Upon arriving back in the states, I had forgotten how much I missed home. I was happy to be back, I was excited to tell my tale to all who would listen, but mostly I was tired from the 10 hour plane ride back. As the days drifted by, eventually turning to weeks, I couldn't help but realize I had been changed by this adventure. As I would drift off to sleep at night, I would remember the truly unique experiences like the Josephinum in Austria or traveling along the dunes of Norderney. I would wake in the mornings and realize I had been dreaming about the activities I did with others from the trip like visiting at the café outside Freud's house or seeing the Ishtar gate at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. I would watch the faces of those I told my tale (which took about an hour every single time if I did it justice) and see them brighten with fascination and wonder. Truly, I was blessed to have gone.
As I look back about what I wrote in my pre-program statement, I see how far I have come. I remember just how excited I was to be leaving for a new land. I wrote about how Germany would be a foreign land (and it is) but I see now that though the culture is different and it operates differently, there were so many things I found similar that it made a clear point just how much we all have in common. I wrote about how excited I was to learn new things, and looking back on it I had no idea what all I was going to learn. I learned about new cultures, new languages, new ways of thinking. I learned about how the medical field has evolved since the days of old, from the teachings of the ancient Egyptians and Galen himself. I learned about Leonardo Da Vinci, a genius in many a field. I learned more about health care around the world, comparing and contrasting their risks and rewards. I learned about Nazi Germany, the dark stain on an otherwise bright history, and just how horrible people can be. I even learned about the physiological response a sauna has on the human body for crying out loud! I was in no way prepared for the sheer quantity of what I learned, and that's ignoring the quality of the information I was given. From Dr. Wasser alone I couldn't believe what I was being handed, and add Professor Waltz, Hilde, Dr. Schnabel, and Shaun and Ryan from Berlin I was truly blessed to have such great teachers deliver some truly fascinating information that I hope to find some way to apply in life later on. That is why you learn, after all.
My reason for going on this Hero's Journey was to learn about the history of medicine, experience the unique aspects of the lands I traveled to, and return home with a boon that would benefit my people. I can say with confidence that I definitely learned and experienced, but as the summer began to draw to a close, I found myself wondering about what I brought with me. What was my boon that I would share to benefit my people? As the weeks went on, I began to fear that I actually didn't have one. Did I accidently leave it in my host family's house in Germany? Did I leave it in the cave of my ordeal? Did it get separated from my luggage and lost by the airport? Did I even find a boon to begin with? After we received the email from Dr. Wasser that our last post was due, I feared I would have to tell him that I seemed to have lost my boon, that I had nothing to bring my people.
As the week went by, it seemed that was not the case. That week, however, was a dismal one. It began with the marching of white supremacists in Charlottesville, followed by protests and the eventual ramming of a car into a crowd. This example of hate and anger darkened the news long after, and even several days later as I sat in a pub with my father we still saw the TVs showing news related to the incidents. Eventually fed up, and also wanting to partake in a cigar, my father wanted to sit outside and finish our beers. We left, and made to sit at a table next to an Indian student who was working on some things for a job interview he had tomorrow morning. The weather was threatening us with rain, and the table we had chosen had an umbrella that couldn't be held open. The Indian man, Jaiman, offered us seating at his table, and we accepted and started conversation. Later, after the ice had been broken substantially, we were joined by an Arabic friend of Jaiman, who I now realized never said his name. Regardless, we sat and had conversation that ranged from work to school to home to alcohol preference, quickly progressing into politics, religion, and everything else that could instigate a debate or an argument. However, the four of us were very amiable, despite the fact we were treading all over areas where we were different. Of the four men, there were two white Americans, a native Indian, and a native from Iran. Of the four of us, there were two catholic Christians, a Muslin, and a Hindi. The four of us all had different ways of thinking and beliefs, yet shared and deliberated affably, laughing and toasting in light of our differences in a week where people had only hate in their hearts for different people just days before. At that moment, I realized my boon. I had always had an understanding way to my thinking, always seeing differences in people as positive quirks and unique experiences I never felt threatened by. Thanks to my time in Germany, this thinking was now on a global level, allowing me to see and understand the ways of thinking of people with vastly different views on life. If everyone else could do what the four of us did in that tiny little pub, this world would be a better place by far.
As always, I am so glad that I pushed away my hesitant thoughts about going on the trip and explored what was once new. I truly feel I am a different man after my several weeks and Germany, and now I just hope he is a better one. Thanks again to Dr. Wasser, for the program wouldn't be half of what it is without you.
This is a collection of my last thoughts on the History of Medicine Summer Program, a testament to how great it really is.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Alexander Drake Huggins
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