Blog 11: Reflection

Its officially been over a week since I left Europe. I got to spend some extra time in London with family where I got to visit Westminster Abby, Waterloo station, Big Ben, the Churchill war rooms, Kew gardens, Buckingham palace, saint johns park, and more. I'm thankful that visit came after the program. My aunt likes to walk very fast and encouraged me to go explore the city in the evenings. I cant imagine trying to navigate the city or the transportation system by myself before. I'm sure I would of managed somehow. I had to start somewhere…

Now that I'm back in the states I have this weird feeling that it never happened. That I was just in a coma and it was all a dream. I have pictures and memories but it really went by so fast. I think it also helped that my culture shock when I arrived and reverse culture shock returning was very minimal if not nonexistent. I think the most stressful part about the first week was navigating the public transportation and the bathrooms. Not necessarily that you had to pay for some of them( I didn’t encounter those until Koblenz), but the fact that the toilets were buttons instead of flushable handles seems to really freak me out for some reason. That and the fact that I got locked in a stall in Frankfurt not 3 hours after we arrived. I do feel like a different person. 7 weeks isn’t a significantly long amount of time, and I'm a firm believer any permanent changes take time and practice and patience to achieve, but I do feel different. I went in with an open mind, ready to meet people and learn about the world and myself  and I did come back with some new self discoveries. First off, although I loved to travel and explore and meet people, I learned that down time is a very important thing for me. I like to give 110 percent of myself in everything I do(what's the point of doing something if your not going to really commit to it), but when the social activities and learning opportunities come in a non-stop stream it can be overwhelming. I really wanted to do it all, which is why I think I got sick twice. I was pushing myself to hard to do everything, when realistically I should of just done my research and really committed to a few experiences and allotted myself more time to rest and reflect. I found on the days where I had to stay home because of a migraine or bronchitis that I felt like I was missing out, where as if I had planned time for myself i likely would of been more content with the alone time. The second major lesson that I learned is that I can(for the most part) take care of myself. AIB really wanted us to have all the resources we needed in the case of an emergency(primarily phone numbers and German cellphones), but in reality I really spent most of the free time on the trip relying on the people I just met at the beginning of the program or myself. In general we had a really amazing group of people, but there were several occasions that reminded me that ultimately I'm the only one responsible for myself. I don’t feel bad that I cant drink like some of the people I met in the program or some of the locals. I learned the value of knowing your own limits and how important that is. In Prague I got too intoxicated for my own good and could have had an especially bad night if I didn’t spot some fellow ags on the way home. That was my fault, and I think about it often. Another outcome of this trip is I have absolutely no money left. I really did not budget like I should have. That's been fairly stressful, but it was also a wake up call. I start working again in August.

A lot of people ask me what my favorite place is and its really hard to pick one. There's so much history and culture everywhere we went. I really appreciated having Dr. Wasser as a professor. He really opened my 20 year old American eyes to some amazing things. There's no way that I would think to research a random plaque on a building or on the ground, but with his guidance it was a regular thing to find stories in the most unexpected places. These past few weeks have been non-stop new experiences, and I think overall a very successful first exposure to travel and European culture. You can bet ill be back. 

Tschuss!

Blog 10: Exploring Berlin

The final day in Bonn really did not feel like the final day. I found myself on the tram home realizing that would be my last tram ride home from AIB. Forever. Then I flashback to all the lasts I've had and realize how I went about my business without really trying to savor the moment. I'm not sure I necessarily regret this. I do wonder if I would of tried to savor those moments more if I realized the end was so near. Ultimately my last night in the city is uneventful, just a relaxing evening with the host family.

Of course it’s the last day and I miss my bus. I end up arriving at HBF right on time though. When we were all together, the catching and missing of trains on the way to Berlin came naturally. I know if that were our first week I would have been more stressed out, but after missing upwards of 30 connections(I'm guessing, but that number doesn’t sound unreasonable.) missing one train because the one we were on was late, was just a fact of life and easy to not worry about. We found another train and had to sit in free, unreserved seats. There were many stops between Bonn and Berlin, and at every one of these stops more people would enter the train, kicking out some people in our group and forcing them to relocate. When we finally made it to Berlin the trip to the hotel seemed to take forever. Its always exhausting to walk somewhere new because you don't know how much farther there is to walk. Of course dragging over 50 pounds of luggage didn't help.

We didn't have much time to relax in our new hotel rooms, as we had a bike tour to get to. On the bike tour we got to see many different places of significance in Berlin, including a set of stairs where Hitler gave a speech, the Berlin wall, and the Holocaust memorial. The Holocaust memorial really did an excellent job of making those who walk through it feel small and alone. also i can definitely say the bike ride in Berlin was much easier than the one in Norderney, the helmets were weird to adjust to but considering we were weaving in and out of traffic and around pedestrians i understand why we were required to wear them.

The next day was our trip to the concentration camp. It was more than half an hour(or so it felt) on the tram and the 15 min of walking. We got brief lessons before entering each part of the camp. Learning about Nazi Germany in a classroom is one thing but actually being at the same place it all happened is a totally different experience. I couldn't help imagining my classmates and I as prisoners at the camp. After all we were the prime working aged. the accounts of what happened on those grounds really is an excellent example of how how evil exists in our world. What really got to me was the sign that translated to "work will set you free". First off the fact that these words were on the gate that physically kept the people inside from being free was  crazy.  Then you have the fact that the real freedom for those sent here was death. They didn't know when the war would end or if they would ever be rescued or released so in the end it was work till you die...then and only then you were finally free. Thinking about it still gives me chills.

That evening we were supposed to have lunch at the potato basement(I don't recall the actual name, but it was underground and they served potato almost exclusively). However as soon as the waiter heads off to start on our drink order, I'm summoned by Henning and we learn we have to leave without our food to get to my doctors appointment. The sick feeling I described in earlier blogs had only worsened. We make it to the clinic right on time and do the typical check in and filling out a bit of paper work. With Hennings translation assistance we get it all filled out with no problems. After about 10 min I'm called in to see the doctor. I don't sit on a bed with a white sheet on it, I just sit across from him at his desks and he asks me about my symptoms. I describe the coughing, the difficulty breathing, and sore throat that have been bugging me for the past few days with no signs of improvement. After examining my breathing with a stethoscope he determines I have a simple case of bronchitis, and gives my some prescription medicine to help fight it off, and sleep better. The final bill for the appointment was around 30 euros with no insurance, and the medicine was about 20. This seemed significantly cheaper than if I were to have the same appointment and medicine prescribed in the US. That didn't surprise me. After picking up the medicine we learn that our lunch with the rest of the group had come and gone so we stop at a Greek food place on the way back to the hotel. That night I really wanted to go out but ultimately my body was not having it so I stayed home with Emily for the rest of the evening. Which might not have been a bad choice considering the purse snatchers and aggressive club goers that seemed to find the group of students that went out that night.

Our third full day in Berlin and I start feeling a little better. We got to the alchemy museum and it's a beautiful collection of art, history, and science. For lunch most everyone went to this restaurant in a covered plaza to avoid the rain while found a Starbucks and worked on my paper by myself. I knew I wasn't going to want to do it after the blink 182 concert. but i met up with them later to get gelato and walk to the ottobock. I didn't realize there were going to be so many interactive displays. The whole place was filled with learning opportunities. I had just completed A&P 1 at A&M before this program so i was quite familiar with bones muscles ligaments tendons and joints.  We had some free time after the prosthetic place, but i was too tired to go out. instead i took a nap before the concert that.  Getting to see blink 182 live was truly awesome. There was so much angst in the air and everyone was having a good time. I couldn't really have more than one beer considering my health status so i was noticeably more sober than my friends but i still had a good time. 

That night we went to the same place Henning and I stopped at the other day and got Doner and Falafels. I got back to the hotel and fell straight asleep trying to recharge as much as I could before our last full day in Germany. The last day in Germany felt very similar to the last day in Bonn, like it couldn't possibly be the last. The Hero's Journey was coming to a close and I wasn't ready to stop traveling. Luckily I had a new adventure waiting for me just 3 hours away in London...

Blog 9: Surgery Takes a Lot of Time

Our 5th week in Germany included visits to Bingen, the Bonn hospital and the cologne zoo.

Hildigard van Bingen was a bad ass, there's no other way to say it. Visiting her museum and the hilde-garden. Was a really interesting experience. It was one of those moments I wish there was more English descriptions or that I spoke German better. But hearing the history of her life as told by Dr. Wasser was still quite a learning experience. His improptu vocal performance was also quite entertaining, and pleasant. The "lunch" was more like an appetizer, but it was tasty and I always enjoy trying new foods. I especially enjoyed the light and cool white wine, it was a great complement to the rather hot day. The Rhine cruise was much more chill than I was expecting. It was nice to get to sit and see the beautiful German hillsides pass us by. After the cruise we took a quick hike up to see a castle, maybe even a little too quick for comfort. The view ended up being worth it though, which has been a theme throughout this trip.

My day to observe surgery was a Thursday. After scrubbing the attending in my assigned area directed me to a room where a team was preparing to remove a nondual from a mans vocal cords. The breathing and anesthesia situation was tricky since they were operating in his throat they couldn’t intubate like they traditionally do. When they finally got him to go to sleep(he needed a larger does of anesthesia) they used a laser to remove it. Easy peasy, this surgery was done pretty quick. The next patient had cancer and came in to get some infected lymph nodes and nerves removed. Watching the initial cuts and removals was interesting but this surgery was going on for 3+ hours and was basically the same monotonous poking, prodding, and cutting. It was actually the surgeon who asked me why I was sticking around for so long when it was such a beautiful day outside, so I took his advice.

 

That Friday was our visit to the Cologne zoo. It seemed just like a regular zoo, not outstandingly special. That is until we got to meet the elephant. That was definitely the highlight of my day and probably my week. there were two particular photos found reminded me of my self and of Karen if we were elephants:

Me as an elephant:                                                                    Karen as an elephant:

That weekend we planned to go explore the Eiffel region but my body was just not having it, so I ended up spending my last free weekend in my room at my host families house sleeping and eating lots of bread, not exactly how I pictured it. But it was nice to get a break from tavel after doing it basically nonstop for the previous 5 weeks.

Berlin and... Dang it's already over

Kind of a bittersweet feeling. I’m super pumped to be heading to Berlin, but at the same time it’s my last day in Bonn, a place that I’ve called home during these past few weeks, and it’s the last week of the entire program as well.

The last day in Bonn was great, I ended the day at a local winery with my host family and host “grandparents”. Me, Carter, Dae, and Paisley had a wonderful last dinner underneath the hills filled with vineyards outside of Bonn on the other side of the Rhine. I’m definitely going to miss my host family after they so kindly made me one of the family for the summer. They even gave me a book of Bonn to remember all the highlights of this cool little city on the Rhine.

The next day we carried all of our luggage from the entire trip (a huge pain hahah) to the train station and departed on our final excursion to Berlin. Berlin was such an interesting city. It had such an Austin/hip vibe to it as being such a modern city, combined with the extensive amount of history from World War II and the Berlin Wall Era. Our opening city bike tour guide showed us all the big sites from the Victory Gate to Parliamentary building as well as remains of the Berlin Wall separating East/West Berlin into two sectors. Sidenote: this bike tour was much more successful with way fewer crashes than our Norderney experience. A couple of my favorite history lessons learned from the tour were when we visited Hitler’s old palace and bunker where he eventually killed himself, which in present day is a hotel and parking lot. If just passing by, I would have had no idea the things that happened right below my own two feet. Another thing I really enjoyed were the stories about “East Berliners” as they were referred to in the Communist sector of Berlin, attempting to escape over a progressively more dangerous wall that was reinforced and expanded upon for years until it finally came down in 1989. One thing that was really hard hitting was a spray painted graffiti message on the West side of the wall that said “To Astrid: Maybe one day we will be together again”. Dang I can’t even comprehend the hardships faced by families split up and kept apart because of the wall.

Another thing that was really intense to see was the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin, one of the model camps for future concentration and death camps spread across Europe. Being inside there, something felt a little bit off. I felt a little bit uncomfortable standing and taking pictures of a place where people were taken, because of race/religion/difference, as prisoners and held in such terrible conditions and forced to work to keep the Nazi campaign afloat. I don’t want to spend much time on this, because it really is hard to write about as someone that hasn’t felt anywhere near the pain that the people here had to endure. One thing that was interesting though, when the camp was liberated, it was still used by the Soviets as POW camp where similar mistreatment continued to happen. Which is crazy to me. How was it still being for somewhat similar purposes after they fought to liberate it?

We did some pretty interesting things in Berlin from a medical perspective as well. We visited a German medical school as well as a prosthetic leg/arm company in Berlin called “Autobock”. That was probably the highlight of the city for me from a learning standpoint as a Biomedical Engineer, learning a little behind the biomechanics, controls, and struggles for each of these replacement legs and arms/hands. That combined with the history of the company stemming from WWI where there was a very high need for solutions for amputee patients.

Now on to some more fun things. On Thursday night a lot of us went to a Blink 182 concert right outside of Berlin, that was a blast, wow. I’m not much of a Blink fan but being there with all my new friends, whom I’ve grown super close to over the past few weeks, just jamming out and singing every song we knew was so much fun. And to make things even more interesting it was pouring rain the whole night, so all of us were running around in ponchos with umbrellas trying to stay dry, to no avail. That was probably the best night we had here in Berlin.

The last day of the program, our going away dinner. I really couldn’t believe how fast it went by that the last night all together was upon us. Dinner was a blast and the food was amazing, Henning even gave us all signed copies of his fire new album that I’m gonna be jamming the rest of the summer. Looking back on that night, it’s sad that it’s all over, but with all the experiences we’ve gone through together and the adventures through a foreign country we’ve had, I can’t help but be excited to keep expanding on these new relationships I’ve made and to see how I’ve grown from such an enlightening experience.

That’s all folks. What a summer. I’m so thankful and glad that I got the opportunity to study abroad with such good people by my side; from my professors/directors, to all my new friends going through the program with me, and all the people I met along the way from various different countries.

Auf Wedersen, Deutschland. Hopefully I’ll be back someday.

I’ll be traveling to Spain and Italy after the program so the adventure isn’t quite over yet. Tshcuss for now!

Bonn and Manfred

Alright where to start. It is our last full week in Bonn and I felt like we just got here. After traveling around Europe at lightening speed on the weekends, coming back to the homey city of Bonn is always a relief. We did a lot of cool things this week.

On Tuesday half of our group went to the University Hospital to observe surgeries. I have got to say I was hardly prepared for what I was going to see. I have seen routine surgeries before; orthopedic, urology, general, ophthalmology, but never anything like I witnessed there. We scrubbed up and the head anesthesiologist took to me to my room and introduced me to the doctors and nurses. He told me I would be observing a Coronary Bypass Heart Surgery on a patient that recently had a heart attack. The surgeon sawed through the sternum of the patient and pushed apart the lungs and right in front of me was the beating heart. Holy Sh**ße, as you would say in “Germanglish”. I have never seen anything like that before. I was positioned probably 1 foot from the patients open chest cavity. I wasn’t exactly sure how a coronary bypass procedure was done, and I learned a lot from witnessing these surgeons in action. At the same time the doctor was opening up the chest, two more physicians/assistants were cutting open the patient’s leg in order to get a venous graft to use for the bypassing loop. They used a machine that acted as the heart/lungs to take blood from the venous return, oxidize it, bypass the heart, and have it sent on its way to the rest of the body so the patient had proper blood flow to his brain and other organs. The doctor’s successfully attached the grafts and nearly 7 hours later the heart was beating on it’s own again. You better believed I stayed there the entire time. That night we all shared our surgical experiences in the University of Bonn Park until dark. (Ask Paisley and Marissa about the surgery they observed :0 )

The next day was another early one as well. We took a bus down the river and cruised down the Rhein on a huge cruise ship. I think we saw legitimately 100 castles lining the river and even got to hike up to the top of the Rheinfels castle for a little tour, soup, and drinks. But this wasn’t the last time we hiked up to the castle, Paisley left her purse there (oops) so the next day we went all the way back an hour away by train and sprinting up and down the hills in the rain. We got to the top and relaxed under an umbrella, storming all around us, and had a great meal overlooking the River Rhein.

There was another excursion on Friday, this time to the Cologne Zoo. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to one and the animals at the Austin Zoo don’t really compare. I had to leave a little bit early to catch a flight to our next weekend destination, and missed the feeding of the elephants :(. I wish we could’ve stay for that considering our flight was delayed for 3 hours……….

It was all worth it though. Sarah, Miguel, Bre, Paisley, and I headed to Switzerland and it was legitimately the coolest place I have visited in Europe. We quickly went from Zurich by train to a little town called Buchs SG on the border of Lichtenstein and surrounded by the Sevelen Mountains. This secluded small town was the exact opposite of other big cities that we visited like Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, ect, and I loved it so much. The main reason for enjoying our short weekend to Buchs was our gracious host who was a friend of my mom’s friend, totally random, never met the guy, but was one of the nicest and happiest people I have ever met; Manfred. He’s a biomedical engineer and co-owner of an orthopedic device company (pretty much what I want to do with biomedical engineering) in Houston who studied his undergrad in Zurich and obtained his masters at UT in Austin. I reached out to him and honestly did not expect anything to come of it, but I’m so glad that I did. He invited us to stay a night up in his secluded mountain cabin, which we all thought was too good to be true. Upon arriving in Buchs, he gave us a tour across the border to the neighboring, insanely tiny, country of Lichtenstein and then the oldest part of Buchs right on a little pond. After the short little tour, we stopped at the grocery store to stock up on food and Swiss chocolate, and Manfred insisted on paying for it all!! And then he let us borrow his car for the weekend!! I really can’t put into words how welcoming and helpful he was for us, it made the weekend so enjoyable.

The first day there we hiked around the secluded Sevelen Mountains and ran into many friendly farm animals. As we walked through a few farms along our hike, the farm dogs would come running tails wagging and begging for us to love on them. We also fed some horses along the way, I really felt like a local farmer up in the mountains by the end. That evening we watched the sunset and swam in the chilly Walensee and ended the evening with some home cooked sausages, spaghetti and wine. The cabin was a little bit creepy at night and half of us were freaking out over some rustling in the brush that turned out to be a tiny cat….. The next day, unfortunately our last day, we made breakfast and headed down from the cabin for a hike around the mountains. It was so nice being completely surrounded by nature, with mountains, hills, trees, running streams and waterfalls taking the place of civilization. We actually only saw one other hiker on the trail the entire time. Spontaneously, we took a steep secluded trail that we had no idea where it went. Thankfully we did it because it ended up being the coolest view on top of one of the peaks overlooking the town and mountains with Lichtenstein and the palace way in the distance. Don’t worry we took plenty of pictures up there.

Leaving Switzerland was pretty disappointing with all the adventurous fun we had there, but it was so worth the trip. I’m glad I got to grow closer to nature and everyone who came along on the trip. It was definitely a weekend to remember. Next in this series, the last day in Bonn and the much anticipated Berlin excursion. Until then, tschuss!

The journey is almost over

After a long and confusing train ride, we had made it to Berlin! Of course we got straight to business and started out on our bike tour. For this tour we split the group and got helmets, which were good ideas considering we had some accidents at Norderney! I really liked our tour guide because he made it easy to navigate the city and had some great information. Even with the busy city streets, there was always a place for the bikes which is something Houston could benefit from. One of my favorite stops on the tour was what remained of the Berlin wall. Its crazy to see it in person and think of all the history those walls saw. Learning about the lives that were lost trying to get over the wall really brought into prospective how bad things were. The next day was filled with more harsh reality when we visited the sachsenhausen camp. To realize how small the town was and how they claimed to not know what was going is mindboggling. They said the Nazis would march prisoners across the town and talked about the smell and ash that came from the camp chimneys. The prisoners were obviously in terrible deteriorating condition and almost everyone turned a blind eye. Its hard to believe that they didn't know what was happening when ash and the smell of burning flesh filled the air of the city. It would be interesting to talk to a resident of the city that lived through that time. It always gets me when becoming more aware of all the terrors that took place in concentration camps. The most impactful part of the museum is seeing all the personal items people had before everything was taken from them. It makes you realize that they were just regular people and that it could happen to anyone. That is why I think it is important to preserve the good and bad parts of history. We must truly understand how it took place so we never repeat anything like it again. Since the Nazis tried to destroy the evidence most of the buildings were gone but the outline of them still remained. The most impactful building was what was left of the gas chambers. You could still see the outline of the rooms and a diagram that explained each one. I could not even imagine walking through those uncertain halls. It was for sure an eye opening day. Later that day we got to walk around and see the city of Berlin! After that almost everyone went out for drinks with Henning! The first place we went to had good music and interesting drinks but we did have an incident happen. As we were sitting there a man walked through our table and grabbed Karen's purse! She noticed and yelled for the guys which ran after the man and luckily he gave it up right away. That definitely was a reminder that we were in the city and had to be more careful. I am so glad Henning was there to guide and look out for all of us!

On day 3 we fought off the rain and headed to the alchemy museum! I was fascinated to see the origin of chemistry and the different believes. The objects all looked like they were plucked from a sci-fi movie. I wish we could have taken pictures because the craft of some of the objects were unbelievable. Even though some of the past beliefs were far fetched is still is amazing how much they discovered for that time period and the equipment available. I found all the Chinese artifacts super interesting! Obviously I couldn't read anything on them but they looked so sophisticated and complex. We also sat and watched a chain reaction video that went on for 30 minutes. It was different because everything was chemistry based and had a lot of different reactions.
The Otto Bock Science Museum we visited had a very interesting history. The way our tour guide spoke about the past company Nazis influence was in a different attitude than we were use to hearing. He seemed to be in his 20's and called the history boring and spoke of it very casually. When it comes to the war I'm use to very apologetic German attitudes. I think with this generation of Germans they know they had no influence with the war and its in the past. Seeing all science and mechanics that goes into a prosthetic limbs was so cool! It just shows another field of medicine that can affect the everyday lives of people.

The tour of the hospital with the med student was one of the most interactive medical tours we've been on! I liked that the tour guide was someone our age going through medical school. The classes and exercises they have there are so unique. One of the classes I would have loved to take was the exercise where an actor pretends to be a patient in order to get ready for real life situations. Paisley and I acted out shocking a patient with the defibrillator machine, which was so fun and realistic. After we were done with all the tours, a small group of us braved the cold rain went to the pergamon museum. There we saw the gates of Babylon, the bust of Nefertiti, and so many other timeless artifacts.

I cant believe its time to leave Europe and all my new friends.. During free time we organized to get pictures, cards and a bottle of wine for Dr. Wasser, professor Waltz and Henning. It was just a small gesture to show them how grateful we all are for teaching us. For the goodbye dinner we went to a Moroccan restaurant for an amazing food experience. I have never been to a place where they wash your hands with rose infused water! The food was served in this huge intricate bowls and was to die for! We all just pasted plates around and had a great time. It finally hit when we all where taking pictures outside. I am so happy I got to go on this great journey with all these amazing people! As sad as it is, I am ready to take all  my gained knowledge back to the states!

Back in Bonn

It was hell getting back from London back to Bonn, missed flights, canceled trains and dealing with night buses. I made it back in one piece and it felt like coming back home after a long vacation. This was an exciting week because we got to observe surgeries and go to the zoo! Even though the scrubs were huge on me, I loved the feeling of being in them again. Me and Karen got placed in a room with anesthesiologist Nadia. She had great enthusiasm and explained everything to us. We watch a hip replacement on a 85 year old women. That was my first time watching a human surgery and it was so cool! I am good with blood so it never made me feel queasy or uneasy. The surgeons made sure to translate for us and made us feel included. I did think it was kind of crazy how they could be drilling into the bone then just stop and casually ask us a question about the US. We had a 5th year medical student in there observing with us. After the surgeries the med student, Felix, offered to show us around Bonn. He showed us the botanical gardens and hang out with us on the university lawn. it was interesting to hear the differences of medical school from an actual student.
The week went by so fast and before I knew it, it was our last couple days in Bonn. We headed to Cologne for the zoo! Going to the zoo is one of my favorite things to do so I had been looking forward to comparing the difference to an American zoo. Which wasn't really all that different, maybe it was a little smaller than the Houston zoo. The main reason we were there was to see the elephants so we had to move through the exhibits fast. As soon as we arrive to the elephants enclosure we are taken into the back where they prepare the meals. I felt so special getting to go in the back and having a private tour. I absolutely love elephants and this has been the closest I've have ever been to one.
For the last weekend I wanted to do something involving nature so we decided to go to Switzerland! I decided to take the train instead of flying with everyone. Which was as unglamorous as you would think a 7 hour train ride would be. After that long adventure I feel like I will never be nervous about traveling alone. Everything was fine till I had technical issues with buying my ticket so I had to buy it online. The online ticket didn't have a bar code on it so I was worried they wouldn't accept it but luckily they did. By the time I got onto the train I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. I knew I couldn't because I had my backpack and luggage with me and no one could watch out for me. half way there we were late to the station and missed the connecting train. I scrambled to find the next available connection, almost every train was going to make me an hour later. While trying to buy another ticket, the ticket machine I was at wasn't taking my card or my euros so I had to run to another one before the train got there. I made it on the train and the views were amazing. Although I was super tired, it was special to see the country side. When I finally get there everyone picked me in a car they had borrowed. It felt so nice to be back in a car, being able to go straight where we wanted. Our cabin was on top of this huge beautiful hill. We barbequed and made a little dinner with some groceries we bought. The next morning we headed out early to go hiking! We found the very peak of the mountain and sat up there and took pictures for awhile. The view on top of the mountain made that 7 hour ride all worth it. It was nice to get away from the city and explore the outdoors. We found a little river with small pools that were so cool looking. We would have jumped in but we didn't have time because we had to be at the airport.
With heavy hearts we left Switzerland and headed back to Bonn! On Sunday we had our last family dinner and said goodbye to the girls. The girls were sad and crying when we put it them to bed, which made leaving even harder. As goodbye gift our host mom got us Turkish glass eye's called the good eye, it represents the good eye watching out for evil. I am going to miss all this culture!

Better late than never???

SOOOOOO… I actually thought that I wrote this blog and posted it, but turns out I was wrong and only typed half of it up and never finished (oooops). But here we go, my journey from Berlin to Houston.

Again, what’s a trip in Europe without having any delays? Tuesday we headed out to Berlin, but we first had a connection to make in Cologne in only five minutes. Of course, our train leaving Bonn was delayed and we missed our connection. Luckily there was another train we could catch in only 30 minutes though. Once we got to Berlin and carried our luggage to the hotel, we had a guided bike tour through the city. Though we already rode bikes in Norderney, this was a little more intimidating because we were biking through traffic and had to be more aware of our surroundings. Thankfully, everyone did fine and we had no injuries, yay. The guided tour was really neat because we saw a lot of historical sites and our tour guide was excellent. Seeing remaining parts of the Berlin wall was neat. It is said that the wall was built in just one night, but that’s not entirely true. It originated as just a barbed wire fence, and as more and more people tried escaping, they modified the wall so people in the future couldn’t escape the same way. I also enjoyed seeing the divide of the east and west side (yes, I was a tourist and took the cliché picture with one foot on each side). We also saw the memorial dedicated to the Jews that were killed during the Holocaust. It was interesting to hear about the controversy of the memorial because some think that it displays a cemetery, and some people do not have respectful behaviors and play around and eat picnics in the area. Of course, art is always up for interpretation to the viewer, and regardless how the artist meant for the memorial to look like, people observe things differently. After our tour we were starving, so Hailey, Kathryn, Alana, Jules, Gabe, Carter, and I all went to Vapiano for dinner. Vapiano is a modern Italian food restaurant that I kinda relate to a Mongolian style place where you go to the counter and tell them what you want and they cook it in front of you and then you bring it to a table. It’s delicious. I may or may not have gone four times while in Germany. I vote that one should be in College Station, and I honestly think it would be a big hit. Anyways, Vapiano was yummy and then we went to the hotel and spent the evening hanging out.

Wednesday morning after breakfast we made our way to the train station and headed to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp had more than 200,000 imprisoned from 1936 to 1945. Most of the prisoners were males, and a large portion were Jews, but also included homosexuals, gypsies, and mentally disabled. When we made our way from the train station and to the entrance of the camp, we actually were taking the same path that the prisoners would take as well. It wasn’t hidden from the public by any means. The entrance of this camp has the gate with the famous “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work will free you) sign that every individual saw amongst entering. From the moment of walking through that gate until well after we left, I felt sick to my stomach. I was disgusted and nauseous. The barracks are not intact anymore, but they have outlining of all of the buildings. For a very, very small room, they would house 144 inmates. Inmates were given enough food to survive, but not thrive. The food did not have any nutrients, and even lacked salt, so many died from starvation alone. If it wasn’t from starvation, they would die from disease, exhaustion, medical experiments, forced labor, or mass murders. Obviously the visit is disturbing and isn’t pleasant, but it is also very important to visit those places and learn about the history. On a wall there was a quote that stated “And I know one thing more- that the Europe of the future cannot exist without commemorating all those, regardless of their nationality, who were killed at the time with complete contempt and hate, who were tortured to death, starved, gassed, in incinerated and hanged…” And it is true, we cannot ignore what happened. And I remember previously people saying that Germany is removing that history away from being taught in the classrooms and that they are not owning up to it, but this entire trip has taught me otherwise. The older German generation has been living the consequences of these things, and the younger generations have been trying to improve and better their future. We then headed out for lunch at a place, that unfortunately I cannot remember the name of, but everything served was made out of potatoes!!! It was awesome and so dang delicious. I had a potato casserole, but I wish I could have tried someone’s potato pancakes. The rest of the evening we didn’t have plans, so I went to the hotel and started my essay and went to bed early. 

Thursday morning I got up early to work on my essay and eat breakfast before the rest of the group did. After breakfast we went to an Alchemy Exhibit. I don’t know how, but I never heard to alchemy before and was really confused going into the exhibit and not having an idea what to expect. There seems to be a lot of Harry Potter references with alchemy and well, I never read the books or watched the movies so that probably explains why I was so confused. The exhibit was filled with artwork and different metals, and it expressed the influence of culture with medicine. We then had a lunch break, where I most likely ate Vapiano again (I swear, it’s the best). Afterwards we all met up and went to the Otto Bock Science Center, which is an interactive exhibit for prosthetics, and it was really cool! It blew my mind how recent research has provided a for nerve genesis to certain muscles to control the prosthetic limb to provide functions. For instance, if an individual has lost his arm, the pectoral muscle has lost the need of functioning, so my implanting certain nerves and connecting it to the prosthetic, the prosthetic arm will be able to move different directions for movements. I enjoyed looking at all of the different types and learning the basic overview of the biomechanics behind the prosthetics. The entire day it was raining, and by the time we were done at the exhibit, it started to pick up some more. Most of the group was headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Blink 182 concert, but for those who weren’t going, we decided to go to the Pergamon Museum to see the Ishtar Gate, which was an ancient Babylonian gate from 575BCE. I was indifferent about going to see the gates, and I almost decided not to go because it was raining so hard. But I sucked it up and went, and I am SO glad I did. I had no idea what to expect, and I was overwhelmed when I saw it. It was absolutely massive, and I loved the dark royal blue colors of the bricks. I was also surprised to learn that it was initially one of the original 7 wonders of the ancient world, so boom, got to see that, which is freaking neat! We also went to the Neues Museum to see the bust of Queen Nefertiti. Again, I had no idea what to expect, but she was perfect. I am sure the set up of the room had a lot to do with the moment as well, because she was isolated in her own room, security guards surrounding the room, and she was in the center with lights hitting her perfectly. She looked so elegant in all of her power. I was really glad that I sucked it up and went. Though it was still raining, no trip out is complete without a gelato stop. We also went to a souvenir store, and then went to find dinner. Professor Waltz recommended we go to this Indian food place by the hotel, so we went. I’ve only had Indian food one other time, and someone prepared my plate for me, so I did’t know what I got before and what I would like. So Alana ordered for me and I got Chicken Tikki Marsala (or at least that’s what I think I ordered, I really don’t remember). But regardless IT WAS SO GOOD. And the non. It was yummy. We all kinda shared our food, so I got a wonderful combination of things and yes, I am disappointed that I’ve gone this far in life without eating Indian food. I must find a place at home that serves great Indian food. After dinner I showered and crashed for the night. 

Friday morning I woke up early and submitted my essay and had breakfast. Dr. Wasser gave a lecture in the breakfast room before we headed out for the day. Sad to know that was the last lecture I’ll hear from him. He is such a great professor and I learned so much from him. His brain is a sponge that soaks up everything and he constantly and passionately shares it with his students, and that was amazing. Anyways, we went to a museum of the history of medicine, which was a neat way to end the course since that is the name of our class. The museum was filled with displays of organs affected with different disease and illnesses. This place, along with many others we visited, also had an iron lung. Looking at the iron lung really bothers me, just because I cannot imagine having to live in one of those to simply breath, and that there are so many people against vaccines right now, where polio may become a huge problem yet again, and children would have to fully depend on the iron lungs. Shortly after the tour was over, we headed back to the hotel for just a few minutes to change clothes and put things up before we headed out to our farewell dinner. Again, it was still raining and it was pretty chilly, so we tried walking to the restaurant as fast as we could. We were always following Henning and Dr. Wasser around, and I think we were all convinced that we were lost because it seemed as if we were walking around forever and in circles to get to this random restaurant, but man it was worth the long walk. The place was sooooo good! It was a Moroccan restaurant, and I have never had Moroccan food before. We started off with some bread and appetizers, and to be fair, I never really knew what the appetizers were, but they were really yummy. The main meal was lamb and chicken, with couscous shared family style and it was delicious. I’m not sure why I haven’t ever had this type of food, but I know for sure it wouldn’t be the last. Through dinner we were all taking pictures, talking about favorite parts of the trip, what we were going to do when we got home, and tried our best to convince Henning to come visit us in Texas. It was a great dinner, with great people. Towards the end of dinner we gave Dr. Wasser, Professor Waltz, and Henning each a picture and card, with some wine for Dr. Wasser, to simply thank them for everything they did for us and the incredible journey while we were there. Dr. Wasser shared some sweet and thoughtful words, and Henning thanked us and gave us each a signed copy of his newest album (how cool???) We left after dessert and went out to take pictures with everyone and capture the memories. A lot of tears were shed, but I kept reminding myself that we will all be back in college station together and that our friendships can continue to grow, that they don’t stop here. We headed back to the hotel and finished packing things up. Me, Alana, Juliette, Hailey, Kathryn, Gabe, and Carter went and bought ice cream and watched Spirit to finish off the last night in Germany. We all had early mornings the next day, but for whatever reason we decided to stay up as long as we could. I am pretty sure I got 3 hours of sleep, so it was more like a nap??

 The next morning, me, Kathryn, Abbey, Miguel, and Henning caught a cab and headed to the airport. Henning said final goodbyes and he was headed to Frankfurt. Our plane was delayed over an hour and so we went and got breakfast, compliments of United, and then spent our last Euros on random things at the airport. As time approaches for us to board the plane, it keeps getting delayed further and further. At this point, there was no way I was going to catch my connection flight from Newark to Houston unless they held the plane. We finally get on the plane (like 3 hours later) and head to Newark. I was exhausted so I slept nearly the entire flight. We get to Newark 30 minutes after my connection flight. I’ve heard horror stories about Newark, and boy I had mine too. Nobody was willing to help, they sent us to another terminal to get “customer service” and there were millions of people with nobody to help anyone. Luckily I had my United app and found my own alternative way to get home. I had an hour to recheck my bags, get to security, and then my gate before boarding ended. Long story short, I was the crazy person running down the terminal to my gate. And no worries, I gave United a nice little comment section in the survey they sent me because I missed my flight. So I get on the plane, and then it rains and we sit on the runway for over an hour (good thing I ran, right??) But it’s fine, I eventually got home to Houston safely, and that’s what matters.

During the trip, I was looking forward to go home during different times and for different reasons. Of course I missed my family and friends. But the lifestyle that I am used to was often missed as well. The convenience and familiarity of everything was missed. I cannot say that I like the Texas lifestyle more than the European lifestyle, but I hope that I live a combination of both and bring the good things from both sides together. On my flight back to the states, I knew I was headed back home because I ordered an apple juice on the flight and it came with ICE!!! ICE CUBES! I hadn’t had ice in a drink in nearly 6 weeks. I stepped off and entered a building blasting AC!!! The first language spoken by the flight attendants was English! I could say “y’all” freely and be completely understood! The initial plans that night was when I got picked up from the airport we would go to Papasitos because TexMex is the best. But since I didn’t get home until nearly 11PM, Whataburger was the alternative, and just as great. I did, however, get Papasitos the next day for lunch, no worries. And those were my initial few moments back into Texas, home sweet home. But I also know I will always have a home in Germany too!

It was fun, y'all!

Emily

slip slidin' away

post-trip

I’m not even sure where to start. Since the program has ended, I’ve spent a wonderful week eating my way through London, staying with my cousin, and honestly avoiding this blog post a little bit because it means that my European adventure is actually over. It’s been over a month since I’ve been home (haven’t missed it once, whoops), and I have been thriving here. I remember this past semester, how monotonous it got at times, and how much I was looking forward to this trip and boy, it did not disappoint. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this trip was one of my best decisions. Even though now I’m quite exhausted, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. This trip was such a great opportunity, and I learned so much from Dr. Wasser and Prof. Waltz about really interesting topics (one of which I may actually research a possible career in, but who knows at this point) and the amount of traveling we got to do was phenomenal. I mean, just on this trip I’ve gone to six different countries. The experiences that I’ve gained are truly once in a lifetime—the Cologne Cathedral tour, the heaven-sent two days in Norderney, feeding an elephant—but what’s really been remarkable is the friends that I’ve made. They are what made this trip and all those experiences really above and beyond. We’ve laughed and cried together and bonded over the stupidest stuff. I admire each of them so much, in how driven they are and strong in their character. They’re people with motivation and ambition, and they helped to spark some of that within me. Having friends who you could not only have a good time with, but also encouraged you to learn and pay attention and make the most of your experience was such a blessing.

JMD