A Week in Bonn

Tuesday: 

After our long weekend, our group got to sleep in while the other group went to visit the hospital. We had our last German lesson with Frau Hilde. I was a little sad to say goodbye to her, especially because I love the way she teaches German. She's a funny little woman. After our last German class, Dr. Wasser gave lectures and then our group headed to the organ factory. I originally thought we were going to a body organ factory, and I was quite confused. But I soon figured out we were touring an organ instrument factory. One of the men that worked at the Orgelblau Klais gave us a very informative tour. There, we learned how an organ works, how they make these intricate instruments, and what they're used for. I knew nothing about organs beforehand, but it was very interesting to learn just how complex these instruments are. Our tour guide said they can take 2-3 years to build, and can cost a couple million euro! We also got two free scoops of gelato today, so it was a great day. I think I have eaten gelato every single day this trip.

Wednesday: 

Hospital day! Our group met at the bus station at 7:15 AM today to go to the Uniklinik. We split up into groups, and students were able to observe general surgery, orthopedic surgery, and cardiac surgery. I was assigned to the general surgery group. We changed into some scrubs, scrub caps, and grabbed a mask then headed into the operating rooms! I was a little nervous going into an operating room in a foreign country with people who speak a language that is relatively unknown to me. However, the anesthesiologists and surgeons were very welcoming and communicated with me a lot during the procedures. The first procedure I saw was a patient receiving a catheter because there was a tumor in their bladder blocking urine flow. This catheter would allow them to pass urine. This procedure only lasted about 15 minutes, and then I saw a kidney transplant. I was able to see the donor and the receiver in surgery. The kidney looks just how I would imagine it, but a little smaller than expected. It was very interesting seeing the surgeons cut all the connections, take out the kidney, then insert the new kidney and reconstruct all the connections. This surgery only took about 2 or 2.5 hours. After deciding whether to go home and eat or watch another surgery, we decided to try and watch an open heart surgery. Luckily, we asked some of the nurses and they were very happy to let us watch an aortic valve replacement from start to finish. Although our original plan was just to see the beginning of the surgery, we ended up staying the whole time and didn't leave the hospital until around 6 PM! Although we were starving and maybe even on the verge of going crazy, it was so worth it. We were able to get an excellent view of the surgery, and the surgeon was the coolest. He talked to us the whole entire time and asked us lots of questions. It was so amazing to watch him cut open the chest, stop the heart, replace the valve, and restart the heart. We could not stop watching. It was so dang cool! We learned that it takes at least 9 or 10 years after you graduate medical school to officially be a cardiac surgeon. The experienced surgeon also told us that he works over 80 hours a week sometimes. That's a no from me. You have to be truly devoted to do that. Today may have been one of my favorite days of the trip. I learned that German OR's and American OR's are very similar despite the differences in health care delivery, and I got to see three incredible surgeries. Woohoo!

Grey's anatomy cast

Thursday: Today we had lectures from both Prof Waltz and Dr. Wasser, including a brief lecture over the history of anesthesia. After class, we headed to the anesthesia museum. This museum is one of only four anesthesia museums in the world. And conveniently, it's located in Bonn. It is run by Dr. Stoeckel, who is one of the pioneers of modern day anesthesia. It was such a unique experience getting to meet him in person and hearing him give a small lecture. Dr. Wasser led the rest of the tour, and it was so interesting getting to see the transformation of anesthesia since the mid 1800's. It's crazy that they handed out cocaine and other opioids like it was nothing. Another thing that surprised me is they gave Queen Victoria a dose of chloroform during childbirth, and she then gave her public approval of chloroform. We also were able to see an iron lung, which was used to support polio patients that had breathing issues. 

Operating Room from 1900s

Friday:

Today we first visited Bingen, the place where Saint Hildegard was born.  Bingen is a gorgeous town right on the Rhine. I really enjoy learning about Hildegard because she was a bold woman, a leader in medicine, and eventually canonized. At the museum in Bingen, we were also able to see some very old surgical and medical tools. There is so much history of medicine here in Germany that I was not expecting. After our lunch in Bingen, we all got two scoops of gelato (thanks Dr. Wasser) and headed to our Rhine cruise. I had a great time sitting on the deck of our boat soaking in the sun and passing by hundreds of vineyards and castles. After our 2 hour Rhine cruise, we headed to Marksburg castle for our guided tour. After somewhat of a challenging hike, we made it to the castle and had a beautiful view of the Rhineland. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the castle, and we were able to see its dining halls, bedroom, stable, and armory. I really felt like I was in Game of Thrones or Camelot or something. Marksburg is one of the only castles that survived the wars that took place over the centuries. It was never overtaken, and is in pretty good shape for being built in the 1100s. After our long day, we headed back to Bonn, stopped at the bier garten, then settled in for the weekend. 

Knight Armor

View from the castle

Saturday:

There were a few of us that decided to stay in Bonn for the weekend, which is srsly one of the best decisions I have made on this trip. It ended up being one of my favorite weekends and it was very restful and relaxing. We slept in on Saturday, then our host mom took us to the Birkenstocks outlet. Highly recommend. I got three pairs of Birks for so cheap compared to the prices back in the US. After that, we headed to Drachenfels with our host mom and dad and hiked up to the castle. It was a challenging hike, but well worth the amazing views at the top. After that, we went up to the Petersburg Grand Hotel close by. This hotel has hosted several famous political leaders, including Bill and Hillary Clinton. We saw what the Germans call the "Bill Clinton Trail," because Bill Clinton used to jog up and down this trail close to the hotel during his stay. After marveling at the views again, we walked down the mountain; just a 30 minute stroll back to our house. It is amazing how these beautiful mountains and castles are right in our backyard! Me and Suji were exhausted when we got home. Our host parents, who are experienced hikers, were laughing at how worn out we were. It was "only a 7 mile hike." After recuperating for a while, we showered and headed to a wine festival in Bad Godesberg. After eating and hanging out, we went to experience the bars and nightlife in Bonn. I was surprised by how many people were out! Bonn has so many surprises. 

Bill Clinton Trail

Sunday: 

Once again, me and Suji were able to sleep in later today. After eating breakfast, we headed to the swimming pool close to our house. German swimming pools are on a whole new level. There had to have been hundreds of people at this pool. People of all ages were there either tanning, reading, or playing in the pool. We spent several hours here just hanging out and relaxing. I also went down the huge slide of course and conquered my fear of falling by jumping off the high dive. Everyone was having a great time, and it was unlike any pool I've ever been. It was just what I needed after traveling so much. I felt like a new woman after this weekend! I entered the week feeling well rested and ready for anything. 

Can I join the Nights Watch now?

After this week my next question is “when can I go back to the badehaus?” This week has been full of so many exciting new experiences and has been a highlight of this study abroad experience so far. The week started out with an early train ride to Norderney island and getting used to riding a bike again. The saying ‘it’s just like riding a bike’ never made more sense to me since it was very easy for me to pick the skill back up again. The next day was our badehaus visit which was an amazing experience. I definitely made sure to try everything while I was there. My favorite things were the 6 meter shower and the firepool (hot tub). I also ended up really enjoying the mud steam room even though if I’m honest I was really nervous for it. Along with the mud treatment, the sauna’s also exceeded expectations and were super relaxing. The whole experience was so great that I ended up going back after the mud walk the next day. After the mud walk, the saunas were needed. I was very excited after hearing from a friend about it but because of the weather I was not a huge fan. The rain and wind were so cold that my hands turned blue. I also have more issues with my back when the weather is colder which did not help. If I ever return, which hopefully I will, I would like to try the mud walk again but on a day with slightly better weather. Overall the week on paradise island was a great experience of getting to bike everywhere and learning about the culture of the island and the badehaus.

After Norderney, I traveled with Bridgette and Maddie to Ireland. We spent the first part of the long weekend in Belfast. Belfast was absolutely breathtaking and so much fun. We finally got the experience of driving on the opposite side of the road which was very trippy. In Belfast, we had an adorable BnB in the suburbs and Friday night had some great home style Irish cooking. Everyone was so friendly and I love the accent. I didn’t realize how nice it was to have everyone around speaking the same language but frankly it was comforting and made me feel less like an outsider. Ireland also had very interesting and diverse people. Saturday morning, we traveled into Belfast and went on a Game of Thrones tour taking the scenic costal route. We saw a bunch of amazing film sites including Castle Black, Iron Islands, and Caves where they filmed some important scenes for the show. It was so fun how recognizable they were. Along with the GOT sites, we also saw some amazing Irish countryside, a castle, and the giants causeway. The tour was definitely worth it and when I told my family (very big fans of the show) they were extremely jealous. Belfast was so great I didnt’ want to leave but also was very excited to experience Dublin. We traveled to Dublin Sunday morning and got to sightsee and do the Guinness tour. Later in the evening, we met up with a big group that also traveled to Dublin for the long weekend. We got to experience a couple of Irish Pubs with live music and dancing. The weekend ended so fast and I wasn’t ready to be done but I look forward to the classes and excursions in the upcoming week, especially the hospital visit.

30 minutes walk to the closest bus stop? yeah sure, why not?

Another week is gone, and slowly we are reaching the end of our time here. I’m going to miss Europe, but for now, last week’s update.

We arrived from Rome on Monday. On Tuesday we had class in the morning. We sadly had our last German lecture in the morning. Later we had a History of Medicine in Europe lecture, and as always, it was really interesting. In the afternoon we had a visit to Orgelbau Klais, which is an organ factory. Even though it was really warm in there, it was really interesting, we got to learn a lot about the process of building organs and all the things to keep in mind to make sure it sounds as it should. 

Wednesday was a day with a lot of excitement. We had the hospital visit where we got to see surgeries. At first, it was kind of weird, but once we got used to the hospital it was not that bad. I got to watch 2 different surgeries, the first one was small, and lasted only about 20 minutes. The second surgery I watched extended for about 2-3 hours. In that surgery, they were removing lymphatic tissue of the patient’s neck (ON BOTH SIDES!) it was a really big incision, and also was really deep. As a biomedical engineering student, I was mostly interested in all the equipment they had in the room (even though I’m not going into the bioinstrumentation track), it was great for me to see how engineering has made the doctor’s job easier by providing tools that they can easily use. 

On Thursday we had lectures in the morning, and then in the afternoon, we went to the Anesthesia Museum. Honestly, the visit to the Anesthesia Museum was a lot better than what I was expecting. The museum walked us through the history of anesthesia, and the beginning of anesthesia and its development that led to what we have today. Here, we also got to see the development of anesthesia equipment, and how slowly became these advanced machines that are available in the hospitals. 

On Friday we had an all-day excursion to Bingen. We left really early because it is a little far from Bonn. When we got there, we went to the Museum am Strom. We had a guided tour by Dr. Wasser. For the tour, Dr. Wasser dressed as a Monk which made it a lot more interesting and fun to watch. After the museum, we had lunch and ice cream and afterward, we went on a cruise in the Rhyne. The view from the cruise was really beautiful, it was hot and sunny, but not to the point where the tour was not enjoyable. After the 2 hours cruise, we hiked up to a castle. It was a little hard and tiring, but the view from the top was definitely worth it. We had a guided tour of the castle and after we just headed back to Bonn. To close the day, me with my friends went to the beer garden to refresh a little with some good German beer. 

On Saturday morning I headed out to Amsterdam with Bella. The Air B&B we rented we thought was close to the city but ended up not being, and the closest bus stop was 40 minutes’ walk away, the good thing about this, I walked for 30 minutes, so that must count as a workout. On Saturday afternoon we went to the Van Gogh Museum, this was a great experience. We had an audio tour where his most significant works were explained, and also explained the struggles he went through during his life. Later we had a walk around the city. 

Bella and I left the Air B&B early on Sunday and headed to the city. We went to the Heineken Experience, and it was AMAZING, totally worth the time. We learned a lot about the history of the brand and the brewing process (bonus: 2.5 free beers! And 2 to go). After the Heineken tour, we took a canal tour, and after we just walked a little more around the city. I did not have a lot of time to spend in Amsterdam but the time I had, was for sure great. Hopefully, I’ll be back someday. 

Now, on to week 5. Vienna, here we go!

Eindhoven, Netherland  

Amsterdam 1 

Heineken Experience (2.5 free beers) 

Amsterdam 2

Mirror Selfie at the Van Gogh Museum 

Personalized Beer 

A Simple Week in the Rhineland

Unlike anything I have seen before, week 4 started off with my face in a heart. My first time in the operating room, not as a patient, was one I will never forget. At first I was a little weary and unsure of what to expect. The anesthesiologist I was assigned to did not speak english, neither did the surgeons or nurses. I was quietly standing in the corner of the OR without any one to guide me as to what was going on. I freaked out. Once the prep on the first patient was completed, they wheeled him in to the room. Watching them intubate him and just everything they were doing caused me to feel queasy. Yes, I almost passed out before the surgery even started. An hour in the helped calm me down, and I was able to get back in to the operating room. During my time at the hospital, I witnessed a bone biopsy, a foot infection, some type of gastrointestinal endoscopic surgery, and two open heart surgeries. It was absolutely amazing to have been able to see real, live hearts and not preserved ones. One heart was going through coronary bypass surgery, and the other was going through an aortic valve replacement. I may never see surgeries like that again, so I will probably talk about this day and what I was lucky to see, forever.

Wednesday was full of German and History of Medicine lectures. Professor Wasser presented on "The Best Healthcare Money Can Buy" and it was probably my favorite lecture so far. I am not one for politics and anything that surrounds the subject, but recently I have been trying to get more and more educated on current issues. Healthcare is a topic I have been wanting to dive into but have been reluctant to because I don't know who or what sources to trust. This lecture compared American healthcare to German healthcare to Canadian healthcare to others. Basically what I gathered from this is that American healthcare is in a rough and troubled state and can only be fixed with major changes that no one is willing to adopt. American healthcare will implode in a few years if changes are not made. Some promising stuff. After this lecture, the class went and toured a factory that builds organs. This was super cool to see the behind the scenes and incredible detail that goes in to creating some of the most beautiful instruments.

Thursday was another day full of lectures. It was a rough day for neurophysiology. We began learning about auditory receptor cells, neural signaling, auditory pathways, and just a ton of brain stuff. It was a lot for me to take in because I have absolutely zero knowledge on this subject as I have never taken a class surrounding it before. Wish me luck on the next test. During History of Medicine, we learned about the history of anesthesiology. Immediately after this lecture, we were able to go and tour a local anesthesiology museum. I enjoyed this because it was interesting to see the tools that have been used throughout history to simply put people to sleep for surgery. One extremely cool thing we saw was this coffin-like machine that helped people with polio breathe. A lady lived in one of these for 35ish years. Yikes! (I forgot to take a pic. Oops. But just believe me, it was cool.)

Friday was an excursion to Bingen where we toured a museum dedicated to Hildegard von Bingen. After the tour, we ate a group lunch at this random restaurant which was awful. They gave me a salad that consisted of only lettuce and olive oil. Thank goodness I had snacks with me or I would have been starving. A river tour was then taken after the failed lunch. It took us north on the Rhine and every single town we passed had a castle which is insane. We got off in Braubach and toured a castle that had been set up to look like it did when it was occupied. It was a good day.

My travel plans for the weekend ended up falling through. I was supposed to leave for Munich at 12:15 AM. I got to the train station and found out that the train was delayed an hour, so I waited until 1:10 when I got the news that it was delayed until 2:30. At this point, I decided to go home and go to sleep. I was tired and sick and just wanted a good nights sleep. Soooo instead I took a day trip to Cologne on Saturday. Here, I went into a few clothing stores, went and toured the chocolate museum, ate the most delicious chocolate fondue, and just had a nice day. On Sunday, I took a train down to Heidelberg and took a look at its castle. It was the cutest little town and the castle was massive with the most amazing views. It also has the planet's largest wooden barrel of wine. It holds 58 gallons. I also went in to a small pharmacy museum where I saw old lab equipment that we still use in lab today. Even though my initial plans got cancelled, it was still a wonderful weekend.

Blonde move of the week: I dropped my retainer in the sink at my hostel in Dublin. Absolutely disgusting. I wasn't sure how to clean it, so I decided that boiling water would be the best option. Not the best option. It ended up morphing my brand new retainer (had to get a new one right before I left) and now it does not fit. Go me :)

Week 4 Out the Door

I blinked and yet another week has come and gone. I have never related more to the saying “you can sleep when you’re dead.” Sleeping in an airport, exploring the vast area of Ireland and getting back to Bonn at 4 am left me feeling quite exhausted after the weekend. BUT the fun excursions we got to do with the class throughout the week distracted me from my sleep deprivation. First on our list of things to do in Ireland was to try the traditional Irish breakfast with sausage, ham, fried egg, and black and white pudding. I was a little hesitant with the black pudding because of the whole blood ingredient, but I ended up really liking everything I tried! After this we went straight to the Guinness Brewery where we learned about how the dark, rich local beer is made and even got a pint at the end! My favorite part of the trip occurred later that night at a pub that was about a five minute walk from our hostel. It was called Molloy’s Pub, and that is the place where I felt completely immersed in the Irish culture. There was a duo that played traditional Irish songs, people were singing along and even dancing on the small wooden dance floor. The next morning, a group of us began our 2 day Paddy Wagon tour that took us to see the beautiful Irish landscape, the city of Cong and Connemara, as well as Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. I don’t think I have ever seen so much greenery in my life, and the rolling hills stretched as far as the horizon. Our night in Galway was an eventful one to say the least. Our hostel was a ten minute walk from the famous Latin Quarter where we were amazed with colorful flags draped between the alleyways of the buildings, wool shops, pubs, people and more. On our stroll around the town, we passed over beautiful streams and flowers and even came across the Spanish Arch and the Galway Cathedral! That night we went to a pub where we met a Canadian fellow who was on a 30 day travel journey. We all talked for a while and even found out that we would be at the Cliffs of Moher at the same time the next day. We thought there would be a slim chance that we would see each other again, but sure enough we ran into each other once more and had a final farewell the next day at the Cliffs. Speaking of the Cliffs… they were absolutely INCREDIBLE. Stretching for miles, these massive rocks were weathered by waves and were breath taking! Not to mention, this was the exact place that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was filmed, so I was pretty starstruck being a biggggg HP nerd. We ended our journey back in Dublin where we spent one last night together in Molloy’s Pub. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my long weekend!

Coming back from the weekend pretty tired, I was glad to dive into the week with some excursions right off of the bat. On Tuesday, we visited an organ factory where we learned about the detailed process of organ assembly. Come to find out, this career deals with extreme precision involving acoustics, materials, carpentry and more, so an overall appreciation was gained for the workers. The next day consisted of one of my favorite activities we have done as a class. Never would I imagine that I would have the opportunity to be in a German hospital and watch a complete knee and hip replacement.  After arriving at the Bonn University Hospital, we changed into scrubs and were divided into small groups, mine being orthopedics. From the first cut to the last stitch, I stood next to the surgeons and saw the full process, tools and techniques used to successfully perform a knee arthroplasty. After using this green puddy-like substance to seal the bone to the metal, the surgeon told me to put on some gloves and handed me the remnants of what I later learned was bone cement. As I messed with it in my hands, it began to get really hot…like reallyy hot! I looked at the surgeon not knowing what to do, and he started to laugh at me and simply told me to throw it away and explained it’s purpose even further. Although I am interested in animal and not human medicine, this experience as a whole was wicked cool. Finally on Friday, we traveled to the small town of Bingen where we elaborated more about Hildegard von Bingen. Having a previous lecture about this important woman was very helpful coming into this excursion, for I actually was familiar with the history and could recall information easily as Dr. Wasser guided us through the Museum Am Strom. Another cool thing to physically see were all of the flowers Hildegard used for her medical remedies in the Hildegarten outside the museum. Following lunch and a gorgeous Rhine river tour, we hiked up to the Marksburg Castle in the town of Braubach. Still completely intact, this castle was a beautiful sight to see and offered some of the best views. Sad to see it go, week 4 was definitely one for the books.

Traditional Irish Breakfast

Guinness Brewery!!

Stones on Stones on Stones

Cliffs of Moher

The Latin Quarter

Galway

View from Marksburg Castle

Ireland, and Bingen, and Munich, oh my!

     Much has happened since my last blog post. From Ireland, to shadowing, to Bingen, and Munich, there are many updates ahead.
     For the long weekend a group of us traveled to Dublin. While some of my best memories on this entire trip were made in Ireland, it was no easy task getting there. We arrived to the Frankfurt airport from Norderney around midnight then planned to catch a few hours of sleep before our 6 am flight. We got kicked out of the resting area though and ended up "sleeping" in the McDonald's booths. It was a long night but worth the trouble. We kicked off our time in Dublin with a tour of the Guinness Storehouse complete with a tasting on a rooftop bar. That night we all ventured into town and found a pub where they played live Irish folk songs. It was one of the funnest nights I've had in the past few weeks, and I found myself getting comfortable in pub culture. 4 of us took a 2-day tour across Ireland where we got to see some of the country's greatest attractions: extensive bog lands, the iconic Temple Bar, Trinity College, Cong- where The Quiet Man was filmed, Connemara region, Galway- the cultural capital of Ireland, Aran Islands, Bunratty Castle, and, my favorite, the Cliffs of Moher. I tried authentic shepherds pie, potatoes, Irish tea, and stew which were all delicious comfort foods. The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely breathtaking! A truly unbelievable view.

     Having the opportunity to visit the University Hospital in Bonn was a valuable experience. I had never shadowed an anesthesiologist before, and it was interesting to see their work up close. The German operating room seemed to differ from an American one in only one way- the language being spoken by the doctors. I got to watch a removal of oropharyngeal tumors on either side of a gentleman's neck. Similar to previous surgeries I have seen, I was amazed at the ease at which surgeons perform extensive procedures. I got the chance to chat with the anesthesiologist, and many of the issues surrounding healthcare that we struggle with in America seem to be present in Germany as well. Over-prescription of antibiotics leading to resistant strains of bacteria, parents opting out of vaccinations for their children, and social determinants of health playing a significant role in individuals' overall well-being are all parallels with topics of concern in the States. I found this conversation to be enlightening and helpful in gaining insight into Germany's health system.
     The Bingen excursion was a great time, and I enjoyed the museum and Hildegarden tour, especially the exhibit on medical tools used during that time period. I was shocked at how much they resembled modern tools, as I had never considered the fact that the body hasn't changed anatomically so there has been no need for major alterations in surgical instruments. The Rhine boat tour was a perfect addition to the day. It was relaxing and gave beautiful views of riverfront towns.

     This past weekend, Sammi and I traveled to Munich. After two train delays, we considered cancelling our plans altogether, but I'm glad we persevered. On Saturday we visited the Neuschwanstein Castle- a truly magical sight! That evening we went to dinner at the tourist-famous Hofbrauhaus where we munched on a giant pretzel and sipped on a liter of beer. This, along with stumbling upon a local music and dance festival the next day, provided the genuine German experience we were seeking. Sunday we visited Dachau Concentration Camp which was striking and heart-wrenching, yet I felt it was important to acknowledge its existence and history. Touring the site changed my perspective on the country's history and the harsh capabilities of man. We ended the day on a more positive note by sightseeing around Munich, including Marienplatz, English Garden, Olympic Stadium, and St. Peter's Church. I can honestly say we saw the best of what Munich has to offer!

     In a couple of hours I will be leaving for our next group excursion to Vienna. I am particularly looking forward to the string quartet concert and Sigmund Freud house tour. I can't wait!

Last Full Week in Bonn

     It's hard to believe that four weeks have already gone by! It simultaneously feels like no time at all since I arrived in the airport, and also like I've been here forever. This past week was the last full week in Bonn that we'll have, and since I didn't travel this weekend, I also got to spend Saturday and Sunday enjoying my last couple of free days in this wonderful city.

     This week started off with a really incredible experience, which was observing surgeries at the teaching hospital in Bonn. The anesthesiologist I spent most of my time there shadowing was incredibly helpful and informative, and I was able to see a patient coming out from anesthesia after surgery, a patient being put under, and a full operation on an infected hip replacement. Surprisingly enough, while I didn't feel too woozy looking at the patient's leg while it was opened to clean out the hip replacement site, what did really get to me was the tube used to suck blood out of the wound. It was basically exactly like one of those dentist office mouth sucking tubes, but you know, filled with chunky blood. I kind of had a hard time looking at it.

   For my first time ever shadowing in an actual hospital, though, I think this was an incredible learning experience. I'd never gotten the chance to see medicine practiced really up close before, and as someone who hopes to go into pharmacology, I'm very fascinated by anesthesiology because the two seem very intertwined.

Our lectures this week were also very informative. I had a lot of strong feelings about the lectures concerning healthcare in other countries in comparison to healthcare in the United Stated. Healthcare in the U.S. is complicated enough that even though I've tried to stay well informed on the subject, I really didn't know that much beyond the surface, and I really didn't know that much at all about the health care practices of other countries. So I came away from the lecture feeling not only more informed, but also profoundly angry with the state of things in our healthcare system back home. While it had seemed fairly clear to me before coming here that our current system is breaking down if not broken, it hadn't been clear to me just how much better other large countries are doing at taking care of the health of their people. This isn't to say that either of the other main systems we learned about are perfect, but they're clearly making the effort to afford everybody the right to medical care and appear to do a pretty solid job at achieving that. In comparison, it seems like we're barely trying, and that as a country we've decided that it's alright to let so many people go without proper access to medical care. It's frustrating, but as with everything, being informed is the first step in being actually able to take action.

Unlike my last couple weekends hopping around Europe, this week I stayed put in Bonn, which ended up being really lovely. Me and some friends hiked to Drachenfell castle, went swimming at the Melbbad pools, and had a really lovely picnic out at the big park on the Rhine near my host family's home. I'm already know I'm going to miss Bonn a lot when I head back home. It's really a lovely town, and I'm so glad I've gotten the chance to live here with my host mom.

Adventure Time

On the way back from Norderney, I stopped at some UNESCO Heritage Sites in Northern Germany. First was Bremen. This was my FAVORITE. St. Peter’s Cathedral was just breathtaking. It has a museum attached to the back that is basically a crypt for some of the priests that were the people’s favorite. The stain glass windows and murals on the ceiling are indescribable. I could just sit for hours and take in the history. There was also a basement room that had a holy water bath hand sculpted and one of the most beautiful organs I’d ever seen. Town square was also just incredible. The history in Bremen’s architecture is not something you can really describe, it’s something you must experience. The Town Hall Square is 360 degrees of gothic style buildings and sculptures. Bremen is also known for the Brothers Grimm sculpture and designs. If you aren’t familiar with this tale, I’ll put a link with the pictures. Finally, I had a picnic in the park before I left. This park was HUGE. I literally spent 3 hours walking around and only saw a third of it. There’s a petting zoo INSIDE the park. So cool. Bremen took the cake for my favorite places on this trip back in terms of experiences and historical sights.

Next stop was Hannover. Not going to lie, this place was not my favorite. I’m glad I went but I probably won’t be back. Hannover is a pretty city, it’s just HUGE. It’s the capital of the state of Lower Saxony so it is very historic, but it also had the worst slums that I’ve seen thus far. I went to the New Town Hall and accidentally snuck into an art exhibition, so that was super neat. I also went to the Aegidienkirche Church. It is a Romanesque church built in 1163 but bombed in 1943 during an air raid on the city. Its ruins now stand as a memorial for the people that died during WW2.

Last up was Muenster. This place had THE BEST food, let me tell you. But fun fact, Muenster cheese was NOT made in Muenster, Germany… It was introduced in Munster of Alsace which is now part of France and not named Munster anymore… Also, if you ask someone in Muenster, Germany where it was made they will roll their eyes and not respond and then you will have to Google it and feel like a complete idiot (I am indeed telling you this out of experience). But after I left a small piece of my pride at the train station, I got to see St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Lambert’s Church. Both were just incredible. The Gothic city square is 365 degrees of historical architecture, and I was simply blown away by the beauty. I’ve decided that my favorite thing to do in Europe is to go into cathedrals and sit in a pew and people watch. I know that sounds creepy, but there’s something serene and therapeutic about the air in a cathedral. It’s not something you can describe in words. I sat in St. Lambert’s Church for about 2 hours and just admired the stained glass windows, and the (massive) organ, and the woodworked stage. Things aren’t made like that anymore, and it takes time to appreciate the time and effort people put into building a house for the Lord. It’s not just construction, it’s artwork. Muenster will also always be special for me because in St. Paul’s Cathedral I lit a candle for my grandmother, Dianna. This is my Mom’s mom that passed away when my mom was still young. I never got to meet her, but I’ve heard so many stories. I stayed for another hour after that and just felt the air. I know I’m sounding like a crazy person, but I’m telling you, the energy in a cathedral is just peaceful. If you have anxiety, just go to a 300+ year old cathedral and people watch… Instant cure. (I am not a trained physician so take this with a grain of salt people)

It was a great adventure, the long weekend. I got to see so much history and the diversity of Northern Germany! What a time to be alive.

In the park! It was such a beautiful day

This street was right by my hostel and I just thought it was gorgeous!

The Town Musicians of Bremen Statue

Link to the story: https://www.bremen-tourism.de/the-bremen-town-musicians

The church in Hannover that stands as a monument

Hannover New Town Square

St. Paul’s Cathedral❤️

This was veal and lamb chop stew with bacon fried potatoes and a house salad. So good. Oh, and some wine which made it even better!

Best Bath Ever

This week started with our trip to Norderney to visit the Badehaus. The class took 3 trains and then a fairy to reach the island. Norderney is known for its thalasso therapy techniques. The therapy is based on using the sea to cure individuals. One main feature of the Badehaus is the Saunas. Saunas originated in Finland and are popular in northern Germany. This was a fascinating experience as there is a focus only on your body and the löyly. The behaviors and cleanliness in the saunas made me comfortable in them.

Dr. Wasser led ti chi and workouts on the beach followed by a plunge into the sea. The northern sea is cold but after working out and getting your blood flowing, it was refreshing. This was also apart of the thalasso treatment.

One excursion on the trip was a walk through different ecosystems on the edge of the island. The walk started in the Marsh where the silt was fine and you would sink too about mid calf. I was not a fan of the mud squirting between my toes. There is a plant that looks like very thick grass which is considered a delicacy in the area and tasted salty. The walk continued to the water where the size of the sand granules also increased. The increase in the sand granules created more structure and resistance. At the water we saw jelly fish and learned about how the purple are safe and orange will sting. The walk was very education but also challenging to focus as the weather was a constant downpour of rain and strong wind. 

The atmosphere of the island was so enjoyable that I would like to visit again in the future. 

We had a four day weekend where Maddie, Kim, and I went to Belfast Dublin. There was an interesting change in the culture here on this island. It was also nice to be in a place where people spoke a similar language. In Belfast we took a Game of Thrones tour where we visited different locations of the scenes featured in the show. While I do not watch the show, it was beautiful to see the countryside and the landscape of Ireland. The Giants Causeway was one of my favorite stops and I love the folktale that goes along with this landmark. 

The next day we made our way to Dublin where we did a Guinness tour and met up with other classmates.  This tour was a fun experience and I was able to pour a perfect pint of Guinness. I do not recommend buying souvenirs after you finish a pint. For dinner we went to a pub with live music and a great atmosphere. The food this weekend was by far some of my favorite since coming to Europe. For a Sunday night the bars were hopping and the Irish people know how to enjoy themselves. 

4 weeks? Feels like 4 days

     Another week gone in what feels like a few hours. So much has happened I decided breaking it up into days may be the most efficient and the easiest to follow along - let's get into it...
Monday:
     Already wrote about this during my last blog post, but essentially just consisted of flying back from Dublin and getting home much later than expected - per usual.
Tuesday:
     I struggled to get out of bed in the morning thanks to a lack of sleep and had to be up earlier than usual to go to the hospital to watch surgeries. I got to the hospital and put on my scrubs and crocs and headed to my first operating room in which a gastrectomy was beginning. One of the coolest things I saw that day was that the screen- it was a laproscopic surgery- was three dimensional and everyone in the room wore special glasses to be able to see! Everything was fine and dandy while they prepped the patient until they burned the stomach wall and the smell made me faint. I went and sat down in the break room for a while, going back once only to be greeted by the same smell. I do not mind watching the surgery, that does not bother me, but smells and some sounds tend to get to me - for someone who wants to be a surgeon I guess I'll have to get over it. The second room I went into was a coronary artery and valve replacement. It is hard to put into words how amazing this was. I stood two feet away from a beating heart, a completely open chest. I stood for two hours in awe as I watched the surgeon work tediously and could not believe that I was really seeing an open heart surgery. The last year of school for me has been more stressful than I could have ever expected and there have been numerous times where I have sat and wondered - am I really meant to do this? Am I good enough to be a doctor? And while watching this surgery, in those two hours, I realized that I need to stop thinking that way and start thinking that I capable and need to just work and apply myself to reach my goals. It was an amazing, refreshing feeling and just what I needed. After leaving the hospital I went home, napped, and finished out the night bonding with my host family.

Wednesday:
     Wednesday was a full day of classes, including our last german class. It was bittersweet to have our last class and I will really miss laughing with everyone as we butcher pronunciations but also get to expand our vocabulary. We finished off the class with a game of Guess Who, all in german. Afterwards we had two periods of Neurophysiology of Music and then made our way to the organ building museum. It was super interesting to learn not just how organs are made but how they work. Room by room we got to go through the process and I never thought about how long it could take to build an organ or how intricate and tedious it was. That afternoon I went home and cooked with my host mom and went to bed early.
Thursday:
     I will forever be baffled by the number of holidays they have here in Germany and will always dread a holiday bus/train schedule. After managing to wake up early enough to catch the once hourly train we had a few hours of class and then went to the Anesthesia museum and got to see some amazing historical pieces displaying just how much medicine, specifically anesthesia, has advanced. I could have walked around for hours looking at everything, longer if I could read the german labels, but the two hours we spent was still perfect and Dr.Wasser, as usual, provided a great tour of the museum.
Friday:
     Bingen! A beautiful Rhine town which was home to Hildegard and now of a vast history of her and everything she did. We bussed early that morning to Bingen, most of us sleeping the whole way and began at the Hildegard von Bingen museum. Dr.Wasser showed us around and I wonder how he is able to store so much information. The illustrations were beautiful! Learning about the woman she was was inspirational when thinking about what most women did in that time, stay home and raise children, and I think they should teach more about Hildegard and the role she had in a time where women generally did not do much to be recorded in history. After, I think I had the best pasta i've ever had and then boarded a boat for a beautiful, castle filled, cruise on the Rhine. We then toured a massive castle which never was seized and then headed home with tired feet but a lot of great memories.
Saturday:
     Saturday morning Ali and I decided to head into Cologne and see the cathedral and explore such an old and beautiful city. It was nice to not have a set plan and be able to stroll without fear of missing a train. We saw the tomb of the three wise men which was amazing, shopped around, and headed back to bonn for a small festival before going home and sitting around talking with Suji and Madi as well and then going to bed for the long day to follow.

Sunday:
     Bright and early I woke up, got dressed, and met up with Ali for our day trek to Heidelberg. Only a few days earlier I found out my German ancestry was from near Heidelberg so I felt it was the perfect trip to take. I can hands down say the most amazing view so far this trip has been from the castle in Heidelberg. I was utterly speechless. The town beneath the terrace glowed orange and gold and contrasted against the Rhine and for a few moments I just stood there in awe. We got to tour the castle as well and also saw some amazing old medical devices. I went to bed that night happy and ready for the week to follow and I cannot wait for Vienna this week!

Old centrifuge

Old distillation apparatus 

Hallo and Bonjour!!

I can’t believe that I’ve already spent a full four weeks here in Germany. In fact, tomorrow it will be exactly a month since I left Texas! Even though I came into this program feeling really uneasy and nervous, it has far exceeded my expectations and blown me away with everything I have learned so far. This past week began with the long weekend, which has been my favorite weekend of the trip thus far. I got to meet up with one of my friends from school in Paris and I completely fell in love with the city. Paris is one of the only European cities that I have visited before this summer, but I loved it so much from my previous experience that I jumped at the opportunity to go back. It was so shockingly beautiful to see every last building’s stunning architecture and I found myself unable to describe the feeling that came along with just walking the streets of such a historical city. I felt like every corner and street that we turned down in Paris was more beautiful than the last! Probably my favorite part of this weekend though was the incredible food and drink that we enjoyed. Given the choice, I would eat pastry, cheese, and bread every day of my life, all things which you can find on every corner in Paris. On Monday afternoon, I found my way to my train, only to find out that it was delayed for 2 hours. My initial travel itinerary had me switch trains just once, but due to the delay of the first leg of my travel, I ended up having to switch trains 3 times. I felt so proud of myself for navigating this and adapting on the fly. I really believe that if it were a few weeks ago that this happened to me, I would not have handled the situation nearly as well as I did. Being here has given me a newfound confidence and independence to face the unknown, even in a situation like navigating hours of travel on my own.

My favorite experience from the program this week was the opportunity to observe surgeries on Wednesday within the cardio wing. As someone who wants to go into nursing, I have never pursued any opportunities like this before, so I was nervous about what my reaction would be in this setting. Once I got into the room where they were prepping the patient, I started to feel a bit lightheaded and woozy while watching the doctors work. I stepped out for a few minutes and by the time I came back, they had taken the patient into the surgery and were about to begin the procedure. Unsure of how I would react once they began the surgery, I tried to be really cautious with where I was standing so I could easily slip out if need be. However, I actually felt completely fine once the actual surgery began and I found myself fascinated watching the surgeons perform bypass surgery on the patient where they grafted a blood vessel from the leg to attach to the heart. I have never seen a real beating heart before and it was such a surreal experience that I will never forget.

This week I also really enjoyed the excursion to Bingen on Friday. I really enjoy learning about Hildegard and how powerful and influential she was as a woman and leader in general during a time when women were not often listened to. The boat that took us down the Rhine was another one of my favorite things from the week! Being from a suburb of Dallas, I still find it hard to believe that people get to live in such a beautiful place as this that is surrounded by such history. It’s definitely going to be hard to go back to Texas after visiting and seeing places that are so rich in beauty and history.

Lucy, Lucas, Samantha, Emilia, Maggie, and Shannon (Week 4)

We finally came back to Bonn and got to enjoy a nice four day stay in what has now become our home. Sleeping in my bed was the best feeling that I had been missing for over a week. The first day back in Bonn, regardless of the lack of sleep led to us to the hospital where we got to shadow a few doctors performing surgery. I was lucky in the fact I ended up with one of the most interesting surgeries which consisted of open heart surgery. The doctor began with opening up the chest of the patient and while he began to open up his thoracic cavity another doctor began to remove the saphenous vein from the man’s leg. The doctor then began to dissect part of the heart and removed an internal thoracic artery and basically burned the artery to prevent it from sending blood. They then shocked the heart and it began to spasm. They soon stopped the heart completely and attached it to a machine that manually pumped the blood out of the body, oxygenated it and pumped it back into the body. The doctor worked very efficiently and within a few moments, they had started working on the heart arteries. After three hours we left and checked out other surgeries. We got to see things from a gall bladder removal to an infected foot. Once it was about 2 pm, the last of us decided to finally head home where I then napped and then headed to another host families house for dinner. There we ended up staying up super late just talking and sharing stories. The next day we had German class and then neuroscience where we learned about how the ear anatomy receives sound. We then headed to an organ shop where we got to learn how organ makers start with raw materials to make huge multimillion dollar instruments. The craftsmanship that goes into every single step of making the organ was absolutely amazing, it was kinda similar to heart surgery in the fact that every step is very precise. The next day we had a class over the history of medicine where we got to learn more about the history of anesthesia. As a whole class, we then went to the museum of anesthesia where we got to meet the nicest old man who managed the museum and had personally collected all the artifacts in the building. We then were given a personal tour by Professor Wasser and got to see how the use of anesthesia has changed over time. The next day we woke up very early and headed to the bus station where we spent the next two hours passed out on our way to visit the Bingen. There we got to go to the Hildegarde Museum where we finally got to see in person everything that Hildegarde did in her time as a nun. We further went to the garden afterward and went on a scavenger hunt for various plants she used as medication. We then got lunch and got on a boat tour of the Rhine. It was such nice weather out and the amazing castles along the Rhine were amazing. We then stopped at one point and hiked up to the top of the castle where we preceded to take a tour. The tour was so interesting and I felt that I was in a Game of Thrones episode the whole time. We got to see the armory room, torture room, and master bedroom in the castle and then ended up back on the bus where we all once again passed out. 

Afterward I headed back home and packed my bag for my trip to Switzerland. Fast forwards to 4 am, I woke up and ran to the train station and made it smoothly onto the plane from Cologne to Zurich. I have no recollection of taking off or landing because the second I sat down I fell asleep. We then boarded our train and once again I passed out. Finally, we got on our final train and the scenery was incredible. By 11 o clock, we were in Interlake and pictures do not do it justice. The water was crystal blue and the mountains are breathtaking. We checked into our hostel and then headed to a lift up to a lookout that had an incline of what seemed like 90 degrees. We then got up to the top and had traditional beer and food from Switzerland and spent a few hours overlooking the gorgeous lakes and mountains. It was supposed to thunderstorm the whole time but it only rained a few times. Later we headed to a bar where we ended up just talking for hours and then headed to a dinner place where we also spent most of our time just talking. We eventually went to bed but I was woken up to people trying to get into our room so I immediately thought we were being robbed and grabbed my Aggie ring. After a restless night, we all woke up checked out of the hostel and headed to go souvenir shopping. We all ended up getting chocolate and a lot of people got swiss knives. A few of us then headed to the lake edge to see the lake in its entirety and wow it was amazing. Now we are finally headed back but to our luck almost, every train has been delayed or dismembered or something due to the technical difficulties. Thank goodness we left early but once again the transportation system here either hates me or it just isn’t good at all. 

Going to Vienna and I Need Cash Noowwwww (877-CASH-NOW)

It feels like each week is passing by faster and faster. After Norderney, I spent the long weekend in Rome, which was my favorite place to visit so far. We got to visit the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Roman Forum. Every new place we went left me in awe of how old some of the structures were. It’s one thing to learn about these places in a history class, but being there in person is a totally different experience. Pictures really can’t capture the true beauty and size of these places, so seeing them in real life gave me a much greater appreciation for them. I could’ve stayed in the Sistine Chapel for hours staring at the paintings. The long weekend was exhausting but a lot of fun.

Tuesday I was pretty tired, but I enjoyed our last German lesson and a couple history of medicine lectures. Wednesday was the day I’d been waiting for since the start of the trip - our hospital visit! I’d never seen any human surgeries before so I was really excited. The first procedure I saw was a colectomy. It was laparoscopic, so I didn’t have to worry about too much blood. The surgeons used the da vinci surgical system for the procedure, which was really interesting to watch. With this device, the surgeon is actually controlling the robotic instruments from a table on the other side of the room, rather than standing over the patient at the operating table. Seeing this technology in action was really cool because the future of medicine will definitely involve more of these types of tools. The second operation I saw was an aortic valve replacement. Being in the room while the doctors opened up the patient’s chest was surreal. I was able to stand on a stool at the patient’s head and see his heart beating in his chest, which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed. We got to watch the surgeon connect the patient’s heart to the bypass machine, which functioned as the patient’s heart and lungs during the procedure. Then, they removed the old valve and strung dozens of tiny strings into the aorta to hold the new valve in place. The surgeon doing the operation was so friendly and always happy to answer any of our questions. He explained to us what he was doing in each step and taught us the difference between biological and mechanical replacement valves. We even talked for a bit about the health care systems in Germany versus America. I feel like I learned so much from just a few hours at the hospital and I’m really glad we got that experience. Thursday we had a normal class day and then visited the Anesthesiology Museum. It was so interesting to learn about the history of something that we all take for granted today. Seeing how primitive some of the methods of pain prevention from the past seem in comparison to modern day methods was a little shocking. It made me sad to hear that when Dr. Stoeckel passes away the museum will close down, because I think more people should learn about the history of anesthesia since we all benefit from it. On Friday we had our excursion to Bingen where we visited the Hildegard museum. Getting to see some artifacts related to the things we learned in lecture was really interesting. My favorite part of the museum was the ancient roman surgical instruments. It’s amazing that such old tools look so similar to instruments used today. The boat ride on the rhine was nice to sit down and relax for a little bit and also get to see all the small towns along the river. The Marksburg castle was also really cool to see. I really enjoy getting to see how people lived so long ago and comparing it to modern day life. The view from the top was also great.

After our long day Friday, my alarm woke me up at 4 AM Saturday morning to begin my trip to Switzerland. We arrived in Interlaken around noon on Saturday. My favorite thing about Interlaken was the beautiful scenery in every direction. Every way you turned was a different snowy mountain or blue lake. We took a train up to the top of Harder Kulm (or Heidi Klum as we called it) and had lunch and enjoyed the view. After lunch we explored the town and had a pretty slow and relaxed day, which was a nice change after so many busy days. On Sunday I bought some Swiss chocolate and a Swiss army knife for my dad, then we went to the train station. Our train was supposed to take us all the way from Interlaken to Cologne, but about two hours in we hear an announcement that the train is no longer going to Germany. We had to get off that train and transfer to a “very high demand” train. Most of us sat on the ground for the two hours on this train. We finally make it to our “very high demand” third train that is supposed to take us to Bonn, but we get another announcement that the route was cancelled. Our fourth train of the day finally got us to Bonn, and luckily we learned a trick from a nice man sitting next to us that if you don’t have a seat reserved, go straight to the restaurant car. So we did that and luckily there was enough room for us to all comfortably sit on the floor. We got some strange looks but we were comfortable. I finally made it home around 8 PM and then had a nice dinner with my host family. It was a great weekend. Until next week!