Week 3; Norderney, the worst airport experience ever, and eventually Scotland!

 After receiving a lecture from Dr. Wasser about saunas, I was shocked at how heavily related it was to religion, particularly the Jewish culture of bathing for purity. While I was incredibly excited to try out the sauna for myself I was a bit nervous about the cultural aspect of nudity when it came to the Bathhouse. Luckily this turned out to be a non-issue; more on that later. The train ride while very long, went by fast enough with plenty of reading and talking about upcoming plans and aspirations with other students in the program. It was really nice to talk to people who were more aligned with healthcare as many of my friends in chemical engineering are not (which makes total sense). We arrived at Norderney via ferry (and a lot of singing by European moms to 'Norderney'), and I was a bit worried  I had packed wrong as it was quite cold! Nevertheless, we grabbed our bikes and set out for the bike tour on the island (despite a few wrong turns and insane wind) we made it to the lookout and learned about how the dunes are formed and how the island is structured to maintain the city borders. The seagulls are quite funny creatures and while I did not see any seals I saw plenty of rabbits (absolutely adorable). Despite me not being able to feel half of my body by the time we returned to the hostel, I was incredibly glad to take a warm shower and settle in with Emily and Alyssa. The next day was interesting as we received a lecture from Dr. Raschke discussing the holistic medical approach taken on the island of Norderney to help people with asthma, burnout, sleep apnea, depression, and diabetes. I think that it is quite interesting (and beneficial) that the healthcare system in Germany seems more preventative in comparison to American Medicine (hygiogenetically oriented) as this is something that I feel the US could be a lot better at. While mental health is becoming a more central part of conversations in recent years, I think that the US seems to lean more towards medication rather than holistic healing. After attending the sauna, having a bonding experience with women in the mud treatment, and a peaceful moment to think over life in the salt pool, I felt quite rejuvenated and at peace with life. I think I will try to incorporate some aspects of cold therapy going forward. The next day, we went to the salt flats to hike and learned about a lot of different creatures like algae, snails, pelicans, crabs, jellyfish, clams, oysters, etc., and how they contribute to the ecosystem. Walking into the North Sea was probably the best part! I was really happy to hang out with everyone the last night there at the BBQ where I felt we really bonded as a group with many happy stories and adventures to tell (as well as a cool TikTok flash mod style). I couldn't have imagined a better night than watching the sunset on the beach!

We woke the next morning to a disaster of public transportation and ended up very VERY late to the airport (we were supposed to arrive 4 hours prior to our flight because of strikes and airline issues but arrived with 30 minutes to get from the train to the gate) and it was at this point that I realized how resilient and stubborn I am as a person (as well as the strength of our little trio) that we all had a part in making sure we made the flight to Scotland. Upon arrival in Scotland, we learned plenty about the role of the Catholic and Protestant churches at the Cathedral as well as the parade that went through town to celebrate Palestine's victory of an early religious FU against the catholic faith. We then went to visit the Edinburgh castle as well as walked around the Royal Mile and to a lookout where we could see both the sea and downtown Edinburgh (absolutely gorgeous). The next day we tried fish and chips and smoked fish prior to going to 2 beautiful hiking spots (I felt like I was in Jurassic Park). I never wanted to leave!