Next we ventured to the Axolotl and and spider silk research part of the HMM. It was so interesting to hear about the studies being conducted with both Axolotls and spider silk. We saw that the spider silk can be made into many things from clothing to scaffolds full of cells to artificially regrow organs. The spiders themselves are much bigger than I thought they would be. We were able to tour the spider room and learned that only the females spin the webs. We also learned quite a bit on Axolotl research. Axolotls are similar to salamanders except live exclusively in water instead of being amphibious. They are found in only two lakes in Mexico and are considered to be extremely endangered. There are many different colors such as goldilocks, albino, and greenish-brown. They live for about 20 years, in fact one of the Axolotls was born the same year as me! Now we get to the cool part: why they are being studied. They can regrow everything from their eyes to their organs! The research being conducted is currently still in small animal phases but I think it would be amazing to see where the research goes in the next few years.
After that we got dinner at an adorable, traditional beergarden. I got Currywurst that was really good! Then we returned to the hotel to work on our projects before leaving for Hannover bright and early in the morning.
Six a.m. comes reall fast when you're tired but after breakfast and last minute packing we were back to sleeping on the train to Nordeney! We got on the ferry and made the journey to the relaxation and rejuvenation haven. We biked around the island (so much fun!) to our hotel before trekking to the beach where Jane led an incredibly relaxing yoga session on the beach. I really really enjoyed the yoga session and it made me want to look into taking yoga classes when I get back to Texas. After that we had some time to clean up and work on our projects before the group BBQ. It was so good and so much fun!
The next day we biked to the Badehaus where we could see all of the amazing research and natural healing process of Thalasso Therapy. After that we had lunch on the lawn outside then presented our own projects on different types of alternative medicinal and healing techniques. I was partnered with Zoe to go over the Feldenkrais method which is similar to the Alexander Method. It was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais based on Judo techniques and helps people of all ages and disabilities to better their minds and bodies. After learning about all of the other presentation we were released to the spa! Yay! I began with the high salt bath which was in a cave like environment and was very relaxing. Afterwards I went into the inhalation room and breathed in the salt water before going to the 6 meter shower. We tried the watt worm which was super fun as well as the outdoor underground sauna. My favorite - and in my opinion most relaxing - was the large pool in the main room because it had huge sky lights that I just floated on my back and watched the clouds drift by. After staying there for a while, we made our way back to the hotel to change for dinner. Dinner was so good! We had an amazing view of the North Sea and ate fish. We went to the beach that night to watch the sunset then stayed after just watching the sea and talking and laughing.
The next morning we froze on our way to the mudflat hike. We saw watt worms and clams and even saw a seal poke his head out of the water! I got stuck knee deep in the mud and left with so much information - after it was translated! We ate lunch and schlepped our luggage back on the ferry then on to the train to Amsterdam!
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