Thursday, August 07, 2014

Paris, Elephants and Surgeries! Aug 2nd 2014

There are only 4 more days left for this trip to end. We are on our way to Berlin, and this week had a bucket of fun and surprises. After coming back to Bonn from Norderney, Elisa and I left the very next day to Paris. However, the experience was not as I expected. We landed in a very sketchy area of Paris and found an angel to guide us to our hotel. For the next two days, Elisa and I were always on the look out for danger. Nevertheless, we ventured early in the morning to Angelina’s to get hot chocolate and chocolate croissant. Too much chocolate, I know. Next, we walked to the Louvre museum and took pictures. The line was horribly long since it was the last day of the Tour de France. We went to Orsay museum, saw the Eiffel Tower and visited the Notre Dame Cathedral. An unfortunate event happened on the last day of our small weekend in Paris, and that was the end of everything. This to all future travelers to Paris: NEVER lose or throw your ticket away. 
Anyway, Monday was a day full of lectures. Sounds like an okay start, but this past week we had the chance to go behind the scenes and experience zoo keeping at a deeper level. It was great fun to visit the zoo after so many years, and I loved seeing the animals. We even got to feed elephants, which was not allowed for the public to do. The very next day, we woke up early in the morning to visit the hospital in Bonn. We were divided into operation theaters and I was placed alone in a general surgery room. I was fortunate enough to see three surgeries back to back. The first surgery I saw was a man who had carcinoma on his scrotum. The second one was a little 10 year old boy with moving testicles. What I found interesting about this surgery was the way the physicians took the testicle out and pushed it into the scrotum using a string. The third one was a little 7 year old who had lymphoma in the glands of her throat. Overall, experiencing these surgeries was not something I expected, but a physician has to deal with this one day. I am very grateful and feel blessed to have had the chance to experience not one, but multiple surgeries for the first time. I had decided in the past that perhaps surgery is not meant for me, but now I wouldn’t mind considering it as a future career. The anesthesiologist who I shadowed was also very friendly. On Thursday, we visited the museum on Hildegard and her garden, and we gave our second presentations. 



We are now on the way to Berlin, and it has been a great 2 weeks in Bonn. I will miss the city and AIB tremendously. Hope to come back some day. 

No comments: