Better late than never

Well this post is coming a little late after I left Berlin for the last time - but better late than never.

Before Berlin we were in Bonn for quite some time and then Hamburg & Paris for the two weekends. It was so nice being back in Bonn simply because it felt like home. I knew I could go home, lay in my bed, talk to my family back home, and then get real rest! Looking back as it's been about a week since my arrival into the states, it still feels unreal. The world seems so small compared to what I imagined in my mind. All it takes is a plane ticket and a few hours to be in a whole new environment - and that's incredible.

What I learned most from this trip is to be confident & to not take where I live for granted. Europe is amazing and I definitely believe they do some things better than the states but as the saying goes - there's no place like home. By the end I was missing my family, my friends, and the routine of school. I was even kind of wishing for a real tested final in History of Medicine just so I could study a little bit (there's the BIMS student in me coming out!).

Berlin shocked me. The concentration camp, the Jewish memorial, the fürers bunker, learning that there were still neo-nazi parties advertising in the streets. It was all very new and unexpected. I believe germany does an incredible job at not forgetting the past. And they do a great job at educating their people correctly about the holocsust and Second World War. And that is why it shocks me to learn that there are people who still hold the nazi ideology. I mean, I guess I knew that this still occurred because I have seen racism first hand in Texas but even then it was attempted to be concealed to an extent. Here it was blatant.

It was interesting to learn about the nazi era and the Cold War all at the same time. Really compared and contrasted regimes and I learned a lot about how both ends of the political spectrum if used to an extreme can be devastating.

This trip was incredible. I was happy to go home but also sad to leave. I felt totally at ease traveling around Europe at the end and was even getting a hang of the language!! But I'm excited to see how this trip will impact the coming school year and the rest of my life.

Berlin: a bitter sweet end

We hauled our stuff to the train station in Bonn ready for the final leg of our journey. Only four days left in the program and then my Dad joined me in Berlin. Our first day in Berlin we were supposed to go on a bike tour it was raining when we arrived and it got cancelled. I can't say I was too sad about this because I was pretty nervous to bike in Berlin. Our tour guide Ryan was very good on the walking tour and well as on the tour of sachsenhousen concentration camp. The concentration camp was a moving experience. It was a slight challenge to get there since an old World War II bomb was found under the train tracks, but the complicated journey was well worth it. Upon arrival we walked through the entrance gates which said work and you will be set free, or something along those lines in German. This was a somber saying and was true for some people, but for many this was a mere dream. We saw a man smiling in a photo at the gates of the camp. This made me angry and incredibly frustrated. How did he not understand the somber significance of these gates. He just stood there smiling. Disrespect makes me so angry, you don't go to a concentration camp to smile and take selfies. The most moving part of the tour for me was station Z. This was where people were killed and cremated at the camp. Only the foundations remained but that was more than enough to understand what horrifying events occurred here. Immediately when I walked inside I got chills and goosebumps over my entire body. The set up of station Z was so thought out by the SS that it made it more real to me. They blared classical music to drown the gunshots, set up the building like a clinic so the people did not know they were approaching death, and were shot while measuring their height in a way so that the SS guards never had to see the person. The killing was so methodic, so systematic, and so inhuman. The nazis dehu,aniseed Jews, gays, Bolsheviks, anyone and everyone that was different from them and whom they exterminated. We also must not dehumanize the Nazi's who performed these acts because they are humans too. It makes me sad to think that humans are capable of such atrocities. Another shocking thing to learn about at  the concentration camp was the neonazis bombing of the old Jewish barracks at the camp. It's hard to fathom people still believing in  this Nazi ideology and going to the extent to bomb the Jewish barracks.

After the moving and somber day at sachsenhousen we went to the learning center of the medical school in Berlon. This was also a highlight of Berlin because I enjoyed the hands on experiences. We got to learn how to suture and intubate. Intubating was a struggle, and I needed the camera tool to successfully do it. There were so many simulations and learning tools at the center, and to think it all started with the students. Hands on practice is really the best way to get better at anything, and I enjoyed the hands on experiences. Shadowing and volunteering is great, but there's something different about hands on learning. It got me excited about my future and medicine.

The last day in Berlin was truly bittersweet. Helen had to leave early at the ottobach institute. I really didn't think I was going to get emotional because that not who I am. But when she said by and I realized I will most likely never see her again myself along with most of the other girls started to cry. She was a great coordinator and our experiences would not have been the same without her. After that we got ready for dinner, which was a celebratory way to end the trip. The food was delicious and when the belly dancer came out and we all starting dancing and laughing it was the cherry on top. This study abroad was so much fun, I learned a lot, and I know I will be leaving a changed person.

But, with that being said I am looking forward to my Texas BBQ, comfort food, and Mexican food.

That's all,
Megs

Berlin to end the trip!

As if I didn't learn enough in the previous 4.5 weeks, our tours in Berlin taught me even more.  Every history class I've ever taken could not amount to the plethora of information I learned about World War II and the Cold War.  For example, I did not know the Soviets who liberated German concentration camps turned the camps into (essentially) neglect camps for those who had caused so much suffering during the holocaust.  I knew nothing of the Nuremberg Trials until Dr. Wasser enlightened us.  I was amazed to hear that several of the doctors on trial did not see that they were committing any crime by experimenting on concentration camp prisoners.  My distaste for socialism was heightened when learning about Soviet-controlled East Germany.  You would think our current leaders and presidential candidates would have learned from those mistakes, but their socialist ideals still persist.  It makes me sick to think that the American Dream could be a thing of the past if socialism rises in the US.  I can't wrap my head around why someone wouldn't want to try to make something of themselves instead of mooching off their neighbors.  What child dreams of growing up only to receive food stamps and Obamacare paid for by someone who actually pursued and achieved their goals?  It obviously didn't work out for East Germany, so why should we expect it to benefit America?  I could go on and on, but I will leave it at that.

I was inspired on our last day in Berlin when we visited the Otto Bock Institute.  Otto Bock is a company that engineers world class prosthetics, including those for paralympic athletes.  When I began my undergraduate studies at TAMU, I was a biomedical engineering (BMEN) major.  If I had stuck to it, prosthetics definitely would have been the track I would have chosen.  I have recently become interested in applying to physical therapy school, but I haven't felt 100% about it.  Watching demonstrations of how new technology allows prosthetists to rewire nerves and connect the prosthetic device to those nerve endings amazed me!  We watched a short video showing a man practicing using his new arm, and I thought, "Hey, what if I was a physical therapist for people with prosthetics??"  There are a lot of questions I need answered, but the idea makes me excited to further my education.  Also while we were there, we had the opportunity to race each other on a paralympic wheelchair race simulator.  Check out the video!

https://www.facebook.com/shelby.stillwell/videos/pcb.10206563253870097/10206563241069777/?type=3&theater

I beat her by milliseconds! ;)

Now the time has come to head home.  I can't believe it's over!!  I had such an amazing time with my new friends traveling Europe!  I'm so glad I seized the opportunity God laid out for me, and I hope I get to return one day.  I am itching with excitement to see my family and boyfriend now!  Ta-ta for now Europeland!

The Days are Ending

The Days are Endings

Wow!  I can’t believe that this is our last week.  It honestly feels like we just got here yesterday and here we are finally in Berlin.  This city holds so much history and with that history comes some pain.  Even today, you can still see the effects of the division across Berlin and even Germany.  When we were viewing the Berlin Wall, we happened upon some posters that were quite disturbing.  I guess you could say that these posters were very closely related to the ideals and purposes that the Nazi party was founded on.  I find it quite saddening that our world still hasn’t learned from all of its mistakes.  Coming to Europe, I was quite naïve about the ways of our world.  It is so easy to stay in my little small East Texas town bubble that you forget that there is more to the world.  I’ve learned so much on this trip and my eyes have been opened to so much.  Sure the sights were great, but it was seeing the world through a different view that was the most rewarding experience of this whole trip.

Our guide in Berlin, Ryan, was absolutely incredible.  You could think of him as a mini Dr. Wasser.  (So he is brilliant)  He was so full of knowledge and he would always throw in some small stories here and there to help keep you entertained and focused.  On the first day, we saw the memorial for the Jews.  The design was so simple yet complicated and if you happened on the site, you probably wouldn’t even know what it was.  The stones reminded me us the headstones/graves that the Jewish community never received.  Each stone is different.  I think this was an effort to try and give back their dignity that was taken away from them.  While here we saw people sitting on the stones and jumping from one to another.  I found this appalling, disturbing, and disrespectful.  It really bothered me that not more respect was shown.

While in Germany, we also visited a concentration camp.  My heart breaks just thinking about it.  Just by walking into the grounds you could feel the atmosphere change.  So much pain, hurt, and humiliation accompanied this land and it is crazy to see how the land still holds onto this.  There isn’t much that grows out there.  I think this is the Earth’s way of never letting us forget what happened there.  Upon entering the concentration camp, there was a sign that says something along the lines of “Work Can Free”.  There was a young woman who went up and posed next to the sign and smiled.  Once again, I was mortified.  I didn’t understand why someone thought it was appropriate to smile and pose next to a sign that ultimately was the signature on a death certificate.    With each turn, I learned more and more about the truly ugly crimes that were committed here.   You can learn about something in a textbook but it isn’t until you really see it, that you can fully understand the extent of what happened.  I know it is something that I will never forget.

I think our world has become too placid.  We don’t teach our children manners anymore and we don’t discipline them.  A place like this should be held with the upmost respect and I hope that one day, everyone who walks through those gates will do that.

Our last day in Berlin was probably my favorite.  We went to the ottoboc.  Here they make prosthetics for the Paralympics.  There was even a little race you could do and it was hilarious seeing how competitive everyone was.  It  was even more amazing to see how far our medical equipment has come today and how far it can still come.  The farewell dinner was actually quite sad.  The food was amazing and Dr. Wasser even surprised us with a belly dancer!  Everyone got up and joined in, so it was quite a sight!  I even got a few videos for good laughs!  It was hard to say goodbye to everyone though.  After being with each other for 39 straight days, these people become your family.  We shared so many laughs and memories that I couldn’t be more thankful for the experience this study abroad program brought me.  If you are on the fence about going, I highly encourage you to go!  Trust me!  You won’t forget it!

5 weeks

Five weeks. Five weeks is all it took to open my eyes and discover a side of myself and the world that I never knew. We all like to think that as we've grown up and are approaching college graduation that we've got everything figured out and we know exactly who we are. However, as I have learned this is not accurate at all. While this trip has not made me change my professional choice, it has opened my eyes to a side of myself that I never allowed to show.

Through this program I was given the opportunity to spend weeks with people I had only briefly seen at the two meetings we had before departure. We knew nothing about one another and we only knew a little bit about the places we would be visiting. However, after five short weeks I became very close to these girls and learned a lot about the world. The girls and I would talk and share our views and opinions. We also had to deal with a lot of attacks and things happening throughout the countries we were traveling too as well as knowing of them happening back home. One thing we don't realize or maybe we just choose to ignore, is that the violence happening is going on everywhere, not just in America or just the Middle East. These attacks are happening constantly and in a new city every time. It has never effected us personally, so we never pay much attention to the violence occurring in other places besides home. Only when we were here and traveling did we realize the severity of the way the world is headed. It's sad that our generation is coming to a point where we are scared to go into very crowded places, we hear of a shooting or an accident and are no longer in shock. It's becoming such a common thing and that is not good for the world.

I have gained a new appreciation and understanding for "foreigners". You never realize how it feels or what is is like to be a foreigner in a country until you are one. In the greater aspect, we all want, respect, patience, understanding, and a chance to be normal in an unfamiliar place. Throughout my trip I had encounters with so many nice, kind, respectful people; however, I also had several encounters with rude grumpy people. Those not so pleasant experiences made me miss home. I can only imagine what it is like to be a foreigner who has permanently moved to a new land and is struggling to fit in because so many are against allowing foreigners to settle in America.

Americans are stingy and proud people. We think we are the best in EVERYTHING and in EVERY WAY. We don't seem to want to be open to new ideas. We keep our noses in the air because we've been a top nation for so long. However, there are actually other countries with better ideas and systems than what we have. If we would stop being so conceited and actually take other ideas into play we might could solve a few of the nations issues and have a smoother system in which more citizens were happy and got along.

Berlin was the last leg of our trip. I had several emotions throughout my time there. I was confused, angry, sad, happy and all those in between within one day. I still don't quite understand how the German people allowed so much tragedy to happen to them twice. As we went to the different historical sites I was astounded at how the Germans treated the sites. People were smiling and laughing at sites where horrible things occurred. I don't know if they don't understand what happened or if they just don't care, but it hurt me to watch it. I feel like growing up in the American school system, they failed to share all the details and information with us about the events that occurred in Germany during WW2 and the time after until the wall finally fell. These events, while not all directly impacted us, are important ones to know in order to prevent history from repeating itself. The way certain groups of Americans act toward immigrants and other non-American citizens and ethnicities show a need to be more fully informed as to past events. We treat one another so harshly and with such hatred and it is truly sad what the world is coming too.

This was a slight rant and I apologize. It also kind of jumped all over the place, but it was what was on my mind from different aspects of my entire trip. I will have one final post once I have been back in the states for a while. Hopefully I will have more eye opening aspects once I am back home.

Until next time!

Grey's Anatomy in real life

A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to the university clinics in Bonn. We all got up super early, arrived at the hospital, and put scrubs on. Next we were assigned to our separate anesthesiologists and surgeries. When I met Dr. E, he was preparing for the patient to come down from ICU and quickly briefed me on the man. This guy had an abdominal aortic aneurysm after having several previous surgeries. His thrombocyte level was far below dangerously low. His pH was elevated. He wasn't clotting blood. There were several factors the doctor listed to me that indicated this would be a very complicated surgery that this poor guy may not get through. They put him on the table to take him to the OR and Dr. E hands me a huge bag to carry that's full of probably 15 bags of blood they were going to need. I've never seen so much blood. Once surgery starts, the OR gets super chaotic. There's a lot of people helping with the surgery along with all of the supervisors coming in and out to make sure everything is going right. This puts me with my back against the wall by the anesthesiologist, not being able to see past the patient's head. Looking back, I think this was a good thing since it wasn't a simple, easy fix surgery and it was the first one I have ever observed. In the first five minutes, they sucked at least a liter of blood out of his abdomen. They worked tirelessly for around two hours through several different alarms indicating various vitals were too low or too high. When they tried to close, he was too swollen and they had to wait. They also couldn't find where the blood was leaking into his abdomen and concluded it was diffusing through the vessels and he would have to have several more surgeries. I was just thankful he made it through. The longest part of his surgery was preparing him for it and to go back to ICU.

The second surgery I watched was to bypass part of a dialysis shunt in a guys arm. He had broken his arm and punctured the old shunt. I watched the anesthesiologist administer all of his medication to put him out and then intubate him. One of the same doctors from the first surgery also was doing this one, as well as two students who all helped explain to me what they were doing. The room was much calmer and I was actually able to watch them as they sewed the new shunt to the old one and took a thick metal hook and pushed it through his arm from one incision to another.

I really enjoyed getting to go to the clinics and observing surgeries. It was definitely one of my favorite days of the study abroad. I learned so much, but it made me so much more conflicted about what I want to go to school for!

Goodbye Germany

Unreal. This is the only word I can think of to describe what it feels like to be leaving Germany after three months. Once I finished strategically packing up all my clothes and souvenirs, I giddily jumped into bed. I was so excited to be going home and seeing my loved ones. I finally got settled in and that is when it hit me. I am going to be leaving the place I have called home for the last three months. While being in Germany I have learned so much, not only about the world, but also about myself. The whole reason I decided to do a study abroad trip was because I was really beginning to lose sight of myself, and Germany really helped me find it. It is so bittersweet to be going home. There is so much I haven't experienced yet, or learned and I want to stay forever and hire Dr. Wasser to be my personal museum tour guide so I can know everything.
I'm not one for clichés but.. I know it is not goodbye, it's a see you later, Germany. Thank you for all you have done for me.

Dachau and Sachsenhausen

This summer I had an opportunity to visit two concentration camps, Dachau and Sachsenhausen. Before this summer I had never been to a concentration camp and I didn't realize how heavy they would be. I also didn't know how different each camp was from the other and what they turned into during the last years of the war. Before learning everything this summer, I thought that the concentration camps were constantly killing prisoners in bulk. I didn't know this didn't happen until the later years of the war.
Something that really stuck out to me after visiting the two camps was how different they were and how similar they were. When I visited Dachau, it was sunny and hot, and when we visited Sachsenhausen it was misty and chilly. Immediately after walking through the gates of the concentration camp you see where they held roll call for the prisoners and my heart instantly fell, both times I visited. I was just complaining about the weather, even though it hardly effected me. Whereas people who lived in the camps had to stand still on these grounds for hours during roll call, and I had the audacity to mope about the weather.
But what stood out the most was the way the exterminations differed. Dachau had a working gas chamber, and Sachsenhausen mostly shot people in the backs of their head. Both were deeply saddening. In the last days of Dachau, the SS crammed as many people as they could into the gas chamber and incarcerator. When the US Troops found it they said the amount of bodies laying around were horrendous. In Sachsenhausen, we know that most people killed at this time were soviets and people who supported the communist movement. I thought it was outrageous that the Nazi's killed these people from the back like this because they didn't want it to affect their soldiers. That is something that really stood out to me. That the Nazi's didn't want to look these people in the eye when they murdered them. It was something that sort of humanized the Nazi's for me and see just how terrible of human beings they were. The Nazi's weren't monsters, or evil. When we say it like this, it dehumanizes them. The Nazi's were mass murdering human beings.

Stigmatized

The lectures on Euthanasia were very heavy and I left class in a lull. How could a group of people do such horrendous things to a race? And for no reason other than the fact that they didn’t like them. Then I began to think, Euthanasia could be used for something but it is just too stigmatized and everyone gets a little antsy when they hear the word 'euthanasia'. I have come to realize that I support physicians assisted suicide. Euthanasia wasn't always supposed to be a bad thing. It wasn't supposed to wipe out generations of people. It becomes frustrating that we have such a negative outlook on euthanasia when we could use it to help people through psychological assessments and constant monitoring. 

I have dealt with this a personally before. My grandfather suffered for years after a stroke and after his second stroke our family had to watch has he passed away slowly and painfully. Everyday he would beg the doctors to let him die, because being alive was too painful for him physically and mentally. This was also hard for our entire family to see. Instead of seeing my grandpa cracking jokes and messing around with everyone, I just saw an old man dying in a bed. I felt guilty for always thinking to myself "just let hi die already, he is suffering!" At first I though there was no way to justify these thoughts, but there was. I hated seeing my grandfather live his last two months of life miserable and begging to die. Knowing him he would have wanted to be remembered how he was before he started fading away. 

After the Euthanasia lectures this was all I could think about, but Dr. Wasser brought up so good points about how it could help people instead of hurt them, and I agree. I think we should try to get rid of the stigmatism that comes with euthanasia that way we can help the terminally ill and create a happier death for people so they won't die in agony. 

Berlin: a Look into the Past

My week in Berlin was really an excellent way to finish the trip abroad. We started out with a tour of mostly Eastern Berlin, and it quickly became clear that this city was different from most of the others we had visited. The town was divided between old and new, and (even now) somewhat between East and West. Many of the buildings were restored in such a way as to remind us of the past: pockmarks were left where bullets and shrapnel hit the sides of buildings, and ruined structures were repaired in different styles than before. We had a chance to learn in the very building where Rudolf Virchow lectured, which was partially destroyed by Allied bombings. The restored room shown in the picture below attests to both of these facts; the ruins are left mixed in, and Virchow’s lecture is shown in a photo on the wall.

We also spent a day in Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp and memorial near Oranienburg. Our trip there was delayed by over an hour due to railroad closures – an unexploded bomb had been discovered nearby and was in the process of being disarmed. This helped set the mood, as remnants of World War II still affected daily life. Visiting the concentration camp gave depth to my understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust. I saw medical facilities where human experimentation occurred, I saw inadequate living facilities once crammed with inmates, I saw the ruins where executions occurred, and I saw the crematories used afterward. I experienced emotions ranging from sorrow to anger, and understood in a gut-wrenching way the extreme results that can come when people are dehumanized.

The life that I’ve visited this week is one that the German people experiences in daily life. Most of them were not alive during this time period, but are still coping with the effects of one of the most horrifying regimes in the past. This Vergangenheitsbewältigung (a German word referring to the process of coming to terms with the past) is especially present in Berlin, and needs to remain. While the Nazi regime is no longer here, the human fears and drives that led to their rise still exist today. It is essential that we remember the past, lest we repeat it.

Top 10 Things to Know Before Traveling

My weeks in Europe have finally come to the end, and I'm 9 countries wiser and about ten times stronger from lugging God knows how many pounds of luggage around for two months. I've laughed a lot, I've cried a lot, I've screamed and shouted and wanted to pull my hair out. But hey, I'm going home tomorrow. I've almost made it... With 4 bags of memories. I've learned a lot through my time in Europe and there's a few tips I'd like to share for the future traveler.

1. PACK LIGHT. I mean this in the realest sense. Even if you're going somewhere for an extended period of time, do not pack as if you're going to be wearing a different outfit every single day. You're not. Pack a few tops, one or two nice outfits, and pants/shorts. As much as you want to say you won't buy things while you're abroad, the truth is that you will and you gotta have somewhere to put it. You do NOT want to have to pay an extra $100 (or worse, $300) to get all your stuff back to your home town.

2. DO NOT BRING ALOT OF SHOES. Seriously. I brought over 10 pairs of shoes on my trip and I probably wore 3 of them. Bring a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of sandals, and a pair of your choice. But DO NOT bring high heels, wedges or anything of the sort. I'll tell you now: you won't wear them, they're heavy, and they take up space. Leave them at home.

3. DONT PLAN EVERYTHING. Some people say "Oh, you have to make sure you book everything in advance from morning to night" and it's not true. The only thing I planned in advance was my Eurail pass (see below) and we winged everything else. Accommodation, train reservations, sights we wanted to see... We did everything last minute and it worked out for us. We ended up getting a cheaper ticket in first class than it would have been in second class going to Prague because we made a last minute reservation. We ran into Pride parades and festivals, went last minute to other countries, and saw so much culture because we didn't plan everything.

4. USE AIRBNB. Really though. Airbnb is awesome. You get the comfort of staying in a home instead of a hotel (or hostel with about 50 other people in the same room). You get to experience the culture of someone who lives wherever you're visiting. And it's CHEAP. You can also meet some cool people using Airbnb... All of our hosts were awesome and we learned a lot from them!

5. STAY OUTSIDE OF THE CITY YOU WANT TO VISIT. Chances are, you want to go somewhere big and touristy. Those places are expensive to stay. I'd recommend staying in a nearby city and use the train to go to your desired city for the day. It's way cheaper to stay in outlying cities and you get to see a lot more this way, since you're not staying in the city you want to be visiting during the day.

6. USE EURAIL PASS. If you're going to be traveling in Europe, get a eurail pass. It's the cheapest way to get around everywhere and it's really convenient. You can also get discounts sometimes on cruises and other things if you're a eurail pass holder so overall it's definitely worth it. It's also a lot cheaper than flying and there are no luggage limits on trains (although remember you're supposed to be packing light!)

7. BUY 24 HOUR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PASSES. I know public transportation can be scary sometimes, especially for us Americans. Embrace the fear and use it. It's 10x cheaper than a taxi and you get to see a lot of the city if you use something like a bus or tram! It's much quicker than walking and 24 hour passes are usually pretty cheap. You'll thank your feet at the end of the day and you'll become a public transport savvy traveler. Very valuable.

8. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE EVERYTHING. I kind of already touched on this but don't overwhelm your travels with trying to see EVERYTHING the city has to offer. Tourist attractions can be cool, but walking the city and finding a neat coffee shop can sometimes be even cooler. If you want to get to know a city, walk around. Go to a cool restaurant. Find a nice market. Don't make a strict schedule of waking up at 6:00 in the morning and trying to visit A, B, C, D, and E before dusk. You will have so much more fun and be so much less stressed if you do it this way, I promise.

9. IF YOURE AMERICAN, BE READY TO TALK ABOUT AMERICA. People in Europe meet Americans and want to talk about guns, politics, and pretty much everything else under the sun. They don't understand a lot of things going on in America and they want to get to the bottom of it quickly. Don't be rude. They don't live like Americans do and they have a strong opinion... And to be honest, they're not usually wrong. But that's a whole other story. Just be prepared for debate.

10. CALL HOME, BUT ENJOY EVERY SECOND. You get there and then you're gone. Take it from me, time goes by like nothing. While you're traveling sometimes it seems like it's going really slow, but I promise when you look back it seems like you blinked and it was over. You're gonna get homesick, you're going to be sad, and that's okay. But don't let it spoil your time. There is so much to learn from going abroad. Don't hinder that process because you're too caught up in what's going on back home. You'll be back before you know it so enjoy it while you can. You can't grow if you won't let yourself do it.

Going abroad is such an exciting adventure and I think everyone should do it. These tips will help you if you follow them, but I promise you you're still gonna make mistakes, get lost, and wonder what you're doing. ITLL BE OKAY. You'll find your way, fix your mistakes and realize what you're doing eventually. Enjoy the ride, it's shorter then you think!

Signing out... Here I come, Texas :)

Kendra

Switzerland or die trying

So we had our last weekend in Europe. Well technically, I still have one more weekend in London... But nevertheless, we had our last weekend on our own. Kelcy and I went to Switzerland and it was honestly one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. Green, blue and white dominated the landscape as you saw a million types of trees, lots of sky, and of course cloud after cloud after cloud. We took a cruise on Lake Lucerne on Saturday and we got to relax, have a few glasses of wine, and reflect on our trip here. We were both here for a long time before the Germany trip so I think we were able to bond and connect a lot quicker because we had a common ground. Baring your soul around such incredible scenery is actually really therapeutic! I'm so grateful that I've gotten to know Kelcy over the past five weeks. I think she's an amazing person and we have helped each other grow in so many ways. But anyway, back to the trip. On Sunday we went up Mt. Pilatus in Lucerne. It was absolutely incredible. It was pretty foggy so some of the views were a bit skewed, but wow was it worth it! The views of the Alps and lakes here in Switzerland are awe-inspiring. More times than not we found ourselves wondering what it would be like to wake up to these views every morning. What I've noticed, though, is that when you live somewhere, you seldom appreciate the nature and culture you're surrounded by everyday. Incredible structures turn into the cause of a traffic jam in the morning. Incredible forests become an obstacle for a new apartment complex. I really wish people could learn to appreciate the splendor they live in, even if they don't have a fancy house or a fancy car. You have the SWISS ALPS outside your door! Who cares about a Ferrari?!

We ended up running into a festival Saturday night in Lucerne with tons of street food and amazing vendors selling all sorts of things. This man from Dubai makes shoes and sells them with incredible technique and craftsmanship. These shoes were utterly stunning. Of course I had to get a pair... Or two...

These weekends have really taught Kelcy and I to learn how to be on our own. You learn a lot about a person by traveling with them and you also learn a lot about yourself. I gained a lot from traveling on the weekends, regardless of how exhausting it might be. If there's one thing I took away from the weekends, it's PACK LIGHT! You'll thank yourself later!

Bye Bye Bonn

I can hardly believe our time in Bonn has come to an end.  Meaghen and I said “tchuss” and “dankeshön” to Hilde this morning as she dropped us off at the train station for our final excursion to Berlin.  We have been so blessed to have received Hilde’s hospitality over the past few weeks!  Our host mom never failed to treat us like one of her own, or even better!  I feel honored to have gotten to live with the housing coordinator herself.  I know I now have someone who would be happy to welcome me back to Germany in the future!

Our last week in Bonn consisted of a lot of lectures and some unique adventures.  We had a few more lessons in German, a lecture over the physics of music and the ear, and  presentation over Hildegard von Bingen.  On Tuesday we visited the Cologne Zoo where were given the opportunity to pet and feed the elephants!  We also encountered some friendly (and some very silly) monkeys.  After visiting the animals, a few of us had lunch at a brewery in Cologne before making a trip to the Haribo factory in Bonn.  Haribo gummy bears originated in Bonn, so we just had to load up on authentic candy for our friends back home!

We took a tour of the Hildegard von Bingen museum on Wednesday where we learned about the visions she received from God which gave her the knowledge of the medicinal qualities of common plants.  The museum also housed a collection of ancient Roman medical instruments, some of which I never would have imagined had been around for so long!  We had lunch at a quaint cafe next to the Rhine and Dr. Wasser treated us to ice cream, and then we loaded up on a boat for our Rhine River cruise.  As if being on a boat didn’t make me giddy, scoping out all the castles and ruins along the river made for an even more magical ride.  We eventually disembarked the boat and climbed up to the ruins of a castle from the 13th century.  Though most of the castle had been destroyed in World War II, it was still pretty cool to walk through and just imagine how awesome life in a castle must have been.

A few of us spent a lazy weekend in Hamburg where we ate what I’m convinced must have been the best pasta in all of Europe!  Maddi, Shelby, and I also took a tour of a chocolate museum.  We were definitely in our element as we got to taste chocolate in all the different phases of its creation.  We even got to make our own chocolate bar, which I have (shamelessly) already eaten.  Our entire group is now heading to Berlin to wrap up our classes and tours together.  I am looking forward to our bike tour of the city this afternoon!  Next time you hear from me, I will probably be sipping tea or munching on fish and chips in London!

There's Only Grey Area

One thing that really stood out to me on this trip is that there is no such this as "black" or "white". There's no such thing as "good" and "evil". We are human, we are flawed, and there is a base evilness and a higher good in every one. What we do with the situations we are put in determines which path we take in our lives. WE determine who we are. Not our parents, not our society.

When talking about the Nazis, its easy to debase them and call them monsters, evil, or less than human. We build them up to be something other than human. After all, how could one human (or even hundreds of thousands of humans) decide to play God and determine who lives and who dies? How can they determine who is worthy of life and who is not?

But whats even worse than calling Nazi's monsters and murders is calling them HUMAN. It reminds us that this kind of doing resides in us all. The hate, the prejudice, the racism - the humanity. But I believe this is so important. In order to make sure the past is not repeated, we must recognize that there is this ability for an influential individual to call to hateful action millions of other people. That once we start pitting "us" against "them" we start a dangerous cycle. Once we start determining who is more important than others. Once we start shifting blame to an entire culture or religious faction. THAT is when we become no better than those we point our fingers at.

After WWII, the communists took over East Germany and East Berlin. Extreme socialism shook the country and left that part of the country underfed, underrepresented, and oppressed. Therefore, nowadays we have a sigma around the word socialism. But we cannot just give a blanket statement "socialism is bad".

Why?

Social Security? Socialist. Using taxpayer money to pay for elementary - high school? Socialist. Medicare? Socialist.

As Americans, we value some very important socialist constructs in our society, as demonstrated above. I believe some people fail to recognize this. I do believe that you earn what you work for. Those who work hard in an honorable profession, are passionate about what they do, and are working for something they believe in, should be rewarded.

Obviously, I am not the most politically versed individual in the world. But I do believe there are many people in the world who do not understand how our world's history can repeat itself. In order to keep our world at relative peace, we must be vigilant. We cannot jump to conclusions. There is no Right or Wrong. There is no Black or White. Nothing is perfectly Good and nothing is perfectly Bad. It would be ignorant to state otherwise.

Home is Bonn

Still in Bonn

It’s funny how I’ve come to think of Bonn as home and really, it has been.  It’s always nice coming home from a long weekend of traveling to a home cooked meal.  This past week was really uneventful compared to the past 4 weeks.  We still learned a lot and had some great experiences.  We just spent a little more time in an actual classroom.  Professor Waltz and his neurophysiology class has picked up quite a bit and I’ve found it very interesting!  I don’t have much of a musical background but having taken anatomy, it is fascinating to see how everything interacts with our body.

We were able to view the Anesthesia Museum.  There are only three of its kind.  One in London, one in Germany, and I believe the third was in Chicago. (Probably should fact check me)  What made the whole experience memorable is that it was given by a living artifact himself.  Dr … has made his own mark in anesthesiology.  It’s amazing to see how much information and knowledge he holds.  His passion for anesthesiology is evident by his enthusiasm and his willingness to share.  Walking through the tour was like walking through a time machine.  Medicine has come a long way and will continue to in the upcoming years.

The next day we ended up going to the zoo.  It was nice to have a day just as a tourist.  However, being on the program definitely had its perks because we got to have some behind the scene actions with the elephants.  This is definitely an experience I’ll never forget.  I find it amazing how animals can be so trustworthy when treated right.  They are willing to take chances on humans taking care of them.  With everything going on in the world, we could learn a few lessons.  As humans we tend to treat animals better than we would treat our own.  If we showed the same kindness and respect to humans that most of us show to animals, we would probably see a different world currently.

As the trip is coming to an end, I’ve realized how much I’m going to miss these girls.  We’ve all grown so close in such a short amount of time.  We are different in all aspects but we’ve all found something in common.  Especially on the Rhine cruise.   We were all exhausted and had a bit of a trouble hiking up the huge hill to the castle.  No one was left behind though!

We just finished our last German class!  Even though I’ve been here for almost 4 weeks, I still have not been able to pick up the language.  I’m going to get back to the states and all I’ll have to show is being able to say “hello.”  I definitely think the German was class a good idea.  I just wished we would have learned sentences that may have been a little more relevant to our situation as tourists. 

We are currently headed to Berlin!  I can’t believe that we only have 7 days left here in Europe.  The time has flown by and I feel like I just got here.