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!
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| Old centrifuge |
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| Old distillation apparatus |
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