Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog

Vienna [1/13-1/15]

2012-02-03T07:02:00.001-08:00

It was hard to get out of bed this Friday (the thirteenth!), but I managed it, and it was very worth it! Our first adventure on this day was to the Vienna Medical School. We had a presentation that basically compared medical schools in the US and Austria. We were joined by a student, Robert, who joined us and gave us additional input from the student perspective. We got to go to the Josephinium and see the extensive collection of wax models, including the obstetric models. The attention to detail on these wax models was unreal. They looked so real! They would be great for a student’s individual study or tutoring and it seems they are still true to their purpose as our group of pre-med students learned from them! The figures were true to size if not bigger, and intricately prepared. They were in their original casings of Venetian class, an impressive feat indeed! We got lunch at a unique restaurant that offered delicious Indian food and had an interesting business model based on a pay-as-you-like principle. We got to take a tour of the University’s main campus. It had a beautiful courtyard and busts of many important figures of academia! We made our way to the Narrenturm, which was at one time an insane asylum. This looming circular building has such an interesting appearance and really sort of emphasizes the fact that patients there were not at all treated like the rest of society. The building now houses the Federal Pathologic-anatomical museum which has more than is fair share of medical moulages and preparations of actual pathologies. I had actually hoped for more history of the Narrenturm as an asylum-- perhaps some case studies--but I really enjoyed the Museum tour. We headed out to a coffee shop. I had some of the richest hot chocolate that the world has probably ever seen and we had a little journal writing party. I headed out with Shelby, Chris, and Justin and we wandered toward Stephansplatz for a little shopping. We went into a store that contained the most chocolate I have ever seen in one place. We had dinner at Restaurant Führich and I give it five stars! We traversed the city for gelato; we grabbed a U-bahn toward the Danube and followed the lights to the water. We passed the St. Francis of Assisi church in Mexikoplatz. It’s not the most historical of churches, as some brief research tells me it’s only about a century old, but it is beautiful and it looks like a castle! Perfected by the snow falling and lights shining up on it! Finally, we made it to the river. Guten tag of medical school and museum adventures, guten abend of exploring the city! January the 14th was a real mixtape! We took a train to Mödling where we visited the hospital’s heart station. We were introduced to many materials and oriented to imaging screens so that we could better understand what was going on, what the images should look like, and the problems that we would be seeing. We saw a heart catheterization via the femoral artery; it was very visible on the imaging screen as it snaked up into the heart. I learned a lot I did not know about catheters, wires, shunts, saline balloons, and other tools of the trade. We got to see an ultrasound of Zach’s heart and then some replay of some pretty dramatically abnormal ultrasounds. Later we got to visit the home of Dr. Frass, a homeopath and an MD. But first, Dr. Kerschbaum of the Austrian Red Cross presented to us an overview of Red Cross world involvement and philosophy. Onto the lecture on homeopathy, I strove to keep an open mind. It is important to understand the philosophy behind alternative medicine, and it was interesting how quickly his presentation told me that my assumptions about homeopathy were pretty much all wrong. I thought it was a nutrition-based doctrine; I thought it was like like eat some yogurt, take some vitamin C, and you’ll feel much better. In fact, homeopathy seeks to use a single remedy to treat all the whole patient, guided by the law of similars and prepared by serial dilutions and vigorous shaking. Most of it is based on case studies and the science that my “western mind” craves to back it up was scarce. However, the experience has served to at the very least broaden my definition of what some in our society considers to be Heath and/or Medicine. The way I see it, if it helps some people get over some illnesses or discomforts and it isn’t hurting anyone, I am all for it. However, it’s not an area of practice that I would like to be a part of. This night we had our first farewell dinner at an Austrian Restaurant where we at a long table in a wine cellar. The food, wine, friends, and intriguing conversations made this one of my favorite evenings. After we got back to the hotel, a group of us changed and headed back out to go dance (yayyy!) at a club that Robert suggested. It was called Volksgarten. We had a lot of fun finding it, and then dancing (part of) the night away! Note to future students: it is a very NICE club, so dress up! The 15th of January was absolutely incredible. We had lecture in Freud’s house!! THE SIGMUND FREUD HOUSE! After our lecture, we had a guided tour of the house, where he lived and had his practice. One very cool thing: his waiting room was intact. So many patients that we’ve read about sat in there! The museum was put together by his daughter, and one very unique contribution was home videos of the Freud family. I really enjoyed this experience. Our next stop was the Natural Historical Museum of Vienna and I enjoyed walking through their collections. Highlights include: the dinosaur room and the giant turtle skeleton, much of the zoological taxidermy, and the butterfly room. Then we went to our (really, it’s the last one this time) farewell dinner. Many of us enjoyed wienershnitzel, and we all sang a rather rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to Sophie! This was a fun night and a night for many thank you’s. I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of this trip and for each and every person in our group and each person who crossed our path to teach us, lead us, help us, or feed us!

Tschüs!

2012-01-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

Friday morning kicked off with a lecture over the medical school process in Austria, which has fundamental differences from the way ours is set up. Even though this isn’t my area of study, it gave me a much greater respect for the medical students – they have to write a thesis on top of exams that cover a year’s worth of material. We visited the Josephinum wax anatomical models that were used as study tools for medical students during the summer months when dissections were a bit smellier… These models were extremely detailed; they used silk threads and wax to construct the veins, and real hair. After a short stop at the University of Vienna (so much prettier than A&M, I wonder if I would take it for granted) , we trekked through the snow to grab some Indian food, and headed to the Narrenturm. This was the first insane asylum established in Austria, by Emperor Joseph II, and it was packed with a collection of moulages representing various diseases, preserved organs, and various pieces of old medical equipment, including some wooden prosthetics! Like the Josephinium, the wax models here were extremely lifelike, and showed extreme symptoms of diseases that modern medicine has more or less kept under control. Next we finished off the day with a wonderful dose of free time! We shopped downtown in the picturesque pedestrian zone, the streets were lit with Christmas light chandeliers, and there was an accordion playing in the distance. We decided on a cute restaurant with the BEST schnitzel I’ve tasted on the trip (stuffed with ham and cheese, dipped in cranberry sauce and lemon juice), dumplings, and mélange. Chris stumbled on the biggest chocolate shop known to mankind, which was so overwhelming I attempted to take footage of it, and then we headed to the Danube. The snow was falling again, and it was so cold our butts froze on the stone wall next to the river, but it was gorgeous! It felt like time had frozen, or we were in a snow globe of sorts… the lights from the bridge and the buildings across the river were reflecting on the water, and it was perfectly quiet, save for the river. After a bit of exploring, we headed home.
On Saturday the group visited Hospital Mӧdling to watch a coronary catheterization for diagnosis of atherosclerosis. We learned the details of the procedure, and how to recognize stenosis and stents in the coronary arteries. The second patient we observed had complete occlusion of the left anterior descending artery; we could see the branch indicating the beginning of the vessel, but past this the artery was completely invisible (no flow through the vessel). We observed some unusual echo cases, analyzed an ECG for disorders, and learned about an awesome technology that can piece together a 3D model of the heart for a surgery to treat atria fibrillation. Next we listened to lectures on the Austrian Red Cross and homeopathy. I think it was just as entertaining to watch all the faces of my classmates during this as it was to listen… everyone had a look of stark unbelief or “this is a joke, right?” stamped clearly across their faces during the homeopathy section. But it was a great eye-opener, we were forced to take a step back from the traditional views of medicine we’ve been studying and growing up with and consider something without western scientific proof or numbers, etc. After a bit of talking into by Dr. Wasser, I reached the conclusion that if it helps as a supplemental medicine, then why not try it? For our second to last dinner, we had traditional Viennese food (dumplings, lentils, pretzel bread), and we topped off the night with some dancing at the Volksgarten!
Sunday was our last full day, and it was filled with Freud’s house, the Natural Historical Museum of Vienna, and a final dinner of schnitzel and goodbyes! The Freud museum was great, we had our last lecture with Dr. Wasser on Freud’s life and theories, and we saw his original entryway and waiting room. It was a bit strange and very cool being in the house and workplace of a person who had (and still has) such a huge impact on modern thought and psychoanalysis. The Natural Historical Museum was gorgeous; we saw a bouquet of jewels gifted by Maria Theresa to her husband, and too many models of animal species to count! Packing up that night wasn’t exactly a happy occasion, but I’m making a point of returning. I am so thankful for being a part of this journey, for all I’ve learned and experienced, and for all the wonderful people I was able to meet!

Vienna, pt. 1 (1/11-1/12)

2012-01-23T23:22:00.000-08:00

Started the last day in Hannover with a tour of a nephrology department, where we listened to some of the more negative effects German healthcare has on the way medicine is practiced. It was surprising to hear about all of the loopholes that doctors figure out for extra compensation, but then again the United States isn’t really much different in that respect. It was a reality check of sorts, after we heard how certain aspects of European systems are incredibly more humane than ours (we’re the only third world country who doesn’t provide some form of care to the entire population), it was easy to glorify their healthcare, but of course even the best system on paper has its faults. We learned about different dialysis methods, including an at-home system (very cool), and a portable ICU machine that concentrates and stores the dialysis fluid itself. After some lunch, we headed to an axolotl research center. These are the most amazing animals in existence. Why? 1. They regenerate. You can cut off a leg, and it grows back, regardless of age. And, this center has shown this ability could be applied to therapeutic regeneration in humans! 2. They act like dogs. They like to see what you’re doing, and one of the researchers told us her pet axolotls wait for her to come home. 3. Their gills look like these massive headdresses. They’re so fun to watch. The spiders we “visited” next weren’t quite as exciting… besides their medical application (the silk can be used to rout nervous tissue). Needless to say, I was pretty glad to get on the plane to Vienna and attempt to sleep for a bit!

The first days of Vienna were wonderful! I love the city, it seems a little more “refined?” than Berlin, if that makes any sense, but it’s gorgeous, like everywhere we’ve been on this trip. We saw much of Joseph II’s contributions to the city, which were largely influenced by the renaissance. After a long lunch with some shopping and torte from Demel, we toured Stephansdome. The sun was finally shining through some of the stained glass windows so that they cast beautiful colors on the pillars; it was gorgeous! On the other hand, the catacombs underneath the cathedral had more history than beauty going for them… there were thousands of skeletons from the 1700’s piled up, some bones were made into walls, some full skeletons we displayed close to the windows overlooking other rooms. It seemed like we were in an endless maze. Next we toured the Vienna History Museum and learned of the two sieges on the city, and how it outgrew its massive walls. That night we were treated to The Magic Flute in a Viennese Opera house, which was absolutely gorgeous. I was torn between listening to the symphony and the beautiful voices, not to mention taking in the intricate sets and trying to pick out (any?) German words in the spoken dialogue. I was mentally exhausted, but the performance was beyond worth it. I need to see a few more of these!

Hanover, Monday 1/9, Tuesday 1/10

2012-01-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

Today was one of my favorite days of the program! We toured the Otto Bock plant in Duderstadt, and I fell head over heels for some fancy prosthetics. The showroom had three different full leg prostheses, with different types of knee joints, and the newest ones are able to detect when the leg is in a swing motion with a loose knee joint, versus catching itself from a fall, where the knee needs to flex and provide support. This is all done via microprocessors. The algorithms that went into its development would be so cool to study! As if this wasn’t charming enough, they developed an arm prosthetic that can be controlled with the brain by rerouting the severed nerves into the pectoral muscles, and using these electrical signals generated by thought to power the arm. All they need now are finger sensations and a close replica of a normal arm will be finished. SO COOL. Add this to an off-roader tank-esque wheelchair, custom testing devises for the prosthetics, and a Swiss robotic organizing system, and I’m a kid in a candy store. What I loved most about this tour was that it helped me decide between medical school and industry, which had been bugging me for a while before we left for this trip. I definitely feel as if I have more of a direction, the fact that I ate up everything in Otto Bock was a pretty big indicator that medical school might not be the way to go. Another great thing about this trip: grad school or interning abroad seems much more feasible, and is no longer just a possibility that doesn’t need to be considered seriously. There are so many awesome opportunities!
Tuesday was a relaxing day, we visited the Veterinary Medical School Cattle Clinics in Hannover, where we viewed operating rooms and the like for the cattle, and talked about types of procedures done at the clinic. It wasn’t quite my favorite, but the calf we saw was adorable! The best part of the day though was the Hannover zoo, which by far topped any zoo I’ve ever seen. We got close-ups of polar bears diving for food, sea lions, tigers and wallabies. To top it off, VIP access to the hippos’ pool wasn’t too shabby. We stood on a metal walkway looking over the pool, and they immediately opened their huge mouths for food. Their tongues were gross, but you have to have a little respect for an animal that could crush you without thinking. After heading to the hotel, Abbee and I checked out the tiny pedestrian zone and bought some coffee, and headed to the hotel for the best lecture I’ve ever listened to in my entire life. Mainly due to the Venus of Willendorf section. We had a good-bye dinner for Nils, which was pretty sad… he was an awesome guide! Finished off the night with a YouTube party. Oh AND I got a free Kostritzer glass! Whoop!

Hannover to Vienna [1/11-1/12]

2012-01-20T21:57:00.001-08:00

January 11- Today was our last day in Hannover. I don’t think I will ever stop appreciating way Germany really doesn’t joke about breakfast! I’m getting so spoiled with all these fluffy scrambled eggs and delicious rolls and of course nutella! A great, solid start to the day! This morning we had a lecture and tour of the nephrology department with Dr. Kielstein. It was interesting to see the array of methods of treatment and care for dialysis patients. It also made me really stop and think twice about what good care for my kidneys needs and how I can minimize my likelihood of one day needing dialysis. Also, as a representative of a health field I think is important to be knowledgeable about all of these issues and what daily steps towards prevention are. http://www.aakp.org/aakp-library/porper-kidney-care/ is a good resource for anyone else out there who thinks “YES I would like to take good care of my filter organs, but where do I begin?” After a very satisfying plate of vegetables, we headed off toward the Axolotl research center. Everybody in the world: Stop what you are doing. Google “Axolotl.” The Axolotls are absolutely amazing creatures and I am legitimately upset that I didn’t know they existed before this day. I found myself very quickly mirroring the enthusiastic attitudes of the researchers toward the Axolotl population in the lab. These animals have astounding regeneration capabilities, and not to mention an adorable outward appearance and quirky demeanor. We also got to see the spiders they keep for biotechnology purposes with the spider silk. By “see the spiders” I mean we got to go into their enclosures, which is a room repurposed for spider living; sticks, webs and spiders just hanging all over the place, a tank of cricket-snacks, and a ladder graced the room. I was very impressed by the quality of work and the attention to detail in the removal of the spider silk and the appropriation of it for medical purposes. One short flight later we were at the airport in Vienna, and Dr. Rainer was waiting to lead us to the hotel. We went out for a delicious meal that ended in a homemade chocolate torte. January 12 brought us on a medical tour of Vienna, as led by Dr. Wasser. As is the custom, we saw several few small-scale models of the city at different times throughout its history. After lunch, we headed to St. Stephansdome and prepared to go in. The sun shone on the windows and cast the most beautiful, almost underwater, glow to the Church’s interior. Then we met our guide and he led us into the oldest remaining parts of the church: the catacombs. We were led into the burial area for the bishops, where they lie, embalmed inside copper coffins. We next saw the burial rooms of the royal family and where their organs are kept in very intense jars. Next we went down an Indiana Jones—worthy tunnel and were soon standing in the middle of Vienna’s old city cemetery. Peeking through the bars, you could see 3 or 4 prominent skeletons on top of piles and piles of bones. It was not only hard for me to wrap my mind around how long ago these people lived, but also that they had distinct lives not so different from my own. It is hard to make the leap between remains and individual lives when there are so many in view. Note: Skeletons are very effective at evoking solemn thought and reminders of the time-honored human tradition of… not living forever. There are at least two ways to make a person feel small: to belittle and to humble. Seeing skeletons of people who now rest in their own dust and buildings that have come to crumble definitely falls into the humbling category but also acts as motivation to enable others to reach their highest possible quality of life while they are here. Upon exiting the catacombs, we headed toward the Museum of Vienna. We saw many models and maps of Vienna through the ages, my very favorite being the depiction of the siege of Vienna by the Ottoman empire in 1529. (Look here!) There were many weapons in exhibit as well. It is important to not how important Vienna was, as it was viewed as the Gateway to Europe. On this night we had a very fast turnaround at the hotel; we had a lecture in preparation for the Opera and away we went! The version of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” that we saw was actually rather Victorian looking, though steampunk may also be fitting. It was a very interesting experience and I’m glad I’ve now seen my first opera! I had a little bit of trouble following, but our lecture earlier and the summary from Dr. Rainer made it a lot easier to make conclusions as to what the German dialogue referred to.

Wien

2012-01-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Vienna is such a beautiful city! It made the travelling from place to place an adventure of its own. On our first day, we went through Vienna on a medical history walk. We saw a statue in memory of Guttenberg and a memorial for Mozart, where his home is now a department store but the best was seeing historically influential doctors’ former homes. They look like regular apartments and don’t have markers, but some of the most brilliant people in medicine lived behind those doors. After lunch, we explored the catacombs of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, one of the most interesting parts being the bones of plague victims. Then we went to the Museum of Vienna. Austria is another country that we didn’t seem to focus on in high school history classes, so I enjoyed learning more about Ottoman Empire’s influence on Austria and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. We also saw several city maps and models to see how much Vienna changed and grew in the last several hundred years. In the evening, we saw The Magic Flute! The story was light-hearted and fun, and it seems like Austrian women in stories can be just as dramatic as the women Shakespeare’s plays. Even though I don’t think that I’ve heard of The Magic Flute before Dr. Wasser mentioned it in the orientation classes, I was surprised to find that I recognized some of the music. Going to an “opera” was definitely a great experience!

Friday morning, we went to the Medical University of Vienna to learn more about medical education in Austria. With the formation of the European Union, the member countries are becoming more unified. For example, once someone finishes their medical education, they are free to practice in any EU country. The entrance exam system is used in India, as well, so I’ve heard of it before, but after we get the importance of having extracurricular activities, research and doing well during interviews drilled into our heads, the concept of just one test determining a person’s admission still seems foreign. We, then, visited the University of Vienna to see the courtyard lined with busts of distinguished professors and students. I never knew that people could be so concentrated in one university. To name a few: Doppler, Freud, Kaposi, and Landsteiner, who received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of blood groups. After lunch at a restaurant where the customer decides the price, we went to the Josephinum which houses anatomical wax models used for military surgeons in training. The models were very detailed and oriented towards learning, when they were in use, students could take them apart and look at organs from different angles. It was impressive that the models were still in the original cases made of Venetian glass and how current the artists tried to be when designing them, even if that meant giving one too many lymph nodes. Later, we went to the Federal Pathologic Anatomical Museum. Here there were different specimens and models of all sorts of diseases, from tuberculosis to tumors and a pick axe murder to a suicide attempt. There seemed to be mostly skin presentations of different diseases. The building used to be an insane asylum, which added another layer to the history of what we were learning.

Saturday, we went to the hospital in Mödling to see the cardiology unit. We were able to see the doctors look for a stenosis in a couple patients and they showed us all of the catheters and explained their functions in more detail. The doctors then showed us ultrasounds from just the day before. One patient’s tissues around the valve were thickening and one had a tumor on a valve. You know a case is good when a doctor says he’s going to publish it. It was also really great to talk to an actual patient! After having cake for lunch, we learned about the Austrian Red Cross from the CEO himself. The Austrian branch is so extensive and I didn’t realize how much emphasis the Red Cross puts on neutrality, even creating the Red Crescent and Red Crystal movement in Muslim and Jewish countries. Right after, we found out more about homeopathy. On the surface, it seems like an outdated, Middle Ages discipline, but after Saturday, I would be open to learning more about it. It is a hard concept to understand, because it goes against almost everything we learn in about biochemistry.

Sunday morning started with a lecture about Sigmund Freud in his former house, no less, of fifty years. Unfortunately there were only pictures of the couch. I’m not sure I have the right vocabulary to describe Freud, but his relationships were certainly interesting for someone who spent his life interpreting them. That afternoon, we went to the Natural History Museum. The place was huge. The tour guide only went through some of the exhibits and even then, only touched on the major pieces. The building itself was beautiful, too. It was a bit strange to see a T-rex skull next to the intricate crown molding and a wooly rhino beside marble stairs.

After only three weeks, I was not ready to head back home, but the final days in Vienna were fantastic.

Final Days of the Program in Vienna

2012-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

Our first day in Vienna was spent sightseeing and learning some about the history of Vienna. Wow is Vienna a beautiful place. We had sunny days most of our time there and it made for a wonderful time walking around in the city center. Thursday morning we went on a medical history walk. I was so amazed to be walking in the footsteps and breathing the same air as some of the most influential people in medical history. After lunch we toured the cathedral catacombs at St. Stephens which I loved. I really enjoy visiting cathedrals, but I always find all of the catacombs and traditional burial sight to be really intriguing. We then ventured to the Museum of Vienna where we had the opportunity to journey through Vienna and Austria's history while also looking at beautiful artifacts, artwork, and antiques. In the evening, we got all dressed up and headed to the opera house for a performance of Mozart's "The Magic Flute". I had never been to an opera, and I had a really good time. The story and singing was wonderful! I think I may have to attend operas more often.

We began Friday with a presentation of the medical education system in Europe. The system does differ from ours in the US in that student immediately enter a longer medical program after secondary school whereas we receive a four-year bachelors degree before entering a professional program. I don't really know which system is better. The main difference I notice is that our system in the US provides students with more flexibility in their educational and career goals, because they are not immediately limited after they begin their first year at the university level which I believe is a perk. Well, and they get their education for basically free, but I think we have the opportunity to experience a little more post-graduate flexibility. All in all, I think it evens out. Later in the morning, we headed to the Josephinum to view their extensive collection of anatomical wax models. What is perhaps most amazing about these models is their longevity. They still appear in beautiful form after many years. I am in awe when I think about the craftsmanship that went into the creation of these models, especially the full body models that can be taken apart and put back together. These models are so realistic and knowing that the originals took about two years with several people working on them, I can only imagine how excited instructors and students where to have them. In the afternoon, we visited the Federal Pathologic Anatomical Museum which was full of interesting specimens and "oddities" as they might have been referred to originally. The museum is housed in what once was an insane asylum, which adds to the effect of some of the strangest specimens, but being the science-y people we are, I think everyone found it to be really interesting. I know I did.

On Saturday, we were fortunate to spend our morning at the Heart Station at Hospital Modling. This was an amazing experience! We were able to see catheter procedures from start to finish. Imagine our surprise when we saw that the patient was awake during the procedure! The doctors were so nice to allow us to follow them around all morning while they explained various procedures and pathologies, as well as looking at various EKGs and ultrasounds. I was also thankful to the patient who was willing to speak with us about her life and living with heart problems. We spent our afternoon listening to speakers from the Austrian Red Cross and Homeopathic Medicine, both subjects on which I did not know a lot about. I was impressed by the mission of the Red Cross to serve all people in need and its ability to remain neutral even under the strongest outside pressures. The Red Cross truly is an amazing organization and I would love to look into opportunities for volunteer work with them. I was also impressed by the other speaker's emphasis on the importance of utilizing homeopathic medicine along with western medicine. I guess I too had fallen victim to the scams that people call "homeopathic medicine". Now that I understand exactly what homeopathic medicine is I am much more receptive to the idea and I would actually like to learn more about it.

On the final day of the program we visited the Sigmund Freud house. It was so amazing to think that we listened to a lecture in a room where Freud and other very influential people might have sat smoking, thinking, and coming up with the ideas that we now perceive as common knowledge. I loved walking through the museum as it was situated in the various rooms of his home and workplace, and having the opportunity to see the same furniture in the same place as well as watching family videos that his daughter had saved. I was a little disappointed that the famous couch is in England, but I guess that's a good reason for a trip to the UK right? All in all, on the entire trip I have been overwhelmed by all of the history the we walked through every day, but I was especially overcome by the historical presence this day.

So it's time to head home now, and I will miss Europe and all of the wonderful experiences it has brought me on this trip, but, most of all, I am looking forward to a seeing new year and a new semester with all of my new knowledge and perspectives. I can't wait.

Weekend in Praha!

2012-01-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

We had one day in Prague, and to be honest, it wasn’t comparable to any city in Germany. It’s pretty tourist-filled, so instead of trying to assimilate and blend in, everyone seemed to disregard the culture… we met hardly any locals, except for those on the pub crawl. It weirdly reminded me of visiting Disney World, with shops full of fake antiques and tons of people. We did learn a lot as a group though, and we managed to make the most of it! After an interesting search for food on Friday night involving witnessing an arrest (we eventually found some gas station hot dogs- quite impressive), Saturday morning we climbed up to the Strahov Monastery across the Vltava River. The monastery was unfortunately closed, but the view was beautiful! We could see all of Prague from this hilltop, the cathedral spires jutting out above the red roofs, and everything was so green! We trekked down to St. Vitus’ Cathedral next, stopping at a porcelain shop on the way, and we also visited the Prague Castle. This medieval castle is the largest of its kind in the world, and was decked out with a huge, arched ceiling ballroom, spiral staircases, the Diet hall, and the Czech crown jewels. The cathedral had more intricate stained glass than the Cologne Cathedral, and beautiful representations of the Passion as well. We made our way to the old town for lunch (goulash and dumplings) and managed to give an impromptu dance lesson to a czeck family. We were waiting for the train and randomly decided to start dancing “the jerk”, and when we looked over we saw a kid and her mom doing it with us (mocking us probably?). It was hilarious. I’ve noticed we tend to draw a lot of attention to ourselves whenever we start dancing. Next we backtracked to the Lennon wall, a huge graffiti wall started as a type of passive resistance when the Soviets still had power, and then headed back to our hostel for the pub crawl!

The pub crawl was probably the most fun I’ve had going out, which was mostly because we got to meet so many people! Three hostels got together for this, so I met a young Australian couple on vacation from school, and three Americans who moved to Prague ten days before to teach English, among other Poles, Brazilians, Brits, and Hungarians. I also met an Australian who wanted to work for the UN and was in the process of learning 6 languages (Americans really are the most lazy people on earth, we learn English and then complain our brains hurt). It was so fun to hear everyone’s stories and goals, with some dancing in between, of course, and I would do this again in a heartbeat! It was definitely a memorable night.

Top this off with a great conversation with a professional ballet dancer on the train to Hannover, and I had a fantastic weekend!

Prague To Hannover, [1/8-1/10]

2012-01-18T08:18:00.001-08:00

January 8th brought us out of Prague and into Hannover. It is interesting when going from one foreign place to another foreign place feels like going home, but that is exactly how I felt on the train ride from Prague to Hannover. Beautiful scenes flew by my train window and the intimidating Czech alphabet gave way to some comforting and familiar German words like “hauptbahnhof” and “platz”. Prague was an interesting adventure and bonding experience, though our view of the city was about as fleeting as is expected of a quick weekend trip to a huge city. My favorite part was our climb up the hill to the Monastery grounds. We had a beautiful view of the city and a few snow flurries, and I’m always a fan of a good hike! Additionally, St. Toby’s hostel was a completely awesome place to stay! I finished my first journal that weekend and our hostel actually was selling journals made by a local artist so that made for a cool souvenir that I can use for a while to come! The Czech and German countryside of our return journey provided a grand array of scenery and a good atmosphere for reflection and goal setting for this year. On the 9th, another train brought us to Duderstadt, where we had a series of talks, demos, and guided exploration of the Otto Bock facility. The character of the company was evident from the start in their quirky video that managed to show how serious they are about breaking new ground and making high quality products, but also convey how people-oriented they are. In the show room, we saw many types of prosthetics, orthotic, and the various attachments to keep the product securely and safely on the body. I was also very interested to see the neurostimulation implants to help patients overcome dropfoot. I hope that there will be great strides in this area to aid other types of neuromotor deficits. They fed us in true German fashion: wurst and potatoes, a welcome sight after Prague! A huge highlight in this day was seeing the inner workings of the Otto Bock facility. We got to see the way they make the carbon fiber parts of prosthesis and feet, prepare wooden legs, and molded feet, and knee joints. We saw (and smelled) materials and processes for making a C-leg. There are a lot of things done by hand of skilled workers because their production needs are relatively small and specific for an industry and it makes little sense to mechanize many of the processes. Plus, jobs are good, and as we’ve seen, Germany takes good care of its citizens. We got to go to the back where products were packaged and stored. Lots of boxes, lots of conveyer belts; then it got really cool. They have a really fast, fully automated store room. The computer can rearrange all day, every day, and only it knows which boxes are where. It moves incredibly fast. Finally, in the testing room, we got to see products tested for quality and durability and there were many machines developed in-house for this purpose. It seemed rather Seussian to see the man-made feet stepping over and over again! January 10th is special. There were a lot of animals! We first went to the veterinary medical school clinics. We saw (and again smelled) the cattle in the clinic. We saw their living spaces and the places where operations and such are done. We learned of some of the regulations the clinic follows to prevent spread of disease between animals and farms. Altogether, an interesting visit! After lunch, guess where we went. That’s right! THE ZOO! It was a very cool zoo to begin with, with very well made habitats for the animals. We walked through Africa and watched the lions drooling over at the zebras as we made a beeline for the polar bears. It was like a backstage pass to the zoo. We stood on the other side of the tank glass as the polar bears were fed. They just look so strong and magnificent when they swim. We saw seals and caribou and wolves also while we were in the Yukon territories! Another highlight was the Hungry Hippos Backstage Pass! We went into the habitat and walked above them and they kept opening their mouths and asking for food. After our tour we explored the zoo together and hung out with some birds and wallabies, and learned many facts from Dr. Wasser and Nils about the animals we saw. Lady Rev got to pose for a few pictures, too. I love the zoo!

The Truth About Prague (Jan 8th)

2012-01-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Free weekend in Prague! Free weekend in Prague! Whoop!

Escaping from Berlin for a few days and having a bit of silence on the train ride to Prague was completely refreshing. Not only that, but all the guys and girls survived living in the same room. All nine of us. Props to our group for having made it this far and not slitting each other’s throats.

Met some pretty interesting characters on the train. Of course, they all spoke Czech or German, but that didn’t stop me from having a go at trying to get to know them. One of them, this guy named Voitka, spoke halfway decent English. It was nice to get to personally know a Czech.

Before we left for Prague, Nils, the infamous twenty-something program coordinator for AIB joked with us that the only thing to eat in the city was dog. What a trickster.

But seriously. There was nothing to eat the first night but dog, essentially. There’s this epidemic in Europe characterized by food vendors closing at 8 o’clock. If you’ve ever had a hankering for a late night snack, avoid Europe at all costs. It’s ironic when you think about the stereotype of Europeans being pot-smoking liberals. Having the munchies in Europe is an untenable status, especially in Prgaue. Regardless, the real problem behind our adventures into the sketch-tastic neighborhood outside the garrison of our wonderful hostel (I mean that non-sarcastically) was the guy getting arrested at the underground pizza place behind the gas station a short mile and a half walk away. We settled for gas station food.

Oh, I almost forgot about the even stranger purchase I made at this mysterious store run by blank-faced Vietnamese immigrants. Maybe it was the open soda cans in the drink refrigerator, or the two dozen horridly-dressed mannequins in the tiny space, or the general disorganization of EVERYTHING—but something was off about this joint. No really, something was off. It didn’t help that there was an argument in Vietamese taking place behind the mannequins, or that the guy that stared at me like was off his rocker didn’t know the prices of anything (because, I suspect, there were no prices). It also didn’t help that I bought a bottle of strawberry syrup, which looked just like a drink, and was placed with the few available drinks.

Eastern Europe observation number one: disorganized.

Prague has some redeeming qualities though, but in mind less interesting because it seems that few huge historical events have emerged from Prague. Sure, it was the seat of the Holy Roman “Empire” and played a role in the Protestant Reformation, but ultimately, it didn’t seem all that “impressive” to me, if that makes any sense. For what it’s worth the Prague Castle made for an interesting visit, and was an incredible work of architecture. It is a beautiful place, to be sure, but one whose economy appears to run mostly off of tourism. This is unfortunate because I am a tourism hypocrite. I am a tourist when I am here, but want to do as few “touristy” things as possible and certainly want to appear as least like one as possible. In other words, I want to talk to locals and experience the culture (which is a problem since Czech is very difficult) rather than take a billion pictures of things I can just Google. I know this sounds snooty, and I took pictures anyway so consider my hypocrisy acknowledged, ha!

On another note, goulash—not half bad, not bad at all.

Concentration Camps + Prosthetics (January 5th)

2012-01-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

An interesting combination of things to do today. We started off with a big helping of Holocaust history and finished off with a desert of an intro into Otto Bock prosthetics.

We visited the concentration camp of Sacksenhausen, which is a monument to the evils of National Socialism and harsh Soviet tyranny. Much of the camp is not the structures that originally held political enemies of the Nazi party, Jews, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s witnesses. Prisoners were subjected to unbelievable living conditions, torture, and pain, to say the least. Nazi officers were known to have drowned half starving prisoners in toilettes. If that wasn’t abhorrent enough, the deaths of some 30,000 prisoners at the camp might add to that disgust. When 10,000 Soviet prisoners arrived at the camp, the Nazi’s wanted to get rid of them quickly, so they organized an assembly line for killing. In a very short period of time, Nazi officers dressed as doctors would pretend to perform medical examinations, and as soldiers would stand with their backs to a measurement wall, a hold would open up behind their heads where a Nazi soldier would shoot the Soviet prisoner in the back of the head. The Nazis industrialized murder. Other tours of the barracks were sobering as well, and the bitter cold wind that was blowing gave you just a taste of how awful it must have been just to live in the camp during winter (this winter is remarkably warm by German standards).

When a museum to some of the Jewish victims was opened at the camp (the Soviets did very little to preserve much of German history, and even used the camp as a propaganda tool) the barracks were attacked by Neo-Nazis. The German authorities left the barracks burned as a reminder to the hatred that burns in the fringe elements of German society.

What are people truly capable of? How could such animosity run amok in an educated, industrialized nation? Modern psychology tells us that we are capable of many evils, and I think knowing our history is essential in preventing atrocities likes this from happening again. Although, we have still experienced Rwandas, Cambodias, and Sudans since the demise of the Nazis. It’s a pessimistic thought, but on that is worth considering. This isn’t something that just “happened” on the other side of the world. It’s a story of what humans can do to other humans. It should be considered carefully and methodically.

On a brighter note, that evening we made an excursion to the Otto Bock science center in Berlin. Now, prothestics aren’t really my cup of tea. I know, as a biomedical engineer you would probably expect me to drool over the sight of an artificial limb. It’s not my thing. With that being said, the research going on at Otto Bock is nuts. The latest prosthetics are connected to the nerves of patients, from which they can control a robotic arm with their thoughts. Google this stuff. It is INSANE. This is coming from the guy who doesn’t think prosthetics are all that cool, too. Look at that puppy and tell me that’s not incredible.

The Mega Colon! (Jan 4th)

2012-01-17T20:04:00.001-08:00

Of all the things I thought I would learn during my trip to Germany, I would never have guess that I would have learned how to intubate a person. Or suture skin. This all happened when we visited the Charite hospital in Berlin two days ago. We toured the hospital with two medical students and during our time there, we got to practice some basic clinical skills. I winced empathetically for my “patients” wound, as my stitching isn’t the smoothest.

After this tour we went to the hospitals pathology building, where we saw a wide array of anatomical collections and learned a brief overview of how diseases were treated in the past. If you haven’t taken a moment to appreciate the existence of anesthesia if you need to have a tooth pulled or a wound stitched, you might consider doing so. Not only were surgeries of the past excruciatingly painful experiences, but the overall process of medical diagnosis and treatment was completely bizarre. Basic principles of Western medicine (i.e. evidence-based medicine) was essentially nonexistent until only two and a half centuries ago. Methods before this time were based on assumptions from Hippocrates, who simply crafted this farcical vision of how the body worked, essentially ensuring a painful, laborious, and ineffective treatment. The main components of the body were believed to be blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Illnesses were believed to come about from the imbalance of these fluids. This means that “doctors” might try to treat your wound by stitching hay into your wound and sowing it into your body because this would generate puss, meaning that you were restoring balance to a yellow bile excess. Really what they were doing was causing an infection as the hay decomposed in the body. Needless to say, medicine has become a science, and we are incredibly lucky to be alive in this day and age.

One of the creepier moments of the entire trip was the anatomical collections of the Charite. Some of the specimens were from healthy people, while others were bizarre like the “mega colon,” weighing in at over 20 kilograms. Bleh!

A visit to the beautiful city of Dresden showcased the history of this country. Apparently, residents of the town believed that they would be spared an Allied bombing raid because of the beauty of their city. Having just been there, I can understand why they would have thought this. History, of course, tells us that Dresden was one of the more unfortunate cities of World War II, suffering a firebombing that killed over 30,000 people. Most of the city was razed, but many of the buildings there now have been rebuilt, some using what portions of the old buildings that could still be kept. That being said, much of the city is very young, and the main cathedral was only rebuilt in 2006, which is a testament to the lack of Soviet attention to German culture (or religion for that matter).

Other things that we’ve been up to in Germany? Drinking beer and eating doner, a meal invented by the Turkish immigrants of Berlin. Beer in Germany is fantastic. This is worth mentioning. I would write more but I’d prefer to not sound like an alcoholic.

…

Okay, so beer is cheaper than water here, which is a little hilarious, to say the least. Personal favorites: Franziskaner Hefeweizen and the Erdinger Pilsner.

Living History in Berlin (Jan 2nd)

2012-01-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

The last few days in Berlin have proved pretty eventful. For starters, I finally got my wallet back. Too bad it and everything inside it had been melted by the industrial-strength dryer used by the hospital. I suppose it could have been worse. At least it wasn’t stolen.

The five hour train ride to Berlin took us through the German countryside from the sleepy town of Bonn to the capital. Immediately it was clear that Berlin was an international city in a category of its own, separate from other German cities. Cosmopolitan and VERY spread out, tall buildings stretch out of the earth and history is literally beneath your feet at every step.

Having been here a few days and getting the chance to learn and understand a bit of the city’s history, Berlin seems rather like a monument to tragedy. Everywhere you turn there is a memorial to some violent event. And this doesn’t just apply to victims of the Second World War. The city has been around for some several hundred years and belonged to many rulers, whether we’re talking the war-hungry Prussians, the Nazis, or the Soviet Union. People in Berlin have been through a lot. Whether they deserve half the misfortunes that have befallen them is ultimately a matter of speculation and, in my opinion, dependent on how forgiving you are towards a city that stands at the epicenter of many terrible events.

Today we went on a tour of the city, seeing the depth of history in Berlin and how all the elements of the past lie on top of each other in layers. Berlin was the hearth of German aggression in World War I, World War II, and a critical point of the Cold War. Throughout Berlin, there are various memorials and markings designating the Berlin wall or a memorial to some unfortunate group of people lost in one of the countless catastrophes that erupted in the past.

One of the most interesting things that I learned today involved how the end of the Cold War was brought about. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, the policies of perestroika and glasnost brought a certain openness to society in the Soviet Union. As this openness increased, the Soviet Union began considering allowing the immigration of East Berliners to the West for a period of 30 days, allowing people to go to and from the East. Then, when word of this got to the ears of East Berliners via Western radio of this policy, massive protests broke out at the checkpoints. Although the Soviets were prepared to violently put down the protests, they never received the orders to do this. As the protesters gathered, the Soviets began allowing the louder and more “active” protesters to leave, in hopes that this would diffuse the situation. Yet, protesters caught on that the louder they were the better the chance they had to leave the East. Soon, the crowds and the pressure became too great, and the gates were open, allowing Easterners to flood into the West on December 9, 1989. This is how the Berlin Wall fell, as if by accident. Interesting, no?

The visit to the Reichstag also proved rather interesting. The German “parliament” is the only decision making body of the German government and consists of multiple parties. This is very different than the U.S. system because in Germany, if your party receives at least 5% of the vote, then it has representation in the Bundestag. Germans get two votes: one for the party and one for the candidates themselves. Germans also have a great trust for their government, as many decisions that are made qualify as “government intervention,” but the Germans seem to be doing well. I read today that they German unemployment has reached a new low around 6%. They also have great healthcare. Say what you will about the role of government in society, but it makes you wonder if we don’t at least have a thing or two to learn from our friends across the Atlantic.

Cologne (December 30th)

2012-01-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

In Bonn we had the chance to visit a museum to post-war German history. This did include exhibitions on the nation’s Nazi past. You have to really respect a country that is making a conscious effort to confront its past and realistically portray its previous wrongdoings. Honesty will hopefully keep history from repeating itself. Unlike America, nationalism is heavily downplayed in Germany. There are very few German flags, and limited expression of national pride. It’s interesting to note the contrast and see that we truly are in a different place and that the history we were taught before lives in the world beyond our borders.

The next day, I wasn’t sure what to expect when we visited Cologne. I knew that the city’s claim to fame was a giant Cathedral, but that was about it.

I am fortunate enough to have traveled to several European counties. I have seen Notre Dame in Paris, the Duomo of Florence, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Considering how incredible these churches were, I was uncertain if I would be impressed by Cologne’s. When I first saw the cathedral, I was taken aback, because its height is tremendous. After entering the building, one cannot help but marvel at the Gothic architecture. The arches stretch huge distances skyward, and the interior is a massive volume. The beautiful windows colored the sunlight, which radiated distinctly in the shadowy interior. It was beautiful.

As with all of the great cathedrals, the building was filled with noisy tourists who come to see the splendor of the building. Yet it’s a church—a house of worship. Walking through the church I couldn’t help but feel like it seemed like a relic of Europe’s religious past—the leftovers of a bad breakup between faith and the people of Cologne. I also wonder if the sole purpose of the church was to honor God, or if it was meant to represent the power of the Catholic Church. Quite possibly, some people believed one or the other. Regardless, the cathedral is a fantastic building.

Having failed to research beforehand, when we arrived to the El-De House, I had no idea what waited inside. The El-De House is a museum located in the former Cologne Gestapo Headquarters. In this building, thousands of people deemed suspicious or enemies of the state were brought in and “interrogated”—a Nazi euphemism for torture. The chilling part about all of this was that in the basement of the building, where prisoners were packed like sardines into their cells, were the prisoners’ graffiti they left during their stay.

On the walls were accounts of torture, people crying out to God, words of encouragement, and words of desperation. It was a little chilling, and added a human element to the victims of Nazi rule.

My favorite quote on the wall: “Everything is transient, even a life sentence.”

Learning the history of the Nazi regime in Cologne would fill anyone with shame, particularly that of the Catholic and Protestant churches. Sure enough, in a photography exhibit in the museum was a photo of a Nazi rally held in from of the Cathedral, in the square where I had seen the church for the first time. The layers of history in Germany are as perplexing as they are fascinating.

Getting Started (December 28th)

2012-01-17T19:59:00.001-08:00

Today, we set off for Germany on our 9.5 hour flight to Frankfurt. The journey was easy enough, except for the crying, nay, shrieking baby three rows in front of me. After our landing, we were surprised to find the weather rather mild as we took an hour and a half bus ride to Bonn, where we have our first stay. The city certainly lives up to the “sleepy” description provided by Dr. Wasser. The town is a quaint, pedestrian friendly town located on the Rhine. The sound of traffic is noticeably absent, and the brick-laden streets placidly welcome anyone willing to take a stroll.

The orientation just got me excited. We’re getting the chance to do and see things that are really unique in the scope of traveling in general, as well as from the standpoint of engineering itself. We’re lucky to be a part of this program, and the group is already gelling nicely. I’ve got a fair amount of learning ahead of me, but rather than feel anxious as I would for school during a typical semester, I’m genuinely excited for what lies ahead.

My first beers in Germany were two dunkels at a local restaurant in Bonn. My German was a little sketchy, but I managed to order my Jagerschnitzel with a little flair.

The first full day of the program (in my mind) began the next day. We started off by going to a hospital in Bonn to watch surgeries. After a few people ran off when I asked if they spoke any English, a friendly doctor who had studied at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston for a year hooked us up with some pretty awesome procedures. Shelby and I managed to shotgun a coronary bypass surgery. Sure, lots of people have seen these surgeries, but this wasn’t your garden variety viewing. We suited up in scrubs an walked into the operating room and stood literally 2 feet from the patient’s heart. Shelby chickened out when the initial incision was made and the sternum was sawn apart (she claims she was hungry). Anyways, I watched at this man’s chest was opened and the wound was cauterized with an electric tool. Saw the lungs breathe in and out and for a moment realized what a miracle the human body truly is. Step by step the surgeons walked us through the process and we watched inquisitively as the patient’s heart was stopped. The vein was removed from the leg, trimmed, and used for the heart.

The heart is evidently a durable organ, as the surgeon would occasionally poke the heart, and all you want to do is scream, “Dude! That’s a guy’s heart—cut that out!” Ha, but the surgery ended up a success (that is to say, when we left it appeared this way). The other thing to note is the smell of burning flesh is truly disgusting. The idea that you are smelling the smoke of fried skin, blood, and muscle is a bit much to handle. Consequently, I would take a deep breath and watch the surgery, and then Shelby would cyclically retreat to do this same. In this way we didn’t spill our breakfasts in the operating room.

Later that night the group was exposed to some culture. Apparently, German’s are obsessed with this video called “Dinner for One” and as a modern day tradition play it on New Year’s Eve while drinking the traditional winter sugar-wine called… ferzangenbowle? If you have a chance to check this video sketch out, I recommend it!

Vienna: A Wonderful City and A Perfect Ending

2012-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Although it was my second time to visit Vienna, it was just as wonderful and beautiful as the first time! The city of Vienna combines old architecture with a new, modern spirit flawlessly. I would definitely have to say Vienna is one of the more beautiful cities we visited on this trip. But my time there was filled with many visits to hospitals, museums, and other cultural centers. One of my favorite things we did while we were there was seeing Mozart's, "The Magic Flute". Music has always been a large part of my life so I loved getting to experience a real opera. Even though I couldn't really understand what they were saying, the music and the costumes was more than enough to keep me entertained.

Along with the opera, one of my other favorite activities we did was visit St. Stephen's cathedral and the catacombs. I think St. Stephen's was one of my favorite cathedrals we visited on the trip. The trip to the catacombs was also quite amazing. It's fascinating to see all of the history each city and church has. In the states, the oldest building we could have is 300 years old, which is young compared to the buildings in Europe. I think that's what makes Europe so special to people, especially those of us from the states. The history is so rich and impressive.

The next day the group traveled to Mödling, a small town right outside of Vienna. We were fortunate enough to get to spend the entire morning with a team of cardiologists and shadow their every move. It was really amazing to see everything they could do with the technology they have today. One of the cardiologists did an EKG on one of the students on the trip, which was really cool to see! Just the fact that we got to watch so many procedures and we got to see it up close was such a great part of the trip. In each city we got to shadow a different specialty and learn about what each type of doctor did. In all we shadowed doctors specializing in cardiology, internal medicine, nephrology, and surgery. It was an amazing experience! The town of Mödling was also a really lovely city. We finished the day at a traditional Viennese restaurant, which was delicious. It was a perfect way to end the day and the trip!

Hannover

2012-01-13T10:44:00.001-08:00

Our first day in Hannover wasn’t even in Hannover, but fun nonetheless. We travelled to Duderstadt to the Otto Bock Center. After a video presentation about the company, we were shown around the showroom to see the different products. They have different prosthetics and orthotics based on cost and the mobility of the patient, and the technology varies based on this. The most impressive to me were the Genium, which can walk backwards and up and down stairs and the prosthetic arm that uses the still intact nerves to move the arm. We also saw the production facilities which were interesting. We saw where they make feet out of a liquid that turns into foam, the different parts of the knee joints, and other parts of the legs. We also saw how they test products such as feet or joints by putting them through two million cycles. One of the best was the storage rooms. It is in a huge room and completely automated.

Tuesday was one of the best days of the trip so far. It started with a trip to the cattle clinic and the Hannover vet school. It was great to compare the aspects of human and veterinary surgeries. It seems like human surgeries are much more sterile conscious, but as we learned from Dr. Wasser, cattle can block off infections and are much less susceptible to sepsis. After a look around the Rathaus, and lunch, we went on one of the most exciting visits ever. The zoo. We saw giraffes, lions, wolves, caribou, addaxes and snowy owls named Harry and Hermione. The guide also took us to see a polar bear feeding which was fun. Next to the polar bears were seals and sea lions which we saw being trained. The sea lion would wave a hand, run up to the trainer or give her a kiss. I wanted to take one home. We also spent time seeing the hippos. When we walking on to the balcony, they came up with their mouths open asking for food. After the tour, we went back to see the other animals that we missed, such as the elephants, tigers, great apes, sloths, reptiles, kangaroos, emus, pigs, Guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and others. We stopped to feed lorikeets a banana and to see the wallabies. I wanted one of each to take home, too. I think we stopped counting how many fun facts Dr. Wasser told us. One problem that zoos have today is breeding the endangered species and breeds, since the main focus of them is to breed animals. Some species are getting too interbred and some can’t be brought in because there are too few or they are too expensive to maintain.

Wednesday, we went to the nephrology department and learned more about the German medical system. Even though the systems are different, doctors here take advantage of the system just as much as in the US. They prefer private insurance patients, milk them by ordering extra tests and procedures and make the initial diagnoses for inpatient hospitalizations worse than it actually is so that they can they can be paid more since the patient is I know that doctors don’t have to pay much for medical school and other costs such as malpractice insurance, but I don’t think I could practice in Germany. To have an allowance for the procedures seems kind of silly, but it makes sense from the government and taxpayers’ side. We also saw the dialysis unit and learned about the mechanisms of the process. In the afternoon, we learned about Axolotl research. As a person fascinated by stem cells, this was uber exciting. Even though the regeneration process is known, the details and the exact differences are still unknown since the research is new. They have proven that AmbLOXe expression can quicken the healing process in human cells and mice, and the expression within an animal differs based on whether the skin cells are on a leg or the back. Axolotls are also much less susceptible to cancers and live much longer than other animals of their size. This kind of research shows how simple yet extraordinarily smart evolution can be.

Otto Bock Part Zwei, Sydney Day, and Other Hannover Activities

2012-01-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our first day in Hannover, we got up and took the train to Duderstadt to spend the day at the Otto Bock facilities there. Even though this was a day of the program that catered to the engineers in our group, it was quite the eye-opening experience for me. We had the opportunity to see the latest in prosthetics and orthotics as well as other older models that are still popular in other countries. Their organization of their manufacturing facilities was amazing. I wish my dad would have been able to see it, because as an owner of a fabrication company that also incorporates robots into their infrastructure he would have had an even higher appreciation and understanding of their use in the facility. What was the most impacting for me was the realization that life without a limb is definitely not the end of the world. I had always thought that, although I would never admit it, I would be devastated if I lost a limb. Vain, I know, but my views are now completely different. I feel that I would lose very little quality of life living with a prosthetic, and because of this I feel so much more confident in my view of life. I have never been one to shudder at the thought of aging, but now I feel that I can look forward to the later years of my life no matter what obstacles I may encounter and that, my friends, is a beautiful gift.

Tuesday was Sydney Day! Yep, all about Yours Truly, and it was fabulous. In the morning we were able to visit the vet school cattle clinics. It was awesome to see some of the original school buildings in use as well as have some cow interaction since I've been a little animal deprived the past few weeks. Every time I get to be around a veterinary setting, I feel at home. I think I get that feeling that you are supposed to have when you are passionate about something, and it makes me feel even more driven in my academic and professional goals. In the afternoon, we were able to check out some animals at the Hannover Zoo. One great aspect of this zoo was that they are following the new ideas of zookeeping in which compatible animals from similar environments are kept together and animals are organized geographically. This method of organization keeps animals intrigued and happy. We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some polar bears during feeding as well as hippos which was super cool for me. I had never gotten to be behind the scenes at a zoo before. Even though I want to pursue a career in equine medicine, I have always been interested in zoo medicine, and now I would definitely jump at an opportunity to get some experience in that area.

For our last day in Hannover, we spent the morning learning about kidneys and different methods of dialysis which was a subject that I did not know much about so I found it especially interesting. Later in the day we went to the axolotl research lab where they are studing the mechanisms of axolotl regeneration and how they might be used to develop treatments in human medicine. Axolotls are the coolest little animals ever! They are a member of the salamander family and are mainly aquatic. Axolotls regenerate limbs and heal wounds rather fast and regenerated limbs are often identical to the limb it replaced. Topical ointments developed from this research increased the rate of healing in back wounds of mice in the lab and further research is in development. The fact that these little animals can self-heal and live up to fifteen + years is simply amazing, and it looks like they may very well help us in our own human healing endeavors.

My Patronus: A Sloth (January 10th)

2012-01-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

The trip to the Hannover Zoo was probably the most exciting day for everyone! Who knew a bunch of twenty year olds could turn into a group of five year olds just by saying the word "zoo"?? Well we did. It looked like someone fed us pure sugar based on our excitement. I think we had most of the kids beat. I mean, we did have the height and the strength to take out any five year old in our way. But of course, we never had to resort to throwing some 'bows to knock the kids out of the way.

Anyways, after a tour of the vet school in Hannover the group made its way to the zoo. After Dr. Wasser and Nils calmed us down and threatened to not give me a ticket since I was too excited, I was allowed to see the animals. We started with a visit to Africa where we met a giraffe named George and his family. Next, we saw the lion family. After spending an hour in Africa (fastest trip to Africa EVER), we made a quick trip to the Yukon territory to visit the wolves, polar bears, seals, and caribou. We got VIP access to the polar bear show, which was pretty awesome. Then we got to visit the lovely hippos! The zookeeper let us go to the private area where they're normally fed, so we were super up close and personal. I felt a little bad because the hippos expected us to be the zookeepers there to feed them dinner But alas, we were just there to watch them for 30 minutes with no offering. I must say that they are really persistent animals. They sat there with their mouths open for at least 20 minutes before giving up and realizing we were food-less.

After our zookeeper tour-guide left us, we visited the rest of the park. The animals we saw included monkeys, birds, snakes, flamingos, wallabies, elephants, jaguars and many others! It was definitely one of the best days of the trip. This zoo was especially awesome because the animals all seemed so close to us. The park was very open and had low fences so seeing the animals was easy. It almost felt like you were in the habitat area with them. Going to the zoo brings out the inner child in everyone and is always a great time.

It was decided that the sloth is patronus. Someone made this discovery for me a few months ago and it just stuck. Apparently my monotone voice and my laid back demeanor reminds people of a sloth. And the fact that I'm definitely the slowest power walker on the trip doesn't weaken the comparison.

Going to the zoo should be a requirement for everyone. It just makes you happy.

Is this trip almost HANNOVER already?! So punny. (January 9th)

2012-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

Aren't I just so punny? I hope you got my pun, but if you didn't then...read it again.

After Prague the group journeyed to Hannover! The first day in Hannover was not spent in Hannover. Confusing right?! We arrived in Duderstadt where the Otto Bock Center is located. The group had previously visited the Otto Bock Science Center in Berlin, but the center in Duderstadt is where the main factory and research center is based in Germany. The day was spent learning more about the company, taking a tour of the factory and research center, learning about job opportunities with Otto Bock, eating a delicious lunch in the VIP lounge, and playing with all of the cool displays because we're all easily distracted and nerdy. It was the first time I've ever really been to a large scale factory, and it was very impressive. I'm pretty sure all of the engineers on the trip were peeing their pants a little. But anyone can admit how amazing and brilliant these types of factories can be. The take home message from the tour of the packaging and shipping center is that robots will eventually rule the world.

I kid, that's not the only message I took away from the Otto Bock Center. The Otto Bock company is quite a fascinating company. It's one of the leading companies in prosthetic manufacturing and has clearly impacted many peoples' lives. The type of products they make range from basic orthotics to prosthetic arms and legs to wheelchairs made especially for handicapped basketball players. So many people have Otto Bock to thank for giving them more flexibility and ability in their lives.

Our visit to the Otto Bock center was really enjoyable for everyone! The medical students learned more about how the prosthetics work with the body, the physical therapy students learned about how it affected the patient's lives and abilities, and the biomedical engineers...well we all know how it was for them.

Adventures in Praha

2012-01-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

For our free weekend we took a little adventure to the Czech Republic. We stayed at a cozy hostel in Prague where we met some friends from other parts of Europe and the UK. During the day, we went to see the sights. We hiked up to see the monastery where we were blessed with a few snow flurries. From there we went to see the castle and cathedral - both beautiful sights. We then crossed the river and wondered through the historical district and the jewish quarter. By night we ventured out to check out the night life with a guide and a group from our hostel. We got to do some Czech beer tasting - yum - and go to some really cool pubs and bars - my favorite being one that was situated in a mess of caverns underground. Prague is a beautiful city with a totally different vibe than the other cities we've been in. I can't quite explain it, but I like it. I would have loved to have had more time in Prague, but we made the best of our weekend there.

Now back to Germany!

Free Weekend in Praha

2012-01-12T15:14:00.000-08:00

Before leaving for Prague, we visited the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. I thought it was remarkable that the center worked with clinics to integrate its own basic research with the research of the clinics in order to maximize results. In addition, we got to see an MRI machine, and it was very impressive in size and capability. It was truly amazing to me to see how it functions and its utility in medicine.

We then embarked on the five hour train ride to Prague. As we approached the city and immediately when we got off the train, I could tell we were moving into Eastern Europe since the city was just so destitute in comparison to Germany as you could tell it was just not nearly as developed. When we arrived at the hostel, I was thoroughly surprised by how nice it was. My only issue was that the room only had one outlet for nine people! After arriving late at night, we decided to grab some food to prepare for the next day. As we walked around, I definitely started to panic a little bit because I did not know what a single word meant. Other than the language problem, the city seemed incredibly sketchy as we walked through trying to find food. To my surprise, all the convenience stores and restaurants were closed by 11 so we just got a quick snack at a gas station.

As we started our day excursion of the city, one thing became apparent very quickly: Prague is super hilly! It was definitely a workout climbing to the top of the hills, but it was worth it for sure. The views were fantastic and you could really capture glimpses of the entire city. We tried going up to the monastery, but it was closed so we decided to make our way to the Castle. The Castle lived up to its iconic image with its marvelous architecture. We didn’t get to take a tour due to time constraints but it would have been nice to learn more about its history. After getting some amazing food, we crossed the Charles Bridge and went into the Old City to visit the Jewish Quarter. We got to see the renowned synagogue as well as a few other nearby historical sites. We then called it a day, and to get back home, we walked for what seemed to be an eternity until finally finding the tram to take us back to the hostel.

Overall, it was a very fun weekend, but I’m glad our program is based in Germany and Austria. Prague was cool to visit for a short period, but besides the touristic places, the city itself was not very impressive. With that said, I’m still glad I got to visit the eastern part of Europe and that everyone came back safely!

Prague!

2012-01-11T15:59:00.001-08:00

For our free weekend, we went to Prague, which was a great decision! Despite not being able to find food past 11pm and wandering around what looked like a stereotypic Eastern European city on Friday night, Saturday was fun. We started with a hike to the top of a hill to see the monastery and it snowed! It was barely anything, like what we get in Texas, but we finally saw some! On the trail, there were places to stop and see Prague. It is a stunning city. It seemed as though any picture could be on a post card. We stopped by a porcelain store on the way to the castle. Learning about Czech history was interesting, because we don’t learn about Eastern European countries much in history classes. Some of the things we saw looked like they were out of a cliché medieval movie. We also saw the Charles’ Bridge, crossing the Vltava River, which had different religious statues. We walked around the Old Town during the afternoon and saw the Lennon Wall. It was interesting to read the quotes that different people from different places thought were important. That evening, we went on a pub crawl, which was definitely fun! It was great meeting people from other places and hearing their stories. Visiting Prague was exciting, but the places we went were too tourist based and I was glad to get back to Germany on Sunday.

Otto Bock (Round Two)

2012-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Today we went to one of Otto Bock’s major manufacturing facilities in Europe, located in Duderstadt. So, in this sleepy little relaxed town, a person can find one of the most high tech, cutting edge plants in the area. We first arrived and were given a presentation on the company and some of the statistics (1,700 employees in Duderstadt and 4,500 worldwide). After that, our next stop was the showroom floor; here we were able to see most of the products we saw in the presentation video. The major standouts of the products were the brand new Genius new replacement and the full arm replacement prosthetic device. The Genius leg features a complex process, which receives inputs to determine how much pressure needs to be exerted on the hydraulic cylinder. This allows for strong support on the application of force on heel strike, yet also a natural swinging gait after toe removal from the ground. It also has an amazing safety feature allowing the joint to stiffen if premature load is put on the leg before the completion of the swing, and preventing the patient from falling. After that, we toured the manufacturing and assembling facility. We saw some massive presses for metal rod pressing and molding, methods used for polyurethane injection molding, and the complicated hand assembly of the prosthetics. One of the most fascinating areas was the quality control and testing department. This was where the synthetic body parts were put to the test and cycled millions of times. This very noisy room is a vital unit to the Otto Bock body, so that customers continue to get quality products for today and the future. This area single handily allows for the perpetuation of the company in the future. To wrap the day up, we were given a presentation from a Human Resources representative on the process of advancing in a company and succeeding in a corporation like Otto Bock.

Off to Prague!

2012-01-09T14:24:00.001-08:00

Our last day in Berlin was Friday, I'm going to miss this city! We visited the Institut für Mikrobiologie, where we learned a bit about the history of biochemsitry, its role in drug research, and the mircoarray reaction microscopes, which can help determine a specific reaction with a computer scanning system. The MRI portion was the most interesting though, I haven't had my imaging class for biomedical engineering yet, so this was the best possible introduction! We saw a 7 Tesla MRI, which had a super powerful magnetic field (as in, my earrings were being pulled towards it). The student also informed us of attempts at taking MRI's of the heart, which is extremely tricky due to the inability to take a dynamic picture. You have to time the MRI to take a portion of the picture at the same point in the heart rhythm by listening for the valves to close. This is so ingenious! I never realized the field of imaging had so much potential for growth.
After a short introduction to Otto Bock, a prosthesis company (more on this soon), we ventured off to Prague! I met two students from Mexico on the train, who were pretty awesome to talk to (I now know quite a bit more about the MLS), and when we arrived at our Hostel, Sir Toby's, and looked for food at 11 pm (this doesn't exist) we crashed! More on Prague soon!

Days 9-11 Last Days in Berlin

2012-01-09T13:13:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, we spent the day at the Charité. First we visited the skills training center which is completely run by students. I don’t know how they have time to teach classes AND be a medical student, since either would be enough to keep someone busy. We learned how to listen to chest sounds, saw models of the brain, leg and ear and my favorite: how to suture and intubate. In the afternoon we went to the museum where we learned more about the history of medicine. We saw old surgery tools that barbers used to perform procedures and learned about specific cases and their corresponding tools and procedures. At the end of the exhibit were the specimens, some of them collected by Virchow. This was definitely exciting since I’ll be spending over four years studying these organs and diseases. And that night, I tried currywurst for the first time! It was absolutely delicious and easily now one of my favorite foods.

Thursday, we went to the Sachsenhausen prison camp. This was one of the most interesting excursions so far. The conditions the prisoners were in and the medical experiments performed on them are still unimaginable. What people can claim in the name in the name of a better society is completely shocking. And what people aren’t willing to do, for example the Red Cross not attempting to discontinue the Nazi’s deeds. One of my favorite parts of the camp was in one of the museums. There were quotes from different years, and once the Soviets rescued the camp, there was a definitive difference in the moods and attitudes of the speakers. That afternoon, visited the Otto Bock Science Center. This was a nice contrast to the morning. There were game-like displays so that we could see the effects of different prosthetics and the different motions that they attempt to simulate with their technology. The Michelangelo Hand was really amazing. The motions of a human hand are so intricate, for a machine to do almost the same things is mind-boggling.

Friday, we had a tour of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. We learned about Max Delbrück and his influence on Schrödinger and Watson and Crick. We also saw the 7 Tesla MRI machine which was an interesting experience. Almost everything metal started moving towards the scanner, including earrings and bobby pins. Later, we learned about the chemical biology research and saw some of the microscopes and the robots used for the plates with hundreds of wells. That would definitely make pipetting much easier.

I love Prague....Prague Prague Prague (to the tune of Ron Burgandy's song, "I Love Scotch")

2012-01-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

So I guess you can probably tell that I love Prague!

Everyone told me how beautiful Prague is, and I must say I was not disappointed. The city literally looks like something out of a fairy tale. Pretty much all of the buildings are old and majestic and look like they belong in a palace. Prague actually reminded me a lot of Budapest, because of the layout of the city and the river that divides it, but Prague was more beautiful. The hostel we stayed in was super fun as well! I got to meet so many people from different countries, which was pretty amazing. And the 9 person sleepover in our room was pretty interesting to say the least haha. The hostel was your typical European hostel, with plenty of conversation and a cool little pub in the basement where everyone hung out. The group spent some time there on Friday night since we got in pretty late, but Saturday was jam packed!

We began the day on Saturday with a walk up to the monastery overlooking the city. It gave us such good views of the city and it was absolutely gorgeous. It even snowed while we were up there! Except we couldn't find the tram up the mountain so we did a nice little hike to start our day. And now I know how horribly out of shape I am. There aren't hills in College Station! Anyways, after we visited the monastery we walked back down and wandered around the city until we stumbled upon the castle and cathedral, which were also, you guessed it...gorgeous. It was hard not to take a million pictures since everything was so pretty. Then we crossed the Charles' Bridge to get to the other historical part of the city and walked around the Jewish Quarter and the Old Town Square. We had an amazing lunch of beer and pasta...two things I've never really had together...but hey it was delicious.

Saturday night was an adventure to say the least! Our group went on a pub crawl hosted by the hostel. It was pretty crazy but really fun. There were so many people there from different countries, but then quite a few Americans. The pub crawl was a perfect thing to participate in since we didn't know the city that well. Now after a long day of traveling, the group finally made it to Hanover....all by ourselves!! Our professor and coordinator should be so proud! :)

Another busy week ahead! But I'm looking forward to every minute of it. It's sad to think I only have a week left here...but I'm really in need of some good tex mex and queso stat so Texas will come at the perfect time!

Until next time!

Dresden and Bonn [1/3-1/6]

2012-01-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

The third was another on-the-go day. As is the fashion, it involved a train; this one brought us to Dresden. Upon arrival and a little walking, we were greeted by our tour guide in front of a Lutheran, Baroque-style church. It was perfectly uncharacteristic of a Lutheran church, but perfectly Baroque. Later, we saw a large yet rather bare Catholic church. They are an intersting pair to share Dresden, but both wonderful and unique. It is interesting to note that for a city with such large churches, 80% of the population claims no religion. This is a product of East Germany's unique history. I was impressed by their resolve to rebuild. It can't be easy for a city that is bombed to pieces to wait so long or fight so hard to restore what they can of their beautiful city on the Elbe. After lunch, which I'm certain was something delicious, we headed to the Hygiene Museum, which is a very interactive museum on biology, health, and wellness. We had a lot of fun picking our favorite aspects of each room and presenting them to our groupmates.The fourth of January revolved around the Charité training center ann museum. We were given a tour of the training center and a presentation of what medical school can be like in Germany. Then they let us learn and practice some skills on their training resources. We got to intubate a dummy, suture, take a part a model brain, and many other things. The Charité museum was very intersting and had a great many kidney, bladder, and gall stones. The museum was full of examples of health and disease, and since we all made it through without passing out, I'll admit the mega colon made me a little uncomfortable. I wrote down a lot of words so that I can look up a description of the disease or defect in english. Definitely sparked my curiosity.January the 6th was a hard day, but one I expected from the start. Sachsenhausen required a lot of mental preparation. I tried to really see the the camp as it would have seemed to someone who was told "this is where you must live, and these are the rules you must follow. I felt it was necessary to let the reality of what happened at this concentration camp sink in and, as these museums and memorials are intended, to bear witness to the people who lived or died there. The Otto Bock Science Center was a really exciting experience for me. They are cutting edge biotechnology and had a really interesting exhibit of prosthetics and other real 'game changers '. This was fascinating to me from a PT perspective, and I know that keeping up with current biotechnologies is important for giving patients the best therapy and treatment.On Friday we went to the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine. Highlight there for me was the MRI machine. 7 Tesla and my earrings and bobby pins were trying to jump off my body. Even my body itself felt strange due to the magnetism. Also exciting: I had broccoli. Thats right, I stubled across a real, green vegetable in Germany and it was delicious.After that it was bye bye Berlin and Hello Prague. Welcome to even stranger languages and lands!

End of Berlin...off to Prague

2012-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

The train ride to Prague was quite interesting. I met a Lebanese German car dealership owner who was off to Prague for a weekend vacation. He knew very little English so we carried a three hour conversation by guessing meanings, gestures, and pictionary, and from all of this I gained some very important insight into the life of a German immigrant. Abos seems to be leading a tough life driving between cities during the week and conducting international sales, he's separated from his family that's scattered across the world, and he has very liberal views about religion, politics, and sex.
We also visited the molecular medicine center today. It was fascinating to see how universal science is. Regardless of languages or difficult accents, a picture of a benzene ring means the same thing of this side of the Atlantic as it does back home. The MRI tour was also very useful for me especially since I worked at a research imaging center over the summer and had a little background on MRIs. Standing next to the 7 tesla MRI I was able to feel the wires in my braces bend, which was a very strange sensation, but was a good demonstration of how strong the magnetic field was even at the one-ish foot distance from the bore where I was standing.
I can't believe that our time in Berlin is over, but I really feel that I so much more out of the city than a tourist experience. Now for Prague!

Berlin Wrap-Up

2012-01-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wednesday we visited the Charite where we were able to get a little hands on training at the skills lab. The Charite training center is run by students who are able to help fellow students hone their skills. Best of all we got to work on some of their training equipment. I am by no means ready to be a doctor, but I think I might be a little better at sewing up a wound, just don't ask me to intubate anything. I loved getting to play with coolstuff in the training center, but my favorite part of the day was definitely the Charite museum. We had yet another lovely tour guide who led us through the museum and provided some history on the development of medicine along with some good anecdotes. The museum also houses a collection of medical curiosities and specimens which I found quite intriguing. With our free time we visited the Pergamon museum which houses beautiful, not to mention enormous, Roman and Babylonian artifacts as well as a really cool Islamic art exhibit.

Thursday we visited Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp outside Berlin. I knew that seeing a concentration camp would be a difficult experience but the gravity of the topic was only amplified by the cold and drizzling rain. I can hardly imagine the daily lives of the people subjected to the concentration camps. While I used to think it completely absurd that people would try to deny the holocaust, I am beginning to see how one might really find it hard to believe. While it was difficult to force myself to think about the reality of what happened in Sachsenhausen, I am really glad that I had the opportunity to go there. It is a piece of history that should not be forgotten.

After we returned to Berlin, we visited the Otto Bock Science Center. I loved seeing the mechanics behind prosthesis and how things I've learned in my basic sciences tie together to create miracles for people who might otherwise be seriously disabled. Prosthesis is amazing, because it gives people an independence that they could probably never have without it. So cool.

Today, Friday, was our last day in Berlin and we wrapped it up by visiting the Max Dellbruck Center for Molecular Medicine. My favorite thing was the MRI. I had not realized that there might be other uses for MRI other than imaging, but after speaking with a scientist working on a 7T MRI I know that there be uses for killing cancerous cells non-invasively. Yet again, so cool. Science never ceases to amaze me. These are they days that I am so glad this is the route I chose to go down. Every day brings new discovery and new opportunities.

Now off to Prague!

Halfway Point

2012-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since my last blog so time to recap:

Tuesday 01-03-12
We took the two hour train ride to Dresden and started off by visiting the Frauenkirche and the Lutheran church definitely lived up to its iconic image. Dresden was definitely the most beautiful city that I have seen in Germany so far, which is probably why the people of Dresden are so proud of their city. This is all the more amazing considering the fact that almost the entire city was destroyed by the Second World War. After our guided tour, we then headed over to the Deutsches Hygiene Museum. Unlike all the other places we’ve visited, this museum actually required us to do a little bit of work. The museum contained information about things such as sexual activity, nutrition, and sensation, which was awesome since it provided a well-rounded perspective of health.

Wednesday 01-04-12
The Charité Medical School was a really fun and interactive place. Despite learning about the German medical school process from Dr. Wasser, it was interesting to hear from the perspectives of actual medical students. We were able to learn and perform various medical procedures such as intubation and suturing from the student tutors. They were very helpful and genuinely seemed to enjoy working with us which was really refreshing. The procedures which are routine for doctors were not as easy as they look and it was awesome just getting to do things that I hope to learn one day in medical school. Before heading out to the Charité Pathology Museum, Dr. Wasser gave us a lecture about Rudolf Virchow, who is considered the father of pathology. It was pretty cool that we got the lecture in the same exact room as where Virchow gave his talks! We got to see some pretty crazy stuff like the megacolon and babies born with only one eye. It was amazing to me to see how small errors can completely derail the complex machine that is our body.

Thursday 01-05-12
The concentration camp at Sachenhausen was one of the most “memorable” experiences in my life. I’ve learned so much about the conditions of concentration camps but to actually see it up close was slightly rattling. To know that more than 30,000 people were killed there at that very site was a hard fact for me to wrap my head around. In addition, the way in which they mechanized the killing process was super disturbing to me. After leaving the concentration camp, we got some lunch and made our way to the Otto Bock Science Center to see the prostheses exhibits. Since I want to get into sports medicine, it was really cool for me to see how biomedical technology is developing and its integral role in the future of orthopedics. And the interactive nature of the exhibition really made it enjoyable as I was able to experience how one feels while using some of the devices such as a prosthetic leg.

Off to Prague!!

Berlin [12/31-1/2]

2012-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Arriving to Berlin was exciting and overwhelming! The train station was crowded and bright and always moving. You know that training program in the matrix that is a city scene with the woman in red? And how that is like crowded and almost everyone but Neo and Morpheus are going the other way? Okay well it felt like that. Its amazing to me how large Berlin main station was. Just layer upon layer of transportation and food and stores and bathrooms that cost a Euro to use. We were oriented with regards to Alexanderplatz and the TV tower. The Alex Hotel is absolutely fantastic. Well it was the eve of the new year so we got to go where the party was! The party mile main stage was right by the Brandenburg gate and stretched for 1.2 miles down alongside the tiergarten to the victory tower. We had a really great time listening to music, watching performers, and trying authentic Berlin cuisine! The fireworks show was amazing and we met some fellow english speakers as we passed them by in the crowds. For our free day on the first, we walked all around Berlin, seeking out sights and museums and crepes. There were still wonderful firecrackers to be seen and heard and the people of Berlin seemed to be in good spirits.On the second of January, there was a lot of drizzly rain, but we completed our city tour of Berlin without faltering. As usual, our guide was absolutely amazing and he taught us many things. We saw a pretty long strip of the Wall, a lot of remnant propaganda/art, and many memorials. The memorial to the Jews if Europe was striking. In a way, it reminded me of the Houston Holocaust Museum, which shifts its architecture from warmish or neutral colors and tall ceilings and wide rooms to small, dark, and narrow rooms as you move through. This is said to represent the way such an event occurs; world events like this do not happen overnight. They move slowly, creeping into society and making short advancements so as not to alarm the citizenry or spark an idea outside the steady diet of propaganda. As we walked through the stelae, or giant concrete blocks, they rose higher and higher and you lose sight if the way in, the way out, and what is around the next corner. Of course, this memorial is up for individual interpretation, and the above is just a thought that my walk through he memorial evoked. We also saw the Reichstag Building. It was very interesting to learn about the German government and their party system. It really clarified and aided in my understanding of the introduction that Dr.Wasser gave us to German politics. I think the general rule here is that the days are long but the sun is only interested in hanging out for a third of it. Nonetheless, we are making the most of our days and enjoying our experiences here. :)

Charite

2012-01-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

Written 1/4

Today we took a venture out to the Charite Hospital; this hospital has a lot of history and has seen many patients from the past, to even some current day patients. In the past, this hospital was mainly used as a containment/treatment area for many of Berlin's widespread disease outbreaks. More recently, the hospital is used in an educational scope, more than medical applications. But, it still does have a cancer treatment ward in the building. When we got to the Charite University, we were greeted by two medical students who very generously showed us some areas of the facility. After a brief powerpoint presentation covering topics including, the medical system in Germany, the structure of the medical school, and their current position at the University to name a few, we were given some hands on training techniques. This included a demonstration and individual application on how to stitch a wound, how to detect the sound of normal heartbeat and respiration, and lastly how to intubate a dummy. For me the intubation lesson was the part that interested me the most; it was a real life application that is used everyday and I had witnessed on multiple hospital shows. It includes tilting a patients head back, locating the trachea, and then inserting a breathing apparatus so manual respiration could ensue. After this, we had a brief lecture and lunch, and then toured the Medical History Museum on the grounds of the Charite. This museum was fascinating, it basically analyzed and presented the advances and history human physiology. From early understandings of medial devices and tools to their comprehensive selection pathological/anatomical body parts. In most areas, you were able to look at functional, healthy areas of the body; but even more interesting was the mutations and nonfunctional body regions. This grouping was very extensive and somewhat grotesque. This collection was very diverse, and accumulated over a hundred years of collection. It was definitely something to see, but not on a full stomach.....

The Musings of a Granny in Berlin

2012-01-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hello from Prague!

The group successfully made it to Prague, which is kind of amazing in itself since we completely rely on Nils and his bright orange jacket to lead us through Germany. And since this is our first weekend on our own (eeeeeek), I thought there was a high chance of us either ending up in the wrong country or not even making it on the train. But alas, we're here! I'm pretty excited about seeing the beautiful sights of Prague tomorrow morning!

Leaving Berlin was sad, but a welcome change. Berlin is a wonderful city, but it's very metropolitan. My roommate and I were getting accustomed to settling in bed with our matching books (The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo series) and a cup of hot cocoa by 10 every night. Okay....maybe it was more like 9. But now we're on the road again! On Thursday we visited Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin. This was one of my favorite excursions so far. I've always been fascinated by World War II history and the history of the Holocaust, so it was pretty interesting to be at an actual concentration camp. But it was definitely a creepy experience at the same time. It's hard not to dwell on what actually occurred on those grounds without getting too upset. There were definitely times on the tour where I felt a little uncomfortable, but it was all part of the experience. Sachsenhausen wasn't a death camp, but a prison camp instead. Although as many as 30,000 people were unjustly killed by the Nazis at this camp, it was not one of the largest killing factories they operated. Most of the prisoners at this camp were enemies of the Nazi party. However, one of the more awful things that occurred at this camp were medical experiments conducted by Nazi doctors. It's inconceivable to think that people thought it was okay to treat other humans like test dummy's. But that's exactly what they did. I think it's important for people to visit concentration camps, to honor the victims and to reflect on the past, however gruesome it may be. The visit to Sachsenhausen will forever be ingrained in my memory.

On a lighter note, after the visit to Sachsenhausen we took a tour of the Otto Bock Science Center in Berlin, which was enjoyed by everyone. Otto Bock is one of the major prosthetic companies in the world. We were able to understand the science of different prosthetic apparatuses such as the C-Leg and the Michaelangelo hand. It was really interesting not only seeing the engineering side of it, but also the body's and the patient's response to the apparatus. It was definitely a cool place to visit, and we'll be visiting the production center next week. It's pretty amazing what science can do now!

Now the bigger question is, do I want to explore the hostel and Prague tonight....or be a granny and get acquainted with my bunk bed? Decisions decisions. Maybe we'll just go with exploring the hostel....and then my bunk bed. Winning.

Adios! (I'm not even going to try to say something in Czech)

Dresden and Charite

2012-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

Why hello! I can definitely see why Dresden is called the Venice of Germany- I snapped pictures every two minutes like a good tourist should. Just walking around the town takes your breath away, it's all baroque and renaissance style buildings, so pastel colors and intricate crowning and stonework were everywhere. We saw the view from the Elbe, the Frauenkirche [one of the oldest Lutheran churches], and the Royal Palace to name a few sights. I loved the church, it was neat to learn about the history of the religion I grew up with. It did surprise me that such a low percentage of the people in Dresden are religious today, I didn't realize Soviet socialism (not to mention the war)put such a strain on beliefs, but it's perfectly logical. We then visited the Hygiene Museum, which was an interactive experience on everything from birth and death to the nervous system. After a YouTube session with the groupies, it was time for some sleep! Yesterday we spent a day at the Charite hospital, which had an awesome Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum with anatomical parts from Virchow's dissections. We literally saw a ton of diseases face to face in kidneys, brains, feet (ew), and hearts, to name a few, which was infinitely better than photos in books. The fact that the concept of medicine from the fourteenth century was based on four humors, which determined what personality, disease, and treatments you should have, is absolutely ludicrous and comical, and I'm extremely thankful we don't amputate legs with saws and gunpowder any more... After a stop at the Pergamom museum, we sat down for an epic meal of schnitzel, currywurst, meatballs, and sausage. SO MUCH FOOD. Thank goodness I have a fellow traveler with an endless stomach. Until next time!

Day of Charite...and other stuff

2012-01-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

I got to see the megacolon in person today! What a completely unexpected treat. I know it sounds strange to be thrilled at meeting in person a 15kg, meter-ish long large intestine once filled most uncomfortably with fecal matter, but you must understand that only weeks before, I stared in disbelief at a PowerPoint image of the megacolon in developmental biology class, wondering if Dr. Lekven was really serious about such a thing. Weeks before that in the same class, we had learned about neural tube formation during human development and how important folate was for the neural tube to close anteriorly. If a mother was folate deficient, her child might be born anencephalic, missing a large chunk of the brain. Guess how many anencephalic babies I identified today....three! I think the museum trip today was among the best events of the trip so far, partly because I had one of those moments where you realize that the things they teach you through class and books are actually very real and applicable and also because we had the best story-teller museum guide ever who found remarkably vivid ways to ensure that his guests realize that the art of medicine was at one time incredibly primitive and actually quite brutal.
The visit with the medical students was quite enjoyable as well. I learned the basics of both intubation and suturing, which are skills that can never be learned too early in medical school or practiced too much. The visit also made me realize how lucky I am to be about to go to medical school in the USA. Yes, I will have to pay a lot of money, yes, afterwards I will have to deal with lawsuits and such, but I will be training at an institution at which students at even as medically advanced countries as Germany are longing to study. I gained quite a bit of inspiration, perspective, and gratitude for what I have as an American through this visit and am a bit giddy to be starting medical school come Fall.
The Pergamon visit during our free time today was a bit stressful. One hour was not enough to see and really take in everything in there. However, the Babylonian gate was quite impressive, and I really appreciated the free tour recording things that did an excellent job of explaining the significance of what I was seeing. Despite the stress of running around the museum, trying to see the most important stuff, I'm glad we went. I had no idea that Berlin housed such an important collection of ancient artifacts, and found it amazing that so much could be salvaged from civilizations thought to be among the first in the world.

First days in Berlin and Dresden

2012-01-04T14:57:00.001-08:00

After sleeping in Sunday morning after a great night, we decided to explore Berlin. We went to a film museum, the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Victory Column, and the Berlin Cathedral, got Tex-Mex for dinner and saw In Time in German!

Monday morning was spent walking around Berlin learning about the different buildings and structures and their history. We saw some things we had seen the day before, such as the Brandenburg Gate and the surrounding buildings, the memorial and cathedral, but more of the history came to light, which made them even more interesting. Some of the new places included the Humbolt University, in front of whose steps a book burning took place and Checkpoint Charlie, where the Cold War almost got the closest to being and actual war. Berlin has so much history around every corner you can literally stumble upon it, since an artist started a project of placing memorials of victims of the Holocaust. I was amazed at how we walked for over four hours and saw only part of what Berlin has to offer and only touched on the main points of each. In the afternoon, we visited the Reichstag, the German parliamentary building. It seemed like a contradiction since it seems like an old building from the outside, but from the inside, it is completely modern. I was surprised to see that the large meeting room had a modern feel from the chairs and desks to the glass surroundings and eagle decoration. Every time I picture a room like that, it is always the ones from the United States legislative building which has a historic look.

Tuesday morning, we made our way to Dresden and had a city tour. The city was so beautiful with the Baroque architecture and old look of the Old Town. We learned more of German history, mostly the influence of August the Strong during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire. However, most of the city was destroyed during World War II and was rebuilt after reunification, which gives the buildings a false sense of age. I thought it was impressive that after so many years, Dresdeners still love their city so much that they want to return it to its former glory. Later that day, we went to the Deutsches Hygiene Museum. This was an interesting museum since it many of the exhibits were interactive and covered the history of the different categories of human life, such as motion, sexuality, nutrition and senses. I enjoyed the interactive parts of the exhibits since those are usually the most memorable. There were different games to learn concepts and drawers with images and such so that you are constantly discovering something.

Both Berlin and Dresden seem like wonderful cities with so much history, I wish we had more time!

German Parliament and .... Hygiene??

2012-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

*Written 1/3*

After recovery Sunday from New Years Fiestmila, we were greeted bright and early Monday morning with a gray, rainy Berlin tour. The tour was fantastic, despite the dreary conditions. I feel like we blazed a trail across much of Berlin, and learned so much more. We saw the statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (the kings of socialism), the sculpture to honor all victims of Tyranny (Mother with Her Dead Son pictured left), a huge piece of the Berlin Wall still left intact in its original position, and the commemorative monument to all Jews killed in WWII. There was so much history behind each one of this locations, trying to absorb it all made a person feel like a sponge being filled beyond capacity. Later that day, we were able to tour the Reichstag Parliament Building, where German political officials make decisions of current legislation. It was a very grand building, fixed with high level of security and a dome that stretched far atop the roofline of Berlin (allowing for a great view). As boring as politics and government proceedings usually are, it was unique being able to see and sit in the buildings were action takes place. Even seeing the advanced voting decision method where Germans will walk through one of three doors to cast their vote; labeled either Yes, No, or Abstained. As you can see, very complicated. The next day, we went to the German Hygiene Museum located in Dresden. Hygiene you ask? So it's all about deodorant and body wash right? Not really, it is more like the German Biology Museum. Basically their study of the history of the body and how the knowledge of the functions and anatomy has progressed with time. Honestly, as a Biomedical Engineer it was a fascinating place to go to and tour. Viewing the different displays and exhibits really made certain aspects and processes shine in a different light so to speak. It was a great place to go and see how we, as a society, learned about the body and how our knowledge on different subjects changed over time; sometimes this change was minimal, but in some situations it could almost be as stark a contrast as night and day between what was theorized and what is know known as fact.

Berlin and Dresden

2012-01-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

For our first official day in Berlin, we took a walking tour with yet another fabulous tour guide. Even though the weather was dreary, we had a good morning and covered quite a bit of Berlin.

After lunch, we visited the Reichstad where the German Parliament meets. We've talked a lot about how Germany as a nation is always in the process of coming to terms with their past, and I am really starting to see the effects of this feeling in almost all of the places we go. I really like how new and old elements are mixed into their buildings in a way that reflect not forgetting damages of the past, but growin up and out from them. Beyond the symbolism, the aesthetic of old stone and craftsmanship mixed with modern metal and glass architectural elements is beautiful. I think in my next life I might study architecture.... It really is an artform even in the simplest designs.

Tuesday, we headed for Dresden. Dresden is a beautiful city just about 2 hours away from Berlin. Dresden is full of Baroque and neo-Greek architecture. Dresden sits on the Elbe river and we were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day yesterday to experience it. We saw most of the city during our walking tour. Like most of Germany the old buildings and structures of the city had been almost destroyed, but instead of being rebuilt with new elements, the were rebuilt in the exact designs of the original buildings using as many of the old pieces as possible, which I thought was really cool.

In the afternoon, we visited the Deutsches Hygiene Museum. This museum was by far one of the coolest museums I have been in. In each area of the museum we had to choose an item of interest and present it to our group which provided us with an opportunity to discuss and elaborate. Not only did this allow us to share our thoughts, but it also helped us think about how certain aspects of human biology apply to our studies.

Be back soon!

Dresden: The Cleanest City Ever.

2012-01-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

The title pretty much explains itself! Haha. The group arrived in Dresden, which was about a two hour train ride from Berlin, and witnessed one of the cleanest, most beautiful cities EVER. It didn't hurt that we had some of the best weather on the trip that day as well; clear blue skies as far as the eye could see. We immediately went on a city tour, the main attraction being the Church of Our Lady. This church is in the middle of "Old Town" Dresden, and was heavily bombed at the end of World War II. The rebuilding of the church was finished in 2005, giving it the appearance of being really new; however, the building was rebuilt with stones from the original building. This gives the church a really interesting appearance, with white and dark stone signifying the mixing of old and new.

After spending time at the church, we continued our walk throughout the town center, passing magnificent building after magnificent building. It was almost hard to keep up with all of the amazing architecture in Dresden! Everywhere you looked was a new building that was even more beautiful than the next one. Among these buildings were the opera house and the palace. The whole city sits on the banks of the Elbe river, making it even more gorgeous! Dresden is definitely your typical quaint European city, even though it has about 500,000 residents.

My favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Deutsches Hygiene Museum. This museum explored different parts of the body and what makes the human body tick. While I've been in Europe, the class has been discussing the relationship between medicine and the Nazi regime. The Nazis are infamous for the types of experiments they did on their victims and for trying to prove that the Aryan race was the perfect human form. The museum began its exhibit with the explanation of eugenics and the search for the perfect man, which obviously does not exist. The other exhibits explored Living and Dying, Eating and Drinking, Sexuality, Remembering and Learning, Motion and Beauty. The museum was very interactive which made it all the more enjoyable. In the Living and Dying room, you could simulate the feeling of being old by putting on shoes that inhibited your ability to walk, head phones that lessened your hearing and a bracelet that caused your hand to shake so you couldn't write or hold things as well. The whole experienced made me super excited to be sixty years old. Not. Anyways, in all of the rooms there were fascinating exhibits and interesting hands on experiments. It was definitely a hit with our group!

I only have a few more days in Berlin and then it's off to Prague for the weekend! Although it's tiring going to different cities every few days, it's been amazing to see so much of Germany in such a short amount of time. Tomorrow we're going to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, which will definitely be a somber and humbling experience, but I've always wanted to see one first hand so I'm very excited.

Bis morgen!

Köln

2012-01-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

Like many days here, December the 30th began with a delicious breakfast and a train ride. Our journey to Köln brought us to a very large and busy train station, a breezy plaza, and right up next to the Cologne Cathedral. If you ever feel like you need to be humbled, I recommend you stand next to that Cathedral. What a beautiful structure. The walls can't talk, but the windows tell so many stories!
Everything under Köln is so old! Just dig and there are Roman floors, tombs, and they're extracting a whole Jewish quarter! We had an awesome, energetic guide who aptly likened ancient jewelry to "Bling Bling like P-Diddy". In all seriousness, though, she was a fantastic guide and very knowledgeable!
Later, we visited EL-DE Haus. This is a museum made out of an old Gestapo building. Our tour began underground, in the rooms of a prison where people arrested by the Gestapo were held prior to interrogation. Every part if this process held a type of torture. From inhumane living conditions to darkroom isolation to physical torture, the acts done in that building, bunker and courtyard were horrendous. It is a clean museum; not showy, graphic, or overdramatized. But the starkness of its space demands contemplation and respect, and in me elicited the first chills that had nothing to do with temperature. Experiences with Holocaust museums and literature have always hit me very hard, and it is very hard to wrap my brain around the fact that it happened where I now stand. I still do not fail to recognize Germany's struggle in coming to terms with their history and I am growing an immense respect for the ways in which they have chosen to remember the past and live in the present.
Later, out and about after some free time exploring Köln, Abbee and I were heading back to meet the group at the train when we pulled out the map to check our direction. A lovely and fashionable woman approached us and asked if she could help us. She was holding a huge bowl of gelato, and spoke with an slight accent. She pointed us toward the Cathedral and wished us well. We thanked her and as we parted she yelled after us "have fun!" We sat in the Cathedral and enjoyed the singing that came from a small mass in the sanctuary until it was time to meet our fellow travelers at the station.

Cologne and exploring Berlin!

2012-01-02T15:44:00.001-08:00

Happy new year! I feel like we crammed two weeks worth of tours, buildings, dates and beer into one weekend. It was a blast. On Friday, we took a train to Cologne, and when we left the station we immediately saw the Cologne Cathedral towering above us. It's the most imposing yet beautiful cathedral; the details in it's architecture were overwhelming! I couldn't pull my eyes away, they were absorbing everything they possibly could. We saw the relic of the cathedral-the bones of the three wise men encased in an intricate gold case- the history of the cathedral through World War II, and the beautiful stained glass windows from multiple decades. We also visited a museum of roman history, which was definitely a flashback to my Latin-learning days. The mosaics were interesting, it was a comical contrast to the strict holiness of the cathedral. The Romans weren't exactly restrained when it came to wine, feasting, and politics.
We were also able to visit the EL DE house, which was the Cologne Gestapo headquarters during World War II. There were prison cells below the building that has inscriptions written by the prisoners who passed through. It was easier than I expected to put myself in their shoes, which made the prison extremely sad and creepy. The museum also demonstrated the rise of the Nazi party and the individuals who attempted to stand up to the overpowering military control. It was particularly sad that a government could strike fear into the hearts of an entire nation so quickly, to the extent that people betrayed neighbors, family, and friends to protect themselves in the eyes of the Gestapo. You could also draw parallels between the writings and propaganda of the nazi government and our attitudes as Americans toward Muslims-once we develop mistrust towards a large group of people, we're that much closer to developing the same mindset as that of WWII Germany, albeit not as extreme. This was incredibly eye opening.
We had a great new years, we travelled to Berlin by train and went to the 1.2 mile festival behind the brandenburg gate! It was packed.... We had currywurst, German beer, sang along to the covers of American songs, and counted down the new year in german! The walk around the city afterwards was crazy, there were a million firecrackers being shot off in the streets. Sunday was a free day in Berlin, so we explored the city, visited a film museum, ate crepes, and watched a movie in German. Such a good weekend!
Today was a four hour tour of Berlin, which was packed with a ton of history. It was great to hear the detailed stories that accompanied the sights we saw the day before. My favorite was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; it was beautiful, and yet gave you a deep feeling of helplessness as you wander through claustrophobic alleys of dark grey, concrete blocks that rise gradually to tower five feet above your head. We visited the Reichstag as well, which gave us a great view of the city and displayed an interesting juxtaposition of the prewar and postwar architecture. Until next time!

First Few Days of 2012

2012-01-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

To bring in the New Year, we made the four hour train ride from Bonn to Berlin. I really enjoyed Bonn and its small town atmosphere. But I was ready to experience the biggest city that Germany has to offer. The distinction was immediately clear. The streets were a lot wider and the buildings were a lot taller. After a quick lecture by Dr. Wasser on Euthanasia, we made our way to the New Year’s celebration around 8. It was quite the atmosphere. Food, drinks, and music EVERYWHERE! I’ve only seen such a thing on TV but it was awesome to witness it firsthand. Definitely something every person should experience atleast once in a lifetime. Soon after the clock struck 12, we started to head back to the hotel. The streets were a mess and it was just pure chaos everywhere.

So after a pretty wild night, I woke up at noon! After getting some breakfast, Chris, Shelby, Shikhi, and I went on an adventure through Berlin. We first went to the German Film Museum. It was cool to see how much Hollywood influenced German cinema and vice versa. From there, we dropped by the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. There were 2,711 concrete blocks of all different sizes arranged in a maze-like manner. Rather odd but very unique and a lot left for interpretation. From there, we walked to the famous Brandenburg Gate. After getting lost a little bit, we found our way to the Berlin Cathedral. Though not quite as gigantic as the Cologne Cathedral, it was just as elegant on the inside. Afterwards, craving some food, we remembered passing by a Tex-Mex place so we went back there for dinner. Surprisingly, the food was quite satisfying though Shelby might disagree. We decided to keep walking around so we ended up all the way at the Victory Column. Wanting to end the night on a good note, we decided to watch the movie, In Time…in German.

Today, we got an extensive tour of Berlin from a man that sounded more American than German. Early on, it was slightly depressing because he took us to a lot of places we went to yesterday which I soon realized were actually a lot closer than we made them out to be. There was just so much history everywhere. It seemed as if everywhere we went, something significant happened. In particular, Berlin seemed to have taken quite the beating during the Second World War as many of its buildings were damaged heavily and later repaired. We got to see a piece of the Berlin Wall that was still intact so that was pretty cool. Then, we went to visit the Reichstag. After passing security and getting frisked, we got a tour of the Reichstag. I got to sit in Chancellor Merkel’s seat and kinda sorta made a fool of myself. But in my defense, being the Chancellor of Germany is not easy these days! After dinner, Abbee, Danielle, and I decided to do some laundry. It was an interesting experience…But, we did manage to make some new friends! We met three guys from New Zealand, Norway, and Germany who were going to be in a musical performance and were just hanging out similar to us.

In the coming days, I really hope to try some currywurst since Berlin supposedly has the world’s best currywurst. I’ll be the judge of that!

Days 4&5

2012-01-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we took a train to Cologne. The first major structure I saw was the Cologne Cathedral. Even from the train station, the beauty of the cathedral was obvious and overwhelming as soon as we stepped outside. The inside was just as impressive. Since I’m not a religious person, I am always impressed by how much effort, time and wealth people are willing to put into something that is based completely on faith and a willingness to believe. Since it took over 600 years to build the cathedral, there are characteristics from different eras of architecture and design. For example, the some of the stones were brought in from the hills around Bonn hundreds of years ago, and one window was designed with a computer. In Cologne, we also went to the EL-DE Haus where the Gestapo held prisoners. Seeing the cells that held so many prisoners and what they wrote on the walls was a chilling experience. Even though we learn of how the “inferior people” were treated in history classes, seeing the places in person and hearing the stories refreshes the sickening feelings.

Saturday, we made our way to Berlin, and in the evening, we went to the Party Mile between the Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column. This was my first party of this sort and since it was outside and it reminded me of watching all of the seemingly crazy people standing in Times Square in New York City on TV. We arrived fairly early, so we were able to get walk around and find food, but as it got closer to midnight, I definitely believed the reports that over one million people attend the festivities. The bands played American songs almost as much as German songs, which was amusing. On the way back to the hotel, people were setting off their own fireworks. Some like to throw firecrackers at people’s feet, including mine. I almost died. Overall it was a great experience, though I don’t know how I’d feel if it was any colder….

Cologne and New Year's Eve in Berlin

2012-01-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

We traveled down the road to the city of Cologne. This city was larger, but just as beautiful as Bonn. We first visited the cathedral, again, always one of my favorite sights in any city. What amazed me most about this cathedral was the fact that it was not irreparably damaged during the bombings of World War II. Another interesting aspect about the interior of the cathedral is that parts of its design reflect different styles and trends of different eras. This differs from what I saw in many of the cathedrals in Spain in which the original style of the interior was mostly maintained to reflect the era in which it was created. Our amazing tour guide led us then to a Roman art museum where we viewed intricate glass and jewelry works from the period as well as other large roman art works found in the area. We then ended our tour at the old/new town hall of Cologne.

Later in the day we visited the ELDE House. I have never been to a museum similar to this one. Museum exhibits are most brought to life when contained within a related historical building such as the ELDE House. The ELDE House is named after the original builder who was a jeweler and businessman that had to give up the space before building was completed. The space was taken over as the Gestapo Offices in the 30's and also housed a prison to hold people for interrogations. Walking through the prison and barracks was a difficult, but moving experience. No matter how hard I work to understand the suffering of the individuals housed in such a place I know that it is beyond unimaginable. More unthinkable is how people might come to believe the ideology of the Nazi regime. I've always believed that human beings act on one of two emotions, love or fear, and the damage of the Nazi time in power in the 30's and 40's is evidence of just how dangerous actions of fear can be.

On a much lighter note, it's 2012! And best of all, we got to welcome it in right here in Berlin. We went to the celebration at the Brandenburg Gate, and everyone had a wonderful time. There were limitless options of food and drink and entertaining performers as well as entertaining people. All and all it was a beautiful and joyful celebration and i can't think of a better way to meet 2012.

Looking forward to what's ahead in Berlin!

Willkommen 2012!

2012-01-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Berlin! Spending New Year's Eve in Berlin was truly a blessing. The group went to a huge, mile long festival which was held right in front of the Brandenburg Gate. There were probably close to about a million people, most being Germans but some being foreigners. The festival housed a ton of food and drink stands and multiple stages with DJs or artists performing, with the main stage being in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Just walking around and people watching was entertaining! Our group settled on a spot in front of a huge screen so we could watch all of the performances and the fireworks. Most of the artists covered a lot of American songs, my favorite group being The Boss Hoss, which was a group of men dressed up as cowboys singing American pop songs in a country fashion. It was pretty hilarious. Overall, it was a pretty amazing way to celebrate New Years! I don't know if I'll ever be lucky enough to spend New Years in Berlin or Europe again so it's definitely a night I'll never forget! Especially walking home after the festival was over. I think I got a glimpse of what the end of the world would look like, because the streets of Berlin were covered in trash and people were shooting of fireworks in the middle of the streets. All of it was out of good fun of course, but it's a scene I'll never forget!

The website for the festival is http://www.silvester-in-berlin.de/index.html

Before we arrived in Berlin, we spent our last day in Bonn traveling to the larger city of Cologne. Cologne is only about 25 minutes from Bonn by train and is a much larger city. Once you leave the train station, the main cathedral is towering in front of you. The size and the awesomeness of the architecture was similar to La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It's amazing to me how cities in Europe have so many ancient buildings in the middle of highly industrialized buildings. I think that might be my favorite part of Europe; the fact that history is always around you. We then went on a city tour of Cologne through the cathedral, the town hall, some Roman ruins, and the city center. After lunch at a famous beer hall, we visited the Elde Haus, which served as the headquarters for the Gestapo during World War II. Buildings like these always fascinate me while creeping me out at the same time because of what took place in those rooms. It's hard to visit a place of such sadness and terror, but this time in history was so interesting and has shaped Germany to what it is today so that it's hard not to visit these types of places. After we finished our tour at the Elde Haus, we were given free time to walk around the city, which was a lovely way to end the day. I really enjoyed visiting Cologne, but Bonn still has my heart!

I'm looking forward to the next week in Berlin! There's so much history here so I know it will be an exhausting yet interesting week ahead!

Exploring Bonn!

2011-12-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

From what we’ve done so far, this is turning out to be an awesome experience! My first impression of Bonn was that it had the most beautiful little stone streets, and that the city was full of life. It’s quite funny to remember that people actually walk instead of driving cars… I wish American towns were like this, there’s a central market full of shops, food, and a gorgeous church. There’s a relaxed atmosphere despite the number of people, and it feels so homey. They also take Christmas decorating a lot more seriously. We started the first night off fantastically with schnitzel and dunkel, and headed over to the University Hospital in the morning to observe surgeries. I was able to view a coronary artery bypass, which was beyond words. I’ve got to admit the smell of burning flesh threw me off (holding your breath doesn’t quite cut it), but as the surgery got underway, I definitely developed a new sense of awe as to what medicine is able to accomplish. From seeing the inside of the thoracic cavity in person for the first time to the tiny stitches that rerouted this 78 year old’s blood supply to his heart, there was a lot to take in, and the surgeons were happy to answer our questions ( we had a ton) as they worked. It is so exciting that this patient can live for a few more years if the procedure ended well. After a lecture from Dr. Wasser on healthcare systems, and a tour of Bonn, we got to hang out and partake in some German New Years traditions.

On our second full day, we visited a history of anesthesia museum put together by Dr. Stoeckel. He traced the development of this technique from its origin in Boston to the present, and it was interesting to compare the early techniques and devices used from country to country. He played a huge part in the ease with which anesthesia can be applied and monitored today, and his passion for this area of medicine is inspiring. We also visited the Haus der Geschichte, which focused on the history of Germany after World War II. The ways in which the war has affected the development of Germany, and more importantly, the mindset of the Germans today, especially with respect to nationalism, adds another dimension to the war I had never considered, and makes it that much more a terrifying time period. One remarkable thing I’ve picked up on (among many) about Germans today is that they’re much more honest about their recent history than Americans seem to be, they accept and learn to live with successes and mistakes alike, which deserves a huge amount of respect.

On a lighter note, I love our group, and I am so excited to see more!

From Bonn to Cologne and Back!

2011-12-30T16:03:00.001-08:00

Today, our group made our one day voyage to the nearby city of Cologne. We took a railway train car and entered the train station in under thirty minutes. From the moment we stepped foot out of the station we were confronted by the trademark of Cologne: the Cathedral. Words can't put to justice the size of this cathedral; the sheer size makes a person feel as though they are an ant among giants. And still throughout the day, the shock of this building didn't wear off. Every time I was able to glance upon it through the market buildings of downtown Cologne it still slightly took me aback. It was even more amazing that this building was erected in 1248, when the modern construction amenities of today weren't even thought of.

We had an excellent guide that showed us some of the best qualities of the cathedral and some of the surrounding areas; everywhere you looked in the cathedral there was history: from the monumental stained class panes that were hand crafted, to the gold and jewel encrusted tomb of the Three Wise Men, and to the multiple century old painting that still looks crisp to this day to name a few. Even more amazing, was the fact that this cathedral survived the onslaught of bombs dropped in the area during WWII. Despite the fact it was aimed at from above by Allied bombers, it still escaped with minimal damage.

The museum near the cathedral was also very interesting; the number of Roman artifacts found in the area is quite amazing. I think the historical piece that took me aback the most was the preserved floor that was discovered and left in its original position. This floor has been dated back to 50 AD.

After a quick lunch, we attended a museum that was transformed from the local offices of the Gestapo. This included peering into the vaults that prisoners were held in until their time came for interrogation, a synonym for torture in this time. This was one of most unique emotions I've experienced from seeing history firsthand; being in the basement where they were kept, seeing what they wrote on the walls in their last moments, and viewing the room they were tortured in, it was almost surreal. It really made the horrors and tragedies of WWII more "real" for me. It almost hurt trying to imagine what these innocent people experienced inside those walls.

Now off to Berlin.....

Days 1-3

2011-12-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

Despite a severely uncomfortable flight, my first impressions of Germany are definitely positive. After a smooth transition to the dorm room in Bonn, we had an orientation meeting then dinner. On the first full day in Bonn, we went to the university clinic to see surgeries, and my group saw a liver tumor resection. Much of the surgery was similar to those I’ve already seen, which I was expecting. However, I was surprised that the doctors were not anticipating the patient’s atypical vein. In the US, it seemed like the surgeon would make absolutely sure that he knows where everything is before he cuts, but here in Germany, a scan probably costs money that the insurance does not cover. Since the cancer was so extensive, the surgeons did not know if they could do that resection, so between doing a cholecystectomy and waiting for the lab results of the tumor and normal liver, we had to leave before the actual removal began. After lunch on the beautiful Rhine River, we were shown around Bonn and learned about some of its important historical moments. Sometimes it can be easy to forget how extensive the Roman Empire became, especially, for example, since I don’t think of the Romans when I think about Germany. For having lived over two thousand years ago, the Romans had advanced techniques, such as heating the floors, walls and baths by a fire underneath the floors.

On the third day, after a lecture from Dr. Wasser, we headed to the Museum of the History of Anesthesia for a tour by Dr. Stoeckel. It was interesting to see the evolution of a specific part of medicine, from the machines used to deliver the anesthetic and keep the patient alive to the actual drugs. Learning about the history of something directly from a man who witnessed it himself always brings a new perspective to the subject that could not be found in a book. We also went to the House of German History Museum to learn more about what happened after World War II. Even though we studied this in world and US history classes, hearing the same stories from a fresh perspective is always an eye-opening experience. What impressed me about the museum is that is completely public, since it is so important for Germans to learn about their history.

Bonn is an amazing town, not too big and not too small. Walking through the city center looking and the stores, comparing the McDonald’s to the ones in the US and seeing a bakery on what seems like every corner have been the highlights of the free time.

Germany Trip Thus Far

2011-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

My Germany travel experience got off to a great start. I had an excellent seat on the plane where I was able to lay down completely flat and watch TV and movies the whole time. Needless to say, I had a rude awakening once I stepped outside into the freezing cold. But the rest of the day got a lot better once everyone met up and we had our AIB welcome dinner.

But then the first night came, and I was awake by 2:30 and could not really go back to sleep. Freakin jet lag! Luckily, we had to be awake super early because we went to visit the University Clinics in Bonn and got to observe procedures in the OR. I got to see two orthopedic surgeries, one on a knee and another on a shoulder. It was really cool since I want to get into Orthopedics. I've seen orthopedic surgeries before in the US, so it was interesting to see what kind of protocol differences were present. I really enjoyed the group dynamic of the doctors and nurses in the OR, which showed me that even doctors can have fun. The doctors and nurses were all friendly and willing to explain things, which made observing a very enjoyable experience. After lunch, we then got a guided tour of Bonn from the boss of AIB himself. Bonn is a really a great town. Despite being a "college town", I really like the fact that the school is incorporated into the town rather than being one big campus surrounded by the city like College Station is. In addition, it is a great place to hang out but it still has places to visit that put you in awe.

The next day was just jam packed with action. After finishing up Dr. Wasser's lecture on different insurance models in the world, we went to the Museum of the History of Anaesthesia. Dr. Stoeckel, the creator of the museum, was truly an amazing guy. You could tell the guy was just so passionate about anaesthesia and medicine in general because a person doesn't just dedicate 10 years of their life for something unless they're genuine about it. The fact that he was able to recover items spanning the evolution of anaesthetic techniques is remarkable to me. It definitely gave me an added perspective of medicine since anaesthesiology is sometimes overlooked despite playing a vital role. Then, we went to the the House of German History Museum. I really enjoyed being able to see German history that was not only about the Nazis since the Nazi regime usually predominates any discussion of German history.

This morning, we went to Cologne. We got to go inside the Cologne Cathedral. It is literally the most magnificent structure I've ever seen in my life! The magnitude of its epicness cannot be put into words so here's a picture:

I really enjoyed our tour guide, Athena. She was a tiny woman that was just an Energizer Bunny. She gave us a great tour through the cathedral and the museum we went to. We finished up our scheduled day by visiting the ELDE HAUS. We were able to learn much about the Nazi movement and even got to see cells where the Gestapo kept their prisoners. It just gave me chills thinking about what went on in some of these very cells just 70 years ago. Our tour guide was cool and by cool, I mean she kept asking if anyone had questions for her, which no one did...

I wish I knew a little bit more German because many of the places we've been to so far only have German text. But despite knowing very little of the language, I've been able to respect and appreciate the profoundness of all these places.

Berlin, here I come!

First Days in Germany

2011-12-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

So I made it safely here, thank goodness. I thoroughly enjoy traveling, but I can never help but to get a little nervous. Jet lag is now a thing of the past so I am thankful for that as well.

First of all, I love Bonn. I feel like Bonn is the perfect size town to get around in while experiencing a little German lifestyle. I hate that we can't stay here longer, but I am excited to see other places in Germany. We started off day one, Wednesday, nice and early, by heading out to the university clinics. I was fortunate to see a laparoscopic procedure - a rectal tumor removal. Having see these kinds of procedures working as a surgery tech in our large animal clinic, I was amazed by how similar everything was - from surgery prep to cautery to instruments. Of course, I'm aware that veterinary medicine looks to human medicine as a basis for developing procedures, but I have had little experience in human medicine, and I feel that the similarities between the two really speak for how far veterinary medicine has come.

Later in the day, we had a brief walking tour of the city and were able to learn bit more about its background and history. My favorite part, of course was the chapel. I love the chapels, and churches and cathedrals of other parts of the world. I always find the architecture amazing especially when you take into consideration the sometimes limited materials people had to work with at the time. Always impressive.

Thursday we visited an awesome anaesthesia museum, created by Dr. Stoeckel who gave us a tour. Anaesthesia is an interesting subject in and of itself, but the fact that he was able to research and compile all of his information and pieces is remarkable. I liked the fact that his exhibit was organized by country to show the differences between equipment developed in the different areas during the beginning of anaesthesia.

We wrapped up the day with the House of German History Museum. This was by far one of the coolest museums I have been in. You move with the layout and the use of the wall dividing items of East and West Germany aid in partially understanding a piece of history the is completely unthinkable for me. Even more difficult for me to understand is how hard Germans have had to work and are still working to come to terms with this piece of their country's past.

I am so excited for what's still to come! Be back soon!

Awesome surgeries, and one old anesthesia dude... (Blog 4)

2011-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 29^th 2010

Bonn

Wednesday was pretty amazing. We got to see some surgeries and the anesthesia museum. Daniel, Chris and I got to witness an open heart aortic valve replacement. The atmosphere was so relaxed and the surgeons were quite entertaining. It was cool to see how skilled the surgeons were at technique. I grasped a better appreciation for the level of expertise they must have to be surgeons. It goes beyond just medical knowledge and application. The surgeons must have steady hands, be graceful with a needle, and have a sharp prolonged attention span.

During the valve replacement the chest was cut open and the patient put on a heart lung machine. This was interesting and lined up nicely with my track of BMEN, instrumentation. The heart was stopped and aorta clamped. Calcification occluded the chamber of the heart leading to the Aorta and had to be cut out. The surgeon held open the incisions made in the heart with a thread that was skillfully sewn so that it could later be woven into the replacement valve and cinched up tight to reseal the lesions. Amazing! Many threads going from incision flap to vise clamps encircled the heart. There were probably 20 vice clamps that caught the many different thread ends that were draped over the chest cavity in this circular pattern. After the threading was done the valve was inserted and woven into the threads. Next the valve was secured in the cavity. Its openings were covered with a gortex type material (that looked like cotton rectangular gause) that was sewn over the lip of each incision flap. This helped the thread not tear through the tissue after surgery in high stress situations. The surgeon said its to help them sleep better at night. The threads used were not the dissolvable since not enough tissue grows back in to secure the replacement valve. A few tugs on each thread and everything pulled together smoothly. It was like watching an artist. This was such a cool experience and I am excited about getting to see it again in Vienna!

After that we got to go to the anesthesia museum. The man was old and knowledgeable but very slow. It was entertaining to watch everyone try and stay focused. I really enjoyed getting to see him deliver the tour because of his joy and passion for what he does. It was hard to stay awake, but that was mostly due to everyone adjusting to the new sleep schedule and getting used to all the walking we had been doing. Another thing that stood out was how clean the museum was. I liked the white wall layout with silver paneled plaques containing descriptions of everything. Even if it was all German, it still looked cool. The glass cases with modern lighting and flooring drew the eye of the observer well. Another interesting note from the museum was how well machined the tools and devices were in the early 20^th century. They may have been restored or repainted, but they looked awesome. Overall I felt the museum was a plus and I am glad I got to experience it.

BONN aka my future home

2011-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

Geez I don't even know where to begin! First of all, as you can tell from the title of this blog that I'm completely in love with the city of Bonn. There are too many reasons why this place is so perfect but I'll give you just a few of them. First off, the size of the city is perfect. There are enough people here where you feel like you're in a big city, but it's not intimidating by any means. I've only been here 4 days and I already know how to take a train to Cologne and back and take the metro in Bonn back to my dorm. That leads to my second point: transportation. I've been to Europe before so the wonderful transportation system was no surprise to me, but coming from a place where I have to drive to get to anything and everything, metros and trains are a pleasant perk to this town. Thirdly, everyone is very friendly here. I clearly can't speak German even though I'm trying my best to learn some key phrases. Right now I know how to say: please, thank you, excuse me, hello, goodybye, my name is, and rude. Oh and also how to say, "you're breakfast is the best in the world". This is a story for another time :) I honestly can't say enough good things about this place. Out of all the cities I've been to in Europe, I have never felt so comfortable so quickly. Normally I'm a little intimidated at the beginning of my trips to Europe but Bonn was the perfect place to start. I'm already trying to figure out how I can live here for the rest of my life. No joke. The German will just come naturally to me right???

Anyways, I've been very busy the past few days! I arrived in Frankfurt on Tuesday and met up with the group and our program coordinator, Nils, where we then took a bus to Bonn. Tuesday was pretty low key, due to our jet lag. We arrived at AIB, where we've had a few lectures from Dr. Wasser, and then had a traditional German dinner of schnitzel and my first German beer. Nom.

Wednesday was a bit more packed. The group started early with an excursion to the University Clinics on the outskirts of Bonn. There, I was lucky enough to watch my first surgery! The surgeons provided me with a stool so I could watch the surgery from about 3 feet away. It was pretty amazing. The surgeons were trying to remove a tumor from the kidney, which even after 4 hours was not accomplished. After this we grabbed a quick lunch on the Rhine and started on our city tour of Bonn. During this tour we saw the main cathedral, the wonderful views of the Rhine, Bonn University and the town center. After a quick cup of coffee (which I'm now drinking because I'm already exhausted), we had our first lecture with Dr. Wasser over health care comparisons between different countries. To finish off the day, Nils introduced us to feuerzangenbowle, which is a basically hot wine, rum, and sugar. Obviously extremely delicious.

Thursday, our last full day in Bonn was another wonderful day in the city! The day started with lecture and then a visit and tour to the Museum of the History of Anesthesia. The tour was given by the creator of the museum himself, Dr. Stoeckel. It was home to an amazing collection of items all describing the evolution of anesthesia. Then, we made our way across town to the House of German History Museum where Dr. Wasser and Nils gave us the history of Germany starting from the end of World War II, which I always find extremely fascinating! The group was supposed to go ice skating, but we all agreed a good German beer would be better on our feet than the ice.

So as you can see, it's only been four days and I've already done more in Germany than I've done on most trips! I absolutely love it here, more than I thought I would and I hope to travel to Bonn again in the very near future! My dorm room already feels like a home, so leaving for Berlin tomorrow will be bittersweet. But I'm positive I will be back in Bonn very soon :)

Until next time!

I'm bad with titles but really like Bonn!

2011-12-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that we have already been in Bonn for several days, and even harder to believe that we are about to move on to Berlin. Dr. Wasser, Nils, and other AIB folk are taking good care of us and keeping us busy. One of the first things we did was make our way out to Bonn's university clinics where we traded our layers for scrubs and furry boots for clogs. We were split up to observe surgeries. Abhishek and I were sent to orthopedic surgeons where we saw a laproscopic repair of a severely damaged meniscus and then an open surgery of the shoulder to repair the rotator cuff and AC joint. We were able to follow the woman who had shoulder surgery from the time she was awake and receiving a nerve block to the time she was back awake in recovery. The doctors and nurses were excellent at explaining to us what was going on, drawing pictures and debating on the proper english word to use, at times. They are very well suited to be at a teaching hospital!
Later, we got a walking tour of Bonn complete with history and culture led by Dr. Ranier Zack. It is hard to wrap my mind around the layers of history that Bonn boasts.
On Wednesday we headed out to the Museum of the history of Anaesthesia. It was brimming with early and intermediate methods of administering anaesthesia, and it was very impressive. We also saw an Iron Lung apparatus, which I have never seen in person before. cool!
We were led by Dr. Wasser and Nils through the House of German History museum. This was an incredibly well designed museum that took you through Germany chronologically from basically WWII onward. i think i could spend a whole day there if only I could read the information.
Today promises to be a very fun and interesting adventure to Cologne. Bitta for reading!

Day 3

2011-12-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

There's a movie on TV right now about a little boy during the Nazi regime whose father was publicly executed for not supporting the Nazis, it seems, and who has just had to kill his own horse who was shot in the leg in the process of an effort to get the little boy's non-Aryan friend across some border. But as intense as this movie is, the relevance it has to everything we've talked about today and the things we learned so far in Germany has not escaped me. First, while it is very common to discuss the pain and distress that the Nazi regime inflicted on Jews, Gypsies, and pretty much the rest of the world before, during, and after World War II, this is the first time I'm seeing an emphasis placed on how much pain some of those who were deemed "of Aryan decent" and were safe may have also suffered. This poor little 12 year old is having is entire life torn apart even though he technically was on the safe side of it all. Second, seeing atrocities through movies somehow makes them more atrocious. The museum of German history presented events in a very learnable and understandable way, but watching it in movie form seems to be the exclamation point at the end of everything we learned today that makes the history even more horrific. Third, and on a lighter note, I'm quite proud that I understood this much from a movie that was completely in German. At first, hearing the words "bitte" and "nein" was pretty darn exciting, but then the story just started carrying itself and somehow transcended the language barrier. (Granted, having no German translator here does present the possibility that I've misinterpreted this whole movie, but I like to think that I haven't.)
I'm quite satisfied with what I've been getting out of this trip so far. You wonder how much you can learn in the period of three weeks through a course that should be taught over a semester, but I'm feeling this multifaceted accumulation of knowledge that is really unparalleled by any traditional method of learning. In addition to lectures that are so immediately practical right before I enter medical school, I'm learning about culture, language, people, travel, and a lot of other things that can't be titled. I'm really looking forward to visiting Cologne today and getting a second dose of cultural inundation.

Day 2

2011-12-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Today was our second day in Bonn. The day started off bright and early at 5:45 am local time, so that we could have time to eat and then catch bus to the University Hospital. Upon arrival, we dressed out in gowns, and then split into smaller groups to witness different assortments of surgeries. The surgery I witnessed was liver cancer removal from a 73 yr old patient. The surgery was the first I had ever witnessed first hand, from about a foot and a half away from the open chest cavity. It was a unique experience that I thoroughly enjoyed, but also proved to me I could never be a surgeon; constantly standing and slicing and dicing patients. However it was cool to see instrumentation and tools obviously designed by Biomedical Engineers being put into hands on practice; it just shows what BMEN is all about, helping people and saving lives. After a quick lunch it was time for a tour around Bonn. We were told some fabulous history of the surrounding area, including the hills and the famous royal mansion on top of the hill where the Clintons and other world figures have stayed. I would say the highlight of the tour was the underground Roman artifacts, that were over 2000 years old. These artifacts showed how advanced the Romans were in there building design and infrastructure; from keeping the building warm through heat occurring underneath the floor to how they experienced a nice hot bath. Overall it was a great, long day, and I can't wait for more to come.

Zach

So close!

2011-12-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

After thoroughly saturating myself with forms, pre-travel-I can’t-sleep-jitters, and wool clothing, I cannot wait to step foot in Deutschland! I feel as though the past few weeks have been hurdles to get through before this, the most incredible classroom I could possibly imagine, is staring me squarely in the face. My biggest goal for this trip is to be a huge sponge. I want to take in all I can, both of the German culture and locals, and of this new perspective into medicine. We’ve been given an awesome opportunity to consider how people worldwide have solved medical problems in the past, and how different cultures approach current problems in medicine. This alone would knock my socks off, I hope that it sheds a new light on what possible role I personally can play in helping the advance of medical technology. I guess I really would love a fresh way to think about biomedical engineering problems too; it’ll be like having a whole new set of mentors for three weeks! And, I’ve never seen a surgery on a human being in person, let alone a cardiac one, so I seriously get close to the point of jumping around whatever room I’m in when I think about it.

On top of all that, excited doesn’t even begin to describe being immersed in German culture, art, architecture, people, history, (I could list a million things here). The only thing I’ve come close to as far as cultural immersion goes is my grandfather telling stories of Sweden and the endless string of Lena and Ole jokes, which quite frankly doesn’t compare to seeing and hearing firsthand what countless generations of people have built up and accomplished so that Germany can be the intriguing and beautiful country it is today. Forty-nine hours!

Hallo Deutschland!

2011-12-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

Our big trip is finally almost here! It seems like the build up to this day has been monumental; purchasing of plane tickets, attending numerous pre-departure lectures, shopping for necessary winter gear, and planning what to do on our free weekend to name a few. And now we are less than a week out. For me atleast there is still much to be done, packing my bag and rechecking all my luggage to make sure I have everything that is needed. But, even with the daunting tasks that remain, the only thing I can think about is boarding my plane and finally being on my way. This will be my first time to be in Europe and I think it will be a great experience; I am looking forward to be exposed to a different society and areas that are very atypical of the common US city. I think the excursion I am most looking forward to is trip to the Otto Bock Science Center in Berlin. Touring this excellent facility will allow me to see first hand what cutting edge products are in the Biomedical Engineering profession. I think this production institution will be amazing to tour and learn about. Honestly though, I think every tour on this Study Abroad trip will be something to remember and will contribute to my overall experience on this trip. I'm participating in this trip mainly to be able to travel Europe and experience some of the excellent cities that it has to over while learning about historical aspects of medicine; I think doing this through Study Abroad will be advantageous to me because I won't have to plan every aspect of the trip. Its nice that the hotels are booked, train tickets purchased, and meals planned without any stress from me. This is a great feature of this trip. I can't wait to begin this trip and start living the excursions I've seen planned out on paper.

Only Five Days Away!

2011-12-21T21:03:00.001-08:00

There’s packing to do, travel to plan, and things to read, and the big day is just around the corner! After months of planning, the reality of the big Germany trip and how close it is seems to have just occurred to me today. I’ve been collecting everything I’ll need for Germany over the past few weeks, I’ve tested out my winter clothes against the not-quite-cold-enough Texan winter night, and I’ve studied the exciting schedule laid out for us over the next three weeks. Yet, there’s an endless stream of things that still need to be done: must buy train tickets from Berlin to Prague, must make sure my debit card arrives in the mail tomorrow, must officially pack everything and check it all thrice, just to name a few. But even as this list grows, I think the pre-departure jitters are one of the most exciting parts of trips. So much of the trip is still undetermined: Will I learn more about medicine or German culture? How much will I miss tap water? How will our group dynamic play out? In any case, I’m sure the excitement of this phase of the journey will be soon surpassed by the events of the trip itself, and I’ve compiled a short list of things I hope to have accomplished by the time our three weeks in Germany are up: first, I hope to experience Germany from more than a tourist’s perspective, second, I hope to understand the state of medicine in the US better by learning about medicine and medical history in Europe, third, I hope to make some pretty awesome friends, fourth, I hope to make the absolute most of every opportunity we are given to further explore the culture and history of Germany, and fifth, I hope to bring at least a bit of all that I gain through this experience back home. I’m really looking forward to the melding of the historical, cultural, and medical knowledge that we’ll gain in Europe and this chance to learn more about the world around as and ourselves as well.

Can’t wait to see everyone in Frankfurt!

Germany, here we come!

2011-12-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

As our trip to Germany approaches, there is a lot to be doing and thinking about! I have just about gotten everything packed (I hope) and I'm checking it twice. I am trying to study up on a little German, but languages are not my strong suit!
I am very excited to see medical museums and facilities and by the look of our schedule, we will see a lot of awesome places. The history of medicine is such a unique context for experiencing Europe. I have been to Europe once before, the Champe Fitzhugh seminar with A&M in Italy, and I am very excited to experience Germany and Austria. I have been reading some of the articles that Dr. Wasser posted on our Elearning site and I have to say I am intrigued by the history, culture, and strength that binds Germans together. Learning some of the the German perspectives on world events has been eye-opening.
I am already feeling that blend of anxiety and excitement that tends to happen when I am asked to try something new, or moved outside my comfort zone. I'm slightly worried about the cold and the jet lag and the culture shock. I'm more than excited for the sights and sounds and tastes and smells of Germany!

My Adventures in Germany: Six days and counting!

2011-12-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Wow! It seems like just yesterday I was begging and pleading to my parents to let me apply for the amazing study abroad program I discovered to Germany, and now it's a mere 6 days away. I can't believe how fast time flies when you're looking forward to such an amazing trip such as this one. I can't tell you how many times people have asked me, "Are you excited?". What do you think my response is going to be? "No I really hate the fact that I have to go to Germany over Christmas and tour all of these fabulous museums and medical facilities. It's going to be awful". OF COURSE NOT. I'm so excited, it's really hard to put into words. I've been abroad twice before, both times with my family. Traveling has always been something I've grown up with. Every year my family would take a vacation somewhere in the United States, and once I turned 16, I was given the opportunity to travel to Europe for the first time. I was lucky enough to get to travel to the beautiful cities of Paris, Vienna, and my favorite, Budapest. My second trip to Southern France and Barcelona was during the month before I went to Texas A&M. And ever since then I have been yearning to go back.

I'm especially excited to go to Germany this winter because of all the wonderful trips and adventures I'll get to take part in. I've never had an opportunity to tour the major medical facilities and museums of the United States, so being able to do this in Germany is just amazing. Seeing how a different country views medicine and how their medical system operates sounds extremely fascinating to me. Go ahead, call me a nerd. And not only is Germany rich in science and education, but it's also rich in history. History has always been a love of mine, but I've never been able to pursue it as much as I would have liked to due to my degree. In high school, my favorite class was European History, especially German history. It's amazing how so much can happen to a country in a span of twenty to thirty years. And I can't wait to witness this first hand.
I'm a little apprehensive about being in a country where I don't know the language and without my parents. Yes, I know I'm 21 years old, but I've never been to Europe without my family so this is new to me. But I think that is what will make this experience all the more significant.

Traveling to Europe in previous years has opened my eyes to new cultures and experiences, and I know I will learn even more this time. I'm greatly looking forward to getting to know my fellow Aggies on this trip as well as getting to know myself a bit more. Nothing brings a group together quite like being stranded in a foreign country where one word can have five different meanings.

By the time I return from Germany, I hope to achieve these five things
1. To be well versed in the German culture, medical system, and history
2. To be able to say "Auf Wiedersehen" without thinking of Heidi Klum from Project Runway
3. To have made wonderful new friends, both from A&M and from Germany
4. To have fun. Plain and simple.
5. To be a German bier expert and have sung a German drinking song with the locals.

I am extremely excited about this next adventure in my life! Like my wise sister said to me, "No one ever regrets the things they did; they regret the things they didn't do". This will be my mantra while in Germany.

Watch out Germany, I even bought a hipster hat to fit more into your culture.

Auf wiedersehen!

Deutschland in one week!

2011-12-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

After eagerly awaiting this trip for the entire semester, the fact that it is just under a week away is difficult to believe. I love traveling, and most of what comes with it, so what makes me nervous isn’t the fact that I’ll be in a different country; I’ve visited the UK, Egypt and India. What I’m worried about is the fact that I know what rounds to no German and I’ve never experienced actual winters, just the ones in Texas. The jacket I bought is probably too much. All but one of my experiences abroad come from elementary school, so I don’t remember them well but my most recent trip to India last year was amazing. Nothing compares to the feeling of seeing structures that are hundreds if not thousands of years old and built by the people you read about in history books. Germany, of course, should have no shortage of these.

While reading Blood and Guts, the advances in the knowledge, treatments and even culture of medicine constantly astound me. Learning about the history and current state of medicine should be a great way to spend three weeks. After shadowing doctors this summer, I found it interesting to see how different physicians have different approaches to and opinions about the same situation. Some even talked about the differences between American and European medical practices. After visiting clinics and hospitals, I hope I’ll have a better understanding of where those differences do and do not exist. Especially when it comes to socialized medicine and if it really is as evil as some tend to think.

This will be my first time abroad without family, but that shouldn’t be a problem, Aggies are great people. Riding the trains should be interesting and how can I not mention the German food and beer? Currywurst sounds pretty good.

Abroad Again

2011-12-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last summer, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain. The experiences I had there made me that much more interested in being a part of this program. Before studying abroad, I had never left the United States, and I had not even traveled very much within the states. Being abroad made me more open-minded, and I loved seeing life from another side of the world. Emersing myself in a different culture made me that much more secure in my own feelings and beliefs, but I came to realize that areas of the world have different cultures, but we all kind of shape a little culture of our own from our personal backgrounds, beliefs, and new experiences. These new and varied experiences shape us into the stongest, kindest, best version of us, and that is what I am looking forward to. I know that Germany will be different from my previous study abroad experience, and even though my Christmas and time with my family will be cut short this year, I cannot wait to leave.

I am super excited about the context in which we will be in Germany and Austria. I cannot wait to go to the museums, and hospitals, and such and learn about the countries' histories from that viewpoint. It is always nice to get outside of the textbooks and see what all that stuff in the book is really all about. Another thing that will be nice about this program is that I get to go with Aggies, and I love my fellow Aggies. It will be nice to share similar experiences with a group of people somewhat like me.

Secret Confessions: I hate being cold, and I am a little scared about the whole I don't know German thing. The cold thing, I can deal with. I packed so many layers, I just hope they are enough. Going to Spain was pretty easy because I at least understood 90% of what people were telling me, and after about a week I was able to start conversing pretty easily. German? Not going to be that easy. I am comforted by the fact that most Germans know English, but I am still determined to start picking up as many words and phrases as I can. German has always been a language that interested me so I am going to see just how good my language skills really are.

I'm not quite to the hourly countdown yet, but give me a day or two and I'll be there. See ya'll across the ocean!

Pre-Game Throughts on the Wintermester

2011-12-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

In less than a week I will be on a plane to the other side of the world. In less than a week I will be leaving behind Texas, America, friends, family, and going on an adventure of sorts--to a place in some ways familiar and in other ways radically different.

It seems a bit crazy for me to speculate on what lies ahead in Germany. I'm excited for several things, I suppose. First, my hope is that in seeing surgeries, medical museums, and the like, I will be inspired to take on biomedical engineering again. Every semester thus far has been enormously challenging, and a reminder of what all the work is for will refresh my winter-break collapse in motivation. I'm excited to see how I can really help people with what I'm learning. That it isn't just countless hours of studying and skimming for exam questions in textbooks--that it's genuinely for the benefit and service of other people. That is something for which I'm pretty excited.

Also on the list: beer. And, I don't mean Bud Lite. I'm talking quality beer. The chance to take in another culture and worldview in the company of what are sure to become close friends. I'm excited for a period of constant learning, and to be taken out of my element.

This is a chance that many people don't get, so I'm looking forward to getting to experience so many "new" things. Which, without sounding presumptive, seems like a guarantee. Let's go!

Only 1 Week Left

2011-12-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

So there's about one week left till I head off to Germany. I still have so much stuff left to get and pack since I've done absolutely nothing since school has ended. I think I've been so thrilled with the idea that I'm actually going to Germany this winter that I haven't actually taken the time to start preparing for the trip. But I guess that's what this next week is going to be for.

I'm super pumped about the trip itself. I've never been to Germany before so I'm looking forward to a unique experience. The country obviously has a very rich history and it should be pretty cool to witness some of it firsthand. I'm also interested in seeing how the "European" culture compares to that of the "American" culture. It'll be fascinating to see if the people there are as amused by us Americans as we are with Europeans here. But with all the excitement do come a few concerns. Naturally, going to a country where I do not speak the language poses an obvious challenge. Also, I realize I will have to make certain adjustments, such as the time difference, which might prove to be frustrating. In addition, the weather during the winter in Germany is not known to be merciful, and being a slender guy, this does not bode well for me.

But despite these concerns, I wouldn't have signed up to go if I did not feel that the pros outweighed the cons. The trip should provide a different kind of excitement in my life that I have not experienced before. As an aspiring physician, I think it will be pretty cool to see how medicine is practiced and has evolved in Europe. I'm hoping this experience will be able to show me another side of medicine that will in someway shape my future. I'm really looking forward to meeting and getting to know a lot of new people. I'm sure I will become close with the people I travel with, but in addition, I want to interact with the locals and really get to know more about German culture. The free weekend in Prague should also be exciting. I always see these iconic images of the Prague Castle so it's going to be pretty cool to be able to visit the city it's in and maybe even visit the castle itself.

Hopefully, the whole trip will be an awesome experience and I'll have stories to tell for a long time.

Munich, Part Zwei

2011-09-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

[July 31] Having done very little in Munich last week, I took a train back there on Friday evening. As usual, it took me nearly an hour to find the place I’d booked to leave my things, and still I headed out to meet a friend at midnight, when nothing was open. But with a bit of optimism, it can be an adventure in itself to search the city at night to find a place to sit!

I slept later than I had in weeks, then walked the English Gardens all day. That evening I took a brewery tour and met an amusing assortment of people from all over the world; if I were to do it all over again, I would definitely take more of those tours and meet more of those people. On Sunday I found another coffee shop and wrote most of the entries you’ll see below, as well as a bit of personal writing.

I cannot believe it has been four weeks. I’m sure all of the other posts around me share similar sentiments, but maybe it bears repeating. These days have gone by so fast, I don’t know what to do with myself. All I know is I haven’t nearly seen as much as I would like. It’s really impossible, even with a month to do it in. I’ll just have to come back and tour the country again, I guess, when I’m rich and have another month to spare.

Coffee Shop Corners

2011-09-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

[July 30] Vienna, though it was not entirely deprived of the reach of the Nazis and subsequent cultural angst, seems a lot more composed than the German cities in my experience. It is classic, conservative, and beautiful, despite the amount of construction it had to undergo while we were there. We took two tours of it, saw all of the large buildings and unique architecture as well as the tucked-away alleys where the greatest medical minds once walked.

Possibly the most interesting lecture to date was the one on Sigmund Freud. I haven’t studied psychology at all, and I was looking forward to at least becoming acquainted with the classic terms used in essays and conversation alike. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and the tour of his life history in his old home and office was similarly enlightening. That evening we went to the opera; later review saw a lot of different opinions on it, but I thought it was alright. Certainly entertaining, but not my favorite to date. The atmosphere—the outdoors, the people, the novelty—was more worthwhile than the performance itself.

Maybe because we have all been taking it easy after so many weeks of fast-paced tourism, half of the week’s afternoons left us free to see Vienna as we pleased. I did a bit of wandering and souvenir shopping and I feel like I know the streets of Vienna’s downtown better than I ever knew Bonn. I especially loved the coffee shops, where a goblet of half-cream latte came with an overpriced and infinitely rich slice of cake. This city is the kind of main attraction where a person should spend more than four days, just seeing and eating!

Take It Easy

2011-09-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

[July 25] This was my first time travelling on the weekends with other people; while it was certainly more fun than being alone, the downside is inevitably the amount of time it takes to come to a compromise about the day’s events. After a Friday spent catching up on sleep at a comfortable Holiday Inn, Saturday was a long stroll through the Munich Zoo. While generally the same as the one in Cologne, it seemed a lot more fluid and natural. Each of the exhibits (at least the terrestrial ones) sort of blended with each other and the path. You had to look for the seam between the people and the other animals. There was even a sort of outcast medley of peculiar looking animals that didn’t seem to have any relationship to each other, but that in itself made the enclosure the most endearing.

We ended the day with a night at the Hofbräuhaus, but not before walking around the city. Munich, the capital of the American sector when Germany was split in quarters, is a city of boisterous pride and liter-large mugs. It was a feat to find your way to the most famous brewery in the country; after all the twists and turns you really felt like you accomplished something. And though it is still perfect place to buy a stein or some lederhosen, its people were surprisingly down to earth. You have to be, to find patience with the throngs of tourists that consume the city, come October.

The following morning I departed for Salzburg. There I took a four-hour tour of all things Sound of Music with another group of students. Among other things, we saw the trees where the curtain-clad children greeted their appalled captain-father, the gazebo where Rolf and Liesl danced, and the church where Maria got married. It was nice to be able to watch the countryside and learn something new while in the comfort of a bus seat, since I feel like I have spent the last two weeks constantly walking. I might be biased because of the tour, but this city seemed to me to have achieved a level of quaint modesty that most large cities outgrow. We had Melange at a warm coffee house, then walked around until dusk over close buildings and cobblestones. I bought a scarf.

This weekend taught me the the good it can do to take it easy on such a long trip. While it may be important to see a lot of history and experience the culture with whatever time we have here, it shouldn’t be at the expense of your health and comfort. I had fun this weekend and honestly, I didn’t do much. Sometimes the best way to have a good time is to take your time.

History + Wildlife

2011-09-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

[July 22] Following the making of some hasty weekend plans after Monday’s class, I was taken by an AIB coordinator to the UN headquarters in Bonn to learn about the logistics of international migratory bird laws. We spoke on the topmost floor of the building, with a breathtaking floor-to-ceiling view of the Rhine; if you have any excuse to somehow get into the UN in Bonn... do it.

The Convention for Migratory Species meets annually to discuss the funding of conservation projects in countries all over Europe and Africa. Proposals are submitted by participating countries (mainly requests that other countries take certain measures to protect a specific species from hunting, pollution, or other human threats) and voted on by the others. While this project does eventually get a lot of legislation passed, it cannot make any of its ruling mandatory, due to the fragility of many nations’ economies.

The next day was spent mostly on the Rhine. A tiring trek through Bacharach’s wine country was a small price to pay for a few long hours relaxing on a boat. We saw Lorelei Rock, responsible for many a shipwreck at a particularly sharp bend in the river, and countless castles that sent everyone running to one side of the boat with their cameras in the air. We disembarked to tour Marksburg castle and learn about the dreary lives of old lords. Some of the doors were remarkably short, but none of them were too short for me! The day ended with a (rather educational) wine-tasting at Mayschoss and a more than entertaining bus ride back to Bonn.

This week seemed to be a lot more class than usual, with the break of a cruise stuck somewhere in the middle. Between movies/documentaries about Berlin’s recent history and lectures about the country’s last century, we visited the Haus der Geschichte, a modern history museum. We went through twice; once with a tour guide, and another time so that Dr. Wasser could include the interesting parts that the guide... forgot.

The day before we departed from Bonn, we went on a long-awaited trip to the Cologne Zoo, where they have ditches to keep animals in their places instead of bars. I thought it was kind of amusing that they kept raccoons on display, but my favorite were the elephants and their babies. Their enclosure took up ten percent of the whole park, and it was both natural-looking and aesthetically original. Then I slept my last night at the Nipkow Family Residence and headed to Munich in the morning with a ton of gift-snacks at the top of my bag.

Nothing will stand in my way of getting to Paris!!!!

2011-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

It only took 8 hours and 6 different trains, but we made it to Paris! I definitely learned my lesson that you need to book trains in advance instead of waiting until the night before you are suppose to leave. Out of the 15 people that were originally suppose to be going to Paris, only 8 of us made it. Once we made it on the first train we were fortunate enough not to have any delays on the next five trains. On the fourth train that we road on we met two guys from Norway. Their names were Peter and Karl. They were a blast! I think they were the only other people in Europe that were crazy enough to take such a roundabout way of getting to Paris like us. We did not arrive into the train station in Paris until nearly midnight and we all went to our hotels and got some sleep.

Some of my favorite things in Paris:

Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

Eiffle Tower

One of my other favorite things about Paris was the food!! I think i probably ate about five crepes during my weekend in Paris. It was probably so unhealthy but I really did not care about that at the time. Someone should really think about opening a crepe place in College Station. I would spend all of my time there! I also loved the shopping!!! Although I could not afford anything from the majority of the stores that we saw, I was perfectly content with just walking through them. Paris was probably my favorite free weekend! Drew's cousin lives in Paris so it was really neat to be shown around by a local. We were able to see a lot of things that we otherwise would not have seen.

So this is a beautiful palace but we have to GO!!!

2011-09-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Our second week began a lot like the first. Monday we had class in the morning and then visited the Museum of Anesthesiology in the afternoon. The museum was very interesting but I think I would have enjoyed it a little more had it not been 100 degrees in the building. On Tuesday we made our first trip by train to Cologne! The first thing that I saw when I exited the train station was the huge structure of the Cologne Cathedral towering over everything else in the city. It was magnificent!! I had seen pictures of the cathedral online but that was nothing compared to seeing it in person.
The first thing on our agenda for the day was a walking city tour. I could tell immediately that Cologne was much larger and more populated than Bonn. After our city tour it was lunch time. I grabbed food at a bakery. I think that bakeries became one of my new favorite things since I arrived in Germany. Bakeries were on every corner; it was like Starbucks in the states. Next stop after lunch was the Elde Haus. The Elde Haus is the former headquarters of the secret police, the Gestapo, and now a museum documenting the Third Reich. Walking through the lowest level of the building where all of the prison cells were was kind of unsettling. There is still to this day writing on the walls from prisoners who were kept in the cells during World War II.

After the Elde Haus tour we had free time for shopping. Drew and I looked all over for a wine store to buy ice wine. We finally found one that was owned by an older couple that helped us out immensely. The wife lead us right to the section of the store where the ice wine was and gave us recommendations on which ones she thought were the best. I bought one bottle and Drew bought two bottles and then we were on our way to meet the others by the Cologne Cathedral. We were suppose to have a rooftop tour at 5:45 but our tour guide never showed so instead we just headed back to Bonn and called it a day.
Wednesday was our day to go to the University Clinics in Bonn to observe surgeries. In my OR room there was Michelle, Josh, Matt, Carrie, and I. We were lucky enough to observe a spinal disk fusion surgery. I had only ever seen surgery done on animals up to this point so I was a little worried that I may get dizzy or even sick when I saw a human surgery. Luckily neither of these things happened. I rather enjoyed the surgery and wanted to get as close as I possibly could to see what was going on. I don’t know if I could ever by a surgeon. I was tired after being in surgery for only four hours; I cannot imagine how I would feel after an eight hour or even longer surgery.
Wednesday night we had the opportunity to go to the Women’s World Cup Soccer game against France. I had never been to a professional sports game before, especially one in another country. The game was a lot of fun! We won 3 to1!! It was cold and kind of drizzly throughout the entire game but I did not let that stop me from enjoying the game. When we won everyone in our group went crazy and no one could settle down for the bus ride back to Bonn.
Friday morning we took a bus to the DLR Institute for Aerospace Medicine. We were shown a scaled down model of the International Space Station and our tour guide explained everything about it. We also got to see where the astronauts train before being allowed to go into space. Friday afternoon we went to Schloss Bruhl. It was a gorgeous palace; more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. Our tour started at 2:00 p.m. and it was really hard for me to pay attention to the tour guide because all I could think about was catching our train to Paris. There were only eight of us left out of the original 15 people that were going to Paris. The train that we needed to catch from the train station in Bruhl left at 3:07 p.m. and our tour was not supposed to end until 3:00 p.m. Nil’s spoke to the tour guide before the tour and asked if there was any way possible for her to speed the tour up a little bit so that those of us going to Paris could catch our train. During the tour, those of us going to Paris kept staring at our watches and when the tour ended we all sprinted as quickly as we could down the long entrance into the palace to the bus to grab our bags we had already packed for the weekend. Then we all sprinted to our platform at the train station and made it there two minutes before our train left. Whoop… we were off to Paris!!!

Amsterdam here I come!!!

2011-09-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Amsterdam around midnight Friday July 10th. When we walked out of the train station I was amazed with what I saw. There were people everywhere and the very distinct smell of marijuana. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Matt, Elyzabeth, Kaitlyn, and I were rooming together for the weekend in Amsterdam. The bad part about arriving in the middle of the night in a strange new city is that we had no idea how to get to our hotel. Let alone the fact that this was our first weekend in Europe on our own and none of us were use to taking buses and trams anywhere. The hotel had given us the bus number for the bus that we could take to the hotel but our bus never came. So we waited and waited and finally figured out that maybe the buses weren’t running this late at night so we settled on taking a tram. Now the trick was figuring out which tram to take. We wondered around until we finally found a map and we looked up where our hotel was and found the tram we needed to take. When we finally arrived at our hotel about 30 minutes later we were all exhausted and pretty proud of ourselves for figuring our way around a new city on our own.

Saturday morning we all woke up and met the other groups downtown by the train station. First thing we did was go on a canal cruise. The canals were beautiful. They explained on our tour that there are approximately 2,500 houseboats that line the canals of Amsterdam. The tour guide also said that the government has put restrictions on the number of house boats so that no more may be brought into the canals. Nowadays if you want to live on a houseboat in Amsterdam, that is if you can afford it, you either have to wait for someone to move or sell theirs. After the canal tour a few other students and I had lunch at a bakery downtown and then walked around and shopped for awhile. Saturday afternoon we all took a nap in the huge park by the Van Gogh Museum. We definitely do not have grass in Texas like they did in this park. It was so soft and green. Once we were all done napping and decided to get our butts up we took a tour of the Anne Frank House. By the time we were done with the Anne Frank House it was about 7:00 p.m. and we were all getting pretty hungry. We made our way to a little pancake house for dinner. I ordered a strawberry and whipped cream waffle. It was possibly the best waffle I have ever had!

Sunday morning everyone woke up and met downtown again. Our first stop of the day was the Van Gogh Museum. We tried doing the Van Gogh Museum on Saturday but we ran out of time. I really enjoyed walking around the museum. I spent about two hours walking around and looking at all the beautiful art work. After the museum we all walked around downtown again and shopped until it was time for us to take our train back to Bonn. Overall I have to say that Amsterdam was a very pretty city and different from anywhere I have ever been before. I really liked all of the canals and the houseboats lining the canals. Amsterdam was not my favorite city that I visited on the trip though. I really did not like walking around and having to constantly smell the lingering scent of marijuana. I also did not like all of the advertisements and stores related to sex or the smell of urine that was very apparent in parts of the city. I am glad that I was able to spend one of my free weekends in Amsterdam and experience the city but I do not foresee myself returning there in the future.

One Last Weekend

2011-08-31T20:55:00.001-07:00

By the last week of the trip, I had completely worn down the soles of my shoes and the soreness in my feet was getting worse. However, I had one more day of walking ahead of me—a visit to the Berlin Zoo. I didn’t want to spend the whole day on my feet, but I did want to go see the panda and the icebear exhibit where Knut used to live.

In one of the penguin exhibits, the barrier was low enough to reach over and the birds were swimming by close enough to touch. I stuck my arm in the water, and shortly afterward a penguin darted over and started gnawing on my fingers hard enough to break the skin. I suspect I am not the first idiot to try that. Incidentally, the English name for those penguins was translated as “Jackass Penguins,” and a quick bit of googling revealed that while they are commonly called African penguins or Black-Footed penguins, the other name is also used due to the donkey-like bray the birds make. I had assumed it was just a particularly unfortunate translation error.

The Berlin Zoo was a bit of a let-down. I assumed that since it is internationally famous, because of Knut and also because it is featured on Zooborns frequently, that it would be the prettiest zoo I’d ever seen in my life with expansive, natural-looking habitats and nary a square cage with a concrete floor in sight. I was wrong. It is obvious that many of the habitats were built decades ago before new ideas about designing exhibits with the animal’s comfort in mind became the norm.

However, several moments during the visit were very cool. The fossa, the squeaking pile of Asian small-clawed otters, and the mother-baby pair of sea lions that were sunbathing in tandem made my day.

That evening, we went to the Berlin Beer Mile.

The next day, we went to the Berlin Beer Mile.

Monday, we had a long train ride to Frankfurt. Our hotel was near the airport, but far from anything to do or anywhere to eat, so we ate our last dinner in Germany at a doner restaurant and fretted about the air traffic controllers’ strike.

Viva Vienna

2011-08-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

The first thing I noticed about Vienna was the graffiti. Apparently professional urban artists were allowed to go to work on all the vertical surfaces in the city, as all the bridges and walls by the river were adorned with evil clowns, steampunk gasmask-wearing figures, tits, and rabbits.

Vienna isn’t the prettiest city we visited, but I am basing that on the fact that they have rats like most places at home have squirrels. See a small critter dart across the street as you go jogging? Yup, it was a big, nasty rat. See a flattened former critter pancaked in the gutter? Notice the rat tail sticking out of it. Not surprisingly, rats have caused huge problems for Vienna in the past, as attested to by the Plague Column that stands towards the center of the city, and the catacombs full of plague victims below the Stephensdom.

The Catacombs in Vienna, much like the ones in Paris, served as a depository for bones of the dead in a city that was running short on space for cemeteries. Also like Paris, the Catacombs under the Stephensdom are nightmarishly dark in places and the air has a certain mustiness caused by breathing in the dust from old bones. Unlike Paris, the ossuary in Vienna contains mostly plague victims, the piles of their moldering bones visible through metal grates in the stones walls and floors.

If you were lucky enough to be a Hapsburg in Vienna, your earthly remains received much nicer accommodations. The royals were entombed in copper sarcophaguses which are melodramatic enough to pass as set pieces for The Phantom of the Opera. The organs of the royals were also sealed into ornate jars so the soft tissues couldn’t rot their precious desiccating corpses.

If you weren’t a royal, your organs might also get preserved for posterity for completely different reasons. The Museum of Anatomy and Pathology at the Narrenturm made me very uncomfortable. While the wax castes and the organs in jars were created for the education of medical students and therefore the improvement of medical care, they felt side-showish. The freakish specimens were completely disconnected from the fact that they were from made from real people who were living with terrible diseases and probably suffering great mental and physical pain because of it. If the people inhabiting those bodies could afford to see a doctor for whatever passed as medicine in those days, they were curiosities first and people a distant second.

I realize that medical ethics as we know them are a very recent invention, but it still felt wrong not to mention that angle of the history of medicine instead of treating the specimens like a sideshow.

Luckily, most of the excursions weren’t squicky. There were several truly cool things in the Natural History Museum, but my favorite was the oarfish. When I was little, I wanted to be super-rich so I could afford to have a ginormous aquarium in my basement and be the only person in the world who owned an oarfish. I’m sure they make terrible pets, as is typical among things which are over forty feet long, but they look so glamorous with their silvery eel-like bodies and pink crests.

The collection of preserved critters was so extensive, I recognized only a fraction of the species represented, and that isn’t even counting invertebrates or fishes, about which I know practically nothing. Ganges gavials for instance—how come I’ve never heard of them? They’re huge and they look like the unloved bastard child of a swordfish and a crocodile, with a little squarggly thing on the end of their snout for good measure. Something so prehistoric and nightmarish shouldn’t exist, and if it does exist, I should at least know about it. On the other hand, I discovered kakapos. Kakapos are wonderful. I feel like the world is a better place now that I know it has hefty sad-eyed tunnel parrots in it.

I also visited the Spanish Riding School. While I didn’t get a chance to the stallions perform, I did see the in their stalls, and I got to jostle a pack of six year-olds out of the way to play with some Lipizzaner foals. Baby Lipizzaners are born liver chestnut, not greying out until four or five, so they were the scruffiest little foals I’ve ever seen.

Weekend 5

2011-08-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to a fair in downtown Berlin, we ate Berliners (jelly filled doughnuts) and bought leather bracelets. We went shopping for a little bit and then all sat out at a park nearby and laid in the grass and journaled or slept =]. The park was by our hotel and had a big, beautiful fountain in it that reminded of the bath houses in Greece. It definitely the place to be on such a sunny day and it was fun to just people watch for a while. We ate some lunch and then went back to fair and got Crepes! We watched a street performance where a guy and girl acrobat did all of these crazy stunts on a really tall pole. There was an international beer festival going on that weekend in Berlin and we checked it out for a while. On Sunday we went back because they were planning on attempting to break the record for the world’s longest beer garden! They had beer from all over the world there and we all decided we liked the flavored African beer the best, the coconut in particular for me! We were sitting at one of the tables when they walked by with the official measuring stick to record how long it was so technically we were a part of the longest beer garden in the world! It was so much fun; I don’t think we have anything like it in the US. Two other girls and I eventually had to go back to the hotel and grab our suitcases to start the journey home. Luckily they were with me because it was a long one. We took an 8pm train from Berlin to the Frankfurt Airport that got in around 1am. And then we had 10 hours to kill in the airport before our 11am flight! Luckily the terminal was open and we took turns sleeping and watching the luggage. I felt like such a backpacker. We got some last minute souvenirs and finally boarded the plane for our 10 hour flight! I was really sad to leave Germany; I definitely could have stayed longer. But it was an amazing experience and I’m so happy I did it. And now I know a bunch of people in my major a lot better than last year!

Week 5

2011-08-30T22:20:00.003-07:00

Monday we got up and took a train to Berlin for the last week of study abroad! When we got there we all went on a bike tour which was a blast, I wish every walking tour we’ve done had been a bike tour instead! Except right around ten minutes after we started it decided to rain the hardest it had our whole trip. It was pouring! The tour guide kept trying to stop under overhangs to keep us dry but there was no use, we were all soaked to the bone. But the rain was honestly a lot of fun to ride in, and it was hilarious when we stopped to go into a museum; there’s no rule saying you can’t go in if you’re wet but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve changed it since we visited. I was surprised to see how many really pretty buildings there are Berlin, this city is pretty awesome. My favorite place we saw was the Jewish Memorial for the Holocaust. It was a bunch of cement stones that were rectangles rising from the ground at different heights and getting taller the closer to the middle we got. But they were all in a grid, so no matter where I was I could see the outside like I was looking down a tunnel. Walking through, people would seem to dart every which way when they were walking by and it got really eerily quiet. It was really cool and a nice place to think. And of course it was awesome to see the Brandenburg Gate, I had seen it in so many movies and documentaries that to see it right there in front of me was a little unreal. Tuesday we went to Sachsenhausen to see the concentration camp there. We got off the train and walking the same path that the prisoners would have walked which was eery, especially when we got closer to camp and saw how close people had lived to it. Our tour guide was fantastic, probably the best we’ve had and he pointed out that the houses closest to the camp used to be owned by members of the SS and now they are lived in by regular people, I wonder if they know the history of their houses and what they were used for, or maybe they do and just bought it because it was cheap. When we got to the camp it was a little confusing because no one is really sure which parts of it are original and which have been reconstructed. One cabin that had been rebuilt caught fire a while ago due to an arson-attempt by some neo-Nazis. The site left it there, glassed in as a sign that the same prejudice that caused the Holocaust to happen still exists. Afterward we went to get currywurst which I had never tried before but was really good and then we were off to tour the German Parliament building. It was much more interesting than I had expected, There were some soviet style artworks that had been recently added covering a wall. I really like the style, it was kind of cartoony but the point across that in communism it is not about the individual but their role in society. And then there was a part of the building that included bricks from the old building with some graffiti on it that looked really cool. There was a memorial to the new socialistic parliament that was made of a bunch of boxes that look like what you would store photos in stacked up to the ceiling in two rows you could walk between and on each box was the name of a member of the parliament and the years they served. I thought it was odd how Angela Merckel’s box looked roughed up and bent in, because she’s the current chancellor, but then again that’s probably why it was given special attention. We went to the roof of the Parliament building where they have a huge transparent globe that you can walk inside and see a great view of the whole city of Berlin. Wednesday we visited the Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine. We toured their Ultrahigh-Field Magnetic Resonance Facility where they were doing research to develop better MRI’s and other imaging tools and got to go in and play by one of the MRI’s, I could feel the bobby-pins in my hair start to move when I got too close! Then we went on a tour of the ECRC Lab where Adrian Schreiber was doing research on ‘Neutrophil Biology in Health and Disease.’ They were studying a specific disease that affects neutrophils and we were shown one part of their research in particular where they introduced some kind of inducer to neutrophils and observed how they exploded and started to form nets to see if it had any useful application for a treatment. We listened to another researcher talk about her attempts to find a treatment for muscular dystrophy and her English was hard to follow but what I got was that she was looking at a protein that was thought to be involved in repairing muscles and testing its effectiveness. Afterward we ate lunch and then visited the Otto-Bock Science Center! Otto-Bock is one of the leading prosthetic companies in the world. We got to see some of the first developed prosthetics and how they were developed into what they are today. It was incredible to see all of these top-notch prosthetics, I hope that if for some reason I find myself without a limb one day I’m lucky to have access to one of those prosthetics! Afterward we had free time and a few of us went to the East Berlin Art Gallery, definitely one of my favorite things of the whole trip, it’s a section of the Berlin Wall that was painted after the wall fell by artists who had been repressed in East Berlin. In 2009 Berlin got the original artists to come back and re-do their murals. It was incredible, just walking down the wall and seeing mural after mural filled with so much mush passion for freedom both physically and the freedom to express themselves again. Some were filled with anger and frustration and in others there was peace of mind and just happiness to be free. We all tried falafel for dinner which is basically chick peas mashed up and fried into a patty and it was pretty good! Thursday we took a train to Dresden and went on a walking tour. We started the the Frauen Kirche, the Church of the Lady and I’m not sure what architectural style it was but it was absolutely gorgeous, definitely a favorite. The original church actually had a bomb fall right through it’s dome during WWII and destroy most of it. They left it as a memorial for a while and then some people got together and decided to rebuild it. They got like 100 million Euros in donations and if cost over 200 million to build! They tried to save as much of the original stones as possible and put them back in their original place when they rebuilt it. It made for a really cool effect to have a new, fresh church with sections or just random scorched stones from the old church, very old merging with new artsy feel. Going along the tour we saw a lot of really impressive buildings, but oddly the most of them had been recently rebuilt. I had never seen the point of trying so hard to preserve historical buildings in the original state, but knowing they were all mostly new in Dresden made it feel like we were walking around a Dresden Disney Park or something. It was still really pretty and if they hadn’t rebuilt then the city would be practically non-functional. We ate lunch and then Went to the Hygiene Museum which I had been dreading just because it sounded so incredibly boring, but it was awesome!! Apparently Hygiene in old German means science so it was actually a science museum. There was a temporary exhibit on the brain that was unique because it had a lot of artwork associated with the brain but also a lot of factual historical information. It showed how people’s view of how the brain and soul/sub-conscious are connected has changed over the years and as netter imaging techniques have come about. Then we toured the museum and there were so many cool interactive things, my favorite being this machine that let people compete to see who was more ‘chill.’ It basically measured brain activity and a silver ball would roll in the direction of the person whose brain activity was higher, and if the ball reached you then you lost. I lost, big time haha. And then there was an apparatus that consisted of two wires, one that slightly warm and the other slightly cold, that had been twisted together. The thing was actually room temperature but when I touched it, it either felt like my hand was freezing to the point of frost bite or so hot that it was about to melt of, pretty crazy. We were all having so much fun that the museum staff had to kick us out at closing time, oh engineers =]. Friday was the last day of study abroad class! We went the Charite Museum; the Charite is the Medical School of Merlin. The physiology room in the museum was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. There were rows and rows of specimens organized by organ system and then within the subunit they went from healthy to diseased organs and the last case in every row focused on one major medical condition associated with the organ system. I saw hearts that still had LVADs connected and ones that had artificial valves implanted and others that had had a coronary artery bypass, SO COOL. There were some joints that still had joint replacements in them, and then one row was devoted to babies that had died due to different birth defects. It was strange because they had been preserved in fluid and still had skin and everything but still really interesting. We had our last lecture by Dr. Wasser in the museum and then we went to the actual Charite. We got a tour of the Medical School and a short presentation on how the teaching structure is. Because it’s free there, the structure that best suits the teacher is chosen instead of the one that best suits the student as it generally works in America. Walking around we passed a group of first years just getting out of their end of year exams, they looked like babies! I forgot they start Medical School right out of High School so they were all actually two years younger than me! We got to go to one of their skills lab a practice suturing, I absolutely love it. We went to a Moroccan restaurant for a farewell dinner and the food was delicious and full of spices I’ve never tasted before. Afterward we said our goodbye’s to Dr. Wasser and Nils and some of the students that were leaving in the morning, it was really kind of sad! But we’d all see each other again back at school.

Weekend 4

2011-08-30T22:20:00.001-07:00

Friday we got up and went to the natural history museum. The tour guide was great, I was barely every bored. There was a huge animal exhibit that we toured through, seriously every animal imaginable was in there. I mean they were dead and stuffed but it was cool nonetheless. There was one room that just full of all sorts of beetles, I never knew they were no neat! There are millions of them and they’re mostly deep gem colors with loads of different patterns and iridescence, it’s weird to say but dang beetles are pretty. After that our free weekend started and we caught a train to Prague in the Czech Republic!! We made it to our hostel, the Old Prague Hostel and had a room to ourselves! An unexpected luxury! We ended up just chilling in the room for the rest of the evening. The money situation is interesting, 16 Crones are about 1 US Dollar and 23 Crones are about 1 Euro, I’m just going to translate them into Euros when I shop to feel better about my spending =] Saturday we woke up with absolutely no plan as to what we were going to do- it was awesome. After so much tight scheduling during the week it was nice to have time to just move slowly and do whatever. Our hostel turned out to be really close to town so we just walked! It was raining, it would stay raining all day. First we walked to the famous clock tower in time to see it chime on the hour, and then we walked to the bridge which I have always remembered from when I was younger as one of the prettiest sights I’d ever seen. It was still pretty, but the rain made it look abandoned because everyone seemed to be hurriedly scurrying over it where before it had always looked so lively with crowds and sales people and artists enjoying its beauty. Once we got over the bridge we were cold and wet and found refuge in a Starbucks and camped out in there for a while hoping the rain would let up. It didn’t. We finally got up enough nerve to venture outside again and made it about five minutes before ducking into the nearest restaurant for lunch. Afterward we spent a lot of time meandering along the streets and souvenir shopping, I bought a scarf! That night we went out and saw a live dubstep DJ who was insanely good. Sunday we slept in and then went on a free walking tour of Prague, well a free tour where tips are greatly accepted =]. But the guide ended up being hilarious and really interesting. We learned the famous solar clock tower isn’t really good for much because the science behind it is flawed. We went in an old church where some guy had tried to steal a crown or something a long time ago and was caught and his hand was cut off as a punishment and it still hanging in the church. We also passed the Jewish cemetery but didn’t get to go inside. We ate dinner at a local bakery- I’m going to miss those so much!

Week 4

2011-08-30T14:53:00.003-07:00

Monday we took the train from Munich to Vienna and met back up with our school group to check into the hotel. It was so nice to be staying so close to everyone else! No having to take 30 minute buses to meet up! And then we took a short walking tour of Vienna and it was gorgeous, I can’t believe I wasn’t more excited to come to this city. I mean I didn’t know anything about it but it turns out it’s so pretty! Walking around downtown was like walking through a marble dream. The only down side was the smell- I’m guessing they don’t have the best sewage system but it was easy enough to ignore. That night we had our welcome dinner and the food was absolutely amazing. We all learned quickly to eat up at the welcome and farewell dinners =]. Tuesday we got up and took a historical walking medical tour of Vienna. It was interesting but just a lot of information, and then we went into a crypt and saw all of the caskets of the old imperial family, one of which was Maria Theresa the only empress ever in Austria. Some of us ate lunch at a really cute café that served coffee and pastries. Oh and by the way Austria is known for their coffee! How I didn’t know that I have no idea, I haven’t gone a day in Europe without drinking it so far so I’m so excited! And at the café I had my first espresso and I am in love, I never realized that coffee was just watered down espresso before. After lunch we went to the Sigmund Freud museum which was located in his old house. We learned that before the Holocaust, when Jewish people were being persecuted the Nazis allowed Jews to leave if they could pay a very high tax. Freud was very well off already but the only reason him and his family were able to leave was because people donated enough money to his cause. Afterward we had a lecture by Dr. Wasser about Freud’s life. And then that night we went to a local operetta! It’s like a mini opera, and opera with dialogue. It was really good, their voices were gorgeous and it was in German but I could understand it for the most part. It was fun to dress up and go out for a night! And then Wednesday we went to the Vienna museum in the morning and saw a bunch of models of how Vienna grew over the years into the city it is today. And then we visited Stephen’s Church, a huge church that seemed to be right in the middle of downtown. It was massive and so pretty, with the gothic architecture of the Koeln cathedral but with a roof that was tiled with yellow, blue and white it was just so unique! After we had free time and some of the other girls and I ate lunch and then headed to the Museum Quarter district to see a Salvador Dahli art exhibit. The quarter was in the back of this artsy square filled with all of these huge, plastic, bright lounge chairs with people chatting, eating and sleeping on them. I wish I could have just spent the whole day there it was so incredibly chill and everyone was there just to enjoy art and have a good time. The Salvador Dahli exhibit was definitely something else. My theory is that he was both an amazing artist and a genius. His earlier paintings were gorgeous and so different than anything else of that time period, but the more recognition he got for his surrealism the more liberties he took with it. I’m convinced that some of his sculptures were random things he just put together and called surrealism to see if someone would buy it, and they did! But that’s just me. Then we met up with the rest of the group to go to a cute little wine garden. Thursday we visited the Viennese Medical School and learned about the differences between medical schools in Vienna and in America. For example research shows that people are worse at selecting good physicians than standardized testing, so in Vienna applicants are admitted solely on how they score on standardized tests. And in Vienna non-clinical and clinical learning is integrated so that students learn skills along with theory studies and then must master them. Afterward we went to a physiology museum located in a building that used to be an insane asylum. It was filled with a bunch of wax models that had been molded off of people who had suffered from all sorts of disgusting diseases and then painted to look just like it. The tour guide was really knowledgeable and interesting and always had something cool to say about anything we asked. The best part was a case that had skeletons of conjoined and Siamese twins who had dies very young. It was insane the way some of them were connected, there was on pair that was attached to where their bodies were facing each other and perpendicularly one face was facing forward and the other one backward, but they were both on one head, super strange. We ate at a Pakistan restraint afterward that was pretty good, it was buffet style so we took however much we wanted and then when we left we were supposed to give how much we thought it was worth. It was a really cool concept I had never heard of a restaurant doing before but they looked like they were doing well so I guess the concept can be successful! Then we went to the old hospital which is a museum now and we toured the old library that was filled with loads of old books, mostly in Latin but some were in German and a lot about medicine! It was fun, I love the smell of old books and the pages had a cool texture because they had had to be printed off of engravings. Then we went to a museum of pharmacology and saw all sorts of things, my favorite being the old hand turned centrifuges and shakers and the old surgeons kit. Then we had our farewell dinner at a restaurant called the 7 Stern Brau because they brew seven kinds of beer! It was an awesome last night in Vienna with great food and even better people =]

Weekend 3

2011-08-30T14:53:00.001-07:00

I got up at 5 and barely made it to the train to Munich thanks to a bus that decided not to come! Luckily my host dad gladly gave me a ride to the Hauptbahnhof and I got to say bye to him and his wife, such a sweet family. We made it to our hostel in Munich and it was soo much nicer than the one I stayed at in Amsterdam! The first thing I noticed about Munich is a bread yeast smell pretty much omnipresent throughout the city. I later found out it’s the smell of hops from all of the breweries here! In fact right across the street from our hostel was a brewery and we went there for dinner and it was so adorable, everyone was dressed in lederhosen and traditional southern German dress. People there order beer my the mass, a.k.a. by the liter! Later we went to the English Gardens which was basically a large park with a lot of trees and winding paths to stroll along. It was really pretty and in the center of the park was a Biergarten that we chilled at for a while and got some Bayern Brezte’s, the HUGE baked pretzels that were so delicious. That night we met some of our roommates in the hostel, a very enthusiastic guy about our age who had a complete lederhosen and whatnot costume he kept showing off to us but he was really nice and then a really old guy who was kind of persnickety when it came to noise and having the light on.. somewhat strange for a hostel especially when we found out he had been living there for two months.. but oh well to each their own! Saturday the 8 20/21 year olds in my group got up at 8am with a game plan.. impressive or what? We went to the Deutsches Museum, supposedly the most visited museum in Germany contained a load of exhibits of different things invented in Germany and how they have evolved and progressed into what they are today. It was pretty much a maze which was really fitting because it allowed us to just get lost in all of the history there was to see there. There were so many cool things I had never heard of, especially in my favorite exhibit which was about the new advancements in nanotechnology and computers. It was really interactive and I saw a C-leg! Afterward we went to the Viktualien Markt, and outdoor market that is open every day in Munich with fresh goods from fruit, vegetables and spices to honey, mean and flowers. That was probably one of my favorite places on the entire trip because everything was so natural and locally grown and it just went on forever! I bought these bread-dipping spices, some unique flavored honey spreads and a bag of sweet cherries! We ate at a local Biergarten and got weisswurst, a Bayern specialty sausage made of veal and it was really good. We shopped for souvenirs, everyone wanted to buy a Bier stein which is a big ceramic cup special for drinking beer. Later one we went to the Hofbrauhaus, the main brewery of Munich and we sat in the Biergarten in the back like everyone had told us to do to avoid the mad tourist crowds and it was true! It was much more chill back there and we had fun catching up with some of the other students from our group who were also in Munich. Sunday we got up and took the train to the Dachau concentration camp. We spent four or five hours there walking through the exhibit, around the memorials and ultimately through what remained of the camp. It was an incredibly morbid and eery place, and we all kind of split up for the most part to go through it on our own. It was just so terrible and emotional to read about, there really were no words and it made it easier to just go through and process it by ourselves. One of the things I realized this time that I never had before is that the liberation of the concentration camps wasn’t all cheering and celebration by the German people and life never returned to normal for the victims. Many of the Germans were still racist and anti-Semitic and the victims were usually the only one of their family who had survived and had nowhere to go because their home had been destroyed and they had nothing. I had always pictured that the liberations of the camps meant that the sun came out and started shining again and everyone went home to their warm houses with their family and hot food sitting on the table. I guess that was pretty disillusioned. We got back pretty late from Dachau without having eaten all day so we splurged and went to the American haven of Hard Rock Café! It was the perfect end to an emotionally taking day and we all enjoying being able to actually order off the drink menu for once!

Two Days of Death

2011-08-29T17:59:00.001-07:00

I had several hours to waste on Sunday morning before the Dachau tour, so I went to the Jagd und Fischereimuseum on an impulse. I visited less because I’m an avid sportsman (ha!) and more they had a giant bronze statue of a catfish out front.

Luckily for me, the museum wasn’t the NRA shrine I feared a hunting museum might be. It instead displayed artifacts used in hunting and fishing from Paleolithic to recent times. The only guns in sight were ornate muzzle-loaders, complete with powder-horns, tamping rods, and little molds for making your own lead balls. Many of the other hunting accruements were far stranger—spears for hunting narwhals, crossbows, chariots carved like dragons, Pringles can-like contraptions for storing your war-ferrets, or 4-inch wide iron hunting dog collars covered in barbed spikes. Paintings and tapestries of chest-high dogs running down massively over-muscled deer and rabbits covered the walls. One hall was lined with taxidermy animals, or non-animals, as one case displayed about a dozen Wolpertingers. Wolpertingers are German Jackalopes—composites of various stuffed animals, such as the head and body of a rabbit fitted with a fox tail, and a hawk’s wings and claws.

The Jagd und Fischereimuseum also had a temporary exhibit on auruchs covering how the wild cattle were hunted to extinction in the Middle Ages and how modern breeders are attempting to recreate them, or so I assume, since the exhibit was entirely in German.

That afternoon, I crammed onto a bus with 40-odd other English-speaking tourists to visit the Dachau memorial. At the former concentration camp, it was the little details that were the most disturbing. The line of poplar trees and the gravel fields, laid out just as they were while the camp was operating, were extremely disconcerting. I could not wrap my mind around the scale of the badness that had happened in that place. For instance, on a sign outside the crematorium is a picture showing what that exact spot looked like while the camp was in business—as in, there was a pile of several hundred naked, skeletal bodies, right where you are standing to look at the sign. Horrors like that belong in black and white photos, they can’t leach out into the real world where the sun is out and birds are singing.

Two days later, I was back in the world of barracks and barbed wire fences at another concentration camp memorial—Sachsenhausen. Whereas Dachau had been transformed into a memorial for the people murdered there, Sachsenhausen had been refitted as a celebration of how great Red Russia was. A phallic monument glorifying Russian soldiers dominated the center of the roll call field. Much of the rest of the camp had been allowed to fall into disrepair due to lack of funds—weeds and crabgrass dotted the field, and some of the buildings were deteriorating.

However, the most effective parts of the memorial remained. In a basement used for peeling potatoes, captives had been allowed to paint landscapes and still lifes on the walls. I hope the prisoners found some comfort in the beauty they created in their ugly surroundings. Prisoners held there during the time the camp was run by the Soviets added cartoonish vegetables slicing and cooking themselves. One of the more disturbing displays was the hundreds of scraps of shoe leather that had been dug up on the site. Trainloads of shoes collected from the extermination camps out east arrived at Sachsenhausen and the prisoners were put to work reclaiming the leather and wondering over the fate of the shoe’s former owners.

The most obvious signs of the atrocities which had happened there remained mostly intact. The firing range and the torture chamber known as the “medical” building with its mortuary tables were still standing. Of Station Z, where ten thousand Soviet POWs were murdered, only the foundation and the cremation ovens remain. Like at the crematorium at Dachau, at Station Z murder was employed in assembly-line fashion. Living people enter one end, ashes come out the other. Of course, with the volume of murder they were committing, the killing machine started to break down. The ovens didn’t have the capacity to burn all the remains completely. At Dachau, there were accounts that prisoners couldn’t be hanged fast enough and were sometimes burned alive.

Like at Dachau, I just cannot imagine the amount of suffering and death that occurred where I was standing, and that it had happened recently enough that still survivors and perpetrators still live.

Monkeying Around in Munich

2011-08-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

It was still light when I arrived in Munich for the second time. I stayed at a youth hostel near the Tierpark, which is unfortunately quite far from the city center. The commute to my accommodations involved rides on multiple U-bahns and a walk that lasted ten minutes once I figured out where I was going, and almost half an hour when I didn’t. This meant that although it was early evening when I reached Munich, it was dark when I had finally checked in and freshened up. “Dark” in Germany translates to “all places that provide calories in non-alcoholic forms are closed, and yes, even on a Friday night” so I had to have beer for dinner.

I was staying in a 6-bed dormitory that night. The room had been empty when I dropped my luggage off that afternoon, but stacks of Japanese books and several laptops left sitting on the table hinted at both the national origins and the trustworthiness of my roommates. At about one in the morning, I returned to my room to see sleeping heads of long dark hair peeking out of all the other beds. One girl was awake and texting—she looked about 14 years old in light from her Iphone, and she glared at me as I made my bed as quietly as I could. All my actions seemed uncharacteristically loud in that room full of sleeping Asian women. I sounded like an elephant trampling around on the hard-wood floor, the zippers on my duffel bag sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and my locker slammed despite my effort to close it gently. The next morning, I rose up early and crept out before anybody else awoke so I wouldn’t have to feel like That Awkward White Girl.

I left the hostel and followed the signs to the Tierpark. I was the only non-jogger/ dog-walker on the sidewalk that morning. The locals probably knew something I didn’t, as it started raining as soon as I paid my seven euros to enter the Zoo. Even with the awful weather, I knew right away that the Munich Tierpark was going to be one of the most pleasant zoos I had ever visited. Judging by the view from the entrance, I could have been heading down a forest trail, surrounded by old trees, little rivers, and underbrush too thick to see through on either side of the path. I had been walking past the first exhibit—tarpans and aurochs—for some time before I noticed the area containing the animals was any different from the forested areas composing the rest of the zoo. I just glanced through the brush and saw the Paleolithic-looking creatures standing in a clearing. As I understood it, both species were extinct—the tarpan for about a century, and the auroch since the Middle Ages. Therefore, I can only assume that some mad scientist had cloned those creatures back to life Jurassic Park-style, and I will be severely disappointed if the Zoo doesn’t have mammoths and glyptodons by my next visit.

At this point, it was raining rather heavily, so I got to see how different critters reacted. The wisents placidly chewed their cud as water dripped off their backs. The European wolf curled up like a bored German shepherd and would occasionally raise its head and check if it was still damp and miserable before dozing off again. It lay by the fence despite having at least two dens in the enclosure that would be drier. Some of the ducks that roamed freely through the Tierpark sought shelter under bridges or tree limbs for the worst of the rain, others dived and scrabbled over food oblivious to the weather. The Siberian tiger continued to pace between his outdoor yard and inside den—rain and cold could not deter him from patrolling his territory.

The primates fled to the inside areas of their enclosures. Lemurs slept in massive multi-tailed bundles, baby apes played restlessly, adult apes and monkeys picked at their food calmly. I was near the mandrill exhibit when the weather cleared, and the smaller mandrills—I don’t know if they were females or juveniles—erupted in a frenzy of glee. They swung back and forth across their outside enclosure and bounded over their jungle-gym like fluffy balls of energy.

The primate exhibits were truly awesome—all species had expansive areas to play, both inside and outside, and they were contained not by fences, but by moats or other natural barriers that blended in with the landscape. Inside, their environments had dirt floors, not concrete, and they had a wealth of enrichment objects. One baby orangutan had been given a bed sheet, which she would wear like a low budget ghost Halloween costume and sidle around the habitat. When she tired of that, she would throw her sheet over a branch and swing on it like a rope. In another primate house, a gorilla sat half-buried in a pile of straw. She had straw on her shoulders and a tuft of straw on her head. When I looked closer, I saw that she was doddling a baby gorilla in her lap. Mother and child rolled around in their nest before settling down for a nap, the baby clutched protectively under its mama’s huge hand.

Squirrel monkeys are called totenkopf-something in German, which makes sense given their light faces and dark eyes and mouths. Being in a room full of skull monkeys sounds so much cooler than being surrounded by chattering monkeys named after adorable little tree rats.

The Villa Dracula was also pretty cool. Spear-nosed bats flew freely throughout the building. I flinched as they flitted past my face and shoulders, and I could feel one hit my ponytail. I could have batted them out of the air if I was an awful person. Several exhibits appeared to be run on the honor system—animals were close enough to touch, and any carelessness by the guests could injure the creatures. I winced in the free-flying bird exhibit whenever I saw little kids chasing the birds around to get them to fly.

In short, the Munich Zoo was the nicest, most pleasant zoo I have ever seen in my life. All the habitats were wide and open-looking, greenery was everywhere, and there was nary a cinderblock to be seen. The next day was going to be quite a change of pace from that agreeable five hours I spent wandering amongst the critters. On Sunday I planned to visit the Dachau Memorial.

Week 3

2011-08-25T16:10:00.001-07:00

To quote my journal on Monday “we basically had LOADS of class, which was at least super interesting because it was Dr. Wasser [lecturing], and because the topic was medicine.” I’ve noticed that the longer I’m in Germany the worse my English gets! But it was really interesting, Dr. Wasser lectured about prehistoric medicine and got really excited when he started to explain the growing evidence that interbreeding occurred between Neanderthals and Cro Magnons (early Homo sapiens) indicating that we all most likely have some Neanderthal in us. I mean not gonna lie that’s some pretty exciting stuff =] I found out William Harvey is the Father of Cardiology so basically an all around bad a and I intend to learn more about him. Later we had cultural studies with our program coordinator, Nils where he lectured about German politics. Normally I don’t find politics all that interesting but Nils kept comparing the German system to the American one and I finally realized that my disinterest has resulted in me knowing absolutely nothing about our political system. I never realized how much decision making went on in government, kind of silly I know but before it had always seemed as a kind of one-track road with a specific destination. I enjoyed seeing how another country could take a different path and be their own kind of successful, politics definitely isn’t black and white. After class we went to the Haribo outlet and were literally little kids in a willy wonka wonderland! I stocked up on all of the candy I used to eat when I was younger, I blame my over-indulgence on the sentimental ties! And then we went back to AIB to watch a screening of the movie Goodbye Lenin. It was really good, set in the 90’s after the Berlin wall fell, unknown to a pro-soviet mother who had been in a coma the entire time. Her son didn’t want her to find out and there was a comedic twist to his struggles. Tuesday we took a charter bus to Bacharach, a cute, little town on the Rheine and walked around a little bit before jumping on the Lorelei Rheine river cruise! The weather was exceptionally amazing and sunny and we sat out on the deck, sipping on weiss wein schorles, soaking up the sun like true Germans and enjoying the gorgeous views. It really was something of a fairytale; the river was lined on either side by green rolling hills with castles tucked away every couple of miles, the history and stories of them playing in the background. My favorite story was of two castles situated less than a quarter mile from each other, apparently built by brothers who disliked each other so much they couldn’t live in the same castle. We got off at a different town and ate schnitzel for lunch before talking a short hike up a mountain to a castle. The view was so pretty from up there. And then after- surprise we went wine tasting!! By far one of the most fun things we did, we tried two white wines and three red while and the table quickly became very social and everyone was having a blast. Wednesday we had some class in the morning and then went to die Museum der Deutsch Geschichte, the German History Museum. It appeared deceivingly small and we spent a good few hours in there but learned a lot. I really need to stop being so surprised that Dr. Wasser knows so much about.. so much! He always has colorful facts and details to add to everything we see, it’s somewhat reminiscent of that movie Limitless. Later a group of us went to a Biergarten overlooking the Rheine and just chilled out, the weather had cooled off and our table was situated under these massive trees that must be decades old- whoever said nothing in Germany is younger than 100 years wasn’t kidding. Thursday we had class in the morning about the Nuremburg Doctor Trials. It was a pretty emotional topic to get through for me, I visited Ausschwitz when I was younger and read ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel and have even met a Holocaust survivor but every time I learn a little more about Holocaust it seems to only get worse and the picture in my mind becomes even more terrible and unbelievable. There always comes a point where I just can’t understand how something so horrific ever happened, and to the extent that this did. Although it was hard to get through it was extremely interesting from a medical standpoint and definitely important in medical history. But man, some of the details of what went on in the medical experiments were just so despicable it made me sick to my stomach and I couldn’t bring myself to write it down. Even thinking about it now still makes me sick. But after that we went back to Koeln and this time took a tour off the roof of the Cathedral and it was one of the coolest things I’ve done! Right before we went up it started to storm as if it show us the gothic architecture in it’s element and it was incredible. I have so many pictures of random things on the Cathedral because I just couldn’t get over the fact that I was so close to it all! And then we walked around inside the cathedral but on a walkway up high by the ceiling that went right by all of the huge stain glass windows that had always loomed over me, and now they were eye level! Walking by the newly constructed stain glass window was my favorite because all of the colors were so bright and the light shining through them bounced off of the stone pillars making a starry effect that I could have stared at for hours. Afterward we went to the zoo and took a tour around. There was an Animal Body Worlds exhibit there that was so cool with a huge elephant and a giraffe and guerilla and other animals plasticized to where we could see all of the muscles, veins, nerves and organs. At the same time it was a little morbid that it was located in a zoo but nonetheless very cool. That was our last night in Bonn, my host family made me a nice dinner of steak and barbeque sauce =] and I got to hang out with the girls for a little bit before they went to bed. My host dad had a surprise for me- an Abschieds shot! A farewell shot of Vodka lol. Bonn has been an awesome city and I loved being there for the first three weeks and living with a host family was a blast! I’m excited to see Vienna and Berlin too though, it’s bittersweet but I definitely had a great time here.

Weekend 2

2011-08-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took the train to Duesseldorf to meet up with some friends from middle school, talk about taking a trip into the past. Beatrice and Veronica were two of my best friends and I hadn't seen them since the last time I visited Duesseldorf three years ago, but when I stepped off the train and saw them it was like no time had passed. Except we all looked a lot older- I guess the late nights and stress of college does that to you. We went to the Kirmes festival which happens every year on the Rheine, it's a traveling outdoor festival with a lot of rides, food and beer. There were loads of people there of all ages walking around and having a blast. We only went on a couple rides and ate some dough balls filled with strawberries and covered in vanilla sauce- yum! And then we met up with another childhood friend and saw the latest Harry Potter, in english =] I was surprised by how many people were in the english showing, it was packed. The next day we all grabbed lunch and caught up on the last three years, Beatrice is going to university in LA but the other two stayed in europe. Veronica goes to a private university in Ireland were they're required to wear uniform and Philippa is at one in London where running into British movie starts is a frequent occurrence. They were all surprised that my accent wasn't more reminiscent of old western flicks which made me laugh. It was strange to be back in a town I had lived in for so long. Strange in how normal I felt there, at home. Everywhere my head turned was something familiar that brought back memories long locked away in my brain somewhere previously out of reach. I took the train back to Bonn, skyped some friends from back home and then met up with some other students from the program at a local bar to see USA vs. Japan in the Womens World Cup soccer final!! Such a close game, we only lost in shootouts when we had dominated every other aspect of the game. All of the Germans at the bar kept saying that with how many things Japan has gone through recently they needed the win more, I see what they mean but I still would have like USA to have won. It was a great and relaxing weekend, much different from the hectic one last weekend but both good in their own respects =]

Week 2

2011-08-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

This week started out with a lecture from Dr. Wasser over the Hohenstaufen Dynasty. It was mostly about religious history involving Martin Luther which I found really interesting because Dr. Wasser managed not to paint him in one color but in many shades. Afterward Elena and I were taken to a radiologist by Sebastian for our german lesson since we already speak some german and it was so much fun, I was surprised by how much I could understand and loved going over case after case of fractures, birth defects and cath lab images. Some of the images of narrowed arteries in the brain were insane; I couldn't believe some of these people were still walking around. And then we went to an Anesthesiology Museum which seemed to contain pretty much every device in the history of anesthesia and was run by an adorable retired anesthesiologist. It was really cool to see the predecessors of all the machines I had seen in the OR earlier this summer, I can’t imagine what they will look like when I’m running my OR. Tuesday we went to Koeln and took a tour through the cathedral and around the city. The cathedral was absolutely breathtaking, the gothic architecture gave it so much stoic character. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and really made me wish I could see what it looked like when it was originally built, painted with lively and bright colors on the inside instead of the cream walls it has today. We toured some Roman ruins that had only been found five years ago which mean that the last time I had been in the city I had unknowingly been walking right over them, pretty trippy if you ask me. We toured a Holocaust museum that was actually an old Stazi prison. It was pretty creepy, the eeriest part was definitely when we could see into the prison cells and read the inscriptions that had been left by prisoners awaiting their death so many years ago. Some were encouraging, others angry and the worst just completely hopeless. Anything involving the Holocaust is always really interesting to me but at the same time just so unreal. On Wednesday we got to go to a hospital in Bonn and shadow doctors! I saw a radial fracture repair, a soleus muscle biopsy and the beginning of a nucleotomy, the repair of a herniated disk. The doctor I shadowed was really funny and so willing to answer any questions, it was definitely one of my favorite trips. That night we went to the women’s world cup game USA vs France! I think the win was ever so slightly due to our incredibly spirit that we showed by painting ourselves red, white and blue. On Thursday we had a really long but incredibly interesting lecture over the Holocaust- as eerily fascinating as ever. More specifically it was about the Nazi Euthanasia Programs. The whole lecture I had a slightly sick feeling coming on, some of the things that Dr. Wasser talked about were just so unbelievably terrible. Afterward we took a tour around a homeopathic garden which was really a lot of fun. I had never really heard much about this kind of alternative medicine and I wish we could have learned a little more of the theory behind it, but I really like the whole natural-ness of it all. Friday we took a bus to the Aerospace Museum of Europe which turned out to be a lot cooler than I expected. All of the astronauts up at the space station are from all around the world but the funny part is that they each generally live in parts of the space station that were manufactured by their country. Afterward we visited a palace nearby that was absolutely gorgeous. The decorations were so over the top and fairytale like. And that was the end of week two! A lot of things in our schedule but all of them worth the time and a great learning experience.

Retrospective

2011-08-22T15:44:00.001-07:00

Retrospective

Getting back to the States was a weird but good experience. I miss many aspects of Europe but enjoy having a car and the conveniences of the States. First thing that shocked me was how heavy american’s are. I think that I became used to seeing smaller European people so the amount of overweight people seems out of control. I also miss the weather. The cool weather would be wonderful, being able to open a window instead of having to use AC would be great. Also a little bit of rain would be a welcome thing. The public transportation system would be nice to have here but it wouldn’t work well because of how the USA is set up. It was nice to not worry about driving home from the bar or something like that. It is nice that I have my own car now because it takes much less time to get around. The jet lag wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe because I had the weirdest sleeping habits in Europe. I am looking forward to planning a return trip someday to Europe to explore more.

week 5 berlin

2011-08-22T15:36:00.001-07:00

Wed August 3, 2011

Today we woke up around 615. The showers are becoming a problem when you have 5 guys who need to shower in the morning. It worked out ok because we made it to breakfast and out on time. We went to the molecular research institute. This was wonderful because I got to see what I have learned in biochem and micro put into use. We first got a lecture about the history of cellular biology from a guy from texas. We then got a tour from a triathlete who got his start in the USA which was cool to me. We saw how neutrophils kill and trap bacterial cells with DNA nets. This was cutting edge and cool research which was exciting. After that we learned about how muscles heal. This research could be used to cure a form of MD. After this we got to see state of the art MRI machines. We saw a 3, 7, and 9 tesla version. These were able to get a better image than the standard 1.5T used clinically. I couldn’t go see them on the inside because of my shoulder implant. We then went to otto bach to view the new prothetic devices used clinically. It was great to learn about them. I had a good time riding around in the wheelchair. After this we went to the east side gallery which is part of the berlin wall which people painted on. I didn’t care for it but it was great to see that the germans have come far enough that they can used the wall for art. I ate at the thai place again because it seems healthy and cheap. I actually like eating the veggies I guess my tastes are broadening. We attempted to go out to karaoke but we couldn’t get in. I was very surprised by a woman which I thought was a gay man. Anyway she helped us try to find another place to go but we ended up getting lost. So we ended up getting home early around 12:30.

Thursday august 4th

Today we went to Dresden. This was a great town. I enjoyed all of the architecture and how it was all located very centrally. The city walk was informative but it started to seem like all of the other city walks. They are starting to all blur together for me. I decided to try and get something good for lunch so I headed to Augustiner. I was surprised that they had a place in Dresden so I was excited to eat there. When I got there I found out that they wouldn’t open for another few days so my hopes of getting a schnitzel and a munich beer were shattered. I have been on a roll of wanting munich style beers. It is probably because it is harder to find them here. So I decided to go get Mcdonalds which wasn’t a great choice but it was the first mcdonals I have been to which had extremely good looking cashiers. They were all blonde and very good looking. It was good to eat something quick because then I was able to walk around by myself. After lunch we headed to the hygiene museum which was awesome. It was very interactive and interesting. We all got split up into groups and had to give a guided tour through a part of the museum. Our group got the room about Sexuality in Germany. This section housed some really funny thing and also some interesting things. It amazes me how open germans are with sex and nudity. There were also some cool things like a leg extention test which showed your leg strength. My strength is much less than when I was lifting so I wonder what it would have been back in the day. I feel like I have gained at least 5 pounds on this trip from over eating and beer. After the hygiene museum we had a 2 hour train ride back which was enjoyable. I rode with wasser and niles. We all had some beers and talked about random things. I then sat with another group for a little bit to stretch my legs etc. When we got back we started to pregame a bit and then headed out to hackasher markt. We stayed at an irish pub which had good mixed drinks and Guinness so I was happy. I had a mojito which was enjoyable and tried a little bit of a mai thai which was interesting. We then started on our way home when two bums started to bother our group. One was drunk and tried to pick a fight with niles but he quickly defused the situation. I was ready to fight and I am glad nothing happened. Once we got back I stayed down stairs with niles, bailey, and Kristin till 2:30 am. We just talked about random things like the differences between german dating and American dating. Also how german parents are different from American parents. Some of the things seem good but I am undecided if they are truly good things. Things such as being able to talk to your parents about your sex life etc. Once I laid down around 2:45 I passed out super-fast.

weekend 4

2011-08-22T15:34:00.002-07:00

Weekend 4 Prague
When we went to leave Wein I was slightly disappointed when I saw our train. I thought to myself well I guess we are going to eastern Europe. The train wasn’t very comfortable nor did it have power outlets which was a bummer because I wanted to use my laptop to blog and watch a movie. Travis did find a power outlet…in the bathroom. After arriving we made our way to sir toby’s hostel. It was an interesting place. We got free food which was nice. It wasn’t the best but I couldn’t have cared. The first night we decided to go to club meca which was a different experience. It was an electronic club which picked up as the night went on. We ended up making it back around 3 am or so. The next day we took a city tour in the rain which was interesting but I started to get a little too cold to care about the history. Once the tour was over it stopped raining it seemed like great timing. We walked around and did various other things such as seeing old architecture etc. We went on a pubcrawl as well which was alright. It wasn’t as good as the one we went on in Vienna but it was still fun.

week 4

2011-08-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

Monday morning/afternoon
We arrived in Wein around lunch time. We didn’t have any troubles finding the hotel. (Hotel Deutchmaster) the name cracked everyone up, idk if it was just because we were tired or what. Once inside we saw our room and were like thank God! After staying in hostels/uncomfortable conditions we were finally able to relax. For me I just wanted a clean towel which was larger than a wash cloth. We all unpacked and set off to go get some food. We walked around for a good 20 minutes until we finally decided to get pizza and a waffle. Not a great combo but none the less. Once Neils and Dr. Wasser got there we took a city tour which was really nice. The architecture in Wein is wonderful. I was really impressed by it. We saw various things including the plague tower and the Spanish riding school. I personally couldn’t appreciate it as much as some of the others just because I didn’t know about it before hand or know how much work went into training these horses to do certain things.
Tuesday
Today we started our day off with a medical history walk lead by Dr. Wasser. I enjoyed it but was a little tired still. I think that even though I finally got some sleep I need more. We got to see many things in Wein and the amount of medical history amazed me. After getting lunch at Aida a coffee shop where I had my first Viennese coffee mélange (macchiato with whipped cream) we set off for Simgond Freud’s house. It was cool to see where Freud worked and also to be in a place where someone of his importance worked. I was upset that we didn’t get to have lecture in Sigmond Freud’s house but I guess things happen.

weekend 3

2011-08-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Weekend 3
July 22-24
We decided to go to munich for our long weekend. I went with a group of 8 people. We decided that it would be better to leave early Friday morning rather than Thursday night like some others. I think it was a good choice because from what we heard the night train wasn’t very comfortable. Anyway we got in around lunch time and quickly walked to our hostel. We stayed at the meninger (or something like that). It was a lot cheaper than I had expected which was nice. After realizing that we were a little early for check in so we decided to head over to the Augustiner Brau haus. This was my first taste of munich beer and it didn’t disappoint me. I had a mass of augustiner edolstoff. Great choice in my opinion. After this we went back to the hostel and regrouped. The next day we decided to go to the englisher garten which was nice but it rained a little bit which wasn’t the best. We walked around which wasn’t really my thing but we then ended up at the Chinese tower which was really cool. We had masses of hofbrau dunkle which was wonderful. (I think I developed a taste for dunkle even more in munich) While there we got to people watch which was really funny. There was a man in a where’s waldo costume which cracked me up. We also went to the Technical museum that day. I was really impressed with the detail and amount of different things in the building. I would love to go again another time when I return to Germany. One of the bigger highlights was going to the hofbrau haus. It wasn't the same as augustiner but it was different in a good way. It was very touristy but I think thats why I liked it. I got to try all of the different kinds of hofbrau that they offered. After this weekend I feel in love with Bayern and really hope to return there one day.

Week 3

2011-08-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Monday July 18th
Today we had a lecture from Dr. Wasser first thing in the morning. Everyone who decided to go to paris for the weekend had gotten in about 4 hours before lecture. They looked so incredibly tired. For lunch I tried to find a new place to get food but I ended up getting lost for about 30 minutes. I finally decided to eat Mcdonalds for lunch because I ran out of time and this seemed to be the best option. When we returned to AIB Niles taught us about the German political system. It is interesting to me how their system works. They are able to have 5 large parties function compared to only 2 in the US. They have to form an alliance with 2 or more parties in order to accomplish anything in government. After this we had some free time to go to Harribo gummy bear outlet. This was basically a giant candy store that only sold gummies. I deiced to get some funny stuff for abby and the family. They had some 4kg boxes of chocolate/bears that you could buy. Some people purchased these but are going to have a hard time figuring out how to get them back into the states. On the way back from Haribo we saw a liquor store called trinken gut. (good drinks) Once we walked in the entire group looked like the little kids going to haribo factory. We spent a good 45 minutes trying to decide which beer to get. I ended up getting some Paulaner and a .3L of Jagermeister. I found some cool Jager glasses as well which I decided to buy. I still don’t know if I want them or will gift them. On the way back to AIB we enjoyed our beers. Once at AIB we watched a movie about east and west berlin. It was in all german so we had to read subtitles. I enjoyed the movie although it was a little weird.
Wednesday July 19th
Today we went on a rhinecruise. It was the best weather the trip has had for one of these cruises. We went to a little german town which had the stereotypical archetechture. Wooden houses with flowers etc. it is a great region for growing grapes for wine. On the cruise we sat in the sun and had a weizenbier. After the cruise we went to a wine cellar and took a tour. We learned all of the ins and outs of making wine. We got to see the large barrels which could hold up to 9000L of wine. After the wine tour we got to taste five wines. We had 1 white reisling, 1 blanc de noir, and three reds. The last two were the best. One nice saffenburg red and a desert red which was sweet
Wednesday july 20th
Today we talked about what we are doing in Vienna and berlin nothing super exciting. After lecture and lunch we went to the museum in bonn called the haus der geschichte (house of history). It was interesting. Most of it was about east and west germany. It was interesting to see how germany came to be today because of this troubled past. From our tour we could see how the NSDAP (nazi) caused lots of problems leading into the GDR days in germany. I expected more from WWII in the museum. I also got yelled at because I leaned on a piece of the Berlin wall in the museum. I thought that this was ridiculous because it is a giant cement wall that isn’t going to be hurt by me touching it. I figured that people in berlin get to touch the wall all they want. Oh, well. After the tour we went to a temp exhibit which featured sex and german youth history. It had a place to practice putting on condoms. It was very humorous

Program Week 5 (Berlin)

2011-08-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

We got to Berlin pretty easily and somehow found Dr. Wasser and Nils as we were getting on the tram to go to our hotel so we made it there pretty easily. Our hotel was pretty cool. I ended up staying in an apartment with 4 other girls and we had a kitchenette and everything else. Then we went on a bike tour of Berlin. That was really fun. It was a great break from having to walk everywhere and we got to see a lot more of the city than we would have if we had walked.

On Tuesday, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel before going to Sachsenhausen which was a concentration camp a little ways outside of Berlin. Because it was in the part of Germany occupied by the Russians after WWII, the camp was mainly a memorial to all the communist prisoners during the war. It was pretty interesting. It took me until almost the end of the tour for it to really sink in that this was a place where people actually died and where all the things that happened during the holocaust, really happened. It was definitely an experience. Then we went back to Berlin and took a tour of the Bundestag (German parliament) before going back to the hotel and being set loose for the night.

Wednesday, we went to the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in the morning. That was pretty cool. We had a guy that was originally from San Antonio give us a short introduction lecture before we were split up into two groups. One group was sent off to learn about their neutrophil and muscle research while the other group took a tour of all their magnetic and MRI everything before we switched places. The neutrophil stuff was really interesting and it was fun to get to play with the magnets.
In the afternoon, we went to the Otto Bock Science Center and we got to learn a lot about all kinds of prosthetics. They had a lot of interactive stuff there and they let us play with it all after our tour which was a lot of fun. A couple people got a little excited because they finally got me off my feet and into a wheelchair. After that our program day was officially over and I ended up just doing a bit of souvenir shopping before going back to the hotel.
We got up early on Thursday morning and took a train to Dresden and we had a city tour as soon as we got there. The city was pretty interesting. It was definitely an East Germany city. There are still quite a few differences from the East and West and I think going to Dresden really made us realize that. The crosswalk lights are different in East Germany than they are in the West. We got to see that in parts of Berlin as well but in Dresden it seemed like they were everywhere and they had a bunch of girl ones too.

Then, in the afternoon, we went to the Hygiene Museum. It wasn’t all about brushing your teeth and the importance of showering like you normally think of when someone says hygiene but it had to do with all types of different things associated with the human body and health. There were a bunch of different rooms and each room covered a different topic. One room was all about life and death, another about sexuality, another about beauty, and things like that. They split us up into groups and each group had to present their room to everyone else. I was in the nutrition room. It was definitely a challenge because everything was written in German so I didn’t really have much of an idea about what anything in the room was supposed to be pertaining to. They had a lot of interactive things there so we ended up staying until the museum closed before going to the train station to head back to Berlin.
Friday morning, we got up and took a tour of the History of Medicine Museum in Berlin. Our guide was awesome. I think he liked having a bunch of medical students to lead around because he didn’t really have to sugarcoat anything he said. I think Nils enjoyed it more than the rest of us because he got to sit back and enjoy our facial expressions. After the tour, we had our last lecture inside the museum in what used to be a lecture hall for medical students back in the day. The building was bombed during WWII and they only partially restored it. It was so cool to have our last lecture, on the last day of the program, after a cool tour, in what used to be a lecture hall for medical students, that was partially ruined from WWII bombing. For me, that pretty much summed up the entire trip. It was a good ending.
Then we spent the afternoon at the university where we got to play with some interactive medical teaching dummies. I think the pre-med students enjoyed that a lot more than the vet students really did. It was interesting but I still prefer veterinary medicine a whole lot more. Then we went back to the hotel and had some time to pack and get ready before going out for our farewell dinner.
They took us to a really nice Moroccan restaurant called Kasbah. It was definitely an experience. The inside of the restaurant was so cool looking and the food was really good. I can now say that I’ve had couscous. They washed our hands with rose water before our meal. That was a little different. Wine and lamb couscous is a bit of a jump from beer and BBQ. It was a really great last dinner and a good way to enjoy our last night all together.

Prague

2011-08-16T14:27:00.003-07:00

When we got to Prague Friday night, we didn’t really do a whole lot. We just got settled in, did some laundry in the bathtub, and made a few calls from my skype. Skype has to be one of the greatest inventions ever made. I got to call my mom for about 2 cents a minute. It was really nice to be able to actually talk to her and see how everything was going on at home.
We didn’t get up Saturday morning until about 10 o’clock. It was pretty nice. Then we went into city central and got something to eat before walking around for a bit. We found belly dancers. That was...... interesting. Then we found out that Heather’s card still wasn’t working because her bank was updating things and froze her card because she was overseas. So we had to go back to the hotel so she could call them and ended up taking a bit of a nap waiting for it to get late enough that the bank would be open back in the States. Then, once she managed to get everything resolved, we went back into old town, got dinner, did some souvenir shopping and went on a ghost tour. That was pretty awesome. We went on the tour with a couple Germans and a couple Norwegians and we had this really funny British guy dressed in a massive grim reaper costume as our guide. He had a pretty twisted sense of humor. It was amazing. And it was rainy during the whole tour which made it even more perfect, in my opinion. Then we just went back to the hotel and crashed out for the night.
Sunday morning we slept in again but not quite as late. Once we finally got going, we went to get something to eat and then just spent the day shopping and going to museums. We went to the Ice Age Museum, the History of Chocolate Museum, the Museum of Torture, and the Wax Museum. It was a pretty nice day overall and we had a lot of fun just hanging out.

Program Week 4 (Vienna)

2011-08-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

Well we made it from Munich to Vienna without incident. We all met up at the hotel to check in before meeting Dr. Wasser and Nils to go on a historical city walk of Vienna before going out to dinner as a group. I had my first experience with schnitzel and it was really good.
On Tuesday, we got up and went on a medical history walk through Vienna which was even more walking so I was concentrating a bit more on trying to block out the pain from my feet than the actual content of what Dr. Wasser was telling us. I was only about half there so there’s no telling what I missed. If anyone from future History of Medicine trips happens to read this, I have a bit of advice - Don’t get hurt! It may seem like common sense but, trust me, it’s a good kernel of wisdom to keep in mind.
In the afternoon, we went to the Sigmund Freud museum that was originally the house that he lived and worked out of for most of his life until he had to flee to London to escape the Nazis. Then we had some free time to get ready for the operetta that night. The operetta was a lot of fun. It was all in German so I didn’t understand a word of it but it was still a really cool experience. I wore a dress and makeup. My mom and friends from home are sure to make a big deal out of that because they know how rare it is for me to wear something other than jeans, t-shirts or tank tops, and tennis shoes or boots. It was really nice to be able to be outside at night and not bake. It was kind of cold actually.
Wednesday was a pretty short day program-wise. We just went to the Museum of Vienna in the morning and then had the afternoon off. I went shopping at the Spanish Riding School gift shop and then at H&M with Michelle and Carrie. Then I went back to the Spanish Riding School with Elyzabeth and we went on a tour. We didn’t get to see any sort of performance but they took us through a the stables, tack room, and they showed us the arena. In the tack room they showed us how every horse has it’s own saddle and bridle and how the saddles are custom made for each horse. Then they walked us through the barn, showed us a few horses and explained how they are all named and things like that. Then they took us to the arena and we got to sit down while they explained why the riders still take off their hats when entering the arena and things like that. They even have special sand in the arena that’s part sand and part fibers to give it more cushion. Then they took us outside and we got to watch some mares and their foals play around for a bit. That was a lot of fun and definitely worth the 8 euros I paid for it but I’m also a complete horse nut that’s to be expected.
Thursday was really long. It seemed like they tried to fit almost all of our program activities into one day. We started off the day by rushing to the university and listening to a lecture about how medical school works in Austria. Then we went to this house that was the first real insane asylum (they had just put all those people in jail before that). Now it’s basically a museum that shows all kinds of different medical conditions. They had things like cyclops babies in jars, prolapsed uteruses, different skin conditions, black/coal lungs and things like that. It was far from pretty but it was so cool. Then they took us to this library that had a bunch of old medical books. That was kind of interesting. They actually let us look through the books ourselves and see what all they had in them. Heather and I looked at a veterinary one and only about 1 in every 5 pictures actually resembled a real animal. Then we got to see a hospital that was built to give medical care to the peasants before we went to the museum of pharmakognecie. Then we went back to the hotel for a bit before going out for our farewell dinner at a brew house in Vienna. I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I normally would have because my stomach and the ibuprofen weren’t exactly getting along with each other. It was a really nice dinner though.
Friday morning, we got up, checked out of the hotel, and went to the natural history museum. It was pretty nice. They had a special parasite section that was pretty interesting. We had a pretty good guide too. He found out we were pre-medical and pre-veterinary students so he tried to make his tour more specific to us. We had some time after the tour to walk around on our own and I managed to find the horse evolution part which I liked. My hose lunatic side has really managed to come out this trip. Then we were free for the weekend. We went and wandered around for a bit before going back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then head to the train station. I had a nice little nap sitting on the platform while we were waiting on our train and then we were off to Prague for the weekend.

Munich

2011-08-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

When we got to Munich we ended up just getting a taxi to take us straight to our hotel so we wouldn’t have to figure out public transportation with all of our luggage because we officially done in Bonn and starting on our two and a half weeks of living in hotels. Once we got to our hotel, we all agreed to have a nap time. It was glorious and we definitely needed it. We were a bit delirious which was shown by our random, uncontrollable laughing over seemingly nothing during the taxi ride. Our driver probably thought we were completely insane.
Once we all finally woke up, we walked to this really great Italian place that was pretty close to our hotel. Then we just went back to the hotel, relaxed and had a bit of a movie night. We watched The Proposal and part of Killers before we completely crashed out. Our hotel is really nice. We each have our own blanket and two pillow each and the beds are so comfy. I didn’t think I’d ever be so excited over a Holiday Inn.
We didn’t really do a whole lot on Saturday. Once we finally got up and going we went and ate breakfast/lunch. I split a pizza with Heather and had a beer and a choco-Bailey’s crepe. Absolutely delicious. Then we sort of wandered around a bit trying to figure out what we wanted to do. We ended up going to the zoo again even though we had gone to the zoo in Cologne a couple days before. We were a group of mostly pre-vet students so we used that as our excuse to justify going to another zoo and Matt didn’t really offer much objection.

The Munich zoo was pretty awesome. It was really pretty and natural looking. It made it really seem like the animals were in something close to their natural environments instead of an enclosure. We all had a lot of fun just wandering around. The only bad part was that my camera died so I only got a few pictures. We saw some “tarpans” though. That was pretty awesome even though they’re extinct and what we saw are just horses bred to look like them.

Then we went and met up with some other people at the Hofbrauhous for dinner before wandering around a bit and looking at whatever souvenir shops weren’t already closed. We ended up going back to the hotel relatively early and made another attempt at watching Killers all the way through. We failed.
On Sunday, we slept in again before going to eat breakfast/lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had planned on trying to do some more souvenir shopping but virtually everything was closed so we ended up walking around at the English Gardens. The walking wasn’t exactly fun but it was really pretty and we found this sort of outdoor beer garden in the middle of it. I had a Raddler (beer lemonade) that was quite good.
Then we went back to the hotel and used the computers and workout room for a bit. Then we got yelled at for trying to wear swim suits into the sauna. Apparently the rules say you’re supposed to go in naked but that wasn’t going to happen. Then we finally finished watching Killers. It only took us three nights.
Then we got up Monday and made it to the train station and on our way to Vienna for the week. There was so much to do in Munich that we didn’t do but I’m still glad that we had a more relaxing weekend. It was much more enjoyable than running around everywhere and doing 50 million different things everyday.

Program Week 3

2011-08-16T14:15:00.001-07:00

On Monday this week, we had class all morning and for the first part of the afternoon before we went to the Haribo outlet store to satisfy our sugar tooth and stock up on candy. Then we went back to the AIB and had a sort of movie night because Nils wanted us to watch Goodbye Lenin. I was sort of expecting some dry educational type of movie so it was much better than I had expected. When we first got there everybody just sort of wanted to go back to their host family’s houses to relax for the night but by the time the movie was over, none of us wanted to leave.
Tuesday was pretty awesome. We got up early to go on a cruise down the Rhine River. That was so nice. It was great to just be able to sit there, relax and enjoy the scenery and the company. Then we got out at this little town to eat lunch before we hiked up this hill to take a tour of a medieval castle that was apparently the only that wasn’t ever conquered. It really hurt having to walk around on all of those uneven rocks. I don’t think I enjoyed it anywhere near as much as I otherwise would have if I hadn’t been so focused on trying not to cry. Then they took us to a wine tasting. It was really nice but I felt pretty awkward and out of place at the same time. Simple country girl at a wine tasting in this really nice place. It really hit me then that I’m a long way from Bandera, Texas.

I got up a bit early on Wednesday morning to hobble my way to the AIB so I could go to a doctors appointment for my feet. The doctor didn’t really do a whole lot for me. He just gave me a prescription for some high dose ibuprofen and told me to stay off my feet. It was kind of an odd experience. The doctor acted like he didn’t want to touch me at all and he would only really talk to the student worker that came with me to translate, even if he was saying something in English to me directly. I am now taking about 2,400 mg of ibuprofen a day to keep the pain level down to bearable. I can’t believe I actually hurt myself. I can go jumping down waterfalls down the side of a mountain and only get a few bruises and scratches. I run around like an idiot at a soccer game and I rupture the bursae in my heels. Congratulations to me.
In the afternoon, we went to the Hause de Geschichte (German recent history museum). It covered pretty much everything from 1945 to present day. It was pretty cool for me to see something like that because in all the history classes I ever took all through middle and high school we were doing good if we made it past 1900 by the end of the year, so actually getting to learn about recent history is a new experience for me. Then class was cancelled after our tour so I had a chance to go get my hellish pain meds and then I just went back to my host family’s and tried to spend the night relaxing.
Thursday, I got up early again because I wanted to try and mail a box home to my mom before class started but the DHL didn’t open until I already had to be at the AIB for class. Dr. Wasser talked about the Nazi trials after the war and then we all went to the hauptbahnhof to catch a train to Cologne. We ended up heading to Cologne a bit earlier than was planned so we could meet up with our guide (who actually showed up this time) and go on our rooftop tour of the Cologne Cathedral. It was rainy and dreary which made the tour of this gothic church so much cooler than it would have been already and we got to see the gargoyles at work.

Then we got to go to the zoo. They were having an animal body worlds exhibit going on so we got to see that which was pretty awesome. I’ve always been a fan of going to the zoo anyways but it was extra nice to be able to at least see animals. I feel so animal deprived. Having to walk around definitely wasn’t fun but it was better than having to be carted around in a wheelchair. Nils offered to push me around but I felt pathetic and like a huge burden on everyone enough as it was so I just sucked it up as best I could. Which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done but my normal stubbornness was well at work at the time.

Then we made our way back to Bonn, I got my box mailed, and I spent the rest of the night enjoying my last night in Bonn and packing until I had to be at the train station on Friday morning so we could all get to Munich and start our weekend there.

Interlaken

2011-08-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

I spent my second weekend in Europe in Interlaken, Switzerland. It was absolutely amazing. I’m so glad I went. There are no words to describe how utterly gorgeous it was there and the pictures just can’t do it justice. I had a great time.
There were only five of us that went and I think that made everything so much easier. It was so much less stress and it was just plain relaxing, like a great vacation should be. My heels were bothering me a bit Friday night when we got there and were pretty swollen so I was seriously considering not going canyoning. I got up Saturday morning, though, and they weren’t too swollen they didn’t hurt too horribly bad so I went.
It was an absolute blast. The company we did it with picked us up at our hostel so we didn’t have to walk all the way there and they guy that picked us up was also one of our guides during the canyoning. I went with Josh and Andrew while Carrie and Michelle did their own thing. We ended up meeting a few guys from Abilene Christian University which was pretty awesome. We seem to be meeting Texans everywhere.
We went on the full day course so basically, after the first jump, you were in the canyon and there was no turning back. It was so much fun. It kind of reminded me of a really hardcore waterpark, only natural. It was great. Certifiably insane but great. And they fed us at the end of it all too which we definitely needed. I was starving by the end of it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a sandwich and a beer.
Then we went back to the hostel to take a shower. Carrie had decided to go hang gliding and Michelle went with her. Our plan was to walk through town and meet up with Michelle so that she wouldn’t have to sit alone until Carrie got done hang gliding but we never found her and the three of us ended up spending the evening walking through Interlaken and stopping in the occasional chocolate or outdoors shop before going back to the hostel and completely crashing. It was really nice and relaxing.
The next morning we got up and just sort of hung around for a bit. We ate breakfast together and then Carrie, Michelle, and I went outside and sat next to this amazing lake that was right outside of our hostel. It was so beautiful. Not to mention I got to sit there with my feet in the cold water that felt so very good.

Then we all walked to the train station and took a tram up the side of this mountain to a restaurant that was perched up there. The view was pretty spectacular. We just sort of hung around for a bit before we went back down and got on our train back to Bonn. It was just so relaxing, peaceful, and beautiful. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Much better than Paris.

We got back early in the evening and I went back to my host family’s to eat dinner there. I had dinner with my host mom and a couple of her friends before we watched the USA v. Japan world cup finals game. USA lost. You could argue that they needed the win more than we did though.

Program Week 2

2011-08-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we started out this week pretty easily. We just had a German workshop in the morning and a tour of the Museum of Anesthesiology in the afternoon. It was a pretty chill day and it was probably really good that we had that more relaxing day after all the craziness of the last part of last week and our weekends.

On Tuesday, we got up early and went to Cologne to take a tour of the cathedral and old town. The Cologne Cathedral has the solid gold tomb with the three wise men inside. It was pretty cool to be able to see that. In the afternoon, we went to Elde House which was basically a Gestapo prison during the Nazi time period. It was a place where the Nazi’s would take people who they thought could be Jews, homosexuals, Sinti, Roma, Jehovah’s witnesses, or anyone they even suspected of not being completely loyal to the Nazis. The people they brought would then be “questioned” before they were either released or sent somewhere else. They showed us all of the tiny cells where they would put 30-40 people in at once as well as all the writing the prisoners put on the walls while they were there. The writing told a lot of things like all the different places the prisoners were from as well as all of the things they had to endure during their stays. Then we were supposed to go on a rooftop tour of the cathedral but our guide never showed up so we just went back to Bonn for the night.

We had to get up early again Wednesday morning so that we could go to the teaching hospital here in Bonn to watch surgeries all morning. I do believe that I am even more sure than ever that I want to be a veterinarian and not a human doctor. I just don’t have the patience to deal with too much human stupidity. The first surgery I saw was on a guy that had crashed his motorcycle into a parked van going 100 km/h in the middle of the city. It was pretty cool to see some of the differences and similarities of surgery in humans versus that on animals. There’s a lot more equipment and technology that goes into human surgery but they take way more time than an equivalent surgery would take with an animal.
Then, in the afternoon, we went to the USA v. France women’s world cup semi-finals game. That was so much fun. It was pretty chilly outside but we still took full advantage of being able to act like crazy Americans and we painted ourselves and ran around to make sure as many people saw us as possible. Most of the other Americans I saw there looked about as crazy as we did. It was awesome. There were a bunch of French and German people there, who were all bundled up, who kept asking me if I was cold. Got to love the USA. Then, after we BTHO France, we came back to Bonn and celebrated for a while.

Thursday, we spent all morning in class and Dr. Wasser went over euthanasia programs and a lot of Nazi history and how it all affected present day thinking. It’s really cool to have a teacher tell you something about history and then relate that to its affect of something present today that we can see for ourselves. I don’t think I’ve ever had a teacher that has done that before. It really makes you think about things and helps to understand them more. All of the euthanasia type of stuff was a lot more medical related and kind of cool but completely twisted at the same time. The Nazi’s initially started euthanasia programs for mentally disabled people because they believed that they would pollute the gene pool and that they were a burden on society and the people around them so they had a negative worth and needed to be gotten rid of. Then the euthanasia ideas sort of spread from there out to all the different groups that the Nazi’s persecuted. Then Dr. Wasser showed us some numbers from a survey that was done and a majority of Germans would support euthanasia or assisted suicide for a person with cerebral palsy who stated that they wanted to die once they couldn’t move anymore but euthanasia is still illegal in Germany today because when Germans think of euthanasia, they think of the Nazi time period and they don’t want to relive that in any way possible.
Then we spent the afternoon in the botanical gardens in Bonn for our guest lecture on homeopathy. He definitely had an interesting way of looking at things.

On Friday, we went to the Institute for Aerospace Medicine. That was not what I was expecting at all. I didn’t have many expectations about the tour but I figured since it was called the “Institute for Aerospace MEDICINE” that we would actually talk about medicine. No such luck. It was pretty much just a tour of the facility.
Then we went to Bruhl to see a palace. It was crazy how big and elaborate everything was and the fact that it was all for one person. All the people that went to Paris for the weekend had to rush out of there so that they could make their train to start on their adventure to try to make in to Paris for the weekend. I decided to go to Switzerland instead and I’m so glad that I did. We got to hang out at the palace in Bruhl for a little after our tour was over and we went and walked around the gardens there. It was so pretty.

Amsterdam Weekend

2011-08-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend we decided to go to Amsterdam after finishing our program week in Norddeich Mole on Friday. The train ride went pretty smooth until we had a surprise train change about an hour and a half before we got to Amsterdam because something was wrong with the train or the tracks or something like that. I think we managed to navigate it pretty well though. We all made it to Amsterdam at least. Then we ended up splitting up into three main groups to go to our separate hostels/hotels.
I was in a hotel with Heather, Matt, and Elyzabeth. We initally had some trouble trying to coordinate with each other once we got to Amsterdam but we found our way to the hotel eventually. We had four people staying in a two person room so we had to squish a little. The three of us girls slept sideways on the beds under one blanket while Matt slept in his “Matt Cave” under the desk with the other blanket, pillow, and all the towels for cushion.

Then we got up early on Saturday morning to go meet up with everyone else and take on Amsterdam. It took us a while to get together and plan the day so when we finally did get going, we started out by going on a canal cruise before getting lunch. The canal cruise was definitely worth the time. We got to see a lot of Amsterdam and got a bit of a crash course history lesson at the same time. For lunch, I ended up with the group that got pizza. It’s funny how we’re abroad but we seem to keep reverting back to American food every chance we get.

After lunch, we split into Heineken Experience and shopping groups for a few hours. I went to the Heineken Experience and that was more interesting than I was really expecting. It seemed to me like they tried to explain a lot more of the science that goes into brewing beer than they probably would in the US. It wasn’t really anything new to a bunch of science majors, like us, but it was interesting to see that the other people there seemed to have a high enough science-knowledge-baseline that they understood what was being said pretty easily. In my experience, a lot of people in the US don’t understand or don’t care to understand how something like fermentation works.

As we were leaving, we met another group of Texans. I believe they were from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and they were on a study abroad trip based in Austria. It was pretty cool to see that we aren’t the only Texans over here.
Then we went and met up with everyone else in this big, open park sort of place and took a nap in the grass behind the Van Gogh Museum. There were people everywhere but it still seemed so quiet. It was a great break from Louisiana to just be able to lay outside in the sun in the middle of the day and be comfortable instead of suffering from the outrageous heat and humidity. Then we went to the Anne Frank House and took a tour through that. It was really good to see first hand how she and her family had to live until they were given up.

On Sunday, we got up and went to the Van Gogh Museum with one of the other groups. It hinted a little about how Van Gogh probably had some form of epilepsy which could have been responsible for him cutting off part of his ear and later committing suicide. From my perspective, that was the coolest part of the whole museum but I’m also not really into much visual art to begin with. Then it was off to the train station to make our way back to Bonn.

Program Week 1

2011-08-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Maggie works as a student worker at AIB (in addition to all her other jobs) so she took me to AIB with her on Monday morning so I wouldn’t have to try to find my way on my own. We had a historical city walk through Bonn which was pretty cool. It was nice to have someone lead us around and tell us the significance of everything around us. I think it also helped us to try to figure out how to get around the city a little bit too. Two of the main things they showed us were the church in the town center and the university building that used to be one of the prince electors palaces.

Then we went back to the AIB after lunch and had class with Dr. Wasser and a German workshop with Hilde. I’m really glad we’re having a few of these German workshops because I’d be pretty lost without them. Having Sebastian teach us some German while we were in the states helped quite a bit but I’m glad we’re doing it here too.
On Tuesday, we had a cultural studies discussion with Nils. It was pretty cool to sit there in a class and just be able to discuss different things. It was interesting to hear about all the things everyone else was expecting from Germany. Then we went to the Alexander Koenig Zoological Museum. It was interesting to see how people studied animals back when Koenig was alive compared to today. They killed animals and stuffed them while today most people try to observe animals alive or by dissection and genetic analysis.

On Wednesday, we travelled to Hannover. The country side is interesting to watch. In some ways everything here is really advanced and in others, it’s like stepping back in time. There are free range chickens instead of huge poultry houses and there are scattered dairy cattle here and there instead of massive dairy barns. They might have the big industrialized farming and ranching like I’m more used to but from what I’ve seen, it all looks much more traditional. Europeans are a lot more advanced when it comes to public transportation, recycling, and other things like that though. They are a lot greener (both ecologically and their scenery) and they seem to waste much less. We went to the axolotl research center and saw all the cute axolotls and then listened to a lecture about the type of research they are doing there and why they are doing it. I thought it was really interesting that axolotls can revert differentiated cells back into stem cells so that they can re-grow parts of their bodies.

We got up and travelled to Norderney on Thursday and went to an alternative medicine type of place where they mainly treat different sorts of lung problems with diet, exercise, and Norderney’s unique and awesome environment. We also learned a lot about Germany’s health care system. It was like a big gym/spa there. It was so nice. It seems more like a vacation instead of rehabilitation to me though.
After our program day was officially over, we went to the beach and went swimming in the North Sea. It was so cold but so much fun. Then we played a game of ultimate frisbee on the beach after we all decided we couldn’t handle the water anymore. It was so much fun. A bunch of us went and ate dinner together after we changed into some dry clothes back at the hostel and then we went back to the beach, sat on a dune and watch the sunset. It was so beautiful.
I got up at 4:30 on Friday to go out with the bird watching group. I wasn’t very interested in the birds themselves, honestly, I just love that part of the day and it was really cool to go on a hike like that and look at all the wildlife specific to the area. If for some crazy reason, I don’t end up in equine or large animal medicine then I would like to do something with Texas wildlife and it was really interesting for me to see some European coastal wildlife. Not to mention, I’m a country girl through and through so I love feeling like I’m out in the middle of nowhere and I got a bit of a sense of that in Norderney. It was really nice.

Then we got to go on our Wattwanderung through the Wassen Sea a few hours later. Before we actually started our wattwanderung, though, we hiked across the island and our guide showed us a lot of the protected habitat around there, why it’s important, and how it all works. He explained how the sand dunes for and how the grasses are what holds them together. He also showed us a couple examples of how the plants deal with all the salt water around them. Some adapt in ways that let them use the salt and others adapt so they can excrete all the excess salt.
It was really cool to see how unique it was that you could walk from the island to the mainland and even cooler that we actually got to do it ourselves. We got to eat oysters that we picked up along the way. We got to look at a bunch of worm poop and then dig up the worms and look at them. We got to pick up some muscles and then watch how they went back down under the sand. We also learned a little muscle/oyster anatomy. I guess I was wrong in Biology Lab when I thought I’d never see any of that stuff again.

And of course having an excuse to mess around in the mud is always fun. We may not be little kids anymore but we still like to act like we are from time to time.
When we finally got to the mainland, we had a chance to wash off our legs and shoes and try, in vain, to save our socks. Then they fed us. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see food. We had fish sandwiches with some seasoned fries that tasted sooooooo good. I’ve never been much of a fish person but these sandwiches were delicious.
Then it was off to the seal rehab clinic. They had two adult male seals there but the rest were all babies (or howlers) that were just getting taken care of until they were old enough to go off and fend for themselves. It was interesting to see the different stages of feeding and how it gradually teaches the babies how to get food for themselves. At first they are fed this milk/fish mush and are gradually fed more and more fish. Then they just shove the fish down the baby’s throat (because, apparently, if something goes far enough into their mouths, they have to swallow it). Then they just throw the fish into the pond to make the seals get their own food and to try and minimize human contact as much as possible. After that, we went to the Walloseum to finish off our bout of aquatic life education.

It was a great end to a great week. It was sort of weird having to leave my host family after only being there a few days but I’m really glad that we did so much traveling and saw so much on our first week here. I think it helped us a lot with trying to figure out how to get around on our first weekend on our own. Norderney was so beautiful and such a great experience. I’m so glad we went there for the program.

Host Family Weekend

2011-08-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

My host family is great. I was living in a flat with my host mom, her daughter, and one of her friends and her parents live in the flat across the hall. They’re all so friendly and welcoming, They made me feel like I was already a part of their big, extended family right away. My host roommate, Natalie, is from Canada and moved in with my host family after her original Germany housing plan didn’t quite go as planned. She’s really cool and I’m so glad that I’m living with a family that’s all fluent in English. Zoe, my host-sister, is 11 years old and a big animal fan so I lucked out big time and I’m not the only crazy animal person in the place.
Bonn was pretty crazy my first night because there was this big free music festival going on the night that we got there. I was kind of interested in going but I found out later that I wouldn’t have been able to because so many people showed up that they just stopped letting them in. I ended up going out with my host mom, Maggie, to a deal that her theatre was doing. They had this big carpet laid down in the middle of this square in front of the house where Beethoven was born. They had lines painted on the carpet which were supposed to be walls and they had a sink, stove, refrigerator, TV, piano, and everything else a house would have, that all worked, set out on different places on the carpet. The lines were set out like rooms in a house and the actors and just random people from off the street could “move in” and pretend to live in this house while it was there. It was pretty cool. It was the sort of closing night for it all so people were bbq-ing and they had a piano and a house musician so there was music constantly going on. It was a lot of fun. Apparently I looked German to a bunch of the people there because they would all come up to me and just start talking to me in German. Maggie had to keep telling them all that I was from the US and didn’t know any German. It was kind of cool but kind of awkward at the same time because I would have no idea what they just said to me and no idea how to tell them I don’t know any German.
On Sunday, I went with my host family/roommate to a play my host sister was in called the Magic Flute. It was all kids that were 11-17 years old in the play so it was pretty much just all of their families there. The play was in German, so I didn’t understand a word of it, of course. It was still pretty cool though because I was still able to have a general idea of what all was going on just from how they were all acting. I guess it was a bit of a lesson in how important body language can be.
After the play, they took me to my host-uncle’s Irish pub and I met my host-aunt (like I said, big extended host family). It was a pretty cool place. You definitely don’t see places like that in the states. After talking to a few people there for a while, we went back to the flat and I watched some TV show episodes with Maggie and Natalie (my host-roommate). I can’t remember what the show was called at the moment but it was an English comedy with the same guy that did Shaun of the Dead. It was definitely a different type of humor but it was still really funny.