amer-I-CAN'T Believe I'm Headed Back

This week started with a great History of Medicine lecture and the excitement about the trip to Berlin heightened. On Wednesday we finally ventured to Berlin, the final destination of the program and the last few days with the new friends made on this trip. As soon as we arrived we took a bus tour of the city and saw the Reichstag, an amazing feat of architectural design, and the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most iconic symbols of Germany and Berlin itself. The group stopped at one of the three remaining sections of the Berlin Wall and noted its world-class graffiti and street art. The symbolism of the wall and its everlasting effects are felt throughout Berlin and are a great representation of the reunification that occurred not so long ago.

On Thursday a small group and I went to meet Muhammad, a Syrian refugee, and learned about Berlin through his eyes. He told us about the trials of his journey out of Syria and into Germany. It was amazing and humbling to understand the things he went through and know that this could happen to any one of us. He made sure to remind us and asked us to share with everyone this idea: You may never be a refugee, and your parents and grandparents may have never been refugees, but it is possible that your children or grandchildren could be refugees at some point, as terrible as that sounds. Always love your neighbor and understand that refugees are people the same as you, just with things occurring in their country that have forced them to evacuate.

The group traveled to the Medical Museum in Berlin and learned about the various medical techniques used over 200 years ago. It was amazing to hear about the different ways people performed surgeries, especially amputations, prior to anesthesia. A doctor set the record of fasted leg amputation at a little over 20 seconds! We saw amazing skeletons of infants and of unborn children with various abnormalities. We later visited Sachsenhausen, a labor camp outside of Berlin. It was not composed primarily of people of the Jewish faith but had only two barracks (over 50 in the camp), which surprised me. It was overwhelming and terrible to see firsthand the atrocities of the Nazis and of the Holocaust. It was a firm reminder that EVERYTHING must be done in order to avoid anything relatively comparable to the Holocaust and the brutality and lack of humanity that came along with it.

We had our farewell dinner on Friday night and had a great experience in bonding-a belly dancer. It was a great way to end the program and a light way to say goodbye to the people who I met a little less than 6 weeks ago. These people are now my family and I love the memories made with each and every one of them, and am excited about the memories we will make in the future.

Until next time,
Matthew