Week 3- The Week of Relaxation

I can’t believe that we are already half way through our study abroad program. This week was full of new experiences and a lot of relaxation which was much needed. 

This week began with a pharmacology class in which we discussed published trials and how drugs become dispersed to the public. We also picked an article to investigate the high throughput screening technique which was something I had not learned much about before. In conjunction with our discussion of trials, we browsed around a site called “Alltrials” which aims to encourage the enforcement of the law that all clinical trial results must be published. 

Flowchart of our discussion about drug approval

On Tuesday we left for Norderney. Norderney is a beautiful German island in the North Sea that is known for their badehaus and alternative medicine. It was amazing to learn that Germans can receive prescriptions to go to Norderney if they are stressed or overworked, among other things. The first day in Norderney we took a small bike tour of the town and stopped at an amazing ice cream shop called Frieseneis which had the most amazing ice cream that I’ve had in a long time. We had it every day that we were in Norderney and honestly, it rivals Blue Bell but both have a special place in my heart. 

the BEST ice cream

 After our little bike tour and dinner at the hostel, a group of us went for a little bike ride around the town. I’ve realized that it is so important to find joy in the little things and one thing that gave me such joy on Norderney was just riding our bikes around! The next day we went to the badehaus for a few hours and lecture on the history of Norderney and the badehaus. We also toured the facility where all of the sea water and mud used in badehaus is processed. It was neat to see the way they draw in the water and mud as well. We got the opportunity to do a mud treatment and use the saunas (which we learned a lot about in class). 

One of the water filtering systems in the badehaus

Both of which were very unique experiences and it was great to experience something that was special to Norderney. On Wednesday night we had a barbeque with our whole program at the hostel which was so much fun. I and a few other girls took over grilling the marshmallows for s’mores which was very comical and delicious as well. After dinner we had a little dance party which was funny. Thursday, we took a 10k bike ride around the island which was a tad difficult due to the headwind and the hills but was very enjoyable and a lot of fun! Freiseneis tasted even better after our long bike ride. That night we took a mud flat hike with a marine biologist who showed us many of the organisms who live in the flat.

At the water's edge  

our feet in the mud!

 It was a little windy and rainy but we definitely made the most of it. On our walk, we walked all the way to where the water was and as we walked back to shore we got to watch the tide roll back in. On our bike ride back after the mud flat walk we got to see a beautiful sunset! 

the sunset I talked about

Then we headed to the little restaurant near our hostel and got some late-night pizza and pomme frites. On our last day in Norderney we returned our bikes (it was sad to see bike 37 go) and took a ferry ride back to the mainland and a train back to Cologne. 

we will miss our bikes!!

For the weekend we went to Mallorca, Spain which is another island, but this time it was in Spain. When we got to the airport we discovered that our return flight had been canceled so we had to quickly get a flight back on Monday morning which was sort of a mess but it makes the story more interesting. We didn’t know that Mallorca is known to be a vacation spot for Germans so it was a little surprising when we got there and a lot of the signs were in German. Also, there were a few groups of guys on our flight all wearing different matching shirts so we assumed they were bachelor parties, but nope, they were just groups of guys getting away for the weekend. They wear the matching shirts so they “don’t lose each other in the bars”. Also, they were quite rowdy on the flight but in retrospect, it was pretty funny. 

Once we got to Mallorca we went to our hotel because it was pretty late. The next day we spent all day on the beach in Cala Pi and ate a wonderful dinner. 

one of the beaches we went to

On Sunday we went into Palma. We had a minor event of me dropping my metal water bottle on my toe as we were trying to get off the bus which was sort of interesting. But my pals took great care of me and got me ice from the restaurants we went to. Then we hung out at the beach and then grabbed some dinner. I got nachos which surprisingly good but I think they used Doritos as a substitute for tortilla chips?? Not complaining though. Then on Monday morning we flew home and made it just in time for one of our last pharmacology classes. Overall, it was a very relaxing week and I enjoyed every part of it.