Reflection During My Last Night in Köln

As I sit at my aunt's house, I reflect everyday on how amazing this study abroad program was. For me, Berlin was the perfect end to a fantastic program. The city reminded me of a super-expanded Austin (my hometown). The city was vibrant, eclectic, hipster, edgy, and unique--everything I love! Though we viewed an extensive amount of the city, I feel that I could spend weeks there and still not see everything Berlin has to offer. Some of the highlights of our last week included a trip to the Ottobock Institute for prosthetics, a bike tour around Berlin, the School of Medicine in Charite, the Reichstag, the East Side Gallery the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and a farewell dinner at the Kasbah. Each visit could be a blog post on its own so I'll only discuss the medical school, the concentration camp, and the Kasbah.

The visit to the School of Medicine in Charite was a very fun one. A nice medical student there explained the peer lead tutoring system and the ways that medical school students help each other out. Afterwards, two students showed us how to intubate, basic suture technique, and showed us various conditions using a model ("Sam") and a stethoscope. While it wasn't anything near the excitement of the Uni-Clinic where I watched open heart surgery, it was still a great experience! For my entire life, I've been a slow-learner. This was evident in our mini "clinical lesson". Suturing was a struggle for me... and as an aspiring PA in Sports Medicine, I'll need to learn! However, I can say that I tried my best and moving forward, I have a tiny bit of experience to work from!

In a way, the visit to the Sachenhausen concentration camp was the highlight of Berlin. The instant we saw the photos leading into the camp, I could feel that the grounds were rich in history. When I saw the sign "Arbeit Macht Frei", I knew something was different; I'd never experienced a similar environment. Oddly, I found myself getting more and more emotional as the tour went. We visited the area where the inmates were killed, their barracks, the treatment of the prisoners, and a glimpse of their stories. One piece of information I never knew was the fact that enemies of the Nazis--whether Jews, homosexuals, Catholics, French, British, Polish, etc.--were thrown into concentration camps. The focus in the history curriculum I learned from only discussed the Jews. The entire visit was an eye-opening and humbling experience. By the end of the day, I was in tears. Luckily, my sunglasses covered up my eyes extensively.

Finally, the Kasbah, our farewell dinner. The restaurant was a beautiful Moroccan venue with classic Moroccan dishes such as Tajine and Couscous. I had the Lamb Tajine and some Creme Brulee for dessert--delicious! I have never tried Moroccan food before, so it was a nice end to the program. The dinner was extremely bittersweet. It consisted of the usual: laughter, funny stories, reminiscing, jokes, selfies, photos of our food. However, we knew it was our last night. We discussed our favourite memories, our favourite visits, our favourite moments, and how our friendships would continue beyond the program. I never quite understood how people seemed to be such great friends after study abroads, but I now understand. In a foreign country, you depend on these complete strangers. You have to depend on these people to find correct directions, figure out menus, and travelling non-stop together always leads to deep conversations. I truly believe that our study abroad group was special. Looking back, I would not change a single thing that happened.

           Creme Brulee (Left)
           Lamb Tajine (Below)


As I sit here at my aunt's house during my last night in Germany, I feel relief; I'm very ready to go home. The exhaustion of travelling non-stop, eating foreign foods, not getting enough sleep, and seeing so much in a short period of time, has caught up to me. I miss air conditioning, dryers, free bathrooms and water, chips + queso/salsa/guacamole, my dogs, my family, and my friends. I do not think I'll fully appreciate this experience until I'm back in the States. I will say though--Dr. Wasser and Olivia were absolutely amazing. They've crafted the program over the years and it was incredible. I hope our paths cross again someday! This visit has had a huge impact on me; I've even dropped Medical Terminology to take German 101 this coming Fall semester! Even though it is goodbye for now, I will be back in Germany someday. But first, let me take a selfie:

                          AUF WIEDERSEHEN, DEUTSCHLAND!!!