Anticipation

Currywurst, oh ja

Tomorrow is the day; as cliche as the phrase is, it is so close that I can feel it. From the taste of my first currywurst to the smells of the foliage and old architecture of various cities, to the sounds of languages that are both beautiful and complex and have driven me downright mad because of my futile attempts at pronunciation, I can feel it. I have been anticipating this study abroad trip for over a year, ever since I first heard about the program from an acquaintance who recently participated in the Spring 2014 History of Medicine program (Thanks, Kelsey!). Last summer, I would spend days planning out the rest of my semesters' class schedules to see how soon I could go on this journey and it is finally here.

Thankfully my classmates and Dr. Wasser seem like an engaging group of individuals (well, that is as per usual for Texas A&M) but to put the icing on the cake, my best friend, Nishah, will be participating in this program with me! The staff at AIB has also incredibly helpful (shout out to Olivia!) and I can't wait to meet them as well as Nishah's and my host family in Bonn.  I'm really looking forward to the excursions and as a pre-med, I'm especially looking forward to the visits to places that are important to the history of medicine. I would also like to explore the impact that the Nazi regime had on medical ethics discourse and study the influence that has been made on the German healthcare system.

This won't be me tomorrow!

I should probably also mention that I'm taking the MCAT for the first time tomorrow morning and will be flying out in the late afternoon; tomorrow will be crazy indeed! I also want to mention how thankful I am to my parents for funding the majority of this academic journey and for being so open to letting me travel halfway around the world for an extended amount of time! Thank you guys so much <3

Auf Wiedersehen, Amerika and Hallo Europa!

Elisa Vengalil '16