Entry from Thursday July 29, 2010

This has been a very eventful week! On Monday I got to see 2 surgeries at the Universitaat with Claire and Dr. Wasser! The orthopedic surgeons were very nice and informative. they really seemed glad we were there and interested. The first surgery was on a muscle flap on the leg of a motorcycle crash victim. It was hard to see what the surgeon was doing exactly but it was cool seeing him move the muscle and cutting skin and tissue. The second surgery was a wrist plate for a woman with a broken wrist. It is evidently a very common procedure and the doctor made it look very routine. They used intra operative x-ray to get the placement of the plate correct. I thought it was interesting how in America, the patient would leave the plate in the rest of her life, whereas this lady will probably come back to take it out because her insurance covers it. Later we had our last classes from Toure and Fenja. They were awesome and I'm going to miss them.

Tuesday we went to Bacharach. The boat ride was pretty cold and windy. I shouldn't have worn shorts. But once we got up to Marksburg Castle it heated up again. The tour of the castle was fun and the wine tasting after was cool. I didn't purchase any wine because I don't consider myself worthy. I am not yet a wine connoisseur.

The anesthesiology museum yesterday was interesting. I could tell that Dr. Stocki was very passionate about his profession...something I hope will happen to me.

Today's movies on the Berlin Wall made me look forward to next week. It is sad that our time in Bonn is almost over :( All of us students enjoyed our last time together at a Bonn biergarten on the Rhine. I need to cherish the rest of the time I have here in Germany!!

Entry from 25 July 2010

Dang! Prague was the bomb! I really liked how preserved everything was. The buildings all looked old and interesting. It was an adventure from Day 1! First off, Kavi missed the train because he split up in Vienna to go buy a suit for his dad. When we arrived Friday night at 10ish, it was pouring rain and we had very vague directions to Sir Toby's Hostel. We guessed which direction on the bus we should go, then second guessed and got out to take the one going the opposite way, then got totally confused and took a taxi, only to find out we were going right the first time. Funny how things work. I tried to ask my mormon friend where to go since he spent 2 years in Prague on his mission trip, but he didn't respond :( That night we ate at a restaurant that had good food for cheap (200 Koruna) The currency was weird to me. It didn't feel right going to an ATM and withdrawing 3,000 Koruna! The whole group had a hostel together, so that was ncie. And then Saturday we went to town. Saw St. Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and the Senate building, all of which was very cool. I purchased a Tomas Rosicky jersey (go Arsenal!) a soccer ball and a bracelet (typical touristy stuff). And then at night we ventured on our first pub crawl. It was totally worth it and out of control! We stayed up late and barely caught our train this morning back to Bonn! Yikes!

Entry from Friday July 23, 2010

Vienna!!! This week we ventured the great Austrian city of Vienna. Some highlights include Freud's house, Lippizzaner stallions, catacombs of Stepansdom, an operetta about a frog, a huge cemetary (and I mean HUGE), and the Josephinum and Narrenturm. We also visited a very nice neurological center. The hotel Lenas was very nice (but still not air conditioned) and they had a good breakfast. Dr. Rainer's wife's sister was so nice to show us around her home city and her kids were very entertaining. I hate to admit it, but that first day we were there was the first time I had tasted schnitzel since I have been abroad! It was Kalb (calf) and it was delicious. I really enjoyed seeing Freud's actual work place! He was a very impressive man. Although Dr. Wasser tried to explain it, I still don't understand the idea of being a Jewish Atheist. Oh well, to each his own! The catacombs at the cathedral were very impressive. I could see a ton of skeletons and it was cold and wet and creepy. It's interesting that there is church services going on above us

I didn't want to tell anybody, but the operetta was totally confusing to me. Maybe I'm just slow when it comes to plots, but the combination of little sleep and a glass of champagne at intermission caused me to doze off for the frog scene. The rest of it was very entertaining though, and I'm glad I got to experience it!

Finally, today we saw the Rosen Hugel Neurological center. It was such a nice facility, we were joking about checking a room out there instead of hotel Lenas! Vienna was great and filled with history and wonder. I can't wait to see what Prague has in store. Until next time!

tschus! Michael McCarroll

Entry from 15.7.2010

This week in Hannover has been my favorite week so far. Not because I dislike Bonn, because that is not true. In fact, I'm sure I'll miss being at my host family's house after two full weeks of being gone. But I can't really explain it. I feel more comfortable going out at night and interacting with people. On the way to Hannover we stopped in Bad Oeyenhausen at the Heart and Diabetes center. Unfortunately, we weren't aloud to see a heart surgery like others were able to do in the past, but we were able to see the facility and look at some cool LVAD models. Yesterday we visited the clinic of Nephrology and the nephrologist was very engaging and informative. We got to see a patient on dialysis and it sparked my interest. There is plenty of room for medical improvement on procedures treating kidney failure! At night we went to a dance club close to the hotel. It was awesome! A bunch of young people (I guess they are on summer break right now) were there because of the special. It is 5 Euros to get in, but you get 5 free drinks inside. We met a lot of English speaking Germans and enjoyed their company.

And finally, today we went to some vet clinics. By far the highlight was inserting my arm in a cow's anus and feeling around its rectum. Never thought I'd actually do that. It is definitely an experience I won't soon forget. Now we head to Bonn and repack for Switzerland, Austria, and Czech Republic!

Entry from 17.7.2010

The first full day in switzerland has been unbelievable. It is by far my favorite weekend trip so far...Expensive, but fun! It was a huge mistake not to put Switzerland as one of my five countries on the Eurail Pass. There are many spots where using your Eurail pass gets you discounts. Our hostel is at the top of a Gondola which is 11.20 Franks round trip, and only 8 ChF with a Eurail Pass.

Yesterday, we arrived at our hostel, ate the 18 Frank pizza, and socialized with other hostel residents (most are college aged) We then booked a canyoning tour for Saturday morning. It was well worth the 150 + Franks! We repelled down a huge rock wall, navigated through the rocks and water, ziplined, slided, and cliff jumped all in the bottom of a canyon. We had originally signed up for the extreme canyoning adventure, but since there was rain the night before, the water levels weren't stable enough to go to that part of the canyon. The entire adventure took 6 hours.

It is going to suck leaving our beautiful hostel tomorrow, but I am excited to see what the program has in store for us in Austria!!

Groβe Post Part III

Last Week in Bonn (August 1, 2010)
We haven't had a ton of time in Bonn since the first week. The last time we were in Bonn, it was our first week in Germany. We were still learning how to get around and order food. Everything was so new and unfamiliar. Since we left for Switzerland, we went to Vienna and Prague and we had to carry huge suitcases for the ten or so days we were away from our home in Bonn. As much as I enjoyed our excursions, I looked forward to the day I would come back to our home in Bonn and not have haul my suitcase up and down the flights of stairs in train stations.
We had a couple of slow paced days in Bonn, where the only plans were classes at the AIB, and a couple of short day trips. On Tuesday, we hopped on a train to a small town called a Bacharach. There we saw the classic timber frame houses, one was built in 1300s. We took a river cruise down the Rhine: the banks were covered with timber frame houses, castles, and vineyards. Later on in the day we toured the Marksburg Castle, which has never been defeated since the Middle Ages. Everything here in Europe is so old. Over the past few weeks I've almost become immune to the shock of how much older everything is. So many buildings here have been standing hundreds of years before the United States was a country or even the New World was discovered. Most of the houses, shops, and churches that I go to in Shreveport or College Station were built within the last 20 years; they weren't even standing when I was born. On Thursday we went to one of the best museums yet. The Haus of History focused on German history from 1949 to the present. I particularly liked seeing the everyday household items that the Germans made from what was left after WWII. A hand grenade acted as an egg holder and women made dresses from parachutes and colanders from helmets. It was one of my favorite museums and the admission was free!
On our last night in Bonn, Shayna and I decided to make dinner for our host family. They have made so many great meals for us, and we wanted to give them a taste of Texas! We chose tacos as an easy Tex-Mex staple. We found a kit with seasoning and shells. We were hoping to get ground beef, but since it's not a popular ingredient here, I didn't think we would find it. Sure enough, the grocery store we went to did not have ground beef. We ended up just buying some beef and cutting it up into small pieces. Once the tacos were served, Shayna warned our family that people usually eat with their hands and that tacos usually fall apart mid-bite. It only took two bites before our family requested silverware. It was a great last night in Bonn; I was so blessed to have such a nice host family. I will definitely miss them and try my best to keep in touch once I go home.

Berlin (August 7, 2010)
Throughout the trip, my anticipation for the Berlin excursion grew, especially after visiting the Czech Republic, seeing the video on the Berlin Wall, and hearing from our host family how unique Berlin is. Now that we've spent a week here I can say that this was definitely the perfect city to end our stay in Germany. There is so much history here and it's all so recent. The fall of the Berlin Wall is such a major historical event, and it happened during our lifetime!
The activities during this week were a perfect combination of German history and medical history. On our first day we had barely been in town for an hour before we were heading toward the old death strip (a portion of land between two parts of the Berlin Wall) on bikes. The bike tour was a great change from our walking city tours. We were able to see the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, the Spree River, and other big Berlin sites without having sore feet at the end. On Tuesday we traveled about an hour to tour the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where we saw how cramped the living conditions were and remains of the examination rooms, gas chamber, and furnaces. After we returned to Berlin and had lunch, the eight of us walked around Postdamer Platz to see Checkpoint Charlie. On our way there, we came across a museum, called Topography of Terror, about the Nazi Party and Holocaust. There were so many pictures and plenty of English captions, so we were able to spend a good amount of time there. On Thursday we took a day trip to Dresden, but Wednesday and Friday were heavy on the medical history. The Otto Bock Center showcased the capabilities of prosthetics with some hands on stations. We saw our final anatomic collection at the Charite on Friday. That afternoon we had a few lessons on how to examine ears, find veins and take blood, and suture. I wasn't as good at it as I hoped, but I'll have plenty of time to practice. I loved Berlin and it was the perfect way to the end of the program!

Eating Abroad: German Food (August 7, 2010)
Before leaving to come to Germany, I was told by quite a few people that I probably wouldn't like German food. A friend who had gone to Germany last year complained of the use of the same ingredients in every meal, and I had my own worries of only having odd meats and sauerkraut to eat. I could not have been more wrong! The food here is something that I will definitely miss when I'm back in the States!
Breakfast is the most different meal of them all. Cereal, toast, fruit, and yogurt are all norms here just as they are in America, but most breakfast spreads I've seen both in my host home and in hotels include cold cuts and raw vegetables. Tomatoes and cucumbers seem to be the most popular breakfast vegetables. At Hotel Alex in Berlin, the breakfast set up looked like it included a salad bar!
Lunch and dinner are very similar to American meals in the types of food that are served. I do miss turkey and beef, though. Most of the meat served her is either pork or chicken, but mostly pork. I've enjoyed most of the meals I've had, though goulash is not my favorite, at least not in the summer heat. I usually steer clear of cabbage, but schnitzel never disappoints. I think my most memorable schnitzel was at the Concordia after our visit to the Vienna cemetery. It was served with a potato salad like side and cranberry sauce. The meals that Shayna and I have had with our host family have been the best by far! Our host mom has come up with some tasty dishes! One of our first meals was a knödel (dumpling) served with a bacon and mushroom gravy. It was so good, we hinted for her to make it again during our last week in Bonn. She also made a couple of pea dishes from a magazine. One was a pea and potato puree and the other was a pea bread/cake with green polka dotted slices. There have been so many other good meals, but these are the dishes that stick out the most in my memory. Overall the coffee, cheese, and ice cream/gelato here in Europe is better, but I am really looking forward to a big iced tea with free refills when I'm back home!

Groβe Post Part II

Wien (July 25, 2010)
Looking back over the past week in Vienna, my first thoughts are of how hot it was there. It's been pretty warm for most of the trip, but Vienna seemed particularly steamy. Of course, the heat hasn't been as bad as it is in Texas right now, but without air conditioning, any room can get a little stuffy. Ceiling fans aren't popular either. Earlier in July the air conditioning on the Deutsche Bahn (German train system) went out and people were passing out. Since that weekend, the trains have been quite comfortable but most other places like restaurants, museums and hotel rooms can be unpleasant at times.
Out of all the cities we've been to so far, Vienna seems the most like image of Europe I have in my head. It's not so much a modern Europe image, but one of royalty, palaces, and horse drawn carriages, basically Cinderella. I guess this observation comes mostly from our first city tour which included seeing the Hapsburg palace and Lippizans. There were also some really neat medical aspects of this excursion. We went to the AKH, the second largest hospital in the world. I wasn't sure where the hospital began and the city stopped! The hospital had its own subway stop, and at first glance the interior looked like an airport or shopping mall. There we had a little lecture on how the medical school application process works in Europe—students take a test after high school for admission and go straight into a six year program. At this point in my education, I wish I lived in Europe. Then I would already be in! I particularly enjoyed the tour of the Narrenturm, the old psychiatric ward of the AKH. It was built with circular hallways so patients were less likely to get lost and now holds an anatomy collection on one of the floors. The halls are lined with moulages, wax models of diseases, and a few of the old patient rooms were open to us to see lung and skull specimens. Most of the lungs had been affected by tuberculosis or black lung. Other highlights of our trip to Vienna were the Sigmund Freud house/museum and the operetta, Die Fledermaus.

Praha (July 25, 2010)
I've always heard that Prague is the most beautiful cities in Europe, so I was so excited to get to go, even if it was only for a day. Once we arrived in the train station, I realized that the picturesque Prague image I had in my mind didn't apply to the train station. The station was undergoing renovation and nothing was labeled very well. If there were signs, they were in Czech, a language completely indecipherable to me. By the time we exchanged money for Czech kroners and bought transport passes, it was pouring. It took a while for us to figure out the bus system with the rain at night, so we took a taxi to our hostel, Sir Toby's.
Sir Toby's was so homey! The workers at the front desk gave us a little orientation as soon as we got there, and the breakfast buffet in the morning was wonderful. The rooms had big wooden doors, old portraits adorned the walls. Besides sharing a room with nine other people, I would have much rather gone there than any hotel. Maybe that explains why there were so many people there with infants. It was a great hostel, and should definitely be considered by future students!
We didn't have a strict agenda for our day in Prague. After breakfast and a tram ride, we started our own walking tour of the historic area of Prague. We began at the Czech Senate and then continued to the Prague Castle. The rain made Prague so much cooler than Vienna was, so wandering around wasn't too bad. We walked around the older parts and the newer districts of Prague while taking plenty of touristy pictures with the St. Charles Bridge in the background along the way. Prague was the first city that I noticed art vendors on the street. One of the other girls and I browsed all of the little stands. I bought one little painting, but I wish I had bought a couple more.
Prague was one of the prettiest cities we've visited. There wasn't litter everywhere, and none of the buildings near the historical area had been commercialized. The language was so different and some of the areas looked very Eastern European. After this day in Prague, I'm really excited to head to Berlin in a week to get a better picture of the contrast between the East and West.

Surgeries in Bonn (July 26, 2010)
Today was a great day! We weren't able to observe any surgeries other than a horse castration in Hannover, so Nils arranged for us to have the whole morning to observe at the University Hospital in Bonn. Our day started early, so James, our host dad, drove us to the train station as he usually does on our early mornings.
Not knowing exactly what we would be seeing, we changed into scrubs and green clogs. As we waited to be separated into different operating rooms, we drank coffee in the lounge. Dr. Wasser, Michael, and I were in the same operating room. When we walked in the surgeons were already operating on a man's leg. He had been in a motorcycle accident one year earlier and was having a muscle graft from his calf wrapped around his leg. He had a huge scar on his thigh, surely from the same accident. After this surgery was over, we still had time to see another one, from beginning the end. We saw the patient talking with the anesthesiologist, a young doctor struggling with intubation, and the initial incision. The patient had fallen a few days earlier and fractured her wrist. The surgeons were putting in a metal plate to help the wrist heal faster. The procedure required intra-operative x-rays, so everyone in the room wore a lead smock. An interesting fact we learned about this procedure was that most German patients have a second operation done to take out the plate because it is covered by the insurance plan that the state provides.
All of the surgeons and medical staff were so welcoming and eager to explain and answer questions. Several of the staff asked if we would be there all week; I wish we could have gone every morning that week. It also would have been so interesting to see those patients from beginning to end.

Groβe Post Part I

First Free Weekend in Amsterdam (July 11, 2010)
Throughout the first week we have been following Nils & Dr. Wasser, jumping on trains and buses, not knowing exactly where we were going, but on our first weekend trip, it was up to us which train and stop to take. I learned this weekend that as long as you are sure of its direction, you can hop on almost any train with no fear. The Eurail pass is an excellent security for the inexperienced traveler. It makes the trip so much less stressful when you know you could take the wrong train without having to spend money on extra train tickets.
Amsterdam is an interesting city and it was definitely intimidating to go there for our first free weekend. Of all the places that are easy to get to from Bonn, we coincidentally chose to go to the capital city of a country with a soccer team in the World Cup finals. While we were making our way to the hotel from the train station, my eyes were darting around, on the alert for a bike lanes and pickpockets. Once we arrived at the Radisson Blu, I felt a little more comfortable. It was so American and familiar. During the weekend, I planned on going to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank house, and seeing some tulips. After breakfast with one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had, the girls and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. The galleries were arranged in chronological order beginning with popular artists of the time of Van Gogh's teacher and ending with artists influenced by Van Gogh around the time of his death. I really loved the museum and the walk in the arts and antiques district to get there. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the Anne Frank house because we heard the wait was three hours long. We saw plenty of flowers and bulbs at the Bloemen Markt, a huge strip of flower shops along a canal. I wish we could have seen more, but it was so hot on Saturday and we had to leave earlier on Sunday to avoid the World Cup crowds. Even as we were leaving a few minutes past noon, there were throngs of orange clad fans filling the train station and street. I'm not sure when I'll be back in Amsterdam, and as much as I enjoyed the air conditioning and widely used English, I sure am glad that Bonn is the base city for the program.

Hannover (July 15, 2010)
Our first excursion with the program was to Hannover. During the past few days the program has had more of a medical emphasis than history. We've been to the heart and diabetes center in Bad Oeynhausen (a city that got its start as a health and spa destination, like Hot Springs, Arkansas), a nephrology clinic, and both small and large veterinary clinics. The heart and diabetes center was the first hospital visit of the program. It was a great first impression for future hospital tours; everything looked so new and modern. I especially liked the art exhibition in the hallways and the pediatric play area with the glass portion of the ceiling so patients could see their visiting siblings. The doctor who was guiding us through the nephrology clinic was really good at keeping our attention by asking us questions. I didn't know many answers (I'm taking my first A&P course next semester), but I learned a good bit about dialysis and how the machine works.
On our final day in Hannover we toured three different animal clinics. First we went to the small animal clinic and the newer large animal clinic that was used to treat horses. The final veterinary clinic was older and was used only to treat cows. I've never been to a vet's office period, so it was neat to see the similarities and differences between clinics for humans and animals and the changes that are made to accommodate treating larger animals. The most notable difference at the large animal clinic was the track on the ceiling for transporting anesthetized horses from the operating room to the stall. No one in our group has plans of going to veterinary school, but once we saw the calves, it was just as if we were kids on a field trip to a petting zoo. It was great to do some hands on things since we can't really do anything with human patients. I was also surprised at how much can be done for cattle. I never thought of their injuries and diseases as being treatable or worth the effort. (I hope that doesn't make me sound like a horrible person.) I've never wanted to be a veterinarian, but the day was a great addition to the program.

The Hills are Alive... (July 19, 2010)
This past weekend I traveled to Gimmelwald, Switzerland. I'm not sure why, but out of all of the weekend trips, Switzerland was probably the one I was looking forward to the least. I could not have been more wrong! I know this is only our second trip, but our weekend in Switzerland is now my favorite weekend. It will be hard to beat the amazing view, the relaxed, homey feel of the Mountain Hostel, the security I had with my bags, and the awesome experience of canyoning and hiking in the Alps.
As soon as we checked in, the eight of us set off for a little exploring. On the way to the hiking trail we walked through the neighborhood. We passed several wooden cottages, fresh spring water fountains, and goats with bells around their necks. The scenes were straight out of The Sound of Music and Heidi. We were surrounded by the most gorgeous views of the Alps. Later that night there was a thunderstorm, and the whole hostel watched the lightning from the porch. The Mountain Hostel has a great common room that's really cozy and conducive to meeting fellow travelers.
On Saturday, everyone went canyoning. It was the experience of a lifetime. Adventurous is not an adjective that I would use to describe myself, and from the description I heard, I wondered if I would really enjoy it. We rode in a van for about 45 minutes until we reached the field where we changed into our damp wetsuits. It had been raining the night before, so for the first time during our trip, I was cold. After a quick overview of safety on the side of a road, we were rappelling down a 50 meter cliff. I never thought I would enjoy walking backwards down a cliff, but after the first few steps, all my fears were gone. The rest of the trip was spent walking through the canyon and either jumping from or sliding down the larger rocks. Even though it was raining, canyoning was really fun, and I wasn't too cold for most of the day. I would definitely recommend it for anyone going on the program in the future!
To make the most of our last day in Switzerland without spending any money, we all went hiking near the hostel. We weren't really prepared. It was supposedly a hike suitable for children, but it was pretty long. We didn't have all day to hike, so we had to turn around after we said "surely we're only thirty minutes to the top…" a few times. We rode a gondola, bus, and train to Interlaken to eat and do a little souvenir shopping before getting on our night train to Vienna. I will never forget my trip to Switzerland; I hope I will be able to return for a longer visit sometime soon!

I should learn how to swim

July 16 - 19 (Long weekend in Switzerland)

Switzerland is the most beautiful place I have been. This was the view from the window at the Mountain Hostel. The first day we were there we went on a short hike close to the hostel. It was fun because we took a lot of pictures.

We signed up to go canyoning the next day. All I really knew about this was that there was a repel and then a hike. I did NOT know there was going to be so much water involved. Needless to say the repel and the zip line was my favorite part. I did enjoy all the jumps and slides.. but I hated landing in the water. I am glad I did it though. Well, after the repel I did not have a choice, I had to do all the jumps.

Hearts, and Kidneys, and Cows... OH MY!!!!

July 13 - July 15

Locations: Bad Oeyenhausen & Hannover

The Bad Oeyebhausen Heart and Diabetes Center was very interesting. I was hoping we would be able to watch surgery but sadly we were not. My favorite part of this tour was the "LVAD through the ages" demonstration that was given to the engineering students. We got to see the different components of the LVAD and how it has changed over the past decade.

The nephrology clinic place in Hanover was very cool and interesting. I really enjoyed the presentation before the tour. This day was fun, especially the lake. Everybody took a nap and then we got on the boats. After the boats we went to eat at a restaurant, and I got the duck.... not very good. I also tried a grapefruit beer the first night..that was good.

The cow vet clinic was very fun; especially when we got to put our arms in the cow. I really could not feel anything. I am not sure if this was because I was too short and really could not reach anything or because it was full of air.... probably both.

I hate Venlo!

Week 1, Blog #2 [July 9 - 12]

Location: Friday - Bonn, Weekend - Amsterdam

I was really looking forward to Friday's homeopathy lecture but the day was just too hot to be outside. I really wasn't buying everything the Homeopath was saying but I can not deny that some plants can be used to treat some ailments. Overall it was a very insightful lecture; I enjoyed it despite the heat.

Amsterdam was OK. It was really not what i expected. The city was easy to navigate but it was really crowded and dirty. The Van Gogh Museum was the highlight of the trip for me. I really wanted to go on a canal cruise but I did not want to go by myself. I was really disappointed that we did not get to go inside of Ann Frank's house. That was one of the top spots i wanted to visit in Amsterdam. I also wanted to go to the Heineken Brewery but I did not get to do that either. I guess that leaves me with things to do for my next trip to Europe.

The trip back from Amsterdam took forever, that is why I hate Venlo.... Only the girls will understand.

Last official week in Bonn July 26-30

We were all relived to be back in Bonn after two straight weeks of traveling and living out of a suitcase. One of my favorite days of the whole trip was this week when we went to Bacharach, which was about an hour away from Bonn. It was very picturesque with all these cute old houses and buildings with the hills in the background with vineyards on them. The oldest house was from 1368. We took a cruise on the Rhine and saw Castles and little towns that would be on the edge of the Rhine. Then we ate schnitzel at Hotel Rheintal. There was this cute old couple that ran the place and a vineyard all by themselves. We then wehnt to Marksburg castle. It is one of the only castles that is original and hasn't been rebuilt to look like the typical castle. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Then we went back to Hotel Rheintal and had a wine tasting. Nils taught us that when you swish the wine around you are looking for how slowly the wine drips back down the glass, the slower the more alcohol is in the wine. And when you tilt the glass you look at the color on the top of the wine to tell the age of the wine. And then you smell and taste the notes in the wine. We tried 5 different wines. I think Shayna liked the rolls in between the wine the best :) It was a great day.
We went also went to a great musuem in Bonn, one of our favorites, and to the Cologne zoo.
I spent my weekend in Bonn and Muelheim with my host family and Simone.
I will miss Bonn so much. I have gotten to the point where I know where I am going there and how to get around and feel like I am at "home" in a sense.

Vienna and Prague- Week 4

Vienna is beautiful like you would expect. I think one of my favorite things about Vienna was all the cute cafes. We ate at Cafe Korb where I did not enjoy my meal too much but enjoyed my dessert wine and pastry very much :). It was mentioned by Shayna that I always seem to pick the bad meal and told me she never orders what I order. I wish this would have been brought up sooner and I would have stopped picking my own meals a long time ago! Haha. We visited the Vienna Cathedral, which doesn't compare to the Cologne Cathedral, nothing does. We went into the Catacombs which was kind of creepy, but more neat than anything. It was kind of crazy to see tons of bones just laying in a mass grave. The tour guide with the awful accent told us that at one point prisoners had to sort through the bones and one mass grave had all the bones sorted and neatly stacked...weird. Another one of my favorite things was going to see Fledermaus, an Operetta. We all got pretty and walked around the city for 30 minutes trying to find the Opera House. I had to ditch my shoes about 10 minutes into our trek. Lesson learned...no heals in Europe...ever. It was in German but easy to follow the scenes. It was a humorous play and very animated. They sang so beautifully as well. During intermission we all went outside and enjoyed a glass of champagne. It was a really great opportunity and experience to get to see an opera in Vienna.

My advice to anyone who travels to Prague is to not arrive when it is raining and at night. Their public transportation is not as advanced as rest of Europe apparently and the trams are not even labeled, nor is there a map with the tram route on it. So we all just hopped on one just to see where it would take us, since we had no other option. It seemed to be going in the wrong direction so we got off, into the rain, and got on a different one going the other direction. Eventually we got off of that tram and stood in the rain for a little while and then just got cabs. We were surprisingly close to our hostel haha. Prague had the best food, and cheap! We loved it. We had our own room at the hostel and all went to eat the first night then went back to the room and chilled for rest of the night. We only had one full day in Prague and we decided to just walk around and enjoy our time and see where we wound up. We had a very nice day an saw beautiful things. It was very touristy and jam packed with tourists, mostly Asians, everywhere. Kavi got some great photo ops of Asians I am sure. It was one of my favorite weekend days. That night we went on a pub crawl. When we first got there, I thought oh great. There was about 150 people in one pre-party room, the floor was sticky, and they were serving cheap cheap liquor. But it turned out to be a great night with the gang. We met some interesting people but mostly just enjoyed our time with each other :) Chavi stayed behind and rest of us left around 3 and made it back around 4. We had to leave to catch our train at 5am so it was about an hour nap that night. We all found our own little sleeper rooms. Claire and I shared one and slept pretty peacefully. I think we have spent a fair amount of time sleeping on trains.

I enjoyed Vienna and Prague very much. I think we all got closer as a group around this time...awwwwww. :)

Banging out in Berlin

Aug 2-4

This was the last week with the group in Berlin. We started by hopping on a train from Bonn and Elsie saw that Matt had a big hole in his jacket so she took it upon herself to sew up his jacket as a project to do on the train. When we got to Berlin we headed to Hotel Alex (awesome breakfast by the way) and from there we went on a bike tour around Berlin and saw where the Berlin wall stood. Then the Reichstag, Hitler's bunker and then the Holocaust memorial where it brought feelings of uneasiness and fearfulness just walking around. The next day we went to Sachsenhausen where we saw the German concept of timeliness (the train was delayed by over an hour), but when we got there the site was awesome and the guide could literally answer any question asked to him. Then we went and ate lunch (I ate at Subway) and went to visit Checkpoint Charlie and the museum of terror (which was one of my favorite exhibits throughout the trip). The next day was spent visiting the Max Delbruck center where we got to see all of the newest technology for surgeons and how to make conferencing with other doctors much easier. While the walking tour was sub-par I think it was due to it being his first time giving a tour. Then we spent some time at the Otto Bock center for prosthetic limbs and this is where I think I would love to work at if medicine doesn't pan out.

July 26-29

After arriving back in Bonn following our stint in Prague we were supposed to go see a surgery, but since I had left my phone in Michael's backpack, I wasn't sure what time and where we were supposed to meet on Monday morning so I unfortunately missed the orthopedic surgery. I feel like it would have been a great experience, but alas I missed; however, I got to spend some time with my host mom and also had some time to get a little caught up on blog posts. Well then I finally got in touch with Nils and we met to go to the Haribo wholesale store on the other side of Bonn which was a lot of fun just because they had so much selection of what you could buy. Then we had a cultural studies class with Ture where we learned the difference between freund und bekannte and how Germans make a clear distinction between the two, whereas in America if we have had a conversation with one they are automatically our friend and instead we just use superlatives like best friend or really good friend to describe what the Germans just called friend.

On Tuesday we went on a hike where Dr. Wasser told us the story of some lazy study abroad students he took on a hike and how they got passed up by some nuns on the hike. We then went and saw the Marksburg Castle and I took on a bet to wear everyone's jacket for the duration of the tour and until we reached a certain checkpoint. Then we went and had a wine tasting with an older couple in their restaurant and I figured out how much of a master Nils is with wine. Then the gentleman sold the wine at a huge discount and we all, probably, bought too much to take back to America.

On Wednesday we went and saw the Horst Stoeckel-Museum of the History of Anesthesiology toured by Dr. Stoeckel who was in over half of the pictures in the museum as he had helped design and invent many of the techniques used today. I am really glad we got to see this because I doubt I'll be experience anything like that again, actually being toured by the man who the museum was named after.

Thursday felt kind of like a resting day where we just kind of saw 2 videos and I was feeling particularly bad, I think the bacterial infection I have had for the past week or so was finally setting in and while I could stay awake and was interested in the first video (Ode to Joy) the second video was too much, and I didn't really see it. Then we went and ate some sushi (waste of time) and went and attended a lecture on the Nuremberg doctor trials and human experimentation with Dr. Wasser which was quite interesting to see what crazy and stupid things the Nazis did to the Jews just because they could. They treated Jews more like pieces of equipment rather than people. Then we visited the Museum of the Federal republic of Germany and had a lot of information concerning what happened after the Nazis fell out of regime.

Friday was spent doing our AIB evaluations and then going to Koln zoo and getting the awesome tour of the elephant cages which is something that would be rare to do in America, but apparently is commonplace in Germany.

July 22-25

This is our last part of our week in Vienna and we decided to visit the Vienna museum and then visit the cemetery. The tour guide met us at the museum and gave us a tour of the museum which was fairly interesting and we all saw a torch holder that resembled a club with a bunch of spikes on it and looked more like weapon than anything else. Then we went and saw probably the largest cemetery I have ever seen with some of the largest tombs I have ever seen. Some of the tombs looked bigger than some guest houses I have seen. Then we had an interesting experience with our next meal when the waitress wasn't so great and Nils wasn't too pleased and left her about a 1 euro tip.

The next day was spent visiting the Medical School in Vienna which was very interesting because we got a deeper look into how the Austrian educational system worked and how one would get into medical school here in Austria and further how it would proceed if you were a student there. Then we went and saw the Narrenturm which was a circular structure where they used to house the psychiatric patients and the reason the building was circular was kind a security reason becasue the exit door would be closed and the patient would just walk in a circle until finding an open door which would be his. The building felt more like a prison than a hospital with the windows barred up, the rooms just being an empty shell with just a bed and the overall color scheme was just kind of creepy. Then we went and saw an exhibit of many diseases which had real human specimens, and I think it was used to train medical students in the past and maybe as a reference for current students.

The next day was one of my personal favorites since we visited a mostly privately owned center (NRZ Rosenhügel ) and I could relate the most to it since my father is in a joint venture in a hospital in the states and it was interesting how they did things here in Vienna. The center was probably the nicest facilities I have seen along with Bad Oyenhausen, it had a rehab pool, a fully equipped gym and all sorts of pressure plates and high speed cameras to aid with and monitor progress. The CEO of the company explained to use the different levels of stroke patients and how the different ones must be treated and the costs of each, and that the government doesn't care how much extra one patient costs over another all will be reimbursed the same. I thought that this may create a problem where hospitals would all try and get the level A and B patients because they are the most profitable, but the CEO explained that they have a moral obligation to take all levels.

After this tour, I went to go pick up a suit I bought in the center of the city and ended up getting to the train station 2 minutes after the train to Prague left, so I went and checked when the next train was and found out it was 2 hours after the last one. So then I went back to the hotel and got directions to the hostel (Sir Toby's) and then went to grab lunch and drink before the train. The train ride turned out to be a blessing in disguise, it was some very needed alone time where I could sit and relax and then go to sleep. When I arrived to the train station I went and got some CZK and got on the tram to the hostel, sure that the group had all left, but I was wrong and it turned out that they had gotten lost and had to take a taxi to the hostel so I got there only around 10 minutes after they arrived. The next day we toured around Prague and then went on a pub crawl, Chad and I stayed out a little too late and got back at around 4:30 or so and the train left at 6 so getting up was no fun, but we made it safe and sound.

Final Days

Aug 5 – 7

Thursday morning we meet in the lobby for breakfast then headed out to Dresden (another 2hr train ride). We had a city tour where we saw the rebuilt Protestant cathedral, which was a major debate as to whether or not to rebuild the domed cathedral. It was bombed in WWII by the British and was debated whether to leave the rubble pile as a reminder to the destruction of Dresden in the war. It was rebuilt and apparently ~40% of the structure was rebuilt with original stones. Later that afternoon we visited the Deutches Hygeine museum in Dresden. This museum was not about the hygiene that I imagined. I thought we’d see the history about personal hygiene with the emergence of toothpaste, soap, etc. This was not the case; it was a museum about human biology and understanding the human anatomy/ biology. After the Hygeine museum we departed for Berlin.

Our last day in Berlin (and Germany) and the end of our stay in Europe was a wonderful one. We had yet another tour, at the Charite museum. We had a lecture by Dr. Wasser and toured through more history of German medicine and strange medical specimens. We also had a tour through the Charite health center lead by a German medical student. We got to do ear examinations, practice IVs on artificial limbs, and practice our suturing on artificial wounds. I will definitely remember this tour forever, we learned a lot about basic medical care but it was a nice introduction. Later that night we had our farewell dinner at the Kasbah. The dinner was great and it was a wonderful way to top off the trip of a lifetime. Despite the LONG journey home, I had a wonderful time in Germany. It was one of the most interesting and life changing experiences of my life and I will remember it forever.

Hello Berlin

Aug 2 – 4

Our last week in Germany was spent in the bustling city of Berlin. After our arrival and check in to Hotel Alex we went on a bike tour of Berlin. We biked past a neat replica of what the Berlin wall would have been like before it was torn down, the Reichstag (building with big dome), the Jewish memorial site near the US embassy, the place where Hitler ended his life, and many other sites of historical importance. The following day we toured Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial site. The site contained a lot of original pieces from the former camp despite the destruction of the majority of the site. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant called Vapiano *which I plan on starting in the US if my career in medicine doesn’t pan out. We also visited some original pieces of the Berlin wall and toured a museum documenting the SS and major players in the Nazi regime.

On Wednessday August 4 (and my birthday) we visited the Max Delbruck center for molecular medicine. Learned about the history of the center and the current research and technological advancements being made in German/ world medicine. We ended the day with a tour of Otto Bock, a leading developer of prosthetics. The sleek Otto Bock building and exhibit was just one indication of there success in/ impact on the industry of prosthetics. That night the guys went out to a bar/ club with some people we met the night before for my birthday which was blast. We met a lot of interesting people and had another interesting night of wandering the city.

Munich

July 30 – Aug 1

Friday we made yet another trip from Bonn Hauptbonhauf to the Cologne Central Station. We had an arranged guided tour of the Cologne zoo. We also got “backstage passes” to view the elephant exhibit. Later that day we walked around Cologne and waited for our train to Munchen. Chad, Michael, and I chose to visit Munich for our last weekend trip. Because we left so late on Friday we got to Munich around 1am Saturday. Nevertheless, we woke up early Saturday and went to tour the Dachau concentration camp. The weather was so nice that it was difficult to comprehend the pain and suffering that occurred here. While most of the camp was reconstructed I found the experience to be moving despite the wonderful weather. There was a nice museum/ exhibit that detailed everything that occurred at Dachau. After Dachau we caught the train back to Munich and walked around the city. We ate and early dinner then stumbled across the famous Hoffbrau House where each of us indulged an enormous liter bier. In addition to a nice time in Munich, hostel Jaegar turned out to be just as nice as it was on the Internet. We left Sunday afternoon back to Bonn on yet another long train ride. Sunday was our last day with our host families because Monday morning we would leave for Berlin.

Goodbye Bonn

July 26- 29

The Monday following our weekend in Prague we attended a surgery at the University hospital in Bonn. Chad and I saw a spinal decompression, where the surgeons removed some bone and tissue to remove some of the pressure being placed on the spine. We also had our last cultural studies class with Ture where we discussed the difference of the German definition of friend and the American definition.

On Tuesday we ventured south of Bonn to visit the Marksburg Castle and partake in a Rhine cruise. After touring alongside the Rhine we had enology class. We tasted various white wines at a nice little restaurant situated near both the castle and the Rhine. It was quite an experience – a lot of fun.

Wednesday we had class with Dr. Wasser followed by a tour of the Museum of Anesthesiology with Prof Stockl. Prof Stockl was an older man who actually invented and designed many of the antique anesthesia machines. He knew everything there is to know anesthesia.

Friday we visited the Museum of the Federal Republic of Germany which included everything post 1949. It was a nice museum with a lot of information on Germany post WWII.