Week 2: Limping my way around Germany ft. Da Vinci

The second week in Germany is over and I have to say, where did time go? The first week seemed to be slightly dragging, but this week I blinked and suddenly I was 3 pounds heavier and in Cologne. When I arrived in the city, the sheer size of the cathedral is put right in front of my eyes. First thought: it’s massive. Second thought: it’s incredibly detailed. The gothic style of the church is memorizing, down to the details of every face that comprises the church. After living in a small town for a little bit, it was a breath of fresh air to see a more populated city. It’s amazing how there are separate cultures within the same country. For example, when I spent the weekend in Munich, it was a different feeling. There were a handful of beautiful landmarks to start: we visited the intricate alter of the the Asam church, watched the clock strike an hour initiate its mechanical dancers in Marienplatz, climbed what seemed like thousands of steps to the top of St. Peter’s church, strolled
through the English Garden and spectated German surfers, had a liter of beer with gigantic pretzels, got rained on in Nymphemburg, and paid a single euro to see famous paintings such as “Sunflowers” and “lillypads” by Van Gogh in the New Pinakotek. It didn’t help that I twisted my ankle earlier that
week and proceeded to walk around it the entire time, but I’ll sacrifice suffering for my experience.

Who I did find a surprisingly new respect for was Leonardo da Vinci during our lectures. I had heard of him, and was aware that he fought crimes with his brothers in New York, but nothing more. The Vitruvian Man was previously known to my high school class as “the naked man doing jumping jacks”. Instead, I was blown away of the sheer intelligence that was instilled in him with the overall lack of knowledge in the world. The vortex behind the valves was the final straw that convinced me that he had some sort of extraterrestrial knowledge. Or at least, that was my excuse for his almost non-human like hypothesis. In addition, I appreciated being more informed of the health care system that is a part of the US government. It allowed me to form my own opinion on our health care system, searching for improvements and drawbacks. In Pharmacology, I continued to question the process of how drugs get approved and the requirements that needed to be met. Throughout these courses, I’m put into an environment that not only fosters my eagerness to learn, but encourages me to think on my own