Week Two

So here I am two weeks into History of Medicine. Wow I am in love. I had never thought about visiting Vienna but I'm so grateful Dr. Wasser made it one of our excursions. The architecture of some of the bigger buildings reminded me of regent street in London, which I adore. We got to learn about the Josephinum which is a hospital turned museum. The wax collection was incredible. My favorite by far of the places we toured was the Narrenturm. I'm fascinated by diseases especially diseases in history. It was eye opening to see the realistic wax figures and their depictions of all the diseases throughout history.

On our afternoon off we stumbled upon the city hall which also led us to the parliament building and statue of Maria Teresa. The buildings were extravagant and hold so much history. This week was probably my top week so far. I loved all of us being in the same hotel and getting to bond over great food and drinks. These people are starting to become some of the best people I know.

After Vienna, I spent  a weekend exploring Florence. I will somehow make sure I get to come back one day. Me and Joanna walked everywhere we went. Everyone was so kind and the food was to die for. We may have had pizza for every dinner and gelato everyday but calories don't count in Italy, right?

We walked the 414 steps of the bell tower and then many more steps to reach Piazzale Michaelangelo. The view was breathtaking and well worth the sweat and calf cramps. Overall, every city has exceeded my expectations and left me wanting more. It's time to start brainstorming that paper then Norderney next week. Ciao for now!

The Vienna Adventure (it was too short)

I first wanted to say that I would love to go back to Vienna. I really liked the city personally with all of the museums, buildings, and cafes. I want to bring my family along and that says a lot since they do not like traveling abroad. I was lucky to go to Italy last year because my sister went abroad, to Bonn also, and wanted to go to Italy for spring break. I think there is something for everyone to enjoy in the city like shopping for my mom and the natural history museum for my sister and dad. The first day of Vienna was extremely busy since we traveled to Vienna by airplane and did a plague tour by an "original" plague doctor back from the good old days when the plague was very active. I am very glad we all were able to "take our medicine" so we won't contract the plague during our time at Vienna. The rest of the four day trip was filled by museum tours which includes, visiting a museum with extremely accurate replicates of the human body to a museum dedicated to music. We also attended a beautiful concert at St. Anna's on Thursday night which played music from Mozart and Schubert. I personally liked the cello during the performance, but I think I am a bit biased towards deep sounding instruments since I used to play the baritone. During the free afternoon on Thursday, I went to a bakery called Demel and it was amazing. The decorations inside made it worthy for a king, which is funny since I believe they used to be the bakery for the imperial and royal court of Vienna. Even after hundreds of years, I think they are still worthy of that title. I got a slice of chocolate cake that would have made a kid jump for joy. It was satisfying to eat cake at the end of the Vienna journey. Even after the busy trips and exciting information from the tour, I felt that I only touched the surface of what Vienna offers to its guest. I do want to go back to get another look at what Vienna has. During our stay in Vienna, since it was a multi-day trip with the rest of the student, I think everyone had a fantastic time learning new knowledge and seeing epic statues. This weekend, I am going to be in Florence so we shall see what Italy has in store for me. I hope everyone has safe travels and have epic adventures.

Dreaming of Vienna

This past week, we traveled with the program to Vienna, Austria. Traveling with a group of 28 people proved to be slightly difficult at times, but overall it went smoothly. I found out that European airports have small grocery stores in them, which turns out are actually quite useful. When we arrived in Vienna, we checked into the hotel and went straight back out to go tour the city with Dr. Schnabel, a doctor from the time of the plague (a.k.a Dr. Wasser dressed up). The tour was absolutely amazing, and seeing the reactions of other people to Dr. Wasser’s outfit was pretty hysterical. At the end of our walking tour, we went to go see Freud’s house, which was really cool to see but I wish that his couch had been there. After, we ate at this restaurant called Gulashmuseum, which was absolutely amazing. It was my first time trying goulash, and I am definitely a fan. The next day, we toured the Josephinum, House of Music, and the Capuchin Crypt. My favorite part of this day was seeing the anatomical wax specimens in the Josephinum. They were absolutely amazing, and I wish we could have had more time to look at them, but I probably could have stayed all day if I had the opportunity to. The crypt was very interesting to see, but also very somber and ominous. The next morning was spent visiting the Narrenturm, which was originally a psychiatric ward but is now a pathological anatomical museum, which had some absolutely amazing specimens. Some of these specimens were extremely rare, and they were all extremely interesting to see. After lunch, we had a free afternoon. A group of us went to see St. Stephen’s Cathedral and then went to see the palace. We decided to spend 12 euros to tour the palace, and it was the best 12 euros I’ve spent on the trip. The palace’s silver collections and rooms were like something out of a fairytale. It was absolutely breathtaking. Later that night, we went to see a classical concert that was very nice. The next morning, we visited the Natural History Museum, and our time in Vienna came to an end.

Vienna has thus far been my favorite portion of my time spent in Europe. The palace was incredible, and I am so sad that I didn’t have time to go see the summer palace, but it’s on my list of things to do next time I find myself in Vienna. The wax models and pathological specimens were so interesting, and I wish I had more time to spend looking at those.

Now we’re in Prague, and I’m excited to see what this weekend holds. I hear this city is amazing, but it’s going to take a lot to top Vienna in my book.

Auf wiedersehen!!!

Alana Carrasco 

My Past Weekend

I honestly don't know where the time has gone, but just thinking that we only have one more full day left of our Vienna excursion amazes me. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to explore the vast city of Munich. We started off the trip with a bang, being stranded in the middle of a city we did not know. Long story short, 4 of us took a taxi from the central station in Munich and were taken to the wrong place 3 times before being dropped off at the wrong place with a 40 minute walk to our destination. All in all, it was a story I will look back on for a lifetime and remember, however I would not do it again. On the bright side, once we arrived at our AirBNB, we were treated with some amazing pizza so that was a plus. The next day, we started off by going to the concentration camp memorial site in Dachau. Words can't explain the impact it had on me; just standing there gave me chills realizing that thousands of people were brutally imprisoned and even killed exactly where my feet lied.  It was an experience to remember and it really makes me realize that I take my life for granted way too often. Next, we travelled to the city where the math and science museum was. I forget the exact same of the museum but it was probably one of the coolest places I have ever been. With exhibits ranging from shipbuilding to pharmaceutics to astronomy, it was a very educating experience. Lastly, we finished off our day with the famous beer-gardens such as Hofbrauhauss. The beer was fantastic, the company was great, and the experience was one to remember. All of this felt like a blur being that we are currently in Vienna, Austria nearing the conclusion of week 2 of our trip. I can already tell leaving this place and leaving these people will be hard.

And this is only week one

We are one week into our stay in Germany and I can hardly believe it. It feels like I have been here for a month. My host family is very nice, but I do not get to see them as much as I had hoped because I am living in their rent home across the street. My host mom, To Giang, is originally from Vietnam and makes incredible food from many parts of the world, so my taste buds have been experiencing a lot of change and lot of wonderful new flavors. I do not see my host dad, Michael, very much because he leaves for work in Düsseldorf early and comes home late. Their 2 daughters, Vita and Vivi, are eleven and seven. They are so cute and full of energy. Vita loves school and likes to show me all of her schoolwork and new things she has learned in class. Vivi finds it especially funny to change Siri on my phone to speak in German and make Siri repeat sentences and answer questions. She says it will help me learn German faster. They also have two other students living with them. Lily, who is their family friend’s daughter, has been so great to talk to. She translates dinner conversations and teaches me new phrases in German. The first day of class Lily was my lifesaver. I had no idea how to figure out the public transportation but because she also has classes, she walked with me to the bus stop and rode the bus until it was time for me to get off, even when she had to keep riding. Judy is also studying abroad. She doesn’t speak any German either, so her and I have a good laugh when we don’t understand what is being said while trying to pick up what we can. Class has been very interesting so far even though we have only gone through introductions and the beginning of each subject.

 Bonn is beautiful. Wow. The architecture is astounding everywhere you look. It is especially amazing when I begin thinking of how old a lot of the buildings are, the reasons for being built, what people have experienced while visiting them and all the stories that each of them must hold. Even when you are eating, you can just look up to see a beautiful historical building right before you to adore. On Thursday, our day off, a group of us went to Seven Hills to see Schloss Drachenburg. Even though the trek up the mountain (yes, we googled to see if the elevation of the castle was considered a mountain) was more than what I was anticipating, it was absolutely worth it. The castle was sumptuous and full of gorgeous detail. However, the view was what really caught my eye. It was breath taking. I even got to end this day by enjoying Wiener schnitzel for the first time. Overall, it has been an incredible week and I cannot wait to see what adventures Vienna holds!

                                                                                                                                 

Wie war München?

So, as I said earlier I would need to make an entirely separate post to try to discuss our first weekend in Germany. On the whole, it was exactly what I had hoped my first excursion would be like when trying to travel without the guidance of my host mom, Dr. Wasser, or the rest of AIB. Things started off innocently enough, with our train ride to Munich being relatively uneventful, if not kind of long. However, as soon as we got to Munich, things started to get interesting. It was really too late to get food anywhere by the time we got into town at around 10 or so, and after we had wandered for a bit we decided to just make our way by taxi back to the hotel. Now, if you've read anyone else's blog you know this is where part of our group got to have their first unplanned "adventure". While my taxi and the third taxi made it to the hotel quickly (and very, very, very awkwardly silent in the case of my taxi), the first taxi that left did  not. After driving them to the wrong destination a couple of times and turning off the fare since he had messed up so much, the taxi driver dropped them off at the wrong location, forcing them to walk about 40 minutes in the middle of the night to the hotel. Now, from our point of view things were pretty cheery. In the meantime, the wonderfully nice woman who owned the hotel had told us where to go get pizza so we could eat, and we wandered to the small hole in the wall, ordered 3 pizzas and a bottle of wine, and proceeded to sit and wait for our food, part of the group content with the bottle of wine to share. After getting our pizzas (partially a welcome gift since we knew the others were having trouble) we went back to the hotel and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally Dae texts to let us know that they have to walk 40 minutes still, and of course we start to panic just a little bit on whether or not we need to call Dr. Wasser (doing great in the whole not needing help area right). Luckily they show up, eat pizza and end up with a story to share.

Day two was a trip to the Dachau concentration camp, an experience you cannot afford to miss if you are here. There is something indescribable about being in that place, and the weight it leaves you with is something that history books can never convey. It's a somber day, and you have to anticipate the aforementioned weight and gravity of the complex and the effect it has on your mood. It's not a place for much laughter. That being said, it was my second time to go and it was probably even more impactful than the first. Don't miss it if you go to Munich. That occupied most of our day on the first day, and we had late lunch at this random spot we found because things close here a little after lunch time as if they need a siesta or something... anyways it was delicious as usual and afterwards we wandered back towards town to meet the rest of our group at a beer garden for dinner and a classic giant beer. The atmosphere was excellent, an all-outdoor area with trees creating a canopy over everything, and people were vibrant and jovial to put it lightly. We stayed there for maybe 2 hours where I had a single beer because why are they so big, then we took the journey back home for the night.

Day 2 we said goodbye to the hotel owner who took photos because I wasn't joking when I said she's the nicest woman ever, then we went back to Munich to use our few hours before the train came. We reserved seats (quite the ordeal because they were all full) then our small group went to the Olympic park in Munich. I had never been to an Olympic area and it did not disappoint. Rolling hills and green grass throughout, with amazing architecture even by today's standards, all capped off with a great climb to the top of a hill for one hell of a view. Eventually we made our way back to the station, got on board the train and started the trip back. Of course that couldn't be met with no issues, so our train was delayed 51 minutes for a really nondescript fire (we don't know where it was or if it was an issue, they just kinda said fire). But after the "fire" was gone we got moving again, and I ended up at home at around 11:15, closing the night with my first long call home to update everyone. That's a long post so sorry world, but it's kinda hard to condense such a packed in trip. Basically go to Munich if you can because it's super cool. So wie war München? München war super.

Slightly Afraid of Taxis Now

For our first free weekend a group of other students and I decided to travel to Munich.  We boarded the train at 4:00 on Friday and then we were off to Munich.  Everything was going smoothly until it came time to get off the train and find our way to our Airbnb.  We all decided that since it was late our best bet would be to get taxis.  Four of us hopped into a taxi and then proceeded to what we though was our Airbnb.  Unfortunately this was not the case.  We ended up at the wrong location but after a minute it seemed as though we had cleared it up with our driver.  After about 20 minutes of driving it became apparent that we had not cleared up the confusion... Stop #2 was also not where we were trying to go.  As it turns out it is important to make it very apparent to the driver that you are trying to go to an address in Dachau, not in Munich.  One might think that would be the end of all of this but the struggle was not over yet.  Our driver pulled over on the correct street this time, but about a mile and a half away from where we were trying to go.  At this point we were so stressed out over the whole ordeal that we decided to just get out and walk from there.  On our walk there we saw some sort of strange European rodent and got to look at the stars.  Upon finally reaching the Airbnb the rest of our group had pizza waiting for us which we ate with pure bliss.  Looking back the taxi ordeal was extremely frustrating, but all in all it makes for a pretty funny story.  After eating we went to finally get some sleep for the night.  This is also when we realized that our room had a James Bond theme to it, which was pretty dang kool.  The next morning we woke up early and had a great breakfast to start our first day in Munich.  

Our Airbnb was beautiful and the breakfast put us in a great mood to start our day.  After breakfast we went to the Dachau concentration camp.  This was the main thing that I wanted to do while in Munich and I am very glad that I got to go and learn more about the monstrosities that occurred there.  Going to Dachau was extremely impactful.  Walking through Dachau it was hard to imagine that such horrible things could have occurred there.  Massive poplar trees line an entry to the camp and in a way they offer a feeling of safety and security.  Upon stepping past the trees though one can see site after site where buildings used to stand and where terrible acts occurred.  After leaving Dachau we were all in a very sullen mood.  The knowledge we had just taken in was obviously weighing heavily on all of us.  As we headed back to town though we began to get more lively.  We ended our day with dinner at the augustiner biergarten.  The next day we were all exhausted but we managed to see the glockenspiel and Olympic Park befor boarding our train home.  Once again we were faced with some difficulty in transit though because apparently there was a fire on the tracks.  This put us getting back late but again added to our story of how bad our luck was with transportation.  Our first free weekend was all over the map but I am still filled with excitement for all of the weekends to come.  Next stop, Vienna!

ZWEI

YOU MEAN OUR FIRST WEEK IS OVER?! I think I've made more good memories in this first week than I have all year. Europe is absolutely everything I imagined and more. On top of that, I am surrounded by the most amazing people ever; I'm really feeling blessed.

By the time I left the Frankfurt airport I had already encountered so many things that I had never experienced before. For example, the paper towels at the airport were ...strange. I guess you could call them reused? I forgot to take a pic but the dispenser looked something like this:

Looks normal, right? Until you realize the bottom feeds back into the dispenser! Where does it go?? I'll never know..

My host mom is the best. She is so sweet and really makes sure that I am comfortable (and NEVER hungry). On the first day when I first found out that my "host family" consisted of just a host mom, I was a little nervous that I would get lonely without any kids my age around. But I quickly began to socialize, and now I have 24 amazing new friends. 

Commute into town was a nightmare to learn, but luckily I haven't made any huge mistakes yet except I did miss one train (we'll get to that soon). Besides that it has been fairly easy to adjust. I am learning a litttttttle bit a of German which is interesting because sometimes I walk around the town practicing the things I have learned. I'm sure I sound insane saying things like "Was ist das? Das ist eine Katze!" (What is this? This is a cat!).

Thursday was a holiday which some friends and I spent hiking in Königswinter. The hike was SO steep; probably the steepest hike of my life. The only reason I didn't turn around and give up was because nobody else was, and I didn't want to suffer the embarrassment (LOL). Here are some pictures from that adventure:

This past weekend was one I'll never forget. Nine of the people in the program, including I, went to Amsterdam. It was the most foreign experience I've ever had. First of all, as I addressed earlier, we missed our train connection in Köln because we were on the wrong platform. While we were frustrated at first, we decided to really take the time to enjoy Köln. We grabbed some Kölsch beer (which is a local beer in the Köln-Bonn area), and we enjoyed the weather. The best part about this plot twist was that we had the chance to see the Köln Dom (Cologne Cathedral) which was absolutely breathtaking. It has so much history and is absolutely stunning, so it turned out to be a blessing that we missed our train. I'll insert a sub-par picture here but it won't tell you anything about how big it is; it's something you have to see in person. 

So we eventually got back on another train and headed to Amsterdam that same night. We hung out, ate dinner, explored the Red Light District, and went to bed. The following day we had an interesting time trying to navigate the beautiful city on bicycles. We took many scenic detours, none of them intentional, but nonetheless it was an excellent time. We bought some fries with mayonnaise, which, in America, is something I wouldn't even give my worst enemy, but in Amsterdam the mayo was verrry tasty and sweet. The fries were delectable as well; 10/10 would recommend Amsterdam food. But before this turns into a food blog, I'll just sum up the rest of our Saturday night by saying that we enjoyed our night in Amsterdam so much that before we knew it it was 4:00 AM and the sun was nearly rising!

Now I am really hoping the rest of the trip does not go as fast as this first week, and I'm looking forward to my travels to Vienna and Prague this week! But for now I must pack... Auf Wiedersehen!!

The First Week

This first week has been an absolute whirlwind. It feels like I've done enough things to last a month--and all of them have been amazing. My host mother is so sweet and accommodating and has made some incredibly good food. Our first night she was very excited to make spargel, which ended up being basically white asparagus. Apparently it's very big during this time in Germany, although I'm not sure she realized we have something very similar in America. I was expecting lots of meat but she really enjoys cooking with vegetables, which is great because I don't think the tomato sauce on the pizzas I'm eating outside of the house is counting much towards my daily vegetable serving (don't worry, I've also eaten lots of authentic German food). She loves hearing about what we're learning in German class and helps us out so much with recommendations and advice we need.

The city of Bonn is not quite like I expected. I initially envisioned Bonn to be a small town, and all of our host houses to be within walking distance of each other and the AIB. Instead, we're all spread out around Bonn and during the day the city is bustling with people and their dogs. However, it seems like at night all of the commotion stops right when it gets dark. We tried going out a couple times and it was definitely fun inside the pubs but outside it looks almost like an abandoned town or a movie set. Regardless, I like Bonn as a home base for us, especially because most of our excursions and weekend trips are to bigger and more crowded cities.

Our academic portion is also very unique, and I like it a lot. I learned pretty early on that Dr. Wasser is incredibly knowledgeable about just about anything you throw his way, and it's always hilarious starting off a lecture to a loud rock song. I really enjoy his teaching style and I feel very engaged and interested. The same is true for Neurophysiology of Music. I never realized how much thought goes in to planning things like concert venues but it's absolutely fascinating, and I love all the hilarious comments he throws in to his lectures. Lastly, German class is something else. Hilde's teaching style initially intimidated the crap out of me because I hate being quizzed on the spot for things I haven't had the chance to study, but after the first day I just learned to embrace it. It also helped me learn about people's names and where they're from, not to mention all the help it's given me while attempting to communicate with the locals.

This Thursday was Ascension Day, so we had a public holiday and chose to spend it climbing Drachenfels in Seven Hills. Eiffel was beautiful and it was another opportunity for all of us in the group to bond. So far I really like everyone in the program and climbing this massive, and very vertical, hill definitely brought us together. I like that we're so close to places like this magnificent castle that make taking little day trips so fun.

This weekend was our first experience traveling alone around Europe. The train from Bonn to Cologne was much different than I expected because we sat by a soccer team that played loud music and sang along the entire way while drinking beer. I actually thought it was hilarious and loved it, but I was a little glad they weren't coming on our next train because I don't think I would've been quite as charmed after hearing them for four hours. Things definitely didn't go quite as planned around the time we tried to board our train from Cologne to Amsterdam because, even though there were about seven of us traveling together, we still somehow went to the wrong area and missed our train. Fortunately there was another one set to come three hours later, so we had a great time exploring Cologne and bonding over a couple beers. Although it was stressful in the moment it ended up turning into a really great afternoon and we made 1000% sure we were ready at the right platform for the next train.

Amsterdam was absolutely amazing and I ended up loving it even more than I thought I would. There were people everywhere and it was refreshing to hear English. Surprisingly we met lots of people from Britain and enjoyed taking in all the sights and culture. It actually reminded me a lot of a cleaner and more beautiful version of New Orleans because there were plenty of bars and rowdy bachelor and bachelorette parties going on all around us. One of my favorite things we did was visit the Heineken Experience, which was basically a brewery tour plus plenty of added special effects, like an interactive video where you get "brewed", and a big theater room playing all of their advertisements. At the end of the tour they give you a wristband for two free beers to be enjoyed at their rooftop bar. I'm glad we did this early in the trip because it made it easy to see the whole city from the top of the building and point out some landmarks for later. I also really liked just walking along the river and stopping in on little shops--although I definitely saw my life flash before my eyes a few times as bikes flew past me seemingly unbothered by my frantic leaps out of their way. I'm pretty certain that had I been there more than two days I'd have to add "visiting the ER" to my list of activities done in Amsterdam.

Overall it's been an incredible first week and with each day it gets more exciting. I'm already calling Bonn home and becoming very comfortable and familiar with the town and the things to do in it. With that said, I'm ecstatic to see what Vienna has in store and equally as excited for all of the pizza and gelato I'll be scarfing down next weekend when I visit Florence.

Let the Adventures Continue!

It has officially been one week since I arrived in Germany and this country has yet to fall short of my expectations. I have really enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my host family. My host sister is 10 years old and I love sitting down with her as she helps me with my German homework, and I help her with her English homework. My favorite part about this week was going to visit Siebengebirge Castle in the 7 Hills outside of Bonn. The steep hike up to the top of the hill kindly reminded me how out of shape I am. Although the trek was a little rough, once we made it to the top, it was 100% worth it. The castle was gorgeous. It was filled with magnificent rooms and the views were breathtaking. Our journey almost stopped there, however, we made the decision to continue on the trek higher up the top of the hill where some ancient ruins stood. I almost turned around before we made it up the hill because I wanted to grab some food in the city, but I couldn't have been happier that I decided to continue the hike. The view from the top of the hill was remarkable—hills, cities, and rivers could be seen from miles away. When I pictured myself in Germany before the trip, I pictured myself on top of a hill or mountain somewhere just enjoying the views, so this really was my perfect cup of tea. 

This past weekend, we traveled to Amsterdam. This is where I learned how important it is to remain flexible while traveling. We had to change trains one time in Cologne, and when we arrived we were so confident in ourselves and thought we would make it to our next train just in time. Well it turns out we were right in thinking this, because we showed up to our train and stared at it for about 5-10 minutes thinking it was the wrong train before watching it roll away. We decided to make the most of the couple hours we had to wait around for the next train by going to a restaurant next to the Cologne Cathedral. Although our travels were delayed a couple of hours, I still had the best time spending time with friends and enjoying Cologne.

I was taught another lesson about flexibility the next day in Amsterdam. We had an entire list of plans written out, determined to squeeze as much as we could into this weekend. We ended up crossing only a couple things off our list, but it was in the small changes of plans that I made the best memories. We went on the Heineken Experience tour on Saturday, and visited the Rijks Museum yesterday. The Heineken tour completely blew away my expectations and everything in the Rijks Museum was absolutely gorgeous. I would like to return to the Rijks one day; it was so massive that I don’t think we even put a dent in one corner of the museum.  I was a little bummed about not being able to see the Anne Frank house, but that just gives me another reason to plan a trip back to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.

Some of my best memories from this week were made in the little moments. When things don't go as planned, that's when the adventures begin. Sometimes it is great to forget about all the plans, and stop rushing from one location to the other. As much as I would love to see every inch of the places I travel, I realize that is not possible. I want to fully dive into every experience I have on this journey and immerse myself in the moment. I am going to make it my goal to keep my eyes open to everything around me and ask myself, “What would Da Vinci say?”

We've Survived One Week.

So, we've managed to get through the first week of this adventure. There were some difficulties, a lot of confusion, and even more great times and laughs. It turns out I remember more German than I thought I did which has helped quite a bit, although as soon as someone tries to start a conversation things start to go downhill real quick. To open my first day, I got to ride on the back of my host mom's bike because we were going to be late for my first tram ride. On top of being fairly awkward, I also missed the entire trip so I had no idea how to walk the streets, which certainly came into play again later as I tried to make my way home. Google maps has become my best friend when I'm lost, but I can say that I have now mastered the journey back and forth between my host home and AIB. That being said, I can also say that I've become more confident in just hopping on a train and hoping for the best until I know that I'm going the right way. On a side note, everything is pretty expensive and I'm quickly running out of Euros since nobody here wants to take a credit card in this strange non-American place. But the food is also delicious so I guess it's worth it. On the host family: Aenne is incredibly nice, and she loves to talk every morning over breakfast. She doesn't like for me to help with the dishes which is really hard to do since I think my mom would kill me if she knew I wasn't helping clean up everything. Andreas is quiet, but is also a nice man. He seems to be busy with work most of the time, leaving earlier than me usually and getting home somewhat late each night. I also now have another student, Dan from Texas (specifically A&M actually) who is living with us now. It's been nice to have somebody else to talk to in english when we're at the house, even though we don't overlap too much. So far class has been mostly introduction and background so I feel like it hasn't gotten to the difficult parts just yet. I'm sure next week it'll ramp up and I'll wish that I was back to this week and nice introductions.

As you might expect, everything is beautiful here. the grass is green, the trees are lush, the buildings all seem more historical than anything America has to offer, and I feel like there is some visual overload and I'm sure I'm missing parts of it. You sit at sidewalk cafes and look up at buildings that must be hundreds of years old with histories as vibrant as the town itself. I'm glad we'll be here for a while, because I don't know that there will be enough time to see everything in Bonn alone no matter how long I was here. I especially love the University and the garden that is in front of it, a massive open expanse of grass that is full of people and games and laughter. Pretty much everything you hope for in a great park, so I expect to spend a great deal of time there. Not to mention the University itself is beautiful considering it's an old palace (because that's what you make universities out of in Germany), so I'm a little spoiled with the riches of this town. The first weekend has been a fun one, but that's a whole other post with plenty of laughs, so more to come later today probably. There's still so much to explore, and it feels like there will never be enough time! Until next time.

-Gabe

A Great First Week

Today marks one week since our arrival to Germany. It definitely felt much longer than that, mostly because of how much I've been able to do during my time here. The first few days were really exciting, I was able to explore some of Bonn's stores and restaurants as well as the Hofgarten located outside the University of Bonn which was very enjoyable. By now I've managed to become fairly familiar with the central area of Bonn as well as the bus and tram systems. I also traveled by train for the first time and have learned how that system works as well. For my first free weekend here I traveled to Brussels, Belgium on Friday and then Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Saturday and returned to Bonn on Sunday night. Traveling between countries is surprisingly cheap and simple although train delays and transitions can be a bit stressful. Both Brussels and Amsterdam had so much to offer and I wish I would've had more time to explore the two cities.

We arrived to Brussels at around 6pm and headed to the Grand Place/Grot Markt shortly after checking in to our hotel. I was truly amazed by the architecture and culture diversity at the Grand Place. There were street performers, concerts, tons of shops and restaurants, and people from many different backgrounds that we got to meet. At night the buildings light up very beautifully which was quite an amazing sight. We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and and then spent the remainder of the night walking around the Grand Place, exploring various bars and finishing up at a festival which we unfortunately had to leave since it was getting pretty late and we had to be up early the next day for our train to Amsterdam.

At Amsterdam we stayed at a hostel, which was a new experience for me and we even made a friend there that joined us later that night when we went out to the downtown area of the city. We also went on a cruise around the canals during the day and got to visit the Rijksmuseum the following morning which was amazing, although a bit too large for the time we had available so we were unable to fully get through it all.

We're now back in Bonn and oddly enough it feels like I've come back "home" just because of how quickly I've managed to familiarize myself with the city. The few lectures we've had on the Neurophysiology of Music, History of Medicine, and German language have been quite enjoyable. Dr. Wasser has done a great job picking these specific classes for the program as they all relate to each other and make the content easier to understand for us. Although I can't say I speak any significant amount of German, I've been able to pick up a few phrases to help me get through shops and restaurants which has been very rewarding. I look forward to our upcoming excursions in Vienna, Austria where we'll be visiting several museums and other sites, including the Sigmund Freud Museum which I'm particularly excited for.