Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog: Week 6

I refuse to accept that this is our last week in the History of Medicine program and that I only have two days left in the city that I’ve learned to call home. Bonn will forever hold a huge place in my heart and I am beyond grateful for every single memory that I have made here.

Soooo for our last days, we planned out our Bonn Bucket List of things that we wanted to accomplish before leaving. We finally tried out this hookah bar that we passed every day going to class. The world cup game was playing so we hungout and had some drinks for a few hours. After, we had dinner at Dim Sum which was so yummy and then went to the hofgarten for our last night and shared all of our favorite memories over some wine.

The next morning Dr. Wasser cancelled class so Madison, Kylie, Cass, and I decided to head to Schloss Drachenburg (a castle outside of Bonn that we’ve been dying to check out). It was about a 30-minute train ride and 20-minute hike, but boy was it worth it. The nature was insanely beautiful, despite the hot weather. Madison and I then went home for our last dinner with our host mom. She made us a ton of food as usual and the sadness of leaving quickly began to hit me. We packed our bags and went to bed for our early train to Berlin. Our host mom drove us to the Hauptbanhof and gave us big hugs as she sent us off on our final adventure.

We arrived in Berlin after a long train ride and immediately got picked up for a bus tour! Our tour guide was very informative and we were able to drive by the Berlin Wall, Lutsgarten, Berlin Dom, memorial for the murdered jews, and much more. Then, we got dropped off at our hotel and headed across the street to an amazing burger place. Given that it was the 4^th of July, a group of us went to an American bar that night and celebrated alongside many other Americans.

The next day was “My Berlin Day”. My group was assigned to a Syrian refugee and he took us around the city all day. This was a very unique experience because he compared historical German events to events occurring in Syria. For example, after discussing the checkpoints between east and west Berlin he compared it to the obstacles that he faced crossing borders from Syria to Europe. Then, we had lunch at the best Syrian restaurant and had an insane amount of food, all of which was so yummy. This day was unexpectedly one of my favorite memories in Berlin. Once we got back to the hotel, we did some more sightseeing and walking around this vibrant city.

On our last day, we visited a concentration camp. This was beyond eye-opening and as much as I thought I was prepared for the experience, I was wrong. It was so painful to hear about all of the horrendous treatment that occurred within the walls of the camp. We also walked through the medical experimentation barrack and the displays almost made me sick. This experience changed my outlook on everything and gave me a new perspective on the Nazi period. Emotionally exhausted, we headed back to our hotel to pack for our dreaded departure the next day.

It was time for our farewell dinner. A night that came way too fast. These people have become my family over the past 6 weeks and I have shared such impactful memories with them. We had an amazing meal and wine and even a surprise guest from a belly dancer (shoutout to Dr. Wasser). After dinner, most of the group continued the celebration at one of the clubs in Berlin. I had the most amazing time thanks to all of these people and especially Dr. Wasser.

The next morning was full of hard goodbyes. I shed way too many tears hugging Cassidy, Madison, and Kylie for the last time until Cstat. These girls contributed immensely to my experience abroad and it would be nowhere near the same without them. We saw many different countries, shared so many laughs, and grew closer than I ever could’ve imagined. I love you people more than anything. I met Dr. Wasser downstairs to travel to the hauptbanhof our departure trains. I was headed to Munich for 8 days and although I was full of excitement for the next adventure, I couldn’t help but cry the majority of my train ride due to the best summer of my life with the History of Medicine Program!

Tschuss Deutschland, Ich liebe dich <3