Monday morning I slept in because class didn’t start until 10 a.m. and I woke up more or less fully rested (I honestly can’t even tell what rested feels like at this point, I just know I got more sleep than normal). Catching the 9:33 a.m. bus I sat towards the back with my headphones in, marveling at how comfortable I had become with the public transportation while simultaneously missing my car and being able to be on my own schedule. When I got to the new AIB building I went through my normal routine of setting my things down in the classroom and then going back up to the lobby to grab a mug and poor myself a cup of coffee. This time, however, I decided that since it was almost time to head back home that meant it was time to start weening myself off of daily coffee and back to my usual “only when necessary” coffee habits. Instead I poured myself a cup of tea and sat down for Dr. Wasser’s lecture over Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow and his connections with the Charite Hospital in Berlin. This lecture ended up being our last lecture with Dr. Wasser as he let us go that afternoon to enjoy our last bit of time in Bonn and to start packing up all of our things. Not quite ready to leave, I stayed behind at the AIB to work on some of my blogs and my last pharmacology quiz. That evening we all met back up at the new AIB lobby and since we had earlier discovered that Henning wouldn’t be able to join us in Berlin due to scheduling conflicts with his next program, Alexa lead us to the Ethiopian food restaurant we were supposed to eat at for Henning’s farewell dinner. The meal was a very interesting experience to say the least. The people working at the restaurant washed our hands and then gave us bowls containing different spreads and bowls full of a bread like substance not made of wheat. We then ate with our hands, using the bread to scoop up the spreads. It wasn’t a bad meal but I don’t think I would personally go out of my way to eat Ethiopian food again. My favorite part of the meal actually came afterwards. Dr. Wasser had divided us into Hogwarts houses and when we were done eating he quizzed us from his lectures over the past 6 weeks, while Alexa kept track of which house was in the lead. Unfortunately Gryffindor won but I personally think us Ravenclaws weren’t even given a chance when Henning, our referee, was not paying attention to who was actually raising their hands first. (Just kidding, we love you Henning!) Following our house cup challenge, Arianna, Rachel, Sydney, Nancy, Elyssa, and I went and grabbed gelato and sat in front of the town hall talking until it was time to catch our busses home.
The next day we didn’t have class but we had to be back at the AIB building for a pre-departure meeting discussing our schedule in Berlin. After the meeting I went to the post office and mailed off some postcards that I had been meaning to send but of course waited to the last minute, and then went to the Bonnox Hotel to hangout with Elyssa, Sydney, and Nancy. Later in the afternoon we met up with Rachel and went to one of the vineyards in Bonn, sitting under a tree with a flatbread and a riesling made from the grapes grown on the hill just beside us. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting there talking about anything and everything, and just enjoying each other’s company. Sadly, Arianna couldn’t make it because she was at the doctor getting her ankle checked out. (Finally!!!) When it was time, I got back on the tram and then the bus to head home for my last dinner with Marita. She had made salmon, potatoes, and salad, and it was delicious! We got to spend the evening talking about our travels and our families and we ended the night with strawberries and her homemade ice-cream, before I had to start packing up all of my things.
We got a late start on Wednesday, catching the train at 10 a.m. and traveling all day just to make it to Berlin in the late afternoon. Looking back I don’t know how I managed to lug my suitcases through this whole adventure of a day, including a train switch, but I made it to Berlin with me and my luggage in one piece. Once we got to Berlin Hbf we found our tour bus, loaded our luggage underneath, and hopped on board to experience a very fun and fascinating bus tour of Berlin. Initially this tour was supposed to be a bike tour and some people were upset about the change, but personally I was thankful for the bus considering just how worn out everyone was by week 6 and how hot Berlin was on this particular day. We rode around on the bus for a little over an hour, getting to see the Reichstag building, museum island, Checkpoint Charlie, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin Cathedral, Brandenburg Gate, Tiergarten, and the portion of the Berlin Wall called the East Side Gallery. There was so much to see and do but the only place we stopped and were allowed to get off of the bus was the East Side Gallery, after which we got back on the bus and went to check in at the hotel. Since it was July 4th, the girls and I went and got burgers for dinner that night. We ended up stumbling upon this place with elaborate burgers straight from a foodie’s wildest dreams. They were so good and we left happy and stuffed.
By Thursday it was obvious that the trip was starting to wear on me. I was tired of being on someone else’s schedule and of never really having a moment to myself. Nevertheless, I got up, got ready, and headed down to the hotel lobby as I was supposed to to figure out which group I was assigned to for the My Berlin Day project. Our class was basically divided into 4 groups and sent out to follow some of Dr. Wasser’s colleagues (aka our spirit guides) around for the day, before coming back to the hotel and working as a group to create a presentation about what we learned to be presented later that evening. My group was assigned to Dr. Nico Rönpagel who works at the Forum for Meditation and Neuroscience, and we were told that we were going to be exploring the sounds of Berlin. My first thought when finding this out was “not sure what that means but okay.” My skepticism was soon replaced with excitement because from the moment Nico walked into the hotel lobby and spoke to us in his positive, soothing voice, I knew I was going to have a good day. We started with a trip to the park by our hotel where we first checked in, closing our eyes and focusing on the sounds around us. While there we spent some time getting to know each other and Nico even taught us how to pop leaves - a sound focused activity. From there we walked to Alexanderplatz, stopping to check in and notice the change in the soundscape and our ability to create an image of our surroundings based only on sound. At Alexanderplatz we got on the tram and headed out of the city to Teufelsberg (Devil’s Hill). Despite looking like a natural part of the landscape, the hill was actually formed by the debris from WWII and grown over. On top of the hill was our main destination - a listening station used by the U.S. to listen to sounds from as far as Russia. We hiked up to the listening station, berry picking and checking in along the way, but the station was temporarily closed for repairs so we couldn’t go in but we could explore the graffiti park around it. Our afternoon was spent exploring the soundscapes in the graffiti park, playing ping pong, having a percussion party, and pushing people around in old shopping carts. We even taught Nico to say howdy as “country” as possible by holding his nose as he said it. Finally, after making it back into the city we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant called Umami and then headed back to the hotel to quickly put our presentation together because we were running very short on time. Even though it was a very active day as we walked all over the place, it was relaxing and so very enjoyable, and that peace carried into our time as we worked on our presentation. Although we were pressed for time there was very little tension in the process. We worked together far better than any other group project I have had experience with in the past, and we had fun presenting our day to the rest of the class, as well as hearing about theirs. If it had been an option, I would have loved to go on every single one of the My Berlin Days, but as it was I was happy to have had the day that I did. To finish off the day, Emily and I went to check out the Brandenburg Gate and then went back to the hotel to rest up for our last day in Berlin.
My final day abroad (not including my travel day home) did not seem final at all. I woke up and got ready for the day just the same as usual. We met in the hotel lobby and walked to the bus stop just as we had normally walked to our excursions as a class. Our morning was spent at the Charite Hospital museum, getting a lively and entertaining tour from our guide, Tinny Tom. Lunch was on our own so the girls and I chose to eat our last German meal at a biergarten. I tried the curry wurst and decided I’m not a fan, mainly because I’m just not a curry fan. Afterwards we jumped on the tram as a class and headed for Sachsenhausen. With the haunting images of Auschwitz still in my mind, I prepared myself for what was to be seen. In my opinion the two are not comparable. One was a concentration camp and one was a death camp. Nevertheless, horrible things happened in both places and my heart continues to ache for all those who were hurt or killed out of such hatred. One thing about Sachsenhausen that stood out the most to me though, was the set of prisoner’s clothes. In one of the reconstructed barracks was a class case displaying a winter set of the blue striped uniform worn by a prisoner of the camp. It was a winter set because it was made of slightly thicker material - something I formerly thought wouldn’t have been an option for prisoners. It was worn by a political prisoner, as indicated by the red triangle on the breast of the shirt. It was worn by a full grown man according to its description, but it looked as if it was meant for a young boy. I can’t begin to imagine the perils seen and lived by the man who used to wear these clothes, but I pray that the kind of hatred and evil that spurred those actions would someday soon be erased from this world.
Our last day was not ended on this somber note though. For dinner we ate at a Lebanese restaurant, another interesting choice of food. There was a buffet of meats and spreads but my favorite was the roasted vegetables, a welcomed treat after the weeks of a carb heavy diet. We ate and enjoyed our last moments all together as a class, and just when we thought it was over a belly dancer came out of nowhere and made us all start dancing. There was laughter and hugs as we all said goodbye, and I ended the night by packing up my bags and getting some sleep for my 5 a.m. wakeup call and taxi to the airport.
And just like that, my 6 weeks abroad had come to a close. New friends were made, history was learned, and my perspective of the world had been changed forever.
Sarah Bohac
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| Not quite sure how to feel about this one. Good to be home..? |
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