My last day in Germany

For the whole last week of the trip, I debated what I wanted to do on the last day of the trip. My options were to travel from Berlin to Wittenberg (the City of Martin Luther), travel to Potsdam, or stay in Berlin and see more of the sites. The night before I decided to go to Wittenberg. I thought that since I am Protestant, Wittenberg would be interesting to me. On the last day, after we finished at the medical museum in Berlin, I took a 45 minute train to Wittenberg. When I arrived, I noticed that the town was not very big. This was contrary to what I thought, because I had thought that since the town was somewhat historically significant, it would be a decent size. The town had a very laid back small town feel, which was exactly what I needed to relax from the intensity of the previous 5 weeks. I was able to see Martin Luther's house, the university he attended, and the church he nailed the 95 Thesis to. I really enjoyed the day and found it very interesting. I left fulfilled in a way, because I was able to see things that I had herd about my whole life. That night when I got back to Berlin, I met up with the group and we went out for the last dinner. The food was great, and I really enjoyed the final German farewell!

Sweet Home College Station

Yes, Evan and I made it out of Berlin. Oh what an adventure.

When I landed in Houston and saw the U.S. and Texas Flag waving in the sky, it was an amazing feeling to be home. But for 5 weeks, I made Germany my home... and I actually miss it. Certain aspects of the country and the people I met there grew on me, and it is sad to think that I may not ever see them again. I thought it was strange when my parents asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner on my first night back in Texas... I couldn't really think of anything. I definitely got use to the fresh grilled vegetables my host family would make and thought about the amazing pfannkucken we had on our last night with them. So they took me to the nearest trucker's diner near our house... haha, I love my family.

This opportunity was an amazing experience. Going to the bovine veterinary school in Hannover and getting the chance to have hands on experience in Germany was one of my favorite times. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian and just before I left to go to Germany I shadowed a 100% bovine vet, and I found my new passion. Going to Hannover and getting the chance to learn new methods of treatment completely solidified my want to do bovine medicine!

I look back on everything I did in Germany and I have no regrets. This trip was awesome. I made new memories, new friends and new family members (I love my host family)! I probably would have never talked to the people I met on this trip if it wasn't for this program. The awesome people that I met helped me realize exactly who I want to be and how I want to live the rest of my life. They were so inspirational and a hoot... :) So I thank everyone for making this experience a great one for me. Until we meet again, tchuess.

Good Morning, Vietn...I mean...TEXAS!!!

The first day back...ahhh, feels so good. My mom asked me what I wanted for breakfast this morning and my response was "Anything but toast." I downed my blueberry pancakes and cheesy eggs with a big glass of COLD milk. Still feeling the high of an amazing trip while going through the motions of normal life feels quite surreal indeed. My luggage is on its way back to me (since wonderful US Airways lost it in Philidelphia), so I still haven't felt the need to unpack, do laundry, and re-pack to head back to school. Parts of me already miss Germany though. I think its the fact of knowing that I won't be going back for a while and I feel like I was starting to connect with certain things there. I'm going to miss my host family and the house that I called home in Germany.

At this point, I'm really wishing I had blogged more regularly while in Germany because it would have documented the trip much better than my current sporadic blogs. Sharon asked me on my last night in Berlin what my favorite part of the trip was, and my response was "program or not program?" "Both", she said. Well, my favorite part of the program was hands down Bad Oeyenhausen...the whole day there. It was absolutely awesome, not only getting to see surgery, but actually getting to see the facilities and the people (staff and patients) there. My favorite part of the trip not with the program was driving with the Mercedes through the Swartzwald (Black Forest). I've asked other students what their favorite weekend was, and many of them replied that same weekend--the one where we all split off and did different things (Austria, Switzerland, Neuschwanstein). I think its because that was the first weekend when everyone just decided to relax and take a couple chill days. I'm pretty sure I liked the Black Forest trip the most because the scenery was positively stunning and also because we didn't have a set plan. Pulling over on the side of the road for photo shoots and hiking trips was acceptable...we had no place to be other than the train station at the end of the day. I hope my pictures and random jot-downs in my journal (which are as irregular as my blogs) are enough for me to remember the awesome time we had in the forest.

I hope my pictures and random journal entries will be enough for me to remember the awesome time we had in Europe. I know certain memories of the trip will fade, but I hope that by telling stories of our adventures I'll be able to remember most of what happened.

I'm off now to do laundry (since my bag came in the time it took for me to write this blog), disperse presents, share pictures, and tell my family about the last 5 weeks of our lives. Until we meet again, TSCHUESS!!!!!

it's not goodbye; it's 'see ya later'

I didn't say goodbye to everyone; I really wanted to, but somewhere between the the last week and departure I found myself incredibly absorbed in everything I had seen and learned. The awe of the country and the importance of the studies were observed but intentionally never applied to everything I know until the latter part of the trip.

My ethics have been validated; some of my political views are in question and some have been strengthened. I'm more motivated than ever to dedicate my life to my healthcare profession. I think I've uncovered a view of the world that I never knew existed.

I'm looking through my pictures now and already wishing I had just another week or two to stay in Germany and see more. I didn't like or want to say goodbye to my July 'home', my host family, our German acquaintances, or the other fourteen people on the trip. I honestly feel like a jerk because I didn't get to really connect and bond with everyone as much as I wanted to or intended to; there was so much to absorb on the trip that I found myself in my own head trying to rationalize what I was seeing rather than really enjoying the company of my peers.

I told this all to Juice on the plane ride home. Oddly enough, he felt similar. We found ourselves walking into the Houston airport as completely different people. At the beginning of our trip, I think the carefree feelings of studying abroad in Germany were giving me the expectations of a vacation with some learning involved: summer school in paradise. Somewhere in the middle of the trip I felt my demeanor changing from my typical outgoing mindset to one of introverted thought and reflection. It's only now that I can really understand what was going on and the magnitude of the change that the past 5 weeks have had on me.

-

As my old life with school, work, family, and friends resumes, I know that this wasn't goodbye; it's 'see ya later'. I'm going to spend time with my fourteen groupmates this semester and finish the connections and friendships that I started but didn't finish. I'm going to return to Germany soon and see both the people and the places that I don't want to forget. Goodbye implies that we may never see each other again;' see ya later' implies that we for sure will.


So I'll see you all later-

Coming Home

Leaving Germany was hard, but not as hard as it could have been, perhaps. After five weeks there, seeing all of the sights and enjoying so much of what Europe has to offer in as intense of manner as we did, I think we were all pretty tired and ready to return home to Texas (or wherever else we call home). I know I was. Still, I'll miss Germany a lot--I already am, even.

Coming home was surreal--walking out of the airport terminal into the summer heat was a shock to my system, and I realized then that I was still wearing the jacket I had needed in Germany that morning. To see all of the SUVs and trucks again on the road, the familiar but now strange looking American street signs, and the complete and utter lack of SmartCars on the road on the way home was a strange sensation.

Of course, the first thing my parents and I did on the way home was stop at my favorite Mexican restaurant for a late lunch, compensating for the lackluster fare on the airplane. As I enjoyed my fajita nachos, I took advantage of the free refills that I had missed so much to down gallons of Dr. Pepper. There are some areas where Germany just doesn't compete.

And now I've passed out the majority of the gifts to my family, and need only to go get my wine from Amanda. Returning to my underage status is a little annoying now--Germany certainly has the advantage in some areas. But now, it is time to recuperate from my transatlantic flight and try and de-jetlag myself.

All good things must come to an end.

I intended to do my last post on my final day in Germany, but some unexpected travel changes made that impossible. I've been back in the US only a matter of hours now, so I'm still in the European frame of mind (and timezone). We spent this week in the northeastern part of Germany. It's capital city, Berlin, seems less foreign than the other areas we visited. I think it's because urban areas have a lot more shops and businesses that are worldwide, and thus more recognizable. I was more interested in visiting the rural, less global areas. Regardless, Berlin is still fascinating, with plenty of interesting stories and historical sites. I always enjoy seeing the Reichstag, but I'd like to know more about what goes on inside. Germans always talked about American government, neglecting to mention much about their own. They probably assume I don't care, but that's part of the reason I went to Germany, because I do. Even though Americans get a disproportional amount of the blame, we all make assumptions about people like that. Funny enough, I thought the pub crawls were one of the best ways to meet people from other countries and get to know more about them and the home counties. I enjoyed finding out not only what stereotypes they reinforced, but what stereotypes they had about us as Americans.

The excusions from Berlin were some of my favorites. The trip to Dresden was really pretty and getting to see part of Germany which had to go through life behind the iron curtain for a big part of the last century. The parts of the city which haven't been renovated since then still had soviet-style boring buildings. I was strange to think about living through that. I'm thankful that I didn't have to. Our program director said that was one of the problems in Dresden; they had renovated the main part of the city, but had left many of the surrounding areas unattractive.

The trip to the Molecular Medicine segment of the Helmholtz Institute in Berlin was really interesting. I knew enough of about stem cells and genetic techniques to follow along with their presentations and actually ask a few pertinent questions. I don't know if research is an avenue I want to pursue, but if I do, it would be in a related field. The potential benefits from it are enormous. I was really glad we got to see research labs which could contribute to future life-saving developments. I am interested in going back to Germany to a place like that for an internship. I'm thankful for the things I got to learn about Germany during this trip, but given the amount of history there, I could spend much more time there. My personal interest in Germany along with it's central location in Western Europe make it my prime place of interest for another trip across the pond. Hopefully it will come sooner than I expected.

As for now, I plan on readjusting to everyday Texas life, hot weather, and life/school responsibilities. The trip home was much less exciting than the trip over there. It's interesting when the place you're going to is a mystery, and it just seems like a chore when you're going home. I think I was one of the very few that was actually sad to leave. I enjoy being home, but there's still a lot of Europe for me to see. I plan on heading back as soon as my bank account will allow.

.the.end.

so, Sharon and I are sitting in an internet cafe... for the last time. It's amazing to me how accustomed to this way of life I've become. Just taking internet cafes for example, there aren't any of these in the states which is weird to think about. And the fact that today we travelled by S-bahn to Potsdam to see 3 beautiful castles. There aren't many castles in the US either. It's very weird to think that tomorrow is our last day. We leave Tuesday early afternoon so I'm sure we won't do anything that day besides eat and get ready for our schlept.
This week in Berlin was fun. I won't lie though, at the beginning I was not excited about it. While I was packing all of my stuff in Dusseldorf, I didn't really want to be travelling to another city for a week. I felt like I wanted it to be another excursion or I wanted to go home. I didn't want to go through the trouble of carrying allll of my stuff on the train and then dealing with it in the hotel. It has been a bit of a hassle, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The tuesday bike tour was good. I was pretty tired from the travelling so I wasn't as into in as I have been in other cities, but it was an ok tour. Wednesday we went to the Molecular Medicine place which I really enjoyed. Being a genetics major, it was really cool to see everything I've learned thus far put into practice. That was probably one of my top excursions for that reason. The developments they are making with surgeries and the 3D stuff was really cool to see also. That night was the pub crawl, which I didn't stay at long, but was fun while I did.
Thursday in Dresden was fun. I really liked Dresden as a city and wished we had more time there. It was beautiful, and it had great shopping... ha! The museum of hygiene was cool. I wish they had more stuff in english, or the audio guides had more english explanations. I was really curious about some stuff, but couldn't read what is was supposed to be showing me. So that was my only disappointment with that. That was a long day with the travelling and such.
Friday we went to the History of Medicine museum at Charite which was fun. They had a lot of interesting specimens, and I especially liked the bedside cases. It made the cases more realistic when they had the documentation right in front of you. It was pretty cool. After that there was the last lecture and then we were done with the program! Pretty crazy. I still can't believe I've been here over 5 weeks. I know I've said that before, but it doesn't stop amazing me. After we finished Pete, Sharon and I went to the Natural History Museum. We wondered around that for a while and then headed back to the hotel to nap a little before the dinner.
Dinner was A LOT of fun. It was a really nice way to finish the trip with everyone, and also very depressing because most everyone was leavng the next morning. The place we ate was really good. I love potatoes... so a potato cellar was great! It really was a fun night, with a lot of pictures taken. After dinner we pretty much walked around and then went back to the hotel. Some people went to a concert but I and a few others just went back to the hotel and drank at the bar there. That was fun to sit around with everyone before they left.
The next morning we woke up to only four left, Sharon, Amanda, Hannah and I. We slept in very late and then decided we wanted to go the the zoo that afternoon. So we ate lunch and then went. It was an ok zoo. I do think Köln's zoo had better exhibits, but then again, that was a pretty awesome zoo. This one wasn't bad. And I got to see the Hippos! So all was good. After the zoo we went to White Trash again which was good. And then basically bed after that.
This morning Sharon and I woke up to just the two of us left in Germany. Very weird. It's only been a few days but we already miss the friends we've made on this trip.
We went to Potsdam today to see the castles there. They were all amazing. The only one we went into was the Neue Palice. It was gorgeous! I really enjoyed it. The audio guides were really good. I enjoyed that castle a lot. Other than that we saw all of the other major castles in the city. We walked all over that place. We also found the Dutch area, which made us break our pact not to buy anything else... whoops! So we bought a few more things to schlept across the ocean home. After coming home, we ate some din at a random Italian place, which was really good. All random Italian places seem to be real good here.
Tonight we plan on drinking some sparkling wine and just hanging out really. Tomorrow we're going to sleep in and then go the cafe above the huge chocolate store and catch up our journals and just kinda hang out. It's our last day in Germany and we just want to sit back and take in as much of it as we can.
I have really enjoyed being here a few extra days. We were talking about it today; that is was really nice to get to end this trip on a relaxing note, instead of rushing to get everything done. It's nice because we know that we are going to back and hitting the ground running, but for now we can just sit and watch the world go by in a cafe in Berlin.
I am really excited to go home though. It's bittersweet. I don't want this trip to be over but at the same time I miss my family and friends and bf. I am excited to see my new house in NM that my parents moved into while I was here. It will be very nice to get to be there for a little over a week before school starts. It's been a trip of a lifetime. I know I won't go back with the same views on everything. I'm not a totally different person by any means, but I think it would be hard to come to such a different country and culture without changing the way you view certain things.
Time to begin the schelpt home...

(schelpt three times in a blog... Dr. Wasser, what have you done to me?!?!?)

Made it back

Well I finally made it back to the states and my house after 22 LONG hours of traveling. I think that next time I will not pick a flight that leaves at 7:30 in the morning. So of course, I wake up at 4 still feeling the effects from the previous night, and immediately have to throw my stuff into the suitcase and get to the taxi in order to hurry to the airport just to wait around. Everything worked out alright on the way to London, but of course, I have problems in London (on the way to Dusseldorf I almost missed my flight from London to Dusseldorf, its a long story involving going to the wrong section of gates (which at Heathrow is a completely different building) and having to get a ride back to the correct gate from a security guard in his personal golf cart). For whatever reason one of the flight attendants couldn't go on the flight, so we sat at the gate on the plane for 90 long minutes. I normally sit window seat because I like to look out the window and have my own little personal bubble no one bothers, but I had to sit aisle, and let me tell you, that was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, I swear one guy got up every 20 minutes just to walk around the cabin. I now have an extreme respect for flight attendants, because that job must suck royally. And of course, my bag did not make it to Houston. Don't get me wrong I love to travel and go to new places, but I hate the actual act of traveling, especially when it's not me driving. Thankfully, we stopped at HEB on the way back to my parents' house and I got my favorite chips and salsa, and found an imported hefeweiss beer from Germany, which I am currently drinking. I just wanted to blog about how much airplanes and the actual act of traveling sucks.

final destination...Berlin

The past week has been quite an experience traveling into a more modern, historically royal region of Germany. Over and over again I am taken back by the beauty of German cities and really how safe they are, contrary to what I believed to be true. Though rough, pretty rank men with makeshift guitars often wander into the S-bahn cars, they are respectful of personal space and never try to force contributions. I realized this the other day and felt pretty bad for stereotyping them as malicious people, so yes, I threw two euros in his cup.

The tour at the beginning of the week was interesting and I was proud of being one of the people that a few of my peers made bets on that would wreck bikes. Hmm...along with Peter of course who drew blood in the first five minutes we had them...but we all made it out okay, even Jamie who almost tipped with the tower of water bottles in her basket. Molecular medicine the next day was one of my favorite class days minus the part where we ended in a one-way philosophical discussion with the doctor in charge of the project. That night ended with a different kind of tour of Berlin which lasted until the next morning...I recommend doing a pub crawl at least once on a trip to Europe. Evan, Pete, Amanda, Madeline, Jamie and I all made friends with three Germans who were shocked to see Americans on a pub crawl that had a little self control. Props to us...Dr. Wasser, you'd be proud.

Dresden was by far one of my favorite German cities, and I wished that we had longer to explore the castle and culture of the city, as well as the Museum of Hygiene. I realized that day interactive museums are my favorite! The museum successfully intertwined the history of medicine as well as explaining medicine from various different aspects from the anatomy and physiology to the mere hygiene of a person...all affect how a physician should diagnose.

My last German museums, both on Friday, were quite different. One, the quiet history of medicine museum followed by a lecture, allowed us to understand the perspectives of some of the pioneers in vaccinations and finding cures for diseases over the past few centuries. The second was chosen by Pete's eagerness to see the dinosaurs, so Ashley, Pete, and I all ventured through the Natural Sciences Museum near the Hauptbanhof and ended up spending hours in there. I felt like an elementary student again but this time I wasn't being dragged through the museum. I'm pretty sure I read almost every informational post, even when I got to the mineral section...

The Potato Cellar...everyone stuffed their face, took great advantage of limitless free drinks, busted out some mean dragon-face skills, and shared prosts to our last night all together and of course to Dr. Water and Shleppie. Drew, Pete, Jordan and I rocked out at White Trash and lost our hearing for an amazing end to their last night in Berlin...the city that never sleeps.

Everyone has left Europe...
Amanda, Ashley and I ran around the Berlin Zoo and ended up at White Trash with Hannah for another night of F#$? U fries...and today Ashley and I visited Potsdam, a city previously known as the second most royal city in Germany. I'm pretty sure we walked for miles along rows of trees and every row we looked down was another beautiful castle. The whole city was fairy-tale like. In a tour we took through one of the castles, Ashley and I turned to walk down one of the stair cases and were yelled at in German YET AGAIN and the conversation went back and forth between her strong German accent and our laughter and mumbling 'ok thanks...yes ma'am..ok great I have no idea what youre saying..' I think I may be relieved the first time someone yells at me in America, it's way less scary. Ashley and I cut back on our spending until we got to the Dutch market area and busted out another 50 euros or so for some hand made Dutch ceramics. We 'needed' it, shlepp it!!

After making a last withdrawl for Euros, we had dinner at an Italian bistro and are looking forward to unwinding on our last full day in Europe tomorrow going back to the Chocolate Cafe to write and catch up on what we've gotten out of this amazing experience. It's honestly really nice to have an extra day without the noise and rush of the program or being back at home. It's kind of like time has frozen for the next few days and now we can fully appreciate the irreplacable journey we have had the opportunity to embark on. This was the most rewarding experience of my entire life because of an all-encompassing combination of the culture, the academic aspect, the historical aspect, allowing ourselves to try out of the ordinary excursions, and the outstanding group of people we had.

Genau.

THAT Just Happened: German Antics and Things I'll Miss.

It astounds me that I am still surprised/taken aback by some of the purely European culture.  You'd think after being here for 5 weeks my American ways would have dimmed, but no, I still get the feeling that I'm seeing something I shouldn't when I see people blatently making out on the subway...or worse.  I still turn my head when I see a woman in her 60's or older with bright red or purple hair.  I am still in awe of the German countryside.  I am going to miss all the German people who have been unfailingly helpful, but I will welcome the background noise of people's conversations in America.  More than once we were scolded (by faculty and fellow travelers alike) for being too loud and rambunctious.  Given, we were doing nothing that would be out of the ordinary or overly obnoxious in Texas, but the Germans are quiet travelers, so getting 15 excited American's together didn't fair well in their minds.  I will miss the Germans need for order; you'll probably find me standing and waiting at a deserted street corner if the lights instruct me that it is not a good time to cross.  I will miss their tiny European cars that they like to park on the sidewalks and their fast driving...but I'm totally ready to be surrounded by big, loud, half-ton pick-up trucks again.  The German food is AMAZING (definitely not the continuous flow of bratwurst and saurkraut I was imagining) and unless I find a way to make it, I will miss that too.  I wish we as Americans could introduce the water and energy conservation system they have in place here.  I want the motion detector lights in buildings and toilets that have varying ranges of flush loads.  I will not miss bread for breakfast everyday.  It was nice in the beginning, but then it got a bit redundant--bread, salami, cheese, jam, and Nutella...but I will never get sick of Nutella.  I'm looking forward to bacon, eggs, and pancakes...or at least a cold glass of milk.  I am going to miss ice cream on every street corner and johanisbeere juice, but I think most, I'll miss the fact that the Germans take their dogs EVERYWHERE with them! I want to be able to do that at home!!!  I am happy to leave cobblestone sidewalks and streets behind me, but I will miss the bike lane and the ease of eco-friendly transportation.  I am inspired to get a bike and a little bell in the states, but I know I would hardly use them due to the lack of bike lanes (or respect for them) at home.  All in all, Deutchland is an amazing place that I definitely plan on coming back to.  For now, I'm ready to go back home for awhile, but I will take experiences of the culture and lessons learned here to hopefully apply to my somewhat stereotypical American life.  Tschuess!

Charitè

Yesterday was the Charitè Museum of Medicine.  Definitely the coolest museum we've been to so far.  I was most wowed by the room that showcased parts of the human body that ranged from normal to diseased.  The last row exhibited all different types of birth defects, things that you see in horror films or read about in disturbing books, not things I've actually seen before.  Some of the specimens didn't even look human.  I wish I could have understood the German words for the different diseases so I could know what exactly I was looking at.  I also really liked the way they had the room arranged with the normal specimens closest to the center aisle and specific diseases displayed for each organ.  The long room upstairs with the collection of past and present medical paraphanelia was neat too.  I looked at the pictures they had for early forms of plastic surgery, which was interesting to me because I think of nose jobs as purely being something of today's society.  Something I've learned about on this trip that I was not aware of before are the wax models of the patient's diseased faces.  Seeing the whole display case of those there at the Charitè was definitely something I'll remember.  I also liked having class in the old lecture hall there at the museum.  It was cool to know that we were sitting where many modern medicine pioneers sat and learned about the anatomy and responses of the human body.  There were a lot of really neat things displayed at Charitè, and I can't describe all of them without sounding longwinded.  Just know that I really liked this place...it was a good final field trip! :)

My last day in Germany...

The program officially ended last night with a farewell party and final European goodbyes to the majority of the group.  Today was Hannah and my final day here, but we had Ashley and Sharon to keep us company too.  The day mostly involved a lot of relaxing, so I was happy to have the extra day.  Sleeping in, re-packing, reading, enjoying final German meals, and visiting the Berlin zoo at a pace that would be acceptable to a 65 year old...all very nice and stress-free.  I found I was able to pack more than I thought I could into my 2 suitcases and somehow ended up with extra space!  Sharon, Ashley, and I went to the zoo after lunch (at the 1.80 euro/huge pizza slice place), and it was awesome!  They have a larger variety of animals then the Cologne zoo did, but the Cologne habitats were much nicer.  Some of the exhibits just made me sad today at the Berlin zoo.  It is probably because the Berlin zoo is smack in the middle of the city, but some of the habitats made the fact that these animals are held in captivity blaringly obvious.  The elephant house at Cologne was 1000% better than Berlin's as were the large cat and bear areas, not to mention the monkey house.  I wish the monkey's had the freedom to roam around as they do at the Cologne zoo.  To Berlin zoo's credit though, they had orangotangs that were absolutely hilarious!  I stood there and just watched them play for a good 15 minutes.  There were 3 of them in their 25' x 15' light green tiled room, and they were all having a blast with the 3 bed sheets that were provided to them.  The littlest one was having a great time running into and wrestling with the largest one (who was about the the size of 3 Javorski Lanes and covered in dread locks); the middle-sized one was just doing cartwheel after cartwheel inside its sheet.  After the zoo, the 3 of us took naps, Hannah joined us, and we all went to "White Trash" for our last dinner in Germany.  It was an awesome day and a great way to end the trip!

A little town not meant for American students

Allen, Ashley, Pete and I traveled to Zell for our last weekend trip in Germany and stayed at a tiny bed and breakfast which I will not recommend to study abroad students after we realized the small, quiet place was NOT meant for college students. Wine, peach liquer, Italian food, jumping into the freezing Mosel River to claim an island, hiking through vineyards to find a relaxing napping spot along the water, skipping rocks, fireworks & cigars on the dock, and a full night of special scrabble...all in good company made this weekend unforgettable. Oh yes, but also the second most terrifying moment of my life after we left the old German couples' bed and breakfast with a shattered glass door for which Ashley and I were screamed at in German, a couple ripped towels from zip lining at the playground, and a mysterious 'coffee' stain on the table cloth...but it's ok, we gave her a little something to pay it back.

Bad Oeynhausen

Open heart surgery...this was my first open heart surgery to observe and my best surgery experience yet. Ashley and I scrubbed in to watch a 62-year old woman receive a mitral valve replacement. After anesthesizing her, she was moved into the surgery room where she was sterilized and completely prepared for the surgery...pretty sure everyone knows the process. One of the coolest parts was getting to finally watch a surgeon cauterize the chest and saw open the sternum to expose the heart...all within a matter of minutes. Watching a beating heart is one of the most beautiful things a human could ever experience...and something that mechanically still remains a mystery for humans to successfully recreate long-term, which makes it even more of a miracle. After drenching the heart into a cold (5°C) potassium solution, we watched her slowly go into cardiac arrest so the atrium could be sliced open and the mitral valve replacement could begin. This was the long, tedious part of the surgery but the exciting part was the willingness of the anaesthesiologist who stood behind Ashley and I to not only allow us to stand in front of him the entire time but also his eagerness to help us understand what was going on. This was something I was not used to since the surgeon will usually do that instead. Nevertheless, we were so close to the patient that I felt like it was almost hands-on for us as well as the assistant physicians and the whole experienced reinforced for both Ashley and I, our calling to the field of medicine.

Back to Switzerland...

Pete and I in Switzerland...one of the best weekends of my entire life. Favorite moments:
Stepping off train and for the first 20 minutes or so thinking where the hell are we? We had little or no planning when we left which ended up making it the best weekend of the trip.
Listening to to the accent of three guys we hung out with the first night...the South German accent that makes a 'kaahh' sound like they're trying to caugh something up.
Listening to Peter sing Mando Diao with Sandy, one of the guys from Zurich, and realizing how bazaar that two guys with completely different lives from completely different backgrounds could be so similar.
Jumping off the highest dam in the world in a lightning storm (that had calmed at the moment) and watching Peter do the running man 700 feet toward the rock at the bottom like a champ.
Swimming in freezing water in the middle of the Swiss Alps at Lago Maggiore...and relaxing FINALLY.
Walking around with some crazy American wearing all red, white, and blue and an American Spirit hat!

east and west

Juice and I spent the last weekend staying in Duesseldorf with our host family. We visited a few local festivals and explored the Rhineside area; I think everyone needed a good weekeend to unwind from all of the daytrips and excursions that we have experienced in these past few weeks. The more local events experienced in each of the cities helped solidify the difference between them; each city in Germany has its own separate culture. In the US, New Orleans and Houston are close together but no one could really confuse the two with a few minutes of walking around. I feel that exact way about all of the cities we have visited in Germany.

-Berlin and Dresden are two of the coolest cities in Germany; I really wish I could have spent more time here over these past few weeks. There is a blend of architecture: much of it is modern and much of it is from centuries past. This makes the cities unique because much of their identity is equally who they were then, before the wars....and equally who they are now, history-rich cities in a progressive country.
-Some of the most beautiful sights in Berlin are at night. While all of us get picture-happy when we are walking around this wonderful place, some of us have been able to see some equally beautiful shots after the sun goes down.
-Although this city is huge, the public transportation system makes getting around easy. I would say that Berlin's public transportation system is equal if not better than that of Paris.
-East Berlin is a lot better than I thought it would be. I pictured something similar to that of the movie Eurotrip when the group gets off the train to see buildings that are falling apart and no one around to talk to.

Goodbye Host Family, Hello Berlin

It was so hard yesterday to say goodbye. I know realistically I probably won't ever see my host family again. They gave us so much, teaching us about their culture and the language as well as just welcoming us into their family. I could never have asked for better hosts. They made me feel at home almost. Whenever we came back from the weekends or long excursions I always felt like I was coming home. They kept wanting our flights to be canceled so we would have to come back and stay with them. They also offered us and our family or friends a place to stay if we were ever in Dusseldorf again. It was just amazing the kindness the showed us. I have great respect for how they are constantly opening up their home to foreign exchange students. Julia will leave in a week for Michigan to go to school for a year. I would be freaking out if I were her, but she is so excited and not nervous at all. I know she is going to have a wonderful experience there. I hope I can keep up with my family through e-mails. I am going to really miss them for awhile once I'm home again. I almost lost it yesterday when we had to say goodbye. I don't know how they do that every year with new students. They have made me want to host students once I have a home to host them in. Of course I only speak English so that might not be the ideal situation. We'll see.

I have discovered my least favorite aspect of the trip. Moving to Berlin. I think the program should be restructured so that the second week we go to Munich and the fourth week we go to Berlin. It was incredibly inconvenient to pack everything up and move, knowing I would just have to repack in a couple of days all over again. It would be much easier if we just packed for a couple of days instead of the five weeks. After I was packed I almost wanted to go to the airport instead of loading everything on a train. Also, it would be so much more affordable to buy plane tickets when you arrive and leave from the same city. This trip is already very expensive, and it would be nice to leave from in airport we already somewhat know, especially in a foreign country.

I am loving Berlin! I really enjoyed the bike tour yesterday. I really miss riding my bike. I was pretty nervous during some parts though, especially when Hannah and Jon almost got ran over. This is definitely a gorgeous city with lots to see. Today our visit to the Molecular Medicine Center was awesome! I really enjoyed learning about all the research going on, especially the stem cells advancements they are making. The tele-medicine room was incredible! It was wonderful how they incorporate so many different areas of science to create such useful products. Today was one of the best excursions of the trip, right behind the Heart and Diabetes Center.

Almost done.... :-(

This week seems to be going by very quickly. I have to keep telling myself that its really Wednesday. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that we are finally in Berlin and I know that this is the last place we'll be until we come home. I was so excited to come to Berlin. All I have ever heard about it is how awesome of a city it is, but now that I'm here and I know that I'll be going home in a few days, I'm kind of ready to leave. The city, from what we got to see yesterday on our bike tour, is really awesome. I have a feeling that you could spend a good couple of weeks here and probably not make your way throughout the entire city. I just know that I'm pretty much packed up to go home and now I'm really ready. These past 5 weeks have been the most amazing experience I will probably ever have in my academic career. I have seen and experienced things I never would have thought possible and I am so glad that I was able to come. Like today for example at the MDC. We were able to see new and upcoming technology in a field that is relevant to us all...not only see it but actually touch it and play with it a little. It was so much fun and really amazing to think about these techonologies and instruments actually being used on a daily basis. Even the genetic technologies are incredible to think about. Of course, I'm more amazed by the analysis of the data just because I don't understand all of the minute details like the specialists do so I think its awesome how they can look at the data that comes out and are able to interpret it. Of course I know they're trained for this but its still really cool.

The one thing I am regretting right now is not being able to spend more time in Berlin. I wish we could have come on Monday morning so that we could technically have four days here instead of the three, well really two since one day we'll be in Dresden. I just feel like this is one of those cities I would like to just explore, like we got to do in Dusseldorf. I guess thats just one of those things I'll have to do when I come back sometime in the future. The bike tour yesterday though was really informative. I'm glad I got to see the Wall. Anyone who has grown up in the late 20th century and even the 21st century knows about the Wall so it was impressive to see parts of it still standing and yet looked so lightly upon by the residents, because they know it does not stand for anything anymore. I also like how the modern and old structures are intermixed. We have seen so many old buildings and churches everywhere we've gone that the modern architecture is a nice break but its even cooler when the two are just mixed together. I also like that the city has random green areas also. That was one of the things I loved about Dusseldorf and I was really surprised to see it in such a large city as Berlin. I wish some of our cities back home could take in this concept of trees and grass instead of concrete in all the cities.

So all I have left on my personal list of things to do is to see Check Point Charlie, eat a Berliner, and go on a Pub Crawl. After that, I will be completely satisfied with my trip here to Germany.

Prague

Last weekend was awesome! I love Prague! I definitely want to go back for a longer period of time to see and experience more of the city. I've decided the best way to travel is overnight trains. It was great! We pretty much missed the train ride by sleeping. We met a girl from Canada, Leah. She was staying at our hostel and saved us from going on a very crappy tour. Our hostel was really nice. I can understand why it was rated so good through out Europe. Instead of the tour, we walked around the city on our own. We accidentally found the Senate of Prague. The gardens around it were very pretty. We went to the Prague Castle, which seemed more like a medieval palace to me. Drew and I went on the tour and also got to see a medieval prison and torture chamber. The castle was gorgeous inside, with a very different style than the one near Munich. There was an alley way behind it full of shops, and above the shops was a hallway full of suits of armor, weapons, and clothes from the time period. At the end of the hall they had set up a cross bow shooting range. Drew and I both shot cross bows!! It was a lot of fun! The we saw the legendary Charles Bridge. It was under construction and covered with vendors and tourists. I think I liked it better farther away. On the way there we saw a dog almost get in a fight with a swan. That was pretty entertaining. We headed back to our hostel to rest up for the upcoming night festivities. We went on Prague's Underground Pub Crawl. It was so much fun! It was a really good deal I thought. You got 10% of dinner at Bohemia Beagles, an hour of unlimited beer and wine, a free shot at three bars, entrance to a club, and a t-shirt. Bohemia Beagles had such good food, and really cheap. That was something really nice about Prague; the price. Everything was very affordable. I had a lot of fun on the Pub Crawl, and I finally got my dancing in! The next day we walked around the Jewish Quarter. Nothing was open because it was Saturday. Poor planning on our part, but we could still see a little of it. Drew, Evan, and I went to the National Museum, where Mission Impossible was filmed. It was a very good museum, and the building itself was beautiful. On our way back to the train station we met a nice guy from New York who had moved to Prague a couple of years ago. He was very friendly, telling us all about Prague and other cities in Europe. Everyone in Prague was very nice and helpful. A lot of people spoke English too, which I was not expecting. It was amazing how beautiful the city was, being untouched almost by so many of the devastating events in Europe. It was hard for me to imagine that less than 20 years ago it was part of the USSR. I hope to go back some day and spend more time there to really get the feel of the city. Each weekend trip I take makes me realize how much I want to come back to spend more time in each city to really experience the culture. Hopefully that will happen soon.

We're in..Berlin... ya like that rhyme?

Saying good bye to the Kloses was pretty difficult. A lot more difficult than I thought it would have been. I knew from the beginning that everything would be okay and no tears would be shed if our goodbyes were somewhat short, and if there was no hugging. Who was I kidding... there was a lot of hugs, and therefore, a lot of tears. Staying with them helped me adjust to Germany. They didn't replace my family, they just became apart of it and in only 4 weeks. It's silly for some... but I guess that's because I'm just not those some. I enjoyed all of my time with them. I learned and experienced so much during my stay with the Kloses, and I sure hope to see them one day. "Come back and visit," is thrown around a lot but I feel like I seldom take up the offer. And if the opportunity arises to see them again, I hope I take it.

Berlin has already been such an incredible experience. I really enjoyed the bike tour because it wasn't a typical city tour and we covered so much area in less time than if we were walking. It was nice to see everything Dr. Wasser and Stephanie have talked about in class. There is so much history in this town, and it is incredible to see how much of Berlin has changed, and how much of it has relatively stayed the same. Besides the historical landmarks such as the Berlin wall and the Brandenburg gate, Dr. Wasser took us to see a memorial for the Jews that died during experimentation. I believe that the architecture for this monument was perfect. I feel that there is so much interpretation left for the viewers, and that makes it such a strong, symbolic memorial.

Today was a wonderful day as well. We had the opportunity to visit the MDC for molecular medicine. Our first tour with ion channels was interesting because I once again applying my knowledge from physiology- voltage gated ion channels, sodium/potassium, nicotinic receptors, etc... everything was coming back! My favorite tour was after lunch when we got to visit the Surgical Research unit OP 2000. I was just blown away with the level of technology they have been working with and tweaking to make perfect. Their ideas are definitely going to be used someday and I can't wait to see it, and maybe use it!

As each day goes by I can't believe how close we are to the end of this program. It's been such a great experience for me. I look forward to going home and noticing the difference between where I am right now, and College Station. They seem to value everything that they have here and although I value much of everything as a working student, I can see I still take little things for granted.