5 Capital Cities, 5 Weeks

In the span of just three and a half weeks, I've visited four current or former capitals of the world and will be in the fifth one by the end of this week. I've used public transportation systems of varying efficiency, drank tap water of varying sources that are far superior to College Station water (almost anything is better than CStat water, haha!), and have enjoyed meeting people of various nationalities with amazing stories to tell. I'd like to describe my experiences in the four capitals I've been to so cfar in this blog post; next week I'll blog about Berlin.
Bonn, Germany
I know that Bonn, the former capital of Germany, will always hold a special place in my heart. I can say that I truly lived in this city, although for a brief time, and got to really understand how a German version of my family back home lives like. The metro system is so ridiculously convenient that our host family rarely uses the one car they own as opposed to my family back in Dallas who has more than one car and has used Dallas Area Rapid Transit once in a blue moon. Our host family also likes to travel like my family does and I've realized the huge advantage that Germans have in being able to take 6 weeks off from work to ultimately use for vacation. Our host family goes back to visit their relatives in another country each year for a few weeks and also have the time to volunteer at an orphanage nearby their relatives' home for a few more weeks afterwards as well, which is so so so amazing! I've enjoyed my host family experience for the most part and really enjoy being here in Bonn, so close to the Rhine and many beautiful parks, universities, and architectural sites.
Vienna, Austria
Honestly I have to say that this was my favorite city I've visited in Europe. Vienna is not only relaxing, romantic, and beautiful, but it also has an amazing café culture and is amazingly historical. It makes sense why Dr. Wasser described it to us as the city that famous people go to die in. Not only is the city important to the history of music, but it is also important for the history of medicine! We visited the Josephinum which houses one of the first versions of a Body Worlds-type exhibit with wax models of human anatomy and a giant obstetrics model collection. After having shadowed an OB/Gyn for a few weeks earlier in the summer, I was so pumped to see some early accepted practices for handling difficult pregnancies that may be a bit grotesque to describe to the general reader. One thing I found intriguing about these models is that they made our internal anatomy and fetuses look perfect and that these were models used to teach medical students. I'm really glad that in the 21st century we can study these things with our huge advances in assisting technology.
Our four days spent in Vienna were my favorite part of our two week excursion because so much of what we had already learned in Dr. Wasser's lectures came to life for me in places like the Josephinum and on our historical tour with the pestartz doctor, Dr, Schnabel.
Budapest, Hungary
Nishah and I visited Budapest for our long weekend and I wrote about our visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center here. I'm really glad that we decided to travel here because the city is so rich in history. We visited the naturally formed labyrinth system under Buda Castle and saw Dracula's supposed tomb in one of the rooms, which was so cool! We also went to a Turkish bath for the first time and had a relaxing experience. The locals seemed like going there was a regular occurrence for them, but Nishah and I were intrigued by the different temperature pools and sauna rooms and amused a couple people when we jumped out of a 42 degree Celsius pool after a split second. The Hungarians were also very accommodating people and we never met someone who was too busy to help us when we needed directions. I hope to get the chance to return in the future!
Paris, France
I realize that this is the middle of tourist season and also I hope that I don't come across as sounding snooty, but Paris has an overwhelming amount of gorgeous sights overburdened by confused tourists. It was tough to truly enjoy some of the famous sites that Nishah and I went to this past weekend without getting stuck in slow-moving crowds and having to keep an eye on our possessions at all times. I also feel that Paris is over-romanticized. While we enjoyed visiting places like the Tuileries and the Musee d'Orsay, we also saw the city's raw features in less picture-perfect areas like that around our hotel in the 19th arrondissement. I did not want to close my heart to the fact that the city is rampant with poverty and immigrant communities who struggle to make this place their home and find success. In the future, I hope to be able to return with a reasonable understanding of French so that I can meet the locals to better understand this city rather than seeing it from the glass wall of a tourist's eyes.

All in all I've had an incredible study abroad experience so far. I have enjoyed being able to learn about the history of medicine as well as things about myself as a person outside of the classroom setting. Having the world as my classroom is such an enriching experience and I am so happy that I became a "yes-woman" and took the plunge to go on this journey!

Elisa Vengalil '16