Second to Last Week, the Final Week in Bonn

Our fifth week on the program consisted of various excursions around Bonn including a visit to the Cologne Zoo on Friday. On Monday the 18^th of June, we had class as usual but then visited the organ factory in Bonn, one of the largest in Europe and certainly the largest in Germany. Organs are extremely complicated musical instruments that must be designed specifically according to the room in which they will be used. Various types of wood and materials can be used to make an organ and their size can vary tremendously. Their cost can range up to millions of dollars depending on the organ, which was quite amazing to hear.

Tuesday, the following morning, held for me by far the most rewarding experience I’ve had during this entire trip. Half of us went to the hospital that day to shadow a group of anesthesiologists, as well as witness different surgeries and procedures. We were separated into different rooms so each of us had a unique experience. I was able to witness an entire open heart surgery first hand, a truly life-changing experience for me, not only because of my interest in medicine and surgery, but because it was also the first surgery I’ve ever seen, and it was a huge one at that. Without getting into too much detail, the problem this patient  had consisted of a malfunction of the pulmonary valve that pumps blood from the right ventricle into the right atrium. Though this is usually a one-way path in a normal heart, this patient’s valve was damaged, resulting in some blood flowing back into the right ventricle. The procedure was to replace the damaged valve with an artificial one. Thankfully, everything went well and the surgery was successful. I felt many emotions during this experience, one of which was excitement as well as the realization that my path to become a physician, although a long one, will be extremely rewarding and worth it in the end.

Wednesday was a long but enjoyable day. We took a bus to the Hildegard Museum by the Rheine and got a tour by Dr. Wasser a.k.a. “Brother Jeremiah”, and learned about the ancient use of plants for medicine and natural potions. Afterwards, we had lunch and then went on a cruise on the Rheine river then climbed up to the top of the Burgruine Rheinfels castle after receiving a tour from one of the guides there.

As I mentioned at the beginning, we visited the Cologne Zoo on Friday that week and were able to go “behind the scenes” aside from getting a regular tour of the zoo. This behind the scenes experience was that of one of the zookeepers teaching us about the care and training of their elephants and how their lifestyles compare to that of wild elephants. We even got to feed one of the elephants there which was an interesting experience. It was very pleasant to hear how much better and longer the zoo elephants and other animals there live, especially given the negative connotation associated with zoos because of their captivity of wild animals. Although I can’t say this for every zoo out there, I could tell the people working at the Cologne zoo truly cared about their animals and made sure they lived comfortable and fulfilling lives which was really great to see.

To finish the week off, Matt, Paisley, Sarah, Breanna, and I went off to Switzerland for our final weekend trip. We flew into Zurich then took a train to a small town called Buchs (pronounced “books”) where we met up with one of Matt’s mom’s friend’s friend Manfred (weird I know). He was born and raised in Switzerland but went to college in Texas so his English was great. He was extremely generous and provided us with a tour of Buchs, the small country of Liechtenstein, and the cabin in which we would stay in for the weekend, all free of charge. He also provided us with all meals and a car. It was just as amazing as it sounds, if not more. Afterwards we went on small hike around the mountains surrounding the cabin. We visited the Walensee lake for a few hours and then ended the night with a BBQ at the cabin in the mountains. Finally, on Sunday which was our last day there we went on a much different hike through the rainforest and climbed up a mountain that literally reached the clouds. The view was absolutely amazing and reaching the top of that hill was an incredibly rewarding experience for all of us. This weekend was definitely my favorite from them all. It was calm yet full of adventure, refreshing, relaxing, and nature-filled. I’m really glad we chose to stay away from the big cities on this last trip because experiences like these cannot be obtained anywhere and can also change your perspective on the world, as nowadays it’s so easy to take nature and what it has to offer for granted. I’m looking forward to seeing what our final week in Berlin has in store for us!