An Uncomfortably Comfortable First Week

The first week is in the books! This time last week, I had just gotten to Bonn and was running on less than 4 hours of sleep. Now, I am writing this running on two hours of sleep, because we got back to Bonn from Paris on an overnight bus that was extremely crowded.

On the morning I left, I did not expect to feel so anxious before I got on my flight to Philadelphia. I was definitely feeling some intense emotions during that 3 hour flight. When I landed, I was very glad to see a friend (Megyn) waiting at our terminal in Philly. The flight to Frankfurt was extremely comfortable, but I did not sleep for any more than an hour. Shoutout to Geostorm, Star Wars, and Easy A for keeping me entertained for 8 hours. When we landed in Frankfurt, Megyn and I went to the wrong meeting point and had to walk completely to the other end of the airport. We found the group and travelled to Bonn, and I finally got to sleep for a bit on the bus.

Megyn and I on the Plane!

The first night, my host family took me to their grandparents house to have a barbecue. We had German sausage, grilled chicken, potato salad, and lots of bread. It was the perfect first meal you could have in Germany. The next day, we had our first German class, and I learned that my name translates to "Stein" in German, so maybe I'll have a new name for the next 5 weeks! After that, I had sushi as my first German lunch. That afternoon we went to the Haus der Geschichte, where we learned about the history of Germany since the end of World War 2. That trip made me very excited to visit Berlin to further examine the city's unique history of being separated and reunified.

On Friday, we had an excursion to Bingen and Marksburg. Bingen was a very beautiful town on the bank of the Rhine. We visited the Hildegard von Bingen museum where we learned all about Hildegard. She was a very interesting person and became one of the few women of that era that made a mark on our History of Medicine course (Whoop to Women in medicine!!!). The view at lunch in Bingen was incredible, as there was a massive vineyard on the other bank of the Rhine. The Marksburg castle was the best I have ever seen (although I've only seen like 4). The views from the top were incredible, and the castle was extremely well preserved.

The view from the Marksburg

Buckle up, because it's Paris time. Going to France has been so high on my list of places to visit for as long as I can remember. I took French in high school, even though it has virtually no use in Texas. We had a horribly stressful commute to the bus station, which happened to be at the Cologne airport. We ended up paying way more than we had to, and had to resort to taking a cab. We finally boarded the bus, and Megyn, Jen, and I each had two seats to ourselves. I still barely slept. I think I was still stressed and excited to see Paris. We got off the bus at 6 am. When we got into the center of Paris, I was able to order my breakfast in French, and seeing a familiar language was definitely a welcome site. 

That first day, we walked 16 miles. We started by getting a baguette, cheese, ham, and a bottle of wine for a breakfast in front of the Eiffel Tower. I had pictured this moment for so long and seeing it actually happen was truly surreal. We walked to the other basic Parisian sites and I was just trying to soak everything in without worrying about the pain my feet were in (thanks Converse!). We did have some sketchy events happen on the Metro, we got lost in a rough neighborhood outside of the city, and there were some close encounters with scammers at Sacre-Coeur. A man grabbed my arm and tried to put a yarn bracelet on my wrist and would not let go of me. When we finally got away from the men, the views from the top of the basilica made up for the struggles on the way to the top. 

Paris, Je t'aime. 

The next day in Paris was much more chill. We went to the Louvre and sped by the Mona Lisa. It was definitely underwhelming, but still worth seeing. The other paintings and exhibits in the Louvre were truly breathtaking. I think we walked nearly 4 miles in the Louvre building alone. The Greco-Roman statues were definitely my favorite part. We spent quite a bit of time relaxing in the Luxembourg Gardens, eating the Macarons we bought from Lauderee, and people watching. Overall, Paris lived up to the hype that I built up in my mind, and I am already hoping for a return trip where I can sit under the Eiffel Tower. 

Macaron from Lauderee

This was a successful first week in Europe. There are definitely some American conveniences that I miss, like air conditioning, my own phone plan, and the freedom of driving a car anywhere I want, but the atmosphere and feeling of being in Europe have more than made up for those. The local Germans here in Bonn have been so hospitable, and no one has given any trouble when they learn that we don't speak German. I would like to learn more German throughout these next weeks, I can be more respectful to the locals that live here. I did have a moment of reality when I was on the bus to class. I saw a golden retriever and was reminded of my dogs back home. I got a little sad, but quickly reminded myself of the adventure I am currently on. As Dr. Wasser would say, the hero's journey has just begun, and it is now my job to absorb as much as possible to bring back new experiences to Texas. From sitting with new friends in a Biergarten on the bank of the Rhine to learning course material that actually relates to my future career path, this first week has been the beginnings of a dream come true.