam in the north sea which is around 17C or roughly 65F. Niles said whoever gets in the water before him gets a free beer. At the sound of this Samantha and I stripped down into our underwear (she had a sports bra and nike shorts on and I had some fishing shorts luckily) and jumped on in. Soon after everyone else joined in and we all swam with our professor and niles. After air drying in the cold we decided to play ultimate Frisbee on the beach. Most of the Germans didn’t know what we were doing but we had lots of fun doing it. We then ate at a small place near the hostel which served fish and pizza. They were both amazingly good, as well as the local Driebles Alt bier. It is a darker beer but tasty like a cross between a shiner bock and Newcastle brown ale. After our long day we crashed early in our Hostel. There weren’t any towels provided so we all used a spare comforter to dry off with. I found it quite humorous.

Sweet Switzerland

Going to Switzerland....BEST DESCISON EVER!!!!! I was originally planning on going to Paris since I've always dreamed of going there. However, the transportation to get to France was very complicated, so a few of us made the leap of faith and booked a train to Switzerland.

Michelle, Kaitlyn, Josh, Andrew, and I arrived Friday, July 15th in Interlaken without any problems. We even found our hostel without any difficulties while navigating the streets at night. The mountains ominously blacked out the sky at night so we had to use our imaginations as to what the scenery looked like upon arrival. The real beauty would have to wait until sunlight the next day.

The following morning after breakfast supplied by the hostel, Michelle and I ventured right outside our hostel to Lake Brienzersee. The view as absolutely stunning! The blue-green water gently flowed with towering mountains in the background. The crisp morning air filled my lungs with every breath. Finally...some relaxation on this trip! We walked the path along the lake occasionally resting on a bench or by the water. It was pretty chilly so the water was way too cold early in the morning. There were all kinds of people visting...families with children all the way to retired couples.

After taking in the Swiss Alps, we walked into town to shop and eat. I was warned about how expensive Switzerland is and they weren't kidding. All souveniors were pricey but I found a few things for my family. I spent forever picking out a Swiss Army knife for my dad. I also loaded up on chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in town and back by the lake and mountains.

Interlaken is the capital for extreme sports. They offer everything from white water rafting to canyoning. I wanted to be adventurous and had always wanted to go hang gliding so with a quick call I had a reservation! That evening I was picked up from my hostel (they were a little late since they forgot about me) and taken to the landing site. After packing up the glider from the previous flight, I was off in a van up the mountain.

After signing my life away, we arrived at the top of the mountain. They placed a huge heavy backpack on me and I was ordered to hike uphill to the take-off site. After barely surviving that part, we set up the glider and harnesses and went over take-off procedures which were pretty simple...just keep RUNNING! Before I knew it, we were facing the runway (an insanely steep slope) and my flighing instructor yelled to start running. After a few leaps we were in the air and the cool Swiss breeze was blowing in my face. I was swiftly soaring through the air over the moutains and water. I was surprised how peaceful flying was...the wind was perfect. After posing for pictures (the camera was attached to the glider) and waving to people at a restaurant on top of a mountain, we were slowly making our way back to the ground. We landed sliding onto an empty field on our stomachs.

Switzerland was a beautiful mountain paradise. I will always remember the feeling of breathing fresh air and flying through the mountains. This weekend offered much needed relaxation and thrills beyond my comprehension.

Early Mornings-- Week 1

This morning I woke up at 6:55. My alarm was set for 8 am, but 6:55 rolled around and I was ready to start the day. In case you mistake me for a morning person, this is NOT typical for me. I thought about it and realized that I haven't slept in past 8:15 since I was home in June. In fact I'd consider 8:15 to be sleeping in now. This might partly be due to the long days here where the sun gets up early and goes to bed late, but it's been great since we start the mornings early in order to fit everything into each day. It sort of seems like the extended sunlight hours are especially for us, so that we can get everything done :)

We'd only been in Bonn three days and it was already time for a vacation from our vacation to Hannover, then Nordenaie, then Amsterdam. Wednesday morning we met at the train station at 6:45 am to catch the train to Hannover. After a busy day of hospitals and spiders and pizza for dinner, we stayed up late in our rooms watching the world cup game among other things, even thought the next morning we had to meet for breakfast at 7 am. Thursday morning came quickly, and we packed up again and headed to Nordenaie. I can see why it's such a popular vacation spot for Germans, it's an absolutely beaustiful island. It was the perfect setting for the rehabilitation center we toured there. It was interesting to learn about all aspects of the medical field, expecially in Germany where the healthcare program is different. After that we went swimming in the North Sea. It was so cold, but so fantastic. After all this, we still made time to play frisbee, eat dinner, explore the town, and sit on the beach. The next day we woke up at 4:30 am, let me just repeat that, 4:30 am! I didn't actually plan on going birdwatching, just getting up to watch the sun rise and going back to sleep, but about halfway down the horse trail I realized I had in fact committed to the birdwatching excursion, so I brought up the rear on the morning hike before breakfast and a long day of walking across the North Sea. It was fantastic, and not just because I like hiking but because it was such a unique and amazing experience! About 6 miles later, and we still had time to visit two museams and travel to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was fantastic! Although it was a bit nerve racking trying to find our hotel after midnight in a big city wearing very large, conspicuous backpacks. We got up around 8 am both mornings to start two very busy days of sightseeing and museams and some of the other, less respectable forms of tourism in Amsterdam. By the end of the weekend we were exhausted, and I sincerely wish I had brought along tennis shoes! As much as I liked all the walking, my feet were starting to hurt. As much as I enjoyed Amsterdam, I was glad to be headed back to Bonn on Sunday to see what kind of days the early mornings would bring the next week.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Yes, I knew that my host mother didn't speak English before I got on the plane to head to Germany. But somehow, I just didn't grasp the reality of the prospect until I was right in the middle of it. As it turns out, pre-departure stress, lack of sleep and jet lag are not condusive to an optomistic outlook in a new/uncomfortable situation. So at first, I was a little shaken. The entirety of our conversation that night consisted of two words, "Danke" and "Bitte". Very polite, but entirely unhelpful when you can't figure out why the phone wont put a call through to your parents and you don't know how to connect to the internet. On top of that, she left shortly after bringing me home because she had a friend's wedding party that evening. She invited me along, but would be out later than I planned on being awake. All this I learned from her daughter Anna, who came over briefly to translate what she could. So needless to say, I was a little shaken. I did get everything figured out eventually, but I was not looking forward to an entire Sunday of "Danke" and "Bitte".

I was surprised then, when Sunday morning came and everything was much better, as things tend to be when you're well rested. She had a dictionary and I had a phrasebook, so our conversations evolved to finding the most important word of the sentence, translating it and the other of us using every possible context clue to pull out the idea behind the word. We walked to a bakery to get bread for breakfast, which took a long time since we had to break to translate so often. She even showed me how to take the bus and find the AIB, told me where I should visit in town that day, and told me when to be home for dinner. Altogether I was rather impressed with our communication abilities.

As the time has passed, I have realized that I am so lucky to have Erna as my host mother. She gets up with me every morning for breakfast, no matter how early I have to be up, and she often offers to drive me in the mornings so that we can take out time eating in the morning. She gives me my full independance and she never gets bothered on the occasions where I can't say when I'll be home. Thanks to our dictionaries, the visits from her English speaking daughter Elisabeth, and some German lessons I had at the AIB, our communication gets better and better so that I look forward to the breakfasts and dinners that we spend together. I must say, I am glad that Elisabeth and Anna live in Bonn and stop by every now and then, they have been so kind and helpful. Now that Erna's granddaughter, Carlotta is visiting, I'm glad I can at least somewhat communicate. Altogether, I feel quite lucky to be more immersed in German language and culture than some of my friends more Americanized host families. I will miss Erna, and her family a lot when I have to leave.

Paging Dr. Carrie...

Fully decked in scrubs, shoes, masks, and hair nets, I was ready to enter the operation room at the University Clinics in Bonn on Wednesday, July 13th. My only experience with ORs involved the dramatics of television, so I was really excited to see what actually goes on during surgery.

After splitting into different groups and getting properly dressed and steralized, we entered our OR or "theater" as they are called. My group (Michelle, Heather, Josh, and Matt) awkwardly stood off to the side praying we weren't in anyone's way. Thankfully one of the doctors explained to us that we were observing a spinal fusion on a 56 year old male. Screws and pins were to be placed on a lumbar vertebrae to correct the curvature already taking place. After putting on more gear for x-ray protection we were officially ready for some surgical action!

After more awkward standing trying not to take up too much space, we were offered step-stools at the head of the patient to get a better view of the incision located on his back. There were two surgeons working in unison on the procedure with another doctor who was in charge of all the surgical equipment. There were also several (rotating?) anesthesiologists along with another doctor/nurse who helped out wherever needed.

Everyone in the room was really hospitable and occasionally talked about what was happening. I do wish we had more commentary so I knew what was going on, but I'd rather them focus on their jobs. The incision was about 10 cm deep on the back of the patient. The first task involved pushing muscle around to get to the spine. Most of the time the surgeons were just pounding equipment into the patient. The equipment and actions reminded me of a mechanic/handy man job. Once the vertebrae was reached, 4 screws were driven into the patient. X-rays were taken frequently so the doctors could see if the screws were going inside the body in the proper orientation. This was a great way for us to see exactly where they were being placed. Several small metal cylindrical pins were also added for securing the screws. With all the pounding and drilling, I was amazed at the rough handling of the equipment inside the body. This procedure made me realize that the body isn't quite as delicate as I thought. The procedure lasted for about three hours. Sewing up the incision was cool to watch. Since this wound was so deep, multiple threads were used inside the body to hold the muscle and skin back together.

I was amazed at the unison and teamwork of everyone involved. Everyone had to know exactly what they were doing at all times while anticipating the actions of others and working efficiently. The room was large with plenty of room to get around (however, the 5 of us took up lots of room). Being able to stand for long periods of time is a big requirement. I've never been interested in becoming a surgeon but being an anesthesiologist would be an amazing job...although the liability and responsibility is intense. I really enjoyed wearing the srubs and feeling like a real doctor. (Josh even got mistaken for one during the procedure!) Thanks to Dr. Wasser, AIB, and the University Clinics for giving us this amazing opportunity!

Just Get Lost

[July 10] If you know one thing about me, it’s that I don’t know where I’m going. After getting lost on the way from Frankfurt, I got lost in Bonn itself (I like to call it an exploration) and then in my own host family’s village (a sight-seeing excursion in itself), and I might have gotten lost on Norderney if the fun folks who were with me didn’t have some sense. But I think I’ve settled with the notion that losing oneself is the point. Even if it takes a pair of aching feet, a dwindling ipod battery, and a few extra euros to get there, it’s kind of part of the adventure. Once you find yourself again, you really know where you are.

Norderney was, in short, beautiful. The sea between the island and Norddeich Mole was calm and green and windless, the birds complacent and the walruses lazy. One herring with onions and potatoes later, we were bare-footing the coast of the North Sea, precariously avoiding razor-like seashells through water as cold as ice.

We took a look around the IfR Klinik, where people with physical disabilities and injuries are rehabilitated by a goofy and outspoken woman who seems to take too much pleasure in the discomfort of others. After a few hours of rehab toys and giant balance balls, the group went to the beach. I and a few others were hunger-grumpy, so we went to a seaside restaurant called Cornelius, where the cook translated ‘Fish and Chips’ to fries and Rotbarsch Eihülle, one of the most expensive fish on the menu. Nonetheless, it was delicious.

Then, the Wattwanderung. It was a short hike through the rolling dunes of Wadden wetland wilderness, followed by five kilometers from there to the mainland. The slosh and slurp of mud pulled heavily on our trusty Miley Cyrus zebra print high-tops, even in the inches-deep streams of low tide. The rainy breeze cooled my out-of-shape heart and burning calves while we watched mussels bury themselves in the sand and two crabs “doing it!”.

Saturday morning started with a one-a.m. taxi ride after getting lost at midnight in Bonn again, then a short nap during the wee-hours and a train to Düsseldorf. I lost my way in the (luckily small) Japanisch Viertel before sitting down for some Kirin and delightful miso ramen. Then I got my hands on a map (one of the greatest inventions of all time, my opinion) I managed to find the beautiful and comic Altstadt, the old town near the river where every building has a personality and a dream, and statues of fools dance on every corner. The afternoon ended with an alt bier; I am not afraid to say that it is the best one I’ve had so far, despite what my new friends in Köln say.

I spent the evening in Köln to watch the Kölner Lichter over the Rhine, one of the largest and most spectacular fireworks shows on this side of the world (or so I’ve heard). There were so many people stacked on top of each other near the river, but I had a bratwurst and loads of fun. Everywhere I turned, the polizei wore berets and walked akimbo, gripping their belts like they know what’s up, forbidding you to rush towards the show when you realize you've reserved your valuable seat on the wrong part of the river. In the midst of it all, I met two hearty German men, Wolfgang and Harmon, who did not know a word of English but managed to share their drinks with me, teach me a few songs (which I have subsequently forgotten), and tell me what a travesty it was to enjoy an alt bier.

And I actually managed to get home at a reasonable hour, having officially (or at least sufficiently) mastered the Bonn public transport system.

Amster..dam

For this weekend excursion we practically all decided to go to Amsterdam. After some train difficulties my group made it to our hostel at 1am.. we didn't realize rooms were assigned on a first come first serve basis and our group of 5 was split into a 3 and a 2. I ended up in a room with six people already asleep, and there were 2 communal showers per floor. Things look sketch enough at night in friendly family neighborhoods, in this hostel it looked like something out of a horror film. Lets just say I slept with my purse in my arms that night. Honestly waking up the next morning I realized it wasn't that bad, the people were very friendly and completely normal which was such a comfort since we had to leave our luggage in the shared room. It took an hour and a half to travel into the city, much more than we expected but we made it eventually. Amsterdam is quite an easy city to navigate, and we meandered through the streets most of the day shopping and trying new pastries. I absolutely loved people watching there, it was such a diverse city with so many different things happening that boredom wasn't really a possibility. My favorite part was probably when we walked to the van gough museum and just layed out on the lawn in front of it and chilled for a while. It was absolutely perfect! And a close second was the next morning when my group went out to the beach since our hostel was so close to it. It was just really relaxing which was a nice contrast to how hectic the weekend had been. I can't really say I was sad to leave, it was definitely an awesome experience and I'm happy I went but I was ready to get back to quite ol Bonn!

Things to learn from this:

When booking a hotel/hostel: locationlocationlocation

Check when museums close, weekend hours especially because theyre probably different

Think about how you are going to get around

Check the weather, then increase the range by + and - 10 degrees C, it's bipolar

Bakerys are a great place for a cheap lunch

Unreserved seats are generally in the first car of the train

Thanks and Gig'em

Rule #1: Get off the train when Dr. Wasser and Nils do

The first week consisted of days that felt more like two squished together, there were new things thrown at me every time I turned around. Just when things would start to get familiar we up and moved again, just keeping it fresh =] But we got to do a lot of things, from our first language and cultural lessons where we learned all about the 'German way' to venturing out on excursions and actually getting to experience it. First off, Sebastian is definitely number one of all German teachers I've ever had. He had the perfect mixture of challenging and fun things for Elena and I to do and even threw in a lil Grey's Anatomy [check yes for brownie points!].

On the side of medically relevant things this week: I thought that learning about nephrology and the dialysis machine was really interesting, especially since we had someone like Dr. Roland Schmidt to talk with us about his first hand experience with patients from the E. coli outbreak earlier this summer. And who can forget visiting the research facility working with the Axolotyl? I'm pretty sure that we all have the same dream pet now. I loved how when the researcher was explaining the research she was doing, I saw techniques pop up that we learned about just two semesters ago. We also got to see her lab where the silk from spiders is being extracted to be used for sutures. Spider silk is ideal for this because it is incredibly strong, flexible, light and a biomaterial. I think it's pretty awesome how something obtained from another species has such incredible properties that would take a long time and a lot of resources to manufacture in a lab.

We also got to visit a rehabilitation facility in Nordernai, and I thought it was awesome how they used their natural surrounding to help rehabilitate people with lung problems and diabetes. I'm really buying into this whole 'all natural' theme theme that seems to be recurring throughout many of our expeditions, I've even considered giving up energy drinks [gasp].

Lastly, the Wattwanderung was legit. I have renamed the guide the German Bear Grylls. Or I guess Bär Grylls. It was long but really interesting, I felt like I was reliving my Biology II lab [except way more interesting] with all of the little organisms he kept referring to! All around a great week, we learned so much, I'm just happy I'm keeping a journal so that I can keep it all straight in my head.

Island Getaway

Everyday marks a new adventure and I could write forever detailing each event. My first week of the program entailed many new and exciting experiences but one part stands out as my favorite.

On Thursday, July 7th we arrived at the island Norderney by ferry. The weather was a depressing shade of cloudy and grey. Once we checked into our hostel in the afternoon, we took a detour down to the beach to reach our program destination. By this time, the sun appeared and our enthusiasm for being on the beach shined in all of us. After much traveling the days before, being out in the fresh salty air with the North Sea stretching out before us revitalized my energy. We had to be careful walking along the shore since tiny sea shells dotted the sand. However, not all were lucky and Elena got a tiny shell wedged into her foot.

We reached the Klinik Norderney and were given a wonderful presentation and tour of this facility. The island of Norderney specializes in healing the sick. The fresh North Sea air is an excellent remedy for asthma while the mud can help skin issues. This clinic helps patients with their medical problems by providing the education and motivation for a healthy lifestyle. From workout equipment to yoga lessons on the beach, this clinic's philosophy is to get their patients exercising and moving. The state-of-the-art facility along with the visible care and concern blew me away along with all they offer patients in need of medical and lifestyle attention.

Following the clinic visit, we all jumped into the North Sea! The water was absolutely freezing, but we all went out pretty deep and took tons of pictures. Once back on the beach we dried off and played ultimate frisbee. After tiring ourselves out, we trekked back to our hostel and then went to a small cafe to eat dinner as a group for more group bonding time. Several of us walked back to the beach to watch the sun set over the water. Watching the sun cast rays over the glistening water in the cool evening air was stunningly beautiful and a perfect way to end the day.

Something for Everyone

After the non-stop walking the last five days, I have earned one day of rest. The Museum of Anesthesiology was a nice change of pace from the excitement of Amsterdam.

Very unfortunately, the Museum of Anesthesiology was quite soporific. The exhibits didn’t put any of the history in context for me, as most of the information was presented as “This is what was done here and at this time” but never answered any “why” questions. The too-few times when the museum touched on the human side of the story were the most interesting points, which is unfortunate since the tour guide was a living legend in the field. For instance, he had been the first doctor to save a patient using a certain machine that was one display. In fairness, there were several biographical portraits on the walls about important players in the history of anesthesia, but they were all in German.

The trip to Köln next day packed in more than enough excitement to make up for it. I had glimpsed the Dom from the train last week, but I was unprepared for how massive it is. I just sort of figured that after the Munster in Bonn I would be like, “Cathedrals? Pfft. I’ve seen cathedrals. They bore me now,” but seeing the Dom was an incredibly moving experience because I couldn’t help but imagine the thousands of people over the centuries who made it their life’s work crafting the enormous building, or the hundreds of thousands of worshippers who had, over the last few hundred years, knelt and prayed in joy or in thankfulness or in sorrow where I was standing. I’m not religious, but every lovingly-crafted detail of the Dom, from the stonework to the stained glass, vibrated with a rich and very human history.

After touring that temple to the loftiest planes of human creativity and ingenuity, we visited a monument to the ugliness of which people are capable. The El-De House is a memorial and museum about Köln’s darkest moments during the Nazi era. The unassuming grey building had been the headquarters of the SS with its basement serving as a prison and torture chamber. All paper records from that time had been destroyed by the Nazis, leaving only the testimony of survivors and the defiant scrawls on the wall of the cells as evidence of the atrocities committed there. No one knows the number of Jews or political prisoners that had been confined to that underground prison, and no one knows how many were tortured and murdered.

You have to wonder why the guards let the prisoners keep their pencils, their knives, or any other implements they used to scratch their stories on the yellow-grey walls. Some victims obviously intended their messages to embolden their fellow captives (Viva la France), or to express their anger at the “Fascist Assholes.” Maybe the Gestapo saw the lists of names and dates, attempted memorials to the murdered cellmates, as a tool to demoralize and squash the hope of the incarcerated.

The darkness of the El-De House was dispersed over the rest of the afternoon. Köln is a lively and beautiful city, which made the few hours I got separated from the group and completely lost rather pleasant. While I’m not a huge shopper, I did manage to part with €2.90 for one of those loopy neck scarves that all the Germans who know what’s up seem to be wearing. All I need is a pair of jeggings and I’ll blend right in. While the weather got cold and drizzly, the guide to take us to the top of the Dom never materialized, and our group acquired a creepy stalker who looked like Billy Corgan in a Charlie Brown shirt, the evening was a satisfying blur of ice cream and gorgeous scenery.

The next morning, I got to wake up bright and early and do my least favorite thing in the world—watch human bodies get cut up. The patient had barely been scrubbed when my vision started tunneling and the room became too hot. I’m Her Majesty the High Queen of Queasiness sometimes, and I was holding court that morning like I haven’t since I took Meats Honors class my freshman year. I start to lose my peripheral vision, and the rest blotches to purple. My hearing fades and my stomach drops to the floor.

I would have liked to stay and watch the surgery, but I know when I can handle something and when I can’t. Luckily, I didn’t have to sit around and feel sorry for myself the rest of the day because that night we got to watch some serious fuβball. The US women’s team was taking on the French team in Mönchengladbach. I’m generally don’t like sports and it took me the entire first half to figure out that America was wearing white—not red and blue, but it the energy in the stadium was awesome. I didn’t get painted up for the game, but I did get to stay warm, so it was a fair trade.

The morning after the game was wonderful. I overslept my alarm and forgot my wallet so I had neither money for lunch nor my public transportation pass. I felt like a complete criminal riding the tram—I couldn’t help but give everyone who looked vaguely like an authority figure the side eye just in case they were a conductor ready to throw me in scary German prison for using public transportation without a ticket.

In the lectures we are finally shifting more towards medical history, as opposed to history history, and this afternoon we got to see some gorgeous exotic plants. Now I just need to stress out a bit more about the unnavigable transportation situation that will hopefully get me to Paris tomorrow…

A few days from week 1

Day two

I woke up around 9 am after a good night sleep accompanied by a few James Bond films. I am glad I brought movies because I still have yet to find a TV in the house (or know enough German to find it entertaining.) Everyone is still asleep because they partied all night at the graduation thing. I decided to get a shower and walk around town to figure things out. The internet not working well also prompted this decision. I walked down to the Munster (church) which is from roman times, I can’t think of which century but it is about 1000 years old and pre gothic. From the church I walked the market square which was completely empty because it is Sunday and Germans think it is odd to go out. Around 12 I got a call to meet Hilda who is a very very nice and funny German woman. She has short hair and is about as tall as Abigail. Hilda is a host mother who also teaches us some german. Her and a few of the girls on my trip were walking around town and found me. From the market center we got a tour of town from Hilda. We saw places to eat and drink, stopped by a carnival, and saw the theater. For lunch I had my first real German food, currywurst. It is a brautwurst covered in curry ketchup served with fries. It was good, but not good for my health. Our group then stopped by a culture festival which was very funny. We watch a lady teach Zumba as if it was something worth of noting. She tried to say that this was a new American dance/workout, I could really understand because it was all in german. There were funny looking people trying to do zumba including an old man which was extremely funny. I got home around dinner time. After dinner I called it a night and went to bed.

Day three (Monday july 4)

I woke up around 730 and got breakfast, it was an omelet with toast served by my host mother. I was impressed that they have an espresso machine in the house so I can pull espresso shots whenever I want to, so awesome! I had my host mother show me how to get to AIB, the academy for international studies. We road our bikes form the house to school. I was a little late because the trains that run behind the house blocked the road for about 5-10 minutes. Once at AIB I couldn’t figure out how to open the door, once I figured how to buzz in I sat down for my first day. We got a historical city walk first thing. We saw the Munster, the old roman church. We also saw the old city walls and defenses. The university here is spread out through the town and is made up of old “castles”. It is more or less very very large houses from the 1800’s spread around town. We then later learned german and more history about germany. After class we all met up at a Biergarten for drinks and to socialize with each other. The local brew in Bonn is one of the best beers I have had, very refreshing full flavored and not hoppy. As we were leaving the biergarten I ran into an Englishman who is an expat teaching at UT. We talked about Texas and US beer for a little bit until he wished us a happy fourth (the only person to do so). From here four of us went out to a bar called Painless. Painless is an irish pub which speaks amazing English and has drink specials. The four of us that went were Drew, Travis, Samantha, and myself. We had a good time once we got to the bar. Finding the bar was another story, Drew wanted to lead because he thought he remembered how to get to the bar but instead lead us down a dark and scary alleyway. Besides the wrong turn the night was very enjoyable. I ended up getting home around 1:30 am.

Day four, July 5th

Today we attended classes around 930 am. We talked about cultural differences and why our cultures act the way they do. We also had another crash course in German from Hilda. Half of the group decided to a burger place called something like Frittebus. The served one of the best burgers I have ever had, extremely juicy topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce and ketchup. It is weird eating out here because they serve you 0.3L of water, coke, beer, etc and you don’t get refills. After lunch we went to a zoological museum in Bonn where we saw many different types of birds and animals. The tour guide was a PhD student who spoke awesome English and lead the tour better than I could have but still apologized for his “bad” English. Once I got home at 5 pm I decided to go for a run. I ran around 7 miles before I decided I needed to head home for dinner. I ran a random route through town and made a loop which included about 3 miles of the Rhine river. The weather here allows one to run for a very long period of time before becoming tired. It is cool and moist so one doesn’t get thirsty. I then had dinner around 8pm with my host family and the mothers Sister/Husband from Czech Republic. Dinner was a good roast beef with some biscuit like potatoes and a fruit sorbet with whipped cream and fruit. It was very tasty. I talked to the brother in law for a long time over a Pilsner Uquell. He was very nice as we shared different things about our countries. He told me how the system works in Czech and Germany/Europe.

Thursday July 6th

We woke up very early to catch the 6:45 train to Hannover which is in northern germany. This was the start to our first 5 day excursion. It was hard to pack enough for 5 days but I managed to do it with my nice hiking backpack. I am super glad I brought it instead of a smaller school backpack. Once in Hannover we went to the store and stocked up on drinks and food for the night. After unpacking we left for the hospital where we got to talk to a nephrologist about EHEC, the bacterium that has cause several deaths in Germany before we came over. From the hospital we went to see the axolotl lab where they are doing research on how to regrow limbs on humans. The axolotls are small salamanders which live in water. Once the lady started talking about them on a powerpoint I couldn’t help but to fall asleep from all of the traveling/lack of sleep due to staying up late. We also saw how they are doing research with spiders to create a new type of mesh patch for hernias. Later that night we decided to get pizza for dinner and stay in. We had a party in our hotel room while watching the US women in the world cup. The US played Sweden and lost 2-1. We had fun even though we lost, we stayed up till 2 am drinking and having a good time with each other. It was a funny sight to Niles seeing 7-8 american college kids party in a small hotel suite. (the room was a single bedroom attached to a double by a door, each person had their own bed, but the shower and bathroom was shared) Although niles thought it was funny to party like this he joined in the fun anyway.

First Excursion

These last few days have been completely unbelievable. As of a week ago, I had never been out of the US, but now I’ve waded in the North Sea, toured Amsterdam, and seen landscapes that look like they were stolen from the Lord of the Rings movies. At an ungodly hour Wednesday morning, we traveled to Hannover. We spent a very full day learning about nephrology and visiting the Axolotl Research Center. I was shocked to learn how prevalent diabetes and the need for dialysis was in Germany—it seem that the people there are so fit and eat so healthfully.

My only previous exposure to Axolotls had been their brief mention in that “Animal Beatbox” youtube video, but I’m probably going to rush out and acquire one or four when I get back to my apartment. Axolotls are these smiley little salamander Pokemon that are well-known for their ability to regrow amputated limbs, but are also extremely social, mate for life, and have more personality than I thought amphibians could possess. Also, the proteins that contribute to their ability to regenerate limbs and parts of their eyes and brains are being discovered, so my evil plot of injecting myself with Salamander Serum and morphing into SalamanderWomen (hey, it’s as good an origin story has any) is one step closer to fruition.

That night, we stayed at a hotel with one of the most poorly-chosen decorations I’ve ever seen. A column of bloody, ghostly handprints stretching from floor to ceiling adorned the wall on the second floor. Sweet dreams.

Thursday we traveled to the north coast of Germany and took a ferry to Norderney. Norderney is a favorite place for recovering from lung disease or allergies because of its pure air. At the rehabilitation center we visited, we learned that Norderney is remarkably unpolluted compared to almost anywhere else in Europe. Thankfully, it should stay that way since it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We watched the sunset over the North Sea that evening, but it was not as beautiful as the sunrise over the dunes at 4:50 the next morning. The area near the population center on Norderney is hilly with dunes covered in vegetation, but as you get out towards the east end of the island, the landscapes flattens out into huge fields covered with purple flowers. I found it striking how new that section of the island was, and how quickly the terrain can change. An enormous sand dune takes only a few decades to form, and that entire field on the protected side of the island had been under the sea a few centuries earlier. The populated side of the island has freshwater lakes that some types of birds use for breeding, but the living things on the other side of the island have to survive in a salt-rich environment. Our guide showed us a couple of plants that have different strategies for living on sea-water. For example, one exuded the salt from pores on the underside of its leave. I probably learned more about ecology on the walk from Norderney to Norddeich Mole than in the rest of my college career combined.

After the Wattwanderung, I was too exhausted to appreciated the Seal Center and Walsoseum properly. I didn’t even have the presence of mind to sneak a baby seal home in my backpack, like I had been planning to.

If that day wasn’t full enough already, we had to switch gears and head to bustling Amsterdam. Amsterdam, well, Amsterdam merits its own post…

An Accidental Tour Of The Rhine

[July 6] The week has been a blur of green hillsides through a Deutchebahn window. The language fills my head with choice words and half-phrases and I’ve begun to recognize a beauty in it that I had not even thought to look for. From the lessons in the peculiarly white AIB room to my first taste of Kölsh with a burger that rivaled those in America, the days in Bonn have been a refreshing alternative to hot New Mexican noons that smell of Kuhscheiße. I’ve explored a city that is at the same time urban and cozy, and I’ve seen a larger and more extensive bird collection than I could ever imagine.

But by this time, I’m sure you’ve read similar stories in posts above and below this one. The first question that may pop into your head when you see the name below this blog is probably: Why do they keep making fun of that chick for getting lost? Let me fill you in.

As my parents live in Dallas, I chose to fly from there to Houston to meet with the majority of the HoM students on the Fri-6:30pm flight to Frankfurt. At 3:30pm on Friday, the small but respectable Dallas Love Field Airport informed me that my plane was having mechanical difficulties and would not arrive until 5:20pm. I would inevitably miss the connection, and the next available flight would be at 4pm on Saturday. While this was certainly frustrating, I did get a nice hotel room and three free meals out of the day I lost.

The train itinerary between Frankfurt Flughafen and Bonn Hauptbahnhof and had been graciously left to my excited and happily independent devices. Unfortunately, I was having trouble finding internet enough to discern the difference between the words Flughafen and Haubtbahnhof, and my faltering confidence led me to the Bonn/Köln Flughafen, where I ran back and forth between an internet connection and the Fahrkarten at least four times, leaving annoying and ambiguous messages to the patiently waiting Dr. Wasser and Mr. Nipkow. By the time I figured out that Hbf was the same thing as Haubtbahnhof, I had a train ticket in my hand on which the only thing I could read was 13:51 and the number 4. So I went to platform 4 and got on the train that came at 13:51.

The word Haubtbahnhof never came on the little scroll-screen. I waited for longer than I should have, unable to reach anyone without an internet connection and the wrong version of a phone number. Finally I gave up and got off at a stop named Bad Hönningen, which I can only assume is extremely far away from Bonn based on the looks people give me when I mention it. There I stopped a nice young couple and their dog with a carefully practiced, “Bitte sprechen sie englisch?” The man called the right version of Nils’s number and three hours later, I was awkwardly hugging my host father at Bonn Beuel. The man is a firefighter; he prefers beer over wine and likes to read books about German history.

And after a long day of artificial kidneys and adorable axolotls and giant spiders that might still be crawling on your arm, I am holed up in a hotel room in Hanover. There is a surprisingly spicy pasta and few too many sips of delicious pinot grigio in my stomach, along with half a cup of chocolate ice cream. It was the first dinner so far that I’ve eaten with fellow students, and I had fun wandering the streets of the city while talking to people, for a change. Tomorrow we head even further north. I suppose I should get a good night’s sleep, since they seem like they are hard to come by up here!

First Few Days

July 5: While I was waiting in line at the train station to get my Eurorail Pass validated, one of the TVs in the room started showing international news. After stories about the recent wedding in Monaco and unrest in the Sudan, the news report briefly mentioned that yesterday “Amerika [something something] Tag der Unabhängigkeit.” This was accompanied by a video of a street in some American city festooned with red, white, and blue and crowded with dancing drunk people. Independence Day, one of the most important American holidays, was relegated to a fifteen second video clip. For the first time since arriving here, it hit me how non-universal the experience of life inside America is. I realized that I had vaguely assumed that the rest of the world had a perpetual feeling of “being on the outside looking in” on the Greatest Country on Earth.

I like everything about Germany, so far. I like having a pair of palaces two and a half blocks from my house. I like how almost every street has a bakery or café. I like how you’re allowed to bring your dog with you almost everywhere. I deeply and passionately love the public transportation system.

I still don’t have German culture figured out. I knew that Germans sampled from other cultures, but I didn’t know how that would manifest itself.. The radio will play German pop back to back with Shakira and Katy Perry. Gelato stores are everywhere. Pizza and spaghetti are available everywhere. A street musician plays smooth jazz next to the statue of Beethoven.

So far, we’ve toured the city and visited the König Museum. On the city tour, we saw a sample of the Roman ruins that lay under the city. Bonn is old and rich in history in a way which makes it feel very unlike all but a few places I’ve been to in the US, but that could just be the jet-lag talking.

Culture Jolt

Having lived in Texas all my life, I had no idea what to expect coming to Germany and experiencing a new culture and lifestyle. I wouldn't say I experienced a culture shock but more like a small jolt.

A few observations....

1. Everything is green and flourishing here which is a huge contrast to the dry land back home. Most houses have gardens filled with flowers. You can also buy flowers just about anywhere off the street too.

2. All cars are small hatchbacks. Lots of smart cars, bmws, mercedes...basically all the really expensive cars from back home are what everyone drives here. Since the small cars are so small, they can even be parked on sidewalks! Try doing that with a jacked-up red neck truck from back home! All the streets especially near my host family's house are very winding with tons of turns unlike the parellel and perpendicular streets near my house in Texas.

3. Hearing German everywhere took some adjustment. I just have to get accustomed to not knowing what signs and people around me are saying. However, I am catching on to some words and the pronounciations of the language is becoming more clear.

4. Bakeries are everywhere with tons of delicious food! It's quite easy to just grab a sandwhich or a pastry just about anywhere in Bonn. I'm glad we are walking a lot or the pounds would start stacking on!

After living here about a week, Bonn and my host family feel more like home. My host family have a beautiful house and are very hospitable. Every morning breakfast is waiting for me and dinners are always a family affair. I'm thankful for them welcoming me into their home and helping me become adjusted to a new way of life.


Coming up...Week 1 Program Highlights!

Amsterdammed Out

Sitting here, about to go to bed, it's been very difficult gathering my thoughts on last week, but mainly because the one and only Amsterdam was in the middle.... Ahhhh Amsterdam.. I should have known how interesting this weekend would have been from the start. First, we leave Norderney and hop on our train, which begins having technical difficulties and drops everyone off at some random stop in the Netherlands and the pretty much say good luck in finding your way to Amsterdam. So all 15 or so of us figure out where the next train is and we finally make it to centraal station! Now for the sketchy 11:30 pm walk for 45 minutes to our hotel in a foreign country on a Friday night. The streets were packed, the smells were, let's say, earthy. And we we ready for some sleep. The Marriott was a great choice although a little expensive, we all felt safe and were ready to view the city the next day.

We started off with a boat tour, which was just alright, but it was nice to see the canals and then we headed to get some coffee and see the bulldog and spend the day wandering the town. We went to the Heineken Experience, which was pretty awesome and I got very cultured, per say. Next we went to a park and rested for awhile on the sunny day and then headed to the Anne Frank museum which was very nice to visit at least once in a lifetime. The next day we woke up late and went to the van Gogh exhibit and the red light district again. It was a rather interesting place, and I can't say that I honestly have any appeal of visiting it again. Once was enough for me.

By 4:30 we were Amsterdamed out and ready to go back to Germany, where the language is at least familiar and the city is clean.

Tomorrow we have the Cologne cathedral planned and Wednsday we are gong to the USA vs. FRANCE WOMENS WORLD CUP GAME. HOW Awesome is that!?!?!!!?

Well, sorry for the errors, this iPad isn't the best for typing, but oh well, and hopefully I can post again before Paris on Friday!

Tschuss!!

Drachen, Lachen, ...Zachen?

So I have been in Germany a little over a week now and I can honestly say Goodbye America! Haha just kidding, I honestly could move here forever but I know I would miss out on great things back home, and I haven't quite gotten this German language thing down (even though I get really excited when everyone talks to me in German and I understand a word or they don't know I'm an American -- it adds to the thrill). But anyways, I have done  so many "wonderbar" things since the moment I stepped foot on this foreign land. 

Let me start with my host family: they are awesome, very nice people! There are 2 girls, Miriam and Elizabeth about 3 and 17. And David who is 18 that all live at home. The very first day they took Travis and I to Drachenfels which is one of the 7 hills of Bonn. It was beautiful and there was a castle ruin on the top from the thirteen hundreds!! I learned a little German here: (Drachen - Dragon, Lachen - to laugh, and Zachen- which i think is to sing but honestly i have no idea, it just rhymes) Regina (pronounced rehgheenuh) has cooked us wonderful meals of many types, my favorite being the schnitzel or currywerst or the fried potatoes! Tonight Travis and I gave them our gifts of some pecans, UNO cards, tons of A&M stuff, and don't mess with Texas bumper stickers.... (they loved all of it and said they were going to put don't mess with "us" on there instead!) 

Now for our excursion! First we went to Hannover and saw some very interesting things... Mainly the axolotl, an animal found in Mexico that has regrowth capabilities. Whenever a body part is cut off, it has the ability to regrowth that limb without the use of stem cells!! It was very neat to see! And then we went to their spider room, which was a free range spider infested room that we walked through... Creepy, I know, and they were all named too. I think I killed Fred... For our night in Hannover we relaxed with some wine and the USA bs Sweden world cup match. 

Next was the island of Norderney! (Which has been the highlight of my trip thus far.) the first day we went SWIMMING IN THE NORTH SEA after our visit to the rehab clinic on the island! This was definitely an experience of a lifetime, even though the water was cold enough to pierce diamonds. we even convinced dr. Wasser to get in! It was amazing, and the fish on the island tasted wonderful too! The next day was rather interesting and tiring though. The wattwanderung ate us alive. Whenever there is low tide (about every 12 hrs) there is no water between the islands of the north sea and the mainland of Germany.... So obviously we took a tour guide and walked across about 9 kilometers of mud to the other side. Although there was about 4 hours of painful grinding (my ankles are still cut up) this walk was VERY interesting and fun. To learn about the organisms that live in this unusual terrain was awesome, and we even got to see two crabs "doing it" as Bailey yelled out to everyone. It was awesome and people even ate raw oysters straight from the sea! Later on we went to the seal center and learned about how they take care of the lost baby seals and other interesting facts..


Next stop: Amsterdam.
Tschuss!

Procrastination is a Lifestyle

I can't believe I'm leaving for the Airport in an hour to go to Germany, a place I used to call home. I have no idea what to expect I feel like the image I have in my head from when I was younger has been edited by time. But that's okay because these 20-year-old eyes are starving for something new and adventurous to cling to and that's what they're gonna get.

I guess the main difference about this trip and all of the other ones I've been on is that in a sense I am alone. Sure I'll have my classmates and teachers there to guide and talk to but for the first time a trip won't consist of my parents dragging me into every church and museum along the way. On the weekend trips and shenanigans I'm sure we will get up to during the week I want to spend time experiencing the different cultures and meeting local people and just really getting a feeling for what each country is about.

Above all I'm incredibly excited for the 'study' part of this trip abroad. For six weeks I get spend time immersed in the history of medicine, one of the only things I've truly been passionate about. I'm sure we are going to meet so many brilliant people who are changing the face of medicine right now and what I'm hoping to gain is a sense of where I want to ultimately go with my medical career.

This trip is going to be insane and I can't wait to step off the plane into a new world that will be my home for the next 6 weeks. Just gotta finish packing. And find my darn laptop charger.

Ready for Departure

So I will be on my way to Germany in t-minus 12 hours and I could not be more excited! I am new to the whole blogging thing so you will have to bear with me while I get use to this. I am just finishing up some last minute packing and making sure I have everything I need for the trip. I am so scared I am going to forget something important and not realize it till I am on the plane or in Germany, so I am double and triple checking EVERYTHING!! I am really anxious to go to Germany. I expect to be completely culture shocking when I get there. I have never been that far away from home so I am really interested to see how other people live their lives differently than we do in the U.S. I have to say I am also really nervous, or maybe it is more excitement... I can't really tell. Either way I CANNOT wait to get to Germany and start this adventure with my fellow Aggies... WHOOP!!!
'