Rollercoaster

Week four was full of its ups and downs from beginning to end. It began on Monday with a trip to Bonn to visit Germany’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection. While the presenters were very interested in their work , I felt as though they lacked the spark to excite the group as a whole. However the second half of our excursion to Bonn we toured the Horst Stockel Museum of the History of Anaesthesia. Our tour guide of the museum was the founder of the museum and was extremely knowledgeable and interested in his museum. So knowledgeable that we had to stop him short in the museum so we could catch our train back to Dusseldorf. On Tuesday things were looking up and we were all excited about a boat trip down the Rhine, a tour of a castle, and ending with wine tasting. Though it rained during our boat trip and the castle was underwhelming (especially after visiting Neuschwanstein the weekend before), the day ended on a high note with a wine tasting event unlike any I had seen before. The high on Tuesday quickly diminished on Wednesday with no day trips planned and 6 hours of working on papers. Yet once again the week took a positive turn with a day trip that in my opinion was the best trip so far. We traveled by bus to Bad Oeynhausen to visit the Heart and Diabetes Center there. To begin this amazing day, I was able to observe a surgery of a 9 year old girl with a rare heart disorder. After lunch we visited the hospital’s ICU and transplant ward and then to the MRI unit. What made this hospital unique and a joy to be inside was the modern design and its dedication to state of the art treatment regimens. Like I said this was the best day of the program so far and I am skeptical that anything in the one week left will surpass today. Anyways, this Friday is free and thus we have a long weekend to catch up on sleep and party one more weekend in Europe.
Jordan “Juice”