This was a week of incredible variety. First part of the week? Our hospital site visit where we would be shadowing a doctor performing surgery. Now I was excited for this, and each time I shadow, I learn a little bit more and somehow become even a little bit more eager to one day have patients of my own. However, this experience turned out to be more than I could have ever hoped for. I was lucky enough to go to a cardiology operating room and observe a double valve reconstruction surgery. I literally stood over another human being as I had a direct view down onto a beating heart inside an opened chest. Miracles like this continuously amaze me. It's the sort of stuff I used to one day only watch on the television. Plus, what made this experience even sweeter was that though I had seen a variety of other surgeries, I had never seen a cardio surgery. Now, my first time watching one was in Germany! Life is unreal.
Later that night after going home and taking in what I had just seen, the girls (Cassidy, Maddie, Madison, and me) were out first to the botanical garden to walk around and then to Sausalitos for some $1 tacos and happy hour jumbo drinks (highly recommended). As we then went to the beer garden to relax in the grass, we talked and listened to a number of feels-provoking songs that led to a few happy tears amongst us all. We are on an incredible journey right now. And I love these people.
The next day was our second program excursion to Cologne. This time, the group that went to the zoo the first time would see the cathedral this time, and vice versa. I was the latter. Though I expected to be underwhelmed by what I thought to be "just another zoo," that certainly was not the case. Though I must admit, it had a bit of a rocky start. First stop: prairie dogs where, to everyone's amusement including locals at the zoo, I dropped my phone into the open-topped exhibit seconds after joking about this exact situation. Instant karma for a very unoriginal joke. But all is good. After silently panicking for a few minutes as the fallen object sparked the interest of a devil prairie dog that ran over to scratch at it, Robert saved the day by balancing his whole body over the ledge and into the exhibit to grab my phone just before the prairie dog dug a hole to store my phone away forever. Anyway, after taking some well-deserved jokes from our zoo tour guide, we were on to more exhibits. All of which were pretty cool, but none of which quite compared to the elephants. We first saw them just as any zoo visitor would. We then went into the elephant keepers' control room where they taught and showed us how they managed the locations of the elephants with a gate system. That's when one of the keeper's made a "special offer" to our group for us to go down into the feeding halls of the elephants and to huge gates where several enormous elephants were only feet away from us. Their size and demeanor was shocking. They were marvelous. Not to mention the "little" babies that were so curious. One even reached his huge trunk through the gate right in front of all of our faces. It was a very unexpected and cool experience, to say the least, to be so close to an animal as incredible as those. After a few more exhibits, including the cheetahs, apes, chimpanzees, flamingos, and more, we were done for the night and onto the next step. Dinner and drinks. Another long night was spent in Cologne before hopping on a late night train and making it back ~mostly~ safe to the Hauptbahnhof then back to home-sweet-home.
Thankfully, it wasn't too early of a morning the next day for class. Then, after class was a visit to one of only three anesthesiology museums in the world. A very interesting experience and one that was relatively relaxing compared to the crazy days we've been having. I'll once again say how mind-blowing it is each time Dr. Wasser gives a tour. I honestly do not have any clue how he stores and is able to recall so much information. Anyway, once coming home, this day was for some much needed relaxation as I could feel myself becoming sick. I came home, ate, did some journaling, and packed for our weekend in Paris, as we would be catching a train there soon after class got out the next day (Friday).
In class, Dr. Wasser gave a fun lecture containing some upbeat music videos that really peaked everyone's interest. Wasser and Henning gave us a breakdown at lunch of our Vienna excursion the following Monday, and after that, we were done for the day. All us girls sat in the university lawn then grabbed sushi and baked goods before heading to the train station with a few others. Next stop: Paris, France. Not getting there until around 23:00 that night, we walked around for a little bit to marvel at the lights of the beautiful city and catch a glimpse at the Eiffel Tower before heading back to our cute little Airbnb for the night.
Saturday, we were ready to explore as much of the city as we could. After a quick breakfast with the best fresh-squeezed orange juice I'd ever had, we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower. Walking up to it, it was even more shocking than I imagined. But it wasn't just the structure itself, it was the fact that I was standing right there. In front of a landmark known around the world. People travel across the globe to see this. And I was only 21 years old. And I was there. How ever so lucky I am. As I watched people much older than me and of all nationalities take pictures and marvel at this incredible view, it really moved me. People go their whole lives without having the opportunity to see these things. I don't know how I got so blessed to be able to see so much already, but I am truly never going to take this for granted.
After lots of pictures, we walked around, grabbed a quick pizza lunch, and were on our way to buy some macaroons and wine for a picnic in the grass under the Eiffel Tower. What a magical thing to be able to do. After even more cliche pictures while playing every song ever that mentions Paris, it was time for our night bike tour of Paris at 06:30 (quick suggestion: don't wear a dress for this... moving on). This was one of the best things we could have done. We saw SO much and in such a fun way. We passed beautiful sites and views again and again - including two men performing with a cello and guitar on a bridge over the river as we sat and enjoyed gelato. Funny the feelings music instills in us. My favorite moment of the night, however, was our bike into the Louvre at sunset. As we rode under the big entrance on the back wall that opened into the large square, a beautiful solo violin was being played by a lady sitting at the steps of the Louvre where the infamous pyramid-shaped glass structure housing the entrance to the Louvre below it first appeared to us. It was an emotional and sort of spiritual experience, and I am literally tearing up as I am writing this. This world is so incredible, and it is remarkable the emotions it can lead you to experience at any given passing moment.
After our biking, it was time for the boat ride with (drum roll please) free wine!!!! We talked with our tour guide Jack for awhile whom, to our, surprise, was from Scotland and only 23. A very cool guy who has been traveling around the world with various odd jobs. No time like the present to experience your life. We saw the Eiffel Tower at night, and saw it sparkling for the first time on the bike back. We all stopped to watch, and this was when the tears really began to flow (granted, we were also all fed a healthy amount of wine on the boat). But needless to say, it was simply beautiful and awe-inspiring. I cannot explain what being with these people in this moment felt like. All I can say is that these are the moments I will remember for a lifetime. Back at the bike drop-off, our tour guide recommended a bar that he later met us at. He even gave each of us girls a nice kiss on the cheek (shoutout to foreign boys). We ate a little and were back again at the Eiffel Tower until around 01:00 where we continued to watch the sparkling view. It's a good life.
The next morning, it was time to walk through the Louvre. We saw countless famous paintings, including the intriguing Mona Lisa. How the heck am I getting to see so much. It's not always until I reflect and write about these things that they truly kick in. But oh my goodness. After the Louvre, I had escargot for my first time ever and in PARIS. After finishing lunch, we were off to explore the city some more. We took our time strolling through the city, stopping at flea markets, souvenir shops, and more along the way. Soon, we were back at our place, and sadly, it was time to pack up yet again and leave another incredible city. For now, but not for long. We all tried our best to sleep on our train ride home, knowing that we would not be home until around 00:00 and still needed to pack and shower for our next excursion that would actually require us to be up the next morning at 04:00. Not only were we packing for this excursion (Vienna, Austria Monday morning through Thursday afternoon) but also for Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic that we would be visiting Thursday night through Sunday night. We were home and asleep quite quickly after eating some soup our host mother made us.
After only three hours of sleep, it is now Monday morning as I write. Now, I sit on a train toward Vienna listening to "Vienna" by Billy Joel on repeat. "Vienna waits for you." I suppose so.
I was thinking about it yesterday in Paris (I can't believe I just typed that) about all the stories I am accumulating and all the memories and feelings I will have to look back on. I don't think it has been until now that I truly understand what my mom always told me growing up: "Life is your masterpiece. Paint a beautiful one." Though it has been something I have often found myself striving for, this trip has given it a different meaning to me.
-Kylie Reis
Life in the operating room!
My girls and me in Paris.
Notre-Dame Cathedral.
The Louvre.
My friend, Mona.
Views from our boat tour.
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