End Of An Era

I honestly don't even know where to begin on that last week in Germany. It came with many highs and thank goodness not so many lows. Everything about that week was bittersweet and looking back on it now I kind of want to cry because it's all in the past. Our week started out like many others with classes about Neurophysiology and racing to get our paper on an acoustically friendly space done, followed by our last lectures from Dr. Wasser. They blessed us with later classes not only Monday but Tuesday so everyone was well rested as we took our last laps around Bonn. We did some last minute shopping at the University of Bonn shop as well as tried out some new places that we somehow over looked in our long stay but we did everything we wanted to do included having one last meal with our host families before saying goodbye. This two days may have felt like some of the longest but shortest and it still makes me happy that we got to have one last sit down as a class with some drinks before heading off to have one last meal with our families. But when the packing was all over, the meals were all eaten, and the tears were cried as we got dropped off for the last time by our families the real adventure of carrying 75 pounds worth of clothing and accessories through not one but two train stations set in. I think by the time we made it to our hotel in Berlin I was a luggage carrying champion. I had concurred not only escalators but stairs, so many flights of stairs. But that was all the journey that led us to by far my favorite excursion on this study abroad. 

Berlin started on a Wednesday for all of us even though we had had such an early morning there was no time to waste with naps of any sort. So it started with a hasty lunch followed by a much needed trip to maybe the best gelato stand on the entire trip and a casual walk through of some of the city with Dr. Wasser. This was followed by our actual excursion of visiting a hospital that doubles as a museum where we got to see actual specimens and organs that were once a part of patients at that very hospitals. We were warned about some that might cause us to faint but luckily enough no one did. I do see why Tiny Tom said that could happen because there was an exhibit of fetuses that had deformations and problems that ultimately led to their deaths. But after this we had a relatively upbeat city walking tour with our guide Ryan that showed us very many different parts of the city, from the old to the new, from the east to the west. After this we were given a free night which included finding this Italian restaurant/ sports bar where we dined and watched the Netherlands play Sweden to see who would play the US in the World Cup.

Thursday was solely dedicated to what was called "My Berlin Day". This included following a guide around from different backgrounds and learned about what their depiction of Berlin was from their lives. We were all randomly assigned into groups which was honestly really good for us because this forced us to collaborate or work with some people who we sadly hadn't on this trip so far. I loved this experience even more because my group got to follow around a man by the name of Mohamad Othman, a Syrian refugee. We got the chance to learn all about his life and what he had been through in high escape from Syria and how it was for him to come to a completely foreign country and survive. His story was so impactful and inspiring. It look what our whole study abroad was about, which was experiencing life through the other, and point blank teaching us that. It opened my eyes in the sense that I knew what was going on in Syria but hearing about it from someone that actually was born and raised there and witnessed it all was so much more monumental. It was so amazing hearing him talk about everything he's been through and see what he did when he came to Berlin and how he's not only finally able to broaden his education through school but is broadening everyone around him's education through his story. After we spent some hours with him walking around the city he took us to a Syrian restaurant which had some spectacular food might I add where we got to know a little bit more about him in a brighter light and just have natural and easy conversation with him about Berlin and what he experiences now. After this we parted ways and we got the chance to put together a presentation about what we had learned that day. Later that night we actually presented these in front of the whole program and then got to see the presentations of the other groups and what they learned that day as well. After all the presentations were over we were released for the night. A group of us had some dinner before going back to the hotel and regrouping with everyone to go out for the night. This was nice because it was one of the first nights we got to go out as a whole group instead of little groups. We were staying in the gay district of Berlin so soon as we found a bar that all of us could get into and it was honestly such a chill night to just sit and talk to everyone and see what everyone had gotten out of the program so far. We ended up staying out pretty late before we headed back to the hotel to finally get some sleep. 

When the last day of this trip rolled around it was a cloudy and gloomy day which kind of matched the mood of everyone. This was our last day to experience Berlin and to experience this study aboard. But it couldn't have been a better day in the end. We started out by visiting Sachsenhausen which was a concentration camp that had a lot of experimentation with patients that took place. We got to walk around the entire camp and memorial with our guide Ryan. We were shown where people slept, ate, did their designed work but we were also shown the history and the different chilling stories that took place at this specific camp throughout the Nazi reign. This was a very hard but necessary visit while we were in Berlin because it brought to light all the stories and memories we always heard in school and lectures forward and for us to actually experience where it happened. After this visit we headed back to central Berlin and headed to a music museum that exceeded any sort of expectations I had. Our tour guide was beyond phenomenal and would place all these different kinds of instruments from different times for us. She was so amazingly talented and it was the perfect way to end an already perfect trip. After this experience we went back to the hotel for a little bit before heading out to a group dinner for the last time. This group dinner included amazing food, amazing conversation, and even some belly dancing! We all got a chance to try our hand at belly dancing and even got the professors to join in the fun! After our dinner was over and the speeches were made we all headed out for one last night in Berlin before our rude wake up call of 4:30 am came. 

The experience of this trip overall was more than I could have every imagined it would be and I will forever be thankful to all the staff that guided us through it even when we were pushing their patience to the very edge. It was amazing to get to bond with 30 other individuals who are sitting at about the same place as me in life but with totally different experiences thus far and just connecting on such a deeper level than we could have ever back in college station. Germany forever has my heart (,: