Tschüss Germany! :(

Monday and Tuesday were our last 2 days in Bonn. It was a very bittersweet feeling. For class on Monday, we had a guest lecture on bioethics. We had to reflect about what we would do in certain life or death scenarios. After the lecture, we had our predeparture meeting for Berlin.

During our last dinner with our host family, we exchanged gifts. I got my family a Texas shaped mug, a Texas shot glass and a post card. They got each of us a bag of Haribo gummies and a Bonn tote bag. My host dad thought the mug was shaped weird, and so I explained to him that the mug was shaped like the state of Texas. He leaves and comes back with a Texas shaped stone. He says “ah, now I know what this is.” It turns out that a previous student gifted him that rock and he never knew what it was.

Wednesday morning, we met at the main station for our 5 hour train ride to Berlin. For the majority of the ride, I worked on the neurophys exam with my classmates. The rest of the time I slept. After we got to the hotel, we were released for an individual lunch. A group of us went around the street and ate burgers. Our first tour began at the Charité Hospital. Tiny Tom was the best tour guide. We learned about how gallbladder stones used to be removed from people back in the day. Then, we saw other exhibits on anesthesia and childbirth. The coolest exhibit was the one displaying real human specimens.

Our walking tour of Berlin was led by Ryan. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Embassies of other countries and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Thursday was My Berlin Day. I was assigned to Nico’s group. Dr. Nico Roenpagel specializes in mediation and neuroscience. In our tour, our focus was to use meditation to become aware of urban and nature sounds. We began the tour with a meditation in the city. We closed our eyes and listened to the sounds of the trains passing by. Once we got on the train, we also closed our eyes to observe the sounds inside. After getting off the train, we hiked up to Dragon’s Mountain to the top of the plateau. There, we also meditated. Then we took another hike up to Devil’s mountain. This mountain was a man-made hill made from rubble from World War 2. It used to be an old U.S. spy station. The station is now a graffiti park. Nico also told us that people can rent this place out for birthday parties. After our day with Nico, I felt very peaceful and relaxed.

After getting back to the hotel, the group and I worked on our PowerPoint presentation. At 7, we all met at a different hotel with a conference room. Here, each of the 4 groups gave their My Berlin Day presentation. I enjoyed listening to the other group’s experiences with their tour guides. 

On our last official day in Berlin, we did a guided tour of Sachsenhausen. We were able to see the conditions that the Holocaust victims lived in. After the tour and lunch, we visited the House of Music. Our tour guide was amazing! During the tour, she played so many different instruments for us. I don’t remember the name of the instrument, and I tried to look it up on Google and couldn’t find it, but that one was my favorite instrument. I’m sure you all know which one I’m talking about.

After final evaluations, we got ready and headed to our farewell dinner at Merhaba. The food and wine were delicious. Then, we had a surprise belly dancer performance! While she danced, she got people to stand up and dance with her. This was so fun to watch, especially when Dr. Wasser got up to dance.

I am sad that my study abroad program has come to an end. At the same time, I am happy to be home because I missed my family and friends here in Texas. There are so many things I am going to miss about Germany (especially the gelato). Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to visit again. I used to say that I would wait to travel until I finished school and had a real job, but now, I have realized that traveling is completely doable and within my reach. Thank you to my parents, professors, and host family for making this trip possible. Bis bald Deutschland!