Squad is on the move

The first day back in Bonn, we hit the ground running. We hopped on a train in the afternoon back to Cologne to go see the zoo. Who doesn’t love zoos right? And with the promise of a behind the scenes tour of the elephant exhibit I was pretty dang excited. I have to admit though I definitely let out an audible laugh when our guide first took us to a pen with a pig in it. And then there was the goat pen, followed by the cow pen. As we walked, all I could think was “Wow they sure do things different here considering we don’t keep cows in our zoos, can we just see the giraffes already”? It was a rushed tour through the other parts of the zoo because it does cover a vast area and we had lots to see. Our tour guide managed to make several of us angry as she called out Americans many times. #rude. Starting with explaining how she didn’t understand why we only keep our monkeys inside even though that’s not true and then finishing with “Americans are so lazy, you can’t expect them to walk up a hill”. However, we were keeping up with her step for step up the inclined path and all. #rantover. The elephant exhibit was really cool though. We were able to walk through their enclosure since all the elephants were inside for the time being. After that we toured the whole inside of the elephant house and got a tour from one of the keepers. He had so much to tell us and I learned a lot from that day. I even got to thinking how cool it would be to shadow a zoo vet or maybe even work as one.

Day 2 back in Bonn was an EARLY one. As in 5:30 EARLY! We had to make sure we made it to the station in time to catch the bus to the Uniclinics because surgeons and their surgeries sure love early mornings. Once there we changed into scrubs and crocs (lol..we looked real cute) and put on the masks and head covers. Each of us were placed into different “surgery theatres” as they call them, and left to spend the rest of our morning observing. Luckily I got an awesome anesthesiologist who did her best to translate everything she could, and the rest I could just infer (thanks Grey’s Anatomy). My first thought walking into the surgery suite was “Oh my what is going on here as our patients legs were up in the air in stirrups”? Come to find out once things were explained to me, it was a simple wound vac replacement and it shouldn’t take too long. Once my anesthesiologist finished explaining all she wanted to, she guided me around all the sterile equipment and trays so I had a great vantage point to watch from. After that, our next patient came in from isolation. I was instructed to gown up and then after surgery we would be changing our scrubs and shoes. She taught me how they intubate the patients and everything that she is responsible for and then even let me extubate him once surgery was over. Our last surgery that I got to be part of went a little different than planned. Our patient was awake at first for the scheduled procedure, but when the plans changed all the moving parts started going. My anesthesiologist started yelling at me to grab this, this, this, and that. However, I think the real confused look on my face tipped her off that I don’t speak German, didn’t have a clue what she was saying, and that I needed the English translation. She realized what had happened and then repeated herself in a language I could understand. It was neat to be able to help out some while I was there as well as getting the behind the scenes look at what surgery is really like.

On Wednesday, we went to Bingen to take a Rhine Cruise, see the Hildegard von Bingen museum, and visit the Rheinfels castle. The castle tour was incredibly cool. We learned the history behind it and also got to walk through the mine tunnel. While some members of the group had to duck their heads, being short came in handy, as I was able to walk upright the whole time.

Thursday we found out all we needed to know for Berlin and then took a quick trip to an art exhibition.

Friday morning started of a tad too early for my liking, especially after staying out a little later than we should’ve Thursday night. Although my uncanny knack for being able to basically sleep anywhere once again came in clutch as I basically slept through the entire train ride to Berlin. On this trip I have also learned that I can sleep while standing up proving that when tired enough, one can sleep anywhere. After the much needed sleep, we rallied, ate, checked in to the hotel, and then started our bike tour. Norderney bike ride: Not scary at all. Berlin bike ride: Hella scary. Big city + 17 people on bikes doesn’t sound so safe now does it? Luckily our guide would stop periodically so we could actually see the city because I was far too concerned with not getting run over to pay attention while riding. They also have this wonderful festival going on in Alexanderplatz all day and most of the night. To the random British guy who approached our table saying, “Why aren’t you all fat? Because all Americans are fat” is not the way to a girl’s heart, especially not a table full of them. Got it bud? There were tons of food shacks, souvenir stands, and of course plenty of beer to choose from. I’ve loved the festival and think it made Berlin even better. I definitely wasn’t expecting to like Berlin, but it has in fact stolen my heart.

Saturday started off solemn with a visit to Sachsenhausen. I had previously been to Dachau last summer while in Munich and they were similar in ways, but also vastly different. I felt like each had their own feel to them, which was neat to be able to compare the two. Both were nevertheless quite ominous, although very important in my opinion to go see. In the afternoon we walked along the largest standing stretch of the Berlin Wall that remains. It is now called the East Side Gallery and is spray-painted to depict many different scenes from that time in history. After the wall, Lindsay and I found a hockey store! I found out Berlin has a team called the Ice Bears, and since my brother has played hockey from a young, I figured there was no better souvenir.

Sunday was back to medical things as we took a visit to the Charité. There we were able to talk with a med student and experience some hands on things they use for practice. Students originally designed the learning center so they would have a place to practice their skills before needing them in a critical situation. After the learning center, Tiny Tom gave us what might have been the most entertaining tour of the Charité Museum. He has the running record of all the guides for making 5 people faint during his tours; I found this to be quite funny.

Once Monday arrived, the feels came with it. Knowing this was our last day in Berlin, but more importantly our last day in Europe, I tried to soak up every last bit of it as I could. The Reichstag made for a cool visit that was out of the ordinary for us. This is the German Parliament building and its also very eye catching from the exterior. After the guided tour of the inside, we made our way into the dome on the outside and wound our way to the top to catch a bird’s eye view of the city. Note to tourists: DON’T pull out a flag from TAMU on it and try to take a picture. It will not work in your favor as there will soon be a security officer questioning you (in German) and you trying to explain this is a university flag and even going as far as almost pulling out student IDs. Cue Helen to the rescue. Crisis averted and picture taken. All est gut! After the Reichstag the Otto Bock Institute was calling out names. Super cool building full of prosthesis technology. We learned about different prosthetics and the science behind them and the technology that goes into it, and were even able to play with many of them. Its incredible to see what science can do for people in terms of giving them their independence and mobility back.

The last supper was at a Kurdish restaurant right next to our hotel and we were told to expect a few surprises. With Helen and Dr. Wasser telling us to expect a surprise, we had no idea what to expect. Our first surprise was a really sweet old man who played a few songs on the piano for us. Our next surprise visit ramped things up a bit. All the sudden lights went off and music began and out comes a belly dancer sashaying across the restaurant. Needless to say, the entire group ended up on their feet dancing and clapping and having a good ole time. Well played guys, well played for the last supper. Our whole last day was full of mixed feelings for me as I was equal parts upset to be leaving Deutschland and happy to be returning to Merica. Ready or not to be leaving though, Tuesday morning came early with 4:15am taxi rides to the airport. As I sit here finishing this blog, I’m on the long haul flight home with 6 hours left to go and a raging case of plane butt. Thoughts on reverse culture shock coming to print in the next 5 weeks.