A full week in Bonn
This is our first full week spent in Bonn since week one of
the program and also our last. I am in disbelief at how fast these past few
weeks have flown by. It seems like I arrived yesterday and now I am about to
pack my bags and say goodbye to a place that was beginning to feel like home.
Montag we all thought class started at 11:45 AM, but we were
mistaken because at 10:17 AM we all received an e-mail from Professor Waltz
asking where we all were because class started at 10:15 AM. None of us had
gotten notice of a changed schedule or realized a new schedule was posted
inside AIB. Our GroupMe was blowing up with panicking students trying to rush
to get to class. Alana and I made it to the bus stop and got on the first bus
that came. We were relieved to be on our way until the bus took an unfamiliar
turn. We checked the bus number again and realized we had gotten on the 630,
not the 610 or 611. Since the 630 does not drop off at Bonn Hbf, we had to get
off at the next stop and walk until we found a bus stop that would take us to
Hbf. A little sweaty and concerned about time, we made it to class. After
lunch, we went to the organ museum. It is one of the largest organ factories in
the world. Here, we were given a tour of the family-run business. I had no clue
how much work and time it took to complete one organ. Each organ is made
specifically for the room its sound will fill. In order to have an organ for a
certain date, it is best to order it about three or more years in advance.
Dienstag the group was split in two. Being in the first
group, we went to the university hospital, while the other group had class. At
the hospital, we were able to observe surgeries. The operating room I was
placed in was urology, which I had never seen before, so it was a neat learning
experience. The anesthesiologist I was assigned to was from Australia and spoke
great English. She explained everything she was doing and what the surgeons
were doing as I watched from behind the curtain. I was able to watch the
surgeons remove a giant tumor around one testicle and drain the fluid from
hydrocele. After the attending and resident completed two more surgeries, the
attending took me to the OR next to us where the surgeon was resecting a
prostate with a laser. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, but it was
awesome to stand next to the physician and watch what he was doing. A little after
1:00 we left the hospital. This was an incredible day and really glad to have
seen German medicine first-hand.
Mittwoch we met at the old AIB building where we all got on
a charter bus and rode for about an hour and a half. When we got off we went to
the Hildegard museum. We grabbed lunch along the Rhine river, then Alana,
Carter, and I walked down the street to find some gelato. We met back with the
rest of the group, where we awaited the ferry for our Rhine Cruise. Every time
we turned our head, there was a castle on the hill. Places like this definitely
do not exist in Texas. When we got off the ferry, we made a small hike up to
the Schloss Rheinfels. We were guided through the fox tunnels, which was very
nice because it was so cool inside them. Any sweating I did getting up the
hill, slowly went away the more I walked through the foxholes. At the end of
the tour, we were given the option to go up another couple flights of stairs
where there was a picturesque look out. So, naturally we took a ton of pictures
here before heading down back to the bus. It was about nine when I finally made
it back home.
Donnerstag was my groups’ turn to have class. We had a very
interesting lecture on Nazi euthanasia programs and how they used propaganda to
gain support. We had a relatively short class day, so Alana, Jules, Kathryn and
I decided today was the day we went to the Birkenstock Outlet. It took about 40
minutes by tram and a 20 minute walk to get there, but we all left the store
with something. I will say, not all shoes had great sales and there was not as
large of a selection as I was expecting, but I did get a couple of good finds. When
we got back to Bonn, we continued our shopping day until about 6:30 PM. Kathryn
and Alana found a couple of cute swimsuits. We were pretty worn out by the time
we headed home. When I got back to my host family’s house, it was party night,
so there were another 10 guests who joined us for dinner, including two girls
from Romania that would be there for a week. We had homemade sushi and rice
noodles, which were very delicious. This was one of my favorite meals we have
had together.
Friday we had a lecture that morning in History of Medicine
over saunas and how it can help decrease the risk of heart disease. Later we
were all going to the Cologne zoo, so we (Jules, Alana, Kathryn, Carter, Gabe
and myself) decided to bring our luggage with us. We stored it at the train
station so we could leave right after the zoo for our weekend travels. While at
the zoo, we had a great tour guide who informed us of the zoo’s history and
about some of the animals. A lot of the exhibits here were very open, as in, it
appeared as though some of the animals could just walk out if they wanted. It
was pretty neat. My favorite part about the zoo was that we got to go behind
the scenes of the elephant exhibit and feed the matriarch of the herd. We went
one at a time to feed her a couple of pieces of bread that she gently took from
our hands. I say gently, because even though she squeezed my hand to get the
food, it was obvious she was very strong and could break my arm if she wanted
to. After our tour was over, the six of us continued walking around the zoo. We
went into the aquarium before heading to the airport to catch our flight to
Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Our plans for this weekend included sitting on the
beach, getting in the water, and maybe leaving the water for a minute to eat
dinner. We arrived in Palma pretty late that night, so we took a taxi to the
Airbnb. It wasn’t really a surprise that with our luck, our driver started
driving in the wrong direction. However, it did not take very long for him to
realize and we made it safely to where we were staying in Santa Ponça. We were
so tired that night, we one by one would wake up throughout the night to take a
shower and then pass back out in whatever bedroom had space.
Saturday was a dream. We woke up, grabbed some snacks, and
went straight to the beach. The weather was perfect. It was warm and sunny, and
the water was beautiful, clear, and cool enough to swim in. We stayed at the
beach all day long. We may not have applied enough sunscreen because we got a
little burnt (some more than others) in the process. We left the beach around
dinnertime, but did not travel far. We ate at a nice restaurant on the water
and headed back to the beach for sunset. One of my favorite things was just
walking along the waters edge while it was quiet all around us. Hardly anyone
else was there making it absolutely dreamy. I still could not believe that I
was in such a beautiful place with amazing friends. We ended up staying out
until it was completely dark before heading back to the Airbnb. When we got
back, we took a look at everyone’s sunburn and while everyone had some
distinctive red lines, poor Kathryn was a lobster. We stayed up that night
listening to music and eating Cosmic Brownies (dankeschön Jules).
The next day was a repeat of the day before. We slept in,
grabbed some snacks and went to the beach but this time with all of our bags.
We were a lot better about applying sunscreen today. We were able to spend a
good portion of our day by the water before making our way to the airport around
4:00 PM. We were pretty hungry and the only things we could really find at the
airport was a Burger King and McDonalds. I do not like Burger King, so Jules
and I had McDonalds. This was my first time having McDonalds while being in
Europe, so I think that is pretty good, especially after overhearing some
Americans say they have it every few days. After a flight to Cologne, and a
couple of bus rides to Bonn Hbf and home, it was about 11 PM. I went to my
little apartment, took a shower, and went straight to bed. How exactly we
managed to make this weekend happen, I have no idea, but it was the most
relaxing weekends of the trip.
-Hailey
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