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January 7- January 13

I am heading back to the U.S. soon and that makes this my final blog entry of the trip. It has been a blast to visit this part of the world, and I would like nothing more than to write about all that I have learned while abroad. However I like to use these blogs to write about the most recent week, and that means this blog is going to be about my time in Vienna and Hannover. Both cities where great, and I truly enjoyed my time leading up to the end of the trip. Maybe it is because I have become much more accustomed to living in Europe, but I think this last week was the most fun and interesting since I got here.

The week started in Hannover, where we stayed for about a day and a half. Hannover was an interesting little town that was very different from any of the other cities we visited. It felt even more peaceful and secluded than Bonn or Dresden but it had some nice features, such as a subway system, which made it feel like a much bigger city that it actually was. During our time there, we visited with two doctors at the Hannover medical school who talked to us about both medicine in Europe and their specialties. The most interesting conversation was with the heart specialist, Dr. Schmitto, who was only 35 and already a prestigious heart surgeon. It was fascinating to hear him talk about the new artificial left ventricles that they implant into people, and he even asked a patient with an implant to stop by and talk with us. Being able to talk to an expert in new technology and a patient in the same room was a neat experience that I had never had before. Even Dr. Schmitto thought it was interesting to learn about the psyche of his patient, because we asked the questions that he would not think of asking. For example, as a doctor, he would never ask "do you think about death?" because it would make his patient nervous, but we did and his answer was very interesting. He talked about how he tries to spend his time focusing on the surgery and avoiding other patients in an attempt to keep himself optimistic and ready for surgery. I thought this was fascinating and seeing the drive line actually coming out of a patients chest made the whole artificial ventricle seem much more like applied science instead of theoretical science. I mean I could hear the words when he said that they put the device into people, but it was different to actually see someone in that situation. It really made me appreciate my own health as well as the advances that are made in medicine every day.

The other most interesting thing we did in Hannover was go to the zoo. I like the zoo and it was neat to see some cold weather animals in their natural habitat. I am from Tucson originally so it has never been a problem to see African animals as they could be put outside all day pretty much everyday. However, cold weather animals could not survive in Tucson so some of the elk and bison we saw were the first I had seen in my whole life. The most impressive animal was probably the wolves, which looked very impressive with their winter manes being displayed. We also got to met the zoo vet who took the time to explain what goes on behind the scenes of the zoo. It was interesting to get to see the back stage of a zoo and learn about how zookeepers get their jobs. As fun and interesting as Hannover was, our trip to the zoo was probably the highlight of our brief time there.

The next four days we spent in Vienna. Our first day, there was fantastic as we had both a great trip through St. Stephen's Cathedral and a group meal at a typical Austrian restaurant. The cathedral was incredible, but not quite as a big as the one in Köln. Furthermore, it had a very distracting coloring pattern on its roof, which I found hard to look at. Honestly I just liked the Köln cathedral more. I find it funny that I have only been in Europe for three weeks but have already developed an opinion on which cathedral was my favorite. I mean before the trip I had never even seen a cathedral, and now I was talking like a Köln resident about how their cathedral was better because of its size, roof, and superior relic. I told Susanne how I felt and she said that the people of Köln would love me for saying that, and hearing her say that made me feel like a well informed traveler. I think my favorite part about this trip has been being educated on all of these magnificent places so that I can have an opinion beyond a typical tourists, and I wish I had more time to visit more cathedrals so that I could have an even better understanding of their beauty. At the cathedral, we had an amazing tour guide who let us know about the symbols behind each piece of art in the cathedral. For example, he told us about how lizards eating one another was a symbol of people's eternal struggle, and he showed us this design on several pieces of art in the church. Furthermore, he explained some of the statues and other attractions that were in the church floor. The two most memorable were Fredrick the III's sarcophagus and a small statue in the corner which was the prayer sight for all Venetian servants. Legend has it that a servant was accused of murder and prayed at this statue and miraculously the actual murderer was found. This made thousands of servant women choose this statue as their prayer site and the statue become brown with the ash of all the candles placed at its feet. Then we saw the catacombs underneath the cathedral. The catacombs were creepy with bones stacked on bones until the whole room would be filled. There were also the tombs of many of the Hapsburg's and there organs were stored separately in numbered jars. It was interesting to see because I never thought of Europe as a place which built sarcophagi or removed organs, I always thought that was strictly an Egyptian trait. Fun as it was to see the cathedral I must also mention the fantastic meal we had that day. We ate at Pfudl and the food was delicious. I had goulash for the first time and it was fantastic, and we all split desserts. By split desserts I mean we ordered every dessert and each had a bit, and I could not believe how good the sweets were. I think this is when I learned that Austria is famous for its desserts, and started to appreciate the difference between Austrian and American food. Unlike American food, it wasn't super sugary and caloric instead choosing to be the perfect blend of richness and flavor. This meal wrapped up a great first day in Vienna and the rest of the week was just as fun.

The next day was a blast as we visited both Pfizer and Freud's house and finished the day at an opera. Pfizer was actually one of the more interesting lectures we had, because it was done by trained corporate professionals who knew how to explain their business to a lay person. I was taught the difference between generic and original drugs, and learning the law portion of drug development was quite fascinating. Also we learned about how long it takes to make a drug, and about how costly it can be if the drug fails trails late in development. I really gained a new appreciation for pharmaceutical companies during our conversation and I think I won't be so quick to judge them in the future. Then we visited the Freud museum which was created in Freud's actual house. It was neat to see all the rooms in their original state, and it was interesting to see Freud's unique collection of figures. Apparently he had become addicted to travel as an older man and would collect trinkets which he put in his office. It created an almost odd voodoo feeling to the room and I think his trinkets added a lot to the myth of Sigmund Freud. As cool as it was to see Freud's house, I think the highlight of the day was probably seeing the L'tania in Algeri opera at the State Opera in Vienna. This opera was not only fantastic, but the atmosphere was incredible. I would say that seeing an opera in Vienna is like seeing a Broadway musical in New York as both places are known worldwide for their excellence. It is a special kind of experience to see art in such a prestigious location, and I think that this made the opera much more fun. The opera itself was comedic and entertaining, especially because they had English subtitles on the personal display in front of me so that I could understand it. It was an evening to remember and it ended a nice day in Vienna.

The last couple of days of the trip have gone by so fast. We went to several museums on our last days in Vienna, but I think the most memorable moments came from talking to Venetians. When we toured around the medical school we were lead by a Venetian medical school student who I had the pleasure of talking to. She had visited America and we spent most our conversation talking about the differences between the two countries. She admitted that she liked the American system of medical education more, because she thought that 18 was too early to pick your career. She was also quite envious of the fact that we get to go to college and asked me if it was as fun as it seemed. I told her that it was fun but that it was much more difficult to get into medical school because of the extra layer of vetting created by college. She was surprised when I mentioned that as an undergraduate Americans were expected to volunteer, do research, and interview to have the opportunity to go into medical school. We talked about other simple things too. For example, she could not believe that in America we each have our own car and that there were enough parking spaces for everyone. Also she did not understand that there were cultural differences between different areas of the country. I almost got mad when she insinuated that New Yorkers were like Texans, but then I realized I make these assumptions about other people all the time. I mean I have thought that a Mexican and Ecuadorian are the same before, and now I realize how that thought could be offensive to somebody. This was just one example of many conversations I had with Austrians while here, and I think that these interactions were maybe the most crucial things I did in order to learn about Austrian culture.

The only other thing I can remember about our last days in Vienna was the fantastic farewell meal we had as a group our last night. I feel like I have gotten pretty close with my classmates and it was hard to say goodbye in the end. Although the food was good and the spirits were high, I could not help but feel like I wish I had more time. It has been a blast to visit Europe this Winter and I hope I get to go again someday.