BONN! BONN! BONN!

December 30, 2012

Halo from Bonn, Germany! I cannot believe that we finally made it safely from America across the world on a nine-hour flight and landed safely here in Germany. Our first stop…Bonn! The first “school” day we got to go to a hospital, scrub in, and watch real surgeries with real patients where I could literally reach out my hand and touch a human heart if I wanted to (unfortunately frowned upon). Honestly, there is no way to describe the thoughts going through my head when I had no idea what to expect when all of a sudden, I heard the sound of cracking ribs and then they asked, “Want to see?” I had always been a little curious about wanting to be a surgeon, but this definitely reassured me I would not be able to handle that kind of pressure. Even though I know surgery is not in my future this is my favorite experience here in Bonn so far and would have loved to have seen more surgeries. That night we were on our own and we got to go to a 500 year old restaurant where it is said that Beethoven and his wife used to dance! It was so nice and more than delicious. We had an awesome waiter that was a little opinionated, but very helpful in showing us where the “cool” discos were. This night was so much fun and definitely felt like a typical German night out on the town! It was so interesting to find out that Germans listen to American music and that we definitely dance differently than them. The next day we got to visit one of the men that helped in the development of anesthesia. He was the cutest little old man who you could see was more than passionate about his work. It felt good to actually meet and shake hands with a revolutionary man. That afternoon we toured The House of German History Museum. It was very informative and gave us a better understanding of Bonn during the war. The next day we traveled to Cologne by train. Right when we walked out of the train station we were greeted with one of the most breath taking cathedrals. They put so much thought and detail in the architecture of not only churches, but also anything that they lay their building hands on. I can only hope that one day America will jump on the bandwagon. We were typical tourist taking millions of pictures while waiting for our tour guide. She showed us around this beautiful city showing us its origins. She also took us on a guided tour underground that explained how the Romans lived including some lasting ruins. It was so amazing to be in the same place where people were standing thousands of years ago. Later that afternoon, we toured the ELDE HAUS, the headquarters of the Gestapo during the war. It was so extremely intriguing, but it gave me the chills to be in the same place that Nazis had been, prisoners were kept, tortured, and killed. I could not wrap my head around not only the concept behind the Nazis, but the fact that I was standing and walking and touching the walls and floors of the evil and the innocent. That was definitely an eventful day and night. I cannot not talk about the food here in Germany. So far so good! I have not come across anything that is not edible. A lot of the restaurants have English menus or waiters that speak English; however, I have had to point at a menu item once or twice and hope for the best. My plan for one night is to just close my eyes and point at the menu and eat that item no matter what. Cannot wait! Although, I have been fighting jetlag so far here in Bonn I am doing my best to be a very good tourist by taking pictures and using every waking moment to fill my days and surround myself in memories that I know I will not forget when getting back to the States. Tomorrow we leave for Berlin!