Em's Week 6: Berlin and Bye!

 I remember making my schedule digitized on Google calendar prior to this trip and thinking, 'Oh wow, by the time I get to Berlin, this trip will have almost ended.' So, when we rolled into the city, I was so eager to see it, the history, the people, the place, but I was also sad that I knew the trip would be coming to an end. 

Berlin lived up to all of my expectations. The food was delicious. The tour I had of the city with Ryan really had the history of Berlin unfold before my eyes. Seeing the book burning memorial made me feel as though I was walking through my history classes. Seeing checkpoint Charlie with my own eyes made me feel as though I entered any cold war movie I grew up watching. Walking through the disorienting Holocaust memorial made me realize how easily these people watched their loved ones disappear. I also learned about the oppression of the gypsies and political opponents of the time, which was new to me! 

Also, the museums we visited were incredible too. Seeing the natural history taxonomic collection was awesome. I've never seen such a collection. The musical history museum was so cool. I grew up playing piano and violin, but to see a man be able to pick up and play any instrument in the museum for us that he would like to play, blew me away. You could tell he put in his 10,000 hours! Lastly, visiting Sachsenhausen will be something I will always remember. It was truly an experience that humbled to my core and made me understand the precious gift of life and our call to protect humanity.

When we had a break, Jenna's mom had asked her why she hadn't seen the Berlin wall covered in art. So, we set out to find the gallery, and walking through the art was amazing. To see something that once stood for oppression now stand for justice and peace was beautiful. Also, I loved getting to see one of the first veterinary anatomical dissection classrooms!

Lastly, spending our last night eating dinner together, passing stories and jokes, and just celebrating was the sweetest way to spend the night. Also, the karaoke bar we went to afterwards was fun too :)

The end of the beginning

 I am writing this last part of the blog about 4 days after I have come back to the United States. I have gotten over the euphoria of just being back home, and I simply miss a lot of the aspects of Germany and Europe. The train rides along the Rhine every day, the Solo Qui gelato, the meals with my host family, and the weekend trips. Life here in the United States seems a little lackluster, but I am really trying to just look for those small little moments to hold on to just as I did in Germany. That is the perspective that I have gathered from this trip to Germany. Also, I have learned that I need to strive for new experiences. Do with my life what I want to instead of being so cautious.

Now I will get into detailing my last week in Germany. The river cruise of the Rhine was a very nice and peaceful moment. The tour of the Marksburg castle offered some great views of the valley and the whole of the area surrounding the castle. I really enjoyed the tour of the castle, and the rushing down the hill to get to the train on time was quite funny yet exhilarating. The trip to Trier involved one of my last complications involving the DB, a service I have grown to love yet also violently criticize at times. the trip to Trier was an interesting one as I began to see a different perspective than I usually get from my similar BIMS colleagues. Either way, the project was a good exercise in interdisciplinary cooperation that I hope will guide me in my academic pursuits later in my life. The last day in Bonn was a bit anticlimactic as the Rhine walk was enjoyable yet not out of this world. That night is when the interesting started. I was all packed up and about ready to get to sleep and awake early for the train ride when I felt a sudden nausea develop. I felt a need to rush to the restroom which I satisfied, and you can probably guess what happened next. Anyways, I didn't get much sleep that night, but I was determined to get to Berlin, so I woke up and dragged myself to the train station in Bonn with the help of my host mom. The next 10 hours or so of travel and waiting were agonizing, but I eventually made it to the hotel room in Berlin where I subsequently slept for around 15 of the next 17 hours. This refreshed me and I was able to do most of the activities on the second day. I was sad to miss the walking tour of Berlin on the first day, but I simply had to. I'm gonna be honest, Berlin was not my favorite place to be partly because of the whole stomach situation. It felt like a very anticlimactic ending to an amazing trip, but it made me more willing to come home and see my family.

I had to take an overnight train from Berlin to Frankfurt  with 3 other people because of a cancelled flight, but we made it to the Frankfurt airport at 2 AM. We had to wait many hours for our flights, but it ended up working out. I arrived in Houston, saw my parents and they took me back to San Antonio where at about 10 PM I promptly passed out on the couch and woke up early in the morning. Just like that I was back in my element, and the trip was over. I am sad it is over, but I am so glad I was able to take part in this amazing opportunity.

Here are 3 pictures without context. Try and find out what they mean.

Berlin

Being back home is bittersweet. I am glad to be surrounded by family, but am missing Germany and the program. Berlin was a great excursion. It was very insightful to the history of medicine, World War II, and Germany, as a whole. I think the walking tour was my favorite part of the excursion. Going to the concentration camp was a unique experience. Our final group meal was a blast. I wish I could have stayed the whole time, but I had to catch my train to Frankfurt Airport. 

Finally, Finally Home

Yesterday Luke showed me a news article titled " Americans hoping for European vacations this summer should prepare for one thing: Chaos". At the time this was hilarious as I could not sum up my experience trying to get home in better words. After passing through security at the Berlin airport seamlessly, our flight from Berlin to Frankfurt was unfortunately delayed 25 minutes. This led to both of us sprinting down terminal Z of the Frankfurt airport to barely make it to our connecting flight in time. There was just one problem: we made it to the plane in time, but our checked baggage did not. We were told we could not board the plane and were instead directed to the Lufthansa service center. Now the fun begins.

After taking our place in line at 1:35 PM, we slowly crept closer and closer to the service desk over the course of 4.5 hours. This was when two men wearing Lufthansa suits began consulting other people in line behind us about what was in "the passenger's best interest". We were informed at 6:30 PM that the service desk would close abruptly at 8:00 PM, and that those left waiting in line would be just out of luck. They then told us that since we were American citizens, we could receive a voucher for a hotel room and could comfortably rebook our flight using Lufthansa's phone help number. The only condition: we would need to give up our place in line. This information sounded unreliable, so we proceeded to call the help desk while still in line. The call was dropped and all other "resources" the men provided turned out to also be unresorceful. They then tried to convince us to leave using an emotional argument. Supposedly, if we received a new plane ticket from the help desk, we would be preventing someone else from receiving help who would not be legally allowed to leave the airport due to visa restrictions. That person would therefore have to sleep on the floor of the airport with their luggage, as all overnight beds were full. In spite of this, we remained in line, and at 7:30 PM finally received help rebooking our flight for the next day.

The next morning I ran into a couple from El Paso that had stood behind us in line. They informed me that the help desk did not close at 8:00 PM, but remained open until all people who did not give up their spot in line were served. The men had apparently been lying to reduce the number of people who had to be helped. I am so happy that I was able to board the plane yesterday and will not be flying again as long as I can help it. 

 

Ich bin ein Berliner

Contrary to the title of this blog, I am actually not a Berliner (or a jelly donut). Instead, I am just passing through. I had a great time in Berlin, and it might have been one of my favorite excursions. The walking tour the group went on with Ryan was amazing, and I really got to learn a lot about the history of Berlin. Even though I had background knowledge on Berlin, there was a lot I didn't know, and this walking tour helped me get my bearings and learn more about Berlin's history. Walking through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was insane. Even though it was more abstract than most memorials, I feel like I interpreted it in a way the artist wanted: the gradual rise of the blocks represented the gradual oppression of the Jews. Furthermore, it was easy to get lost in the blocks, showing how it was easy to get separated from your loved ones. Even though this was a very serious memorial, I appreciated it and felt like I learned a lot. I also appreciated the empty library monument in Bebel Platz. That was very sad to see and learn about. The last somber moment I'll talk about was the tour at Sachsenhausen. I learned a lot about concentration camps and the Holocaust in elementary school and high school, and getting to see a camp like this in real life was difficult. There is obviously so much sadness surrounding these places in Berlin, but it's important to remember these moments so that it doesn't happen again. I'm really grateful I got to see these parts of history in real life. 

Despite these sad parts of Berlin, there were places I greatly enjoyed. I loved the last group dinner we had together, and the belly dancer was so fun! The food was great, and the company was even better. I also enjoyed going to the karaoke bar afterwards with some people from the group. I also had a great time at the museum for musical instruments. At first, I was skeptical about it because I didn't know anything about musical instruments or music in general, but the tour guide we had was awesome. He did a great job teaching us history and demonstrating how the instruments work. The organs was the best part. 

Overall, Berlin was great. I learned a lot and made some great memories. It was a perfect end to our amazing time abroad, and I'll miss being in Europe with everyone. 

Microplastics in MY food?!

When I first joined a history of medicine program, I never expected to learn about the environment. However, I'm so glad I was pushed outside of my comfort zone to learn about microplastics. I realized that even though this might not directly relate to what I set out to study, it still ties back to medicine and to the health of our bodies and our earth. Getting to collaborate with art students helped me learn about microplastics in our reproductive system. I learned that microplastics can easily lower sperm count and sneak into the placenta. Plastics in the placenta ultimately damage fetal development. What's worse is that microplastics can be transgenerational, meaning that the microplastics in my body can be passed down into the microplastics of my grandchildren. This means they will accumulate in the future generations, creating more health risks and more damage to DNA and hormones. Learning this was insane to me! Then getting to collaborate with art students only made me learn about it more. I got pushed outside of my comfort zone trying to create artwork for this, which was really exciting. I love being challenged, and brainstorming abstract art pieces caused me to use a part of my brain I haven't used in a long time. This was a great exercise and project, and I hope I get to see the final product the art students come up with.

Getting to learn about this stuff was really interesting to me. We further learned about microplastics by walking on the Rhine. I got to learn even more about the damage that plastics cause and how they escape into rivers and pollute our water systems. I have loved learning about the body and medicine, but this was a nice break from the scientific and historical side of the program. It's always great to learn something new! It made me critically think and analyze how we are hurting our earth. I realized I need to be more careful with what I purchase, and that I should warn my friends and family about the damage we are causing. This was a great addition to our program, and I'm so glad I got to participate. 

Vienna

 Of all the excursions, Vienna was definitely my favorite. Beautiful sights, good food, fascinating history, and incredible music: Vienna has it all. 

The museums that we went to were some of my favorites of the entire trip. The tour of the Fool's Tower was both incredibly interesting and very disconcerting. As we walked around and around, viewing the grotesque exhibitions, it was easy to imagine how a person could be driven to madness by wandering the halls. 

My other favorite was definitely the Museum of Natural History. First off, I love dinosaurs, so seeing dino fossils always makes me happy. Secondly, I was mind blown by the sheer size and quality of their collection. The wonder it inspired reminded me of being a little kid discovering science for the first time. 

Lastly, the group dinner and musical performance were awesome. The food was delicious and the restaurant was really cool. Also, seeing Bailee play the violin was an added bonus. 

Overall, Vienna is a city to which I definitely intend to return. 

 

Norderney

 I truly loved Norderney. I have never been one for the beach, but the cold water and the beautiful sunsets made this one worth it. Learning about Thalasso therapy was very interesting. I had always been one to scoff at alternative medicine, but the data that was presented to us painted a compelling argument. 

The Badehaus was interesting for sure. It was extremely relaxing and fun, but also forced me to come to terms with my own hang ups on nudity. Seeing a bunch of people just leaving it all out there without any embarrassment or fear made me rethink my own perspectives. The sauna was very hot and the mud bath was weird but I would recommend it all 100%.