Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog: Week 4 Out the Door

Monday, June 24, 2019

Week 4 Out the Door

I blinked and yet another week has come and gone. I have never related more to the saying “you can sleep when you’re dead.” Sleeping in an airport, exploring the vast area of Ireland and getting back to Bonn at 4 am left me feeling quite exhausted after the weekend. BUT the fun excursions we got to do with the class throughout the week distracted me from my sleep deprivation. First on our list of things to do in Ireland was to try the traditional Irish breakfast with sausage, ham, fried egg, and black and white pudding. I was a little hesitant with the black pudding because of the whole blood ingredient, but I ended up really liking everything I tried! After this we went straight to the Guinness Brewery where we learned about how the dark, rich local beer is made and even got a pint at the end! My favorite part of the trip occurred later that night at a pub that was about a five minute walk from our hostel. It was called Molloy’s Pub, and that is the place where I felt completely immersed in the Irish culture. There was a duo that played traditional Irish songs, people were singing along and even dancing on the small wooden dance floor. The next morning, a group of us began our 2 day Paddy Wagon tour that took us to see the beautiful Irish landscape, the city of Cong and Connemara, as well as Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. I don’t think I have ever seen so much greenery in my life, and the rolling hills stretched as far as the horizon. Our night in Galway was an eventful one to say the least. Our hostel was a ten minute walk from the famous Latin Quarter where we were amazed with colorful flags draped between the alleyways of the buildings, wool shops, pubs, people and more. On our stroll around the town, we passed over beautiful streams and flowers and even came across the Spanish Arch and the Galway Cathedral! That night we went to a pub where we met a Canadian fellow who was on a 30 day travel journey. We all talked for a while and even found out that we would be at the Cliffs of Moher at the same time the next day. We thought there would be a slim chance that we would see each other again, but sure enough we ran into each other once more and had a final farewell the next day at the Cliffs. Speaking of the Cliffs… they were absolutely INCREDIBLE. Stretching for miles, these massive rocks were weathered by waves and were breath taking! Not to mention, this was the exact place that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was filmed, so I was pretty starstruck being a biggggg HP nerd. We ended our journey back in Dublin where we spent one last night together in Molloy’s Pub. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my long weekend!

Coming back from the weekend pretty tired, I was glad to dive into the week with some excursions right off of the bat. On Tuesday, we visited an organ factory where we learned about the detailed process of organ assembly. Come to find out, this career deals with extreme precision involving acoustics, materials, carpentry and more, so an overall appreciation was gained for the workers. The next day consisted of one of my favorite activities we have done as a class. Never would I imagine that I would have the opportunity to be in a German hospital and watch a complete knee and hip replacement. After arriving at the Bonn University Hospital, we changed into scrubs and were divided into small groups, mine being orthopedics. From the first cut to the last stitch, I stood next to the surgeons and saw the full process, tools and techniques used to successfully perform a knee arthroplasty. After using this green puddy-like substance to seal the bone to the metal, the surgeon told me to put on some gloves and handed me the remnants of what I later learned was bone cement. As I messed with it in my hands, it began to get really hot…like reallyy hot! I looked at the surgeon not knowing what to do, and he started to laugh at me and simply told me to throw it away and explained it’s purpose even further. Although I am interested in animal and not human medicine, this experience as a whole was wicked cool. Finally on Friday, we traveled to the small town of Bingen where we elaborated more about Hildegard von Bingen. Having a previous lecture about this important woman was very helpful coming into this excursion, for I actually was familiar with the history and could recall information easily as Dr. Wasser guided us through the Museum Am Strom. Another cool thing to physically see were all of the flowers Hildegard used for her medical remedies in the Hildegarten outside the museum. Following lunch and a gorgeous Rhine river tour, we hiked up to the Marksburg Castle in the town of Braubach. Still completely intact, this castle was a beautiful sight to see and offered some of the best views. Sad to see it go, week 4 was definitely one for the books.