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