Squad is on the move

The first day back in Bonn, we hit the ground running. We hopped on a train in the afternoon back to Cologne to go see the zoo. Who doesn’t love zoos right? And with the promise of a behind the scenes tour of the elephant exhibit I was pretty dang excited. I have to admit though I definitely let out an audible laugh when our guide first took us to a pen with a pig in it. And then there was the goat pen, followed by the cow pen. As we walked, all I could think was “Wow they sure do things different here considering we don’t keep cows in our zoos, can we just see the giraffes already”? It was a rushed tour through the other parts of the zoo because it does cover a vast area and we had lots to see. Our tour guide managed to make several of us angry as she called out Americans many times. #rude. Starting with explaining how she didn’t understand why we only keep our monkeys inside even though that’s not true and then finishing with “Americans are so lazy, you can’t expect them to walk up a hill”. However, we were keeping up with her step for step up the inclined path and all. #rantover. The elephant exhibit was really cool though. We were able to walk through their enclosure since all the elephants were inside for the time being. After that we toured the whole inside of the elephant house and got a tour from one of the keepers. He had so much to tell us and I learned a lot from that day. I even got to thinking how cool it would be to shadow a zoo vet or maybe even work as one.

Day 2 back in Bonn was an EARLY one. As in 5:30 EARLY! We had to make sure we made it to the station in time to catch the bus to the Uniclinics because surgeons and their surgeries sure love early mornings. Once there we changed into scrubs and crocs (lol..we looked real cute) and put on the masks and head covers. Each of us were placed into different “surgery theatres” as they call them, and left to spend the rest of our morning observing. Luckily I got an awesome anesthesiologist who did her best to translate everything she could, and the rest I could just infer (thanks Grey’s Anatomy). My first thought walking into the surgery suite was “Oh my what is going on here as our patients legs were up in the air in stirrups”? Come to find out once things were explained to me, it was a simple wound vac replacement and it shouldn’t take too long. Once my anesthesiologist finished explaining all she wanted to, she guided me around all the sterile equipment and trays so I had a great vantage point to watch from. After that, our next patient came in from isolation. I was instructed to gown up and then after surgery we would be changing our scrubs and shoes. She taught me how they intubate the patients and everything that she is responsible for and then even let me extubate him once surgery was over. Our last surgery that I got to be part of went a little different than planned. Our patient was awake at first for the scheduled procedure, but when the plans changed all the moving parts started going. My anesthesiologist started yelling at me to grab this, this, this, and that. However, I think the real confused look on my face tipped her off that I don’t speak German, didn’t have a clue what she was saying, and that I needed the English translation. She realized what had happened and then repeated herself in a language I could understand. It was neat to be able to help out some while I was there as well as getting the behind the scenes look at what surgery is really like.

On Wednesday, we went to Bingen to take a Rhine Cruise, see the Hildegard von Bingen museum, and visit the Rheinfels castle. The castle tour was incredibly cool. We learned the history behind it and also got to walk through the mine tunnel. While some members of the group had to duck their heads, being short came in handy, as I was able to walk upright the whole time.

Thursday we found out all we needed to know for Berlin and then took a quick trip to an art exhibition.

Friday morning started of a tad too early for my liking, especially after staying out a little later than we should’ve Thursday night. Although my uncanny knack for being able to basically sleep anywhere once again came in clutch as I basically slept through the entire train ride to Berlin. On this trip I have also learned that I can sleep while standing up proving that when tired enough, one can sleep anywhere. After the much needed sleep, we rallied, ate, checked in to the hotel, and then started our bike tour. Norderney bike ride: Not scary at all. Berlin bike ride: Hella scary. Big city + 17 people on bikes doesn’t sound so safe now does it? Luckily our guide would stop periodically so we could actually see the city because I was far too concerned with not getting run over to pay attention while riding. They also have this wonderful festival going on in Alexanderplatz all day and most of the night. To the random British guy who approached our table saying, “Why aren’t you all fat? Because all Americans are fat” is not the way to a girl’s heart, especially not a table full of them. Got it bud? There were tons of food shacks, souvenir stands, and of course plenty of beer to choose from. I’ve loved the festival and think it made Berlin even better. I definitely wasn’t expecting to like Berlin, but it has in fact stolen my heart.

Saturday started off solemn with a visit to Sachsenhausen. I had previously been to Dachau last summer while in Munich and they were similar in ways, but also vastly different. I felt like each had their own feel to them, which was neat to be able to compare the two. Both were nevertheless quite ominous, although very important in my opinion to go see. In the afternoon we walked along the largest standing stretch of the Berlin Wall that remains. It is now called the East Side Gallery and is spray-painted to depict many different scenes from that time in history. After the wall, Lindsay and I found a hockey store! I found out Berlin has a team called the Ice Bears, and since my brother has played hockey from a young, I figured there was no better souvenir.

Sunday was back to medical things as we took a visit to the Charité. There we were able to talk with a med student and experience some hands on things they use for practice. Students originally designed the learning center so they would have a place to practice their skills before needing them in a critical situation. After the learning center, Tiny Tom gave us what might have been the most entertaining tour of the Charité Museum. He has the running record of all the guides for making 5 people faint during his tours; I found this to be quite funny.

Once Monday arrived, the feels came with it. Knowing this was our last day in Berlin, but more importantly our last day in Europe, I tried to soak up every last bit of it as I could. The Reichstag made for a cool visit that was out of the ordinary for us. This is the German Parliament building and its also very eye catching from the exterior. After the guided tour of the inside, we made our way into the dome on the outside and wound our way to the top to catch a bird’s eye view of the city. Note to tourists: DON’T pull out a flag from TAMU on it and try to take a picture. It will not work in your favor as there will soon be a security officer questioning you (in German) and you trying to explain this is a university flag and even going as far as almost pulling out student IDs. Cue Helen to the rescue. Crisis averted and picture taken. All est gut! After the Reichstag the Otto Bock Institute was calling out names. Super cool building full of prosthesis technology. We learned about different prosthetics and the science behind them and the technology that goes into it, and were even able to play with many of them. Its incredible to see what science can do for people in terms of giving them their independence and mobility back.

The last supper was at a Kurdish restaurant right next to our hotel and we were told to expect a few surprises. With Helen and Dr. Wasser telling us to expect a surprise, we had no idea what to expect. Our first surprise was a really sweet old man who played a few songs on the piano for us. Our next surprise visit ramped things up a bit. All the sudden lights went off and music began and out comes a belly dancer sashaying across the restaurant. Needless to say, the entire group ended up on their feet dancing and clapping and having a good ole time. Well played guys, well played for the last supper. Our whole last day was full of mixed feelings for me as I was equal parts upset to be leaving Deutschland and happy to be returning to Merica. Ready or not to be leaving though, Tuesday morning came early with 4:15am taxi rides to the airport. As I sit here finishing this blog, I’m on the long haul flight home with 6 hours left to go and a raging case of plane butt. Thoughts on reverse culture shock coming to print in the next 5 weeks.

The Last Week

Last Thursday was our last day in Bonn. We had a couple of interesting lectures from Dr. Wasser and played lots of Ping-Pong which is always fun. That afternoon we went to an art exhibit that turned out to be a history lecture from a University of Bonn professor. The people he lectured about did have portraits in the room, which were a little weird because the people were painted orange or blue or other crazy unnatural colors. Maybe one day I’ll understand art. That evening we had our last night at Rhinelust; I’m going to miss that place and its Dunkle Schneider Weisse.  Most of all, I’m going to miss all the good times we had there. I won’t really miss the tacos though.

            On Friday we got up bright and early to train to Berlin. That day we took a bike tour around the city, I was pretty exhausted but it was still really cool. We got to see a lot of cool sites like where the book burnings took place, the Berlin wall, the memorial for the Jews who died in the Holocaust, and the Brandenburg Gate. Unfortunately, the gate was blocked by an oriental music concert. We also saw the place where Hitler committed suicide. Today it is just a parking lot, easily overlooked. On Saturday we went to Sachsenhausen, which was a concentration camp near Berlin. We got to see the barracks, the medical facilities, the prison within the concentration camp, and station Z, where the executions took place. It was a great experience to see it because we’ve learned so much about concentration camps in school. It was very sad and hard to believe that people could do those horrible things to other people. It was very surprising that they thought they were doing the right thing. I couldn’t believe that most doctors were eager to participate as well. The next day we went to the medical school learning center. It was a place for the medical students to study or practice some of their basic skills using simulators. We got to try a couple of the simulators, like listening to the heartbeat and breathing of a mannequin. Then we went to the medical school’s museum. It was a really cool museum, and our tour guide gave us extremely vivid descriptions of medical operations. One operation he described was how they would remove a man’s kidney stone from the bladder; it was painful to listen to. Apparently our tour guide holds the record for making the most people faint in one day (5 people), he was very proud. After the tour, Dr. Wasser gave us a lecture on Rudolf Virschow in Virschow’s lecture hall at the Charité. On Monday (our last day) we got a tour inside the Reichstag, which is the parliament building. It was a really cool building that had a mixture of modern and old architecture. I liked how they left some graffiti and bullet holes from when the Prussians occupied the building. The tour ended in the dome on top of the Reichstag. That afternoon we visited the Otto Bock Institute, which is a company that makes prosthetics. I really enjoyed the tour, they had a lot of cool interactive stuff we could do. That night we had our last group dinner. It was very bitter sweet, I had a great time, but I was also very sad that the program was over. It had to end sometime, and I’m glad it ended with us all belly dancing in the middle of a restaurant.

            Today was departure day. It’s been such a sad day, most of us left early this morning, but I’m traveling around Europe for another ten days. I already miss everyone. This program definitely exceeded my expectations, and I’m so blessed to have had this opportunity. I’m so thankful I had such an awesome group of Ags to experience it with.

Wait, it's August?

WHERE DID THE LAST 5 WEEKS GO? For real though. I'm strugglin'.

Berlin has been amazing despite the fact that I was dying on the first day. The next day I was able to pull myself together to go visit a concentration camp, Sachsenhausen. It was a very somber place. Thousands of people worked, lived, and were killed there. We walked through medical barracks, trenches, and the internal prison. It's crazy to think that people were there only 70 years ago. It seems like it could have been yesterday.

Later that day we went to the East Side Gallery. Another stunning piece of history. I was appalled at the amount of graffiti covering the art -who thinks it is appropriate to tag over art on a wall that separated thousands of people. People died trying to cross the wall and make it to the other side, and yet tourists feel the need to tag "so-and-so was here 2015 :)". I find it highly offensive, but to each their own I guess.

Over the next few days in Berlin the days seemed to be growing longer. The amount of sleep I got approached zero almost every night and I could see our time together as one big dysfunctional family dwindling quickly. We saw some really interesting places, but half the time I was distracted by the thought of not seeing the squad every day...

In our natural habitat.

On the last night we ate at a fantastic restaurant right next door to our hotel. Dr. Wasser and Helen said they were keeping a surprise for us but none of us expected what they had in store. After eating and having a few glasses of wine a little old man comes out to play some piano for us. A little while later the lights go down and a belly dancer comes out. A BELLY DANCER. She eventually got us all up from the table -even Dr. Wasser -and had us dancing our last night away. Emotions ran high and tears were flowing as we shook and shimmied. It was a night I'll never forget.

Five weeks ago I came to Germany with 14 strangers. I'm proud to say that we parted ways today as family. I was sad to wake up by myself this morning in Berlin -Kasey and Lauren left at 4am. I realize that this is the first of many mornings of this kind. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon (we've already planned a squad reunion), but that doesn't make things much easier.

"Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow." ~Anita Desai

All of the places I've been are coming home with me. I'll carry them with me everyday as I have changed so much because of this experience. But I also think that the people you share these adventures with also become a part of you. Lucky for me, I was surrounded by the most wonderful group of Aggies I could have ever wished for.

So thanks for everything guys -the laughs, smiles, tears, adventures, and more. Nothing will ever compare <3

Last Week in Bonn

            I’m going to miss Bonn. The more I understood the city and its transportation, the more I loved it. Being in a new place can be stressful, but Bonn was beyond the period of newness to where I was comfortable with it. We’ve been to Berlin, Hannover, Norderney, and Cologne, but Bonn had the best beer gardens. You could drink your Kolsch and watch the ships move down the Rhine. My host mother was great to me. She gave me two square meals a day and even washed my clothes for me. No other experience can match living with a host family, and I am glad to have lived with a host family in Bonn.

              Meeting at the train station at 6:30 might have been a little rough, but observing the surgeries was worth the tiredness. I observed a surgery where a patient had an infection in their recently installed spinal disk prosthetic. Using electro-cauterization, the surgeons remedied the infection. Then they replaced the cleaned prosthetic. The surgery showed me that I do not want to become a surgeon. Cutting people open does not interest me. Psychiatry interests me now. After visiting the Freud museum and hearing the lecture given by Dr. Wasser about the man himself, I am now considering pursuing a career in psychiatry.

              The anesthesiology museum tour was interesting. Dr. Wasser attempted to prepare us for the tour, but I do not think that any sort of preparation was completely possible for what we experienced. I learned a lot. I saw an iron lung for the first time. But the tour guide liked to ramble. But his kind of rambling was acceptable because his rambling was interesting information about anesthesiology. However, it made for a very long tour. The museum was hot, and we had all woken up at 5 am that morning, so the sleep was visible in everybody’s eyes. And don’t quote me on this, but I am pretty sure someone fell asleep standing up and fell onto one of the display cases. But again, don’t quote me on this.

Ich bin ein Berliner (not the jelly donut)

From the time we got to Berlin I knew I would like it. While it is quite different because of the eclectic mix of old and new, it has a certain atmosphere that is very cool. We began getting to know Berlin by taking a bike tour with our awesome tour guide, Ryan. He took us to "museum island" and explained so much to us. It was particularly interesting because he not only gave us the history of the city but he also provided the present public opinion of the future of Berlin. I like how a lot of the architects chose to restore but not cover up the history on the buildings. The "patchwork" look of many of the buildings gave it a certain charm and also reminded you that war happened here, and there might be some scratches but Berlin is still standing.

He then took us to a parking lot. It was very confusing at first until he explained that we were standing on top of the bunker that Hitler had spent his last weeks in before committing suicide. Something like this would seem to have a bigger impact on tourism and the city but it was filled and covered and made into a parking lot as if to figuratively show that he doesn't deserve anything built to commemorate anything about him as well as to deter Neo-Nazis. Then, not even two blocks away was a giant memorial for the jews that were murdered in the Holocaust. This consisted of over two thousand blocks that were individual in their size and shape but yet still anonymous in that none of them were marked. Ryan explained that it symbolizes the evil of the war because from the outside you can't tell how deep and dark it is in the center until you get too far in. 

Our next stop was the memorial for the disabled victims of the T-4 Nazi program. We learned about this in class but it was so powerful to see the memorial and the accounts of actual people. After that we biked to the Brandenburg Gate which was covered by a very large and obnoxious bubble for a traditional Asian music festival. Cool. 

The next day we boarded a train with Ryan (again) to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp which was about 30 minutes outside of the city. We walked the same path that thousands of others walked from the train to the camp. Ryan explained that many of the existing structures were no longer there from either purposeful destruction or simply neglect. However, the medical buildings were still there and we walked through the place were autopsies took place and also the cellars were bodies were stored. It was very difficult to see all of this and realize that humans did this to each other. We walked through the medical museum and read about all of the various conditions that were endured as well as some of the medical experimentation that took place. We then walked to the building that served as the "extermination and cremation." Ryan explained that not nearly as many people were gassed at Sachsenhausen, but rather shot while they thought their height was being measured. How anyone could justify that is beyond me. I can't comprehend how the soldiers actually believed they were doing the right thing. Next we stopped at the memorial and the kitchen before making our way to the Jewish houses. There were so many bunk beds, with three racks, crammed into a room and the bathroom was very small and people were expected to all use one room in a short amount of time. After wandering through the conjoined museum we went to the "prison" where political prisoners and people of importance stayed. These conditions were sometimes much nicer than the rest of the camp and somtimes much worse. This is where Stalin's son was kept before Stalin refused to negotiate with the Nazis and his son was killed. After that cheerful day we returned to the train station before making our way to the East Side Gallery. This was a very long peice of the original wall that has been covered in paintings of all kinds, however, many of the paintings and famous graffiti was covered with 'tags' and other graffiti making it not as good. 

It was a very interesting first few days in Berlin and can't wait to share what happens in the next couple of days! The time is flying by and its already August!

Auf Wiedersehen Europa. Howdy Texas

These last few days of the program I have spent in Berlin. The first day here we took a city bike tour. I was terrified for my life because I am not a very good biker, but needless to say I survived. Berlin, compared to other European cities, looks very modern. Also, there is history everywhere from both world wars and the Cold War times when Berlin was spilt in half. On the tour, we got to see so many historical sites. It was mind boggling. To stand where the famous book burning took place in 1933. To be by the university the Grimm brothers went to. To stand meters up from the bunker were Hitler committed sucicde. To be by the Berlin Wall. To stand in the Death Strip.  The whole tour was just eye opening to all the history in Berlin.

On Tuesday, we went to visit Sachsenhausen which was a concentration camp during World War II. From the moment I stood in front the gates of the entrance, a heavy feeling just settled over me. It was hard to walk the camp where so many people where killed even though its purpose wasn't as an extermination camp. Despite it not being an extermination camp, it did have a system in place to end lives. The hardest thing for me to see was how close German citizens lived to the camp. It was literally on the other side of the fence. The citizens knew there were certain days they couldn't do laundry because of the concentration camp. Words are beyond grasp to completely explain the experience of being in Sachsenhausen. I am grateful I was able to see history which I have learned about for so long with my own two eyes.

I have been very impressed with how Berliners have preserved history in their city.
Also, because of their history, they strive to be honest and transparent. For example, the German parliament, the Reichstag, has a glass dome looking over the parliamentary room so the German citizens can stand above and watch while they are in session. In addition, when the Reichstag was redone after reunification, the government decided to leave Russian writing on the walls from World War II along with bullet holes. Another example of this is a large portion of the city center was set aside for the Jewish memorial.

Tomorrow I leave for home sweet home. The time has gone by so fast, but I have made so many wonderful memories. It really has been a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad I got to come. I am sad I will be leaving Europe. It has been such a wonderful oppurtunity to be able to learn so much history where it took place. To see history with my own two eyes and take it all in. To study under such a wise and knowledgeable professor. I am going to miss speaking German (the very little that I know) and hearing so many other languages and eating new foods. However, while I am dreading the extremely long day of travel (31+ hours), I am ready to get some rest and be with family and have A.C. and free public restrooms. I already have my first meal planned. Mexican food! :)

"Ich bin ein Berliner."

Berlin has been great! I was unsure about it since it is so much bigger than Bonn, but it turned out I really like it. There are so many interesting things. They mix modern and history everywhere. Sometimes it is not so pleasing to the eye, but that is what makes Berlin so diverse and cultural, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the bike tour. I really did not think it was going to go as smoothly as it did. I thought the architecture of the buildings was amazing! I loved getting to see the actual place of the May 10th book burning. I thought it was interesting that they turned the area above the Hitler's bunker into a parking lot. The only thing showing anything happened there is one smallish sign.  I really enjoyed getting to see so many places we learn about in class in person. Seeing the actual place or thing, makes learning about history that much better! The Jewish Memorial in the center of Berlin was really amazing! I liked that each block was different in some way.

Sauchsenhausen Concentration Camp was very interesting. Entering the camp gave me chills and this feeling of unease that is hard to explain. The silence and immensity of the camp was astonishing. I had no idea that Neo-Nazis were still prominent enough to set fire to one of the Jewish Barracks. I thought it was interesting that the burnt building was kept that way to remind people that Nazism did not die out with the end of the war.

The Charite Museum was really interesting. I really liked our guide. He definitely added to the experience! His way of explaining things and story-telling was very interesting. He really made the museum more interesting!

I enjoyed going to the Ottobock Institute. I had no idea what all went into making the prosthetics. It was really interesting watching all of their simulators of the different motions humans perform and how their prosthetics are able to mimic a lot of those motions. It was really cool to see!

In our free time in Berlin, I went to the festival in Alexander Platz and Flea Market in Mauerpark. They were both really cool. They both had a lot of interesting things. We also went to the Tiergarten and Volkspark. The parks were absolutely beautiful. I love that you are not attacked by mosquitoes here at dusk.

It is already time to pack our bags again, but this time we are going back to Texas. I cannot believe our study abroad program is almost over. I am excited to go home, but at the same time I do not want to leave Germany. I definitely plan on coming back one day!

Squad Out :'( (aka we miss Bonn already)

August 2, 2015

I don't think I've ever been this exhausted in my whole life. Minus finals maybe. But still... Europe is taking a toll on this group of Aggies and we're all coughing and sniffling and barely hanging in there. But I think we're determined to make the best out of our last couple days in Germany.

This past week we were insanely busy. Like tooooo much. We were in Bonn but there was no time for relaxing in our home city. We went to the Cologne Zoo and got to go into the elephant exhibit. It was really cool. The animals were all super cute and there were lots of baby animals and the zoo is set up so you can get pretty close to the animals. Our tour lady was kind of rude though... She insulted Americans by saying that they can't be expected to walk up hills and I told her that I was American and was fine with walking up hills. Don't insult my country to my face. 'Merica.

The next day we had to get up real real early and go to the Uniclinic to watch surgeries. I really like watching surgeries so I was pretty excited to scrub up and go see what a German operating room was like. The anesthesiologist and doctor in the OR I was in were both really nice and spoke good English so they talked to me a lot and answered all my questions and asked me about where I was from and what Texas is like. The first surgery I watched took about 3 1/2 hours. The patient had fallen on her hand/wrist area when she had tried to catch herself and some of the carpal bones had fractured and spread apart, straining the ligaments in between. So the surgeons had to put long rods into her bones to hold the bones together so that her hand could heal. It was extremely complex because of all of the bones and ligaments and nerves in the hands and how tiny of an area it is. The surgeon explained everything to me which I thought was extremely nice of him too because sometimes doctors treat shadowing students as if they're just a nuisance but he was incredibly kind.

We also went to the Anesthesiology Museum which was really interesting. There was a model of what an operating room from the 1930s looked like and old defibrillators and pacemakers that I found really interesting after watching some procedures this past semester that involved replacing pacemakers. There also was an iron lung in the museum from when patients with polio in the 1940-1950s would use it to help keep them alive. The collection was really impressive.

The next day we went on a Rhine Cruise and it was cold but really pretty. Before that we went to the Hildegard of Bingen Museum and looked around the Hildegarden at all the old medicinal plants of medieval times and what people back then would use them for. During the Rhine Cruise we saw lots of castles and old ruins and vineyards. It was like straight out of a movie. We stopped in St. Goar and explored the Rhinefels Castle. We got to go into secret tunnels with candles to light our way. It was super fun but I'm very thankful that I did not live in a medieval castle because I like sewage systems and waste treatment centers.

We have been in Berlin the past couple of days now and I absolutely love this city. I definitely already want to come back and visit. The history of the city is just astounding and I'm super excited because we get to go into the Reichstag tomorrow! But we'll save the Berlin adventures for the next blog.

Ciao!

Goodbye to Bonn for now

The final four days in Bonn were packed full of classes and excursions in the city, but it was a good way to end my time there. After classes on Monday, we took a group trip to the Cologne Zoo and got a behind the scenes tour of the elephant house. One of the keepers led us around the operations of the facility. The elephants were preoccupied with eating so they didn’t want to come very close to us. It was still really cool to learn about how the elephants are kept and handled. One odd thing about the zoo was the raccoon exhibit. Apparently they keep raccoons to educate the German visitors because they are a rare species here.

Tuesday was by far my favorite day of the entire program and probably deserves a blog post all to itself. We went to the Uniclinics very early in the morning and observed various surgeries. (Warning: may be some gruesome details). I saw the reconstruction of a clavicle fracture of a man that used to be in the Olympics some years ago. They cut down to where the fracture was and then inserted a metal plate. After screwing the plate down to the bone, the surgeon meticulously stitched up the incision.  I only got to observe part of the second operation because we had to leave, but I wish I could have stayed longer. The second case was a young girl who had fallen off the back of a truck when the vehicle got in an accident. Aside from the obvious road burns that were all over her body, the girl had a fractured hip. They aggressively tried to align the bone back in place, but the surgeons had to go in to repair the damage. I only got to see them opening her hip and getting to the fracture, but I couldn’t stay long enough to see the actual repair. Plus, from the position that they had to lay her to work on her hip, it was really hard to see around the surgeons, but I caught glimpses and managed to find a way to see what was happening. The anesthesiologist that I was paired with was really nice and liked explaining his medical knowledge to me. In the afternoon that same day, we went to an anesthesia museum with a guide that was part of the museum himself. At 85 years old, the owner of the museum gave us a tour of the pieces that he had collected over the years. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to have him as a guide since he won’t be giving them much longer himself.

Thursday consisted of the Hildegard museum, a boat tour along the Rhine, and a tour of the Rheinfels Castle. The exhibit with the display of the oldest set of medical instruments found was incredible to see. The tools are very similar to the ones that are used today, just a much older version. Sitting on the top deck of the boat was very windy and cold, but the view from there was absolutely worth it. We passed castle after castle in the hour and a half that we were on the boat; there were so many that I lost count. After hiking up a really steep hill to get to the castle, we had a tour that took us through a mine tunnel with our candles lighting the path.

On Friday morning, Cassie and I loaded our bags in the taxi and left our host family to go to Berlin. Most of the morning was spent travelling and our first activity was a bike tour. Through the city… Biking on Norderney was one thing since there was essentially no traffic to worry about. Berlin was a completely different story. I had a hard time looking at everything that we were riding by because I was so afraid that I would crash my bike or get run over by a giant tour bus (which almost happened on several occasions). Everywhere we stopped though was beautiful and packed with tons of history. Tuesday morning is getting closer and I’m just not ready to leave yet. I love Europe way too much to say goodbye already. The last five weeks flew by way too quickly.

"Words are hard"

The Rhine cruise was absolutely breath taking. We had to wake up super early and go to the train station and then we took a train to Bingen, the place where the Hildegard museum is. Hildegard was in a big family and it was custom in those days to give the tenth child to the church. The church also loved this because they got a dowry when Hildegard "married" the church and became a nun. Pretty soon she became the head nun and eventually started her own abbey. She was an inspiration to many and she knew much about healing, music, and science. She also had visions from God but we found out it may have been caused from sever migraines. We don't really know. After the museum tour we went into a garden outside the museum that had many different types of plants. We had to identify a couple and then Dr. Wasser told us what type of healing that plant was used for. After that we went and got food because we were all starving. I'm pretty sure our whole group is always hungry no matter what. We ate at a pretty place by the river and most of us got schnitzel, because how can you not? After lunch we got on the boat and made our way down the Rhine. It was so so much colder than we thought it would be. Probably because it was so so windy. But a couple of us moved our chairs into the sun and were able to stand the freezing wind. We were only on the boat for a little over an hour but we passed by 12 castles! It was incredible. There were also a lot of vineyards making the countryside truly beautiful. We got off the boat at St. Goar and made our trek up the side of a freaking mountain to get to the famous Rhine castle. We decided to take the stairs instead of the steep incline. But then we decided to take a "shortcut" and ended up going up an incline so steep I was literally on my hands and feet. After that treacherous journey we eventually made it to the top. The castle was huge and really pretty. Most of it was just ruins but you could still see so rooms and tunnels. We got to go through the larger mine tunnel and it was so dark we all had to use candles. We really felt like we were there when the castle was whole. Overall it was an amazing day. The next day we had class and then a pre-departure meeting for Berlin. We also went to an art gallery about the torchbearers from past generations. It included people like Abraham Lincoln, MLK, and some German torchbearers as well. That night we celebrated our last night in Bonn by going to our beloved Rhinelust for the last time. I was feeling a little under the weather, but it was our last night and I had to go.

The next morning we were up bright and early as Rosie drove us to the train station and we said our goodbyes. It was so sad. I'm going to miss Rosie and I'm going to miss Bonn so much. But Rosie says I always have a room at her house. I will most likely take her up on that offer.

The train ride to Berlin didn't feel that long because I slept most of the way. When we got there we had to haul our entire luggage to the hotel and that was real hard. I have way too much stuff, and some people have more than me. We check into the hotel and since I packed a lunch I was able to eat and then take a quick nap before we began our bike tour. Let me just tell you that riding a bike in a city as busy and crowded as Berlin is terrifying. There are so many people everywhere. You have to avoid running into people, into other bikes, buses and cars. It gets real complicated. Our number one rule was to stop when the light was red. It sounds obvious right, but when your following a big group on bikes and the light just turned red your first instinct is to try to hurry and follow the end of the group across before cars start coming. You should not do this though. Cars will go and they will not care if you are in the street. Something else that was new on this bike riding experience was that a lot of bikes ride right next to the cars and sometimes we even rode in the car lines. I was not used to this at all and was terrified most of the time. I feel like I was more concerned with not crashing than I was with the actual tour of Berlin. It was a good thing our tour guide stopped us and let us get off at times because I don’t know what I would’ve done if we didn’t do that. It was a little stressful. After the bike tour we found this really good restaurant called Vapiano. It was Italian style food in a cafeteria style setting but the coolest part was they actually made the food in front of you from scratch. I got ravioli con carne and they started by taking the fresh pasta (that they had apparently made earlier that day) and put it in the boiling water. They then proceeded to make the sauce from scratch right in front of me. The put all the basics in the sauce and asked if I would like anything else like extra cheese, or garlic, or even chilies. It was so cool. It took a really long time to get to the front of the line but I think we would all agree that it was totally worth it. They also bottle their own tea. We discovered really fast that this tea was delicious and I even went back and got a bottle to go. After the delicious meal we stopped at a street fair on the way back to the hotel. This street fair was awesome. They had nutella crepes, sangria, German beer, Russian beer, carnival games, souvenir shops, and much much more. The whole vibe of the fair was just really cool and we couldn’t resist getting a drink and sitting down to enjoy Berlin. We all really like Berlin; we’re also a little surprised since its such a big city and we usually don’t like those as much as our precious Bonn. After spending a good amount of time at the fair we headed back to the hotel because our next morning consisted of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, but that’s for another blog.

Heart Breaker

During our last week in Bonn we were able to go to the University Hospital and watch surgeries, and I was lucky enough to stand in on an open heart surgery of a 26 year old woman. She was born with a birth defect and had been through three heart surgeries already and needed a fourth to repair more problems as she'd gotten older. As a biomedical science major this was one of the most interesting and exciting days I've ever had, and was a privilege to watch. It was the first surgery I've ever watched so I didn't know what to do with myself in the operating room, my main goal was just to stay out of the way and not touch anything. Fortunately, I was given a stool to stand on right behind her head, so I had a front row seat to this woman's heart being cut open. 

It was a really complex surgery that overall took almost 4 hours and started by cauterizing through her old scar tissue. It's basically a really hot scalpel used to reduce bleeding and was one of the worst and weirdest smells I've experienced. It was literally burning flesh and the thought that I was in Germany, which was once filled with that scent, did not escape me. Once this was completed they had to saw through her sternum, so out came the power saw. This was probably the most gruesome part of the surgery to watch because the sound of the running blade cutting through her bone was just really odd. Once this was finished though and her ribs pushed apart there was her heart, beating and seemingly strong and completely exposed for everyone to see. That was a great moment and I probably looked like an idiot with my eyes as wide as saucers, but to see a beating heart that gave this woman life was a very surreal thing. 

It was everything you'd think an open heart surgery would be. When they started to hook her up to the heart and lung machine they had to poke holes in her heart for the tubes and blood started squirting out everywhere (which is normal). Since I just took anatomy this was really interesting because I could see the Trabeculae Carne which are ridges in the ventricles, and was able to understand most of what they were saying because I learned it really well last semester. Up until then her heart was literally a moving target, so once she was fully connected to the machine they were able to stop her heart and turn off the respirator that kept her breathing since the machine exchanges gas in the blood artificially. It was really weird to see her heart stop but know she was still alive, modern medicine is really an amazing thing. Once this happened the real work began. She needed a pulmonary valve replacement because blood was spilling back through the valve and not going to the lungs because her's was too small. So they had an artificial tricuspid valve made from bovine material that looked like a circular door with 3 panels that opened and closed like you would see in Startrek or something. So they cut open her pulmonary artery and started to sew in this new valve with 20 different tiny sutures. They eventually got everything sewed in and back together and started to ease her off the heart and lung machine when her heart started to fill with air. This caused the doctors to curse in German (I've heard a few while I've been here) and charge the shocking paddles. They said "clear" and everything and shocked her heart just once and it started beating normally again so everything was fine. They finally totally took her off the machine and started to close her up. This was also a brutal process because it took really thick wire and a scary looking needle to sew between the cartilage of her ribs while they were physically pushing them together. I left once this was done because I'd been standing in the same place for 4 hours with nothing to eat, so my time in the OR was over.

During the surgery it really was like an episode of Grey's Anatomy, the doctors were chatting and laughing and making jokes, the anesthesiologist was on his phone when there was nothing to do, and when things went wrong it got really serious really fast. It was one of the most amazing things I've witnessed and even though I never got sick or nauseous I don't think I would ever want to be in their shoes. Surgery just doesn't seem to suit me, so at least I know that about myself. Next up... Berlin

Annie 

The time I got the Plague

After Amsterdam we spent 4 days in Bonn -about a week too short if you ask me. The first day we accomplished many minuscule tasks that we had been putting off. Mainly shopping. We also went to the Cologne zoo which was really fun. Who doesn't love zoos? The next day is when things got interesting.

On Tuesday we woke up super early. Really early. Earlier than any human being should ever be awake. 530am early. I was not okay. None of us were okay. But we had to be at the bus station by 630 to make it to the university hospital to see surgeries at 730am. Early starts must be a surgery/surgeon thing. None of us have a burning desire to do surgery and this just might be why. We jumped into scrubs and crocs and strapped on hair nets and masks before being escorted down a long hallway with doors into the surgery theaters.

***Reader discretion is advised -the squeamish should stop here***
Alyssa and I were the only two left. Our friends had all shuffled into different operating rooms. We came to a room and the doctor motioned for one of us to go in. I entered to see an old man spread eagle with his feet in stirrups. I later learned that Alyssa could see this from the door and opted to let me go instead -thanks Alyssa. The operation was relatively short, about an hour, and they were just scraping a tumor off of the inside of the bladder. The next procedure was much more involved.

The anesthesiologist brought me in to see the next patient. She let me feel his back in between the vertebrae where she would insert one of her lines. She plunged this giant needle into his spine but couldn't find the right spot so the department head came and did it for her. He had trouble with it too and ended up jamming that needle in. I thought the needle would break. It didn't look pleasant. I watched the surgery from above a curtain. They were removing his entire bladder and were going to make him a new one out of his intestines. After making a six or seven inch incision along his abdomen they started pushing and pulling his organs around like nothing. They clamped the incision open and started clamping vessels to the bladder so that they could cut it out without major blood loss. It was always the same. Clamp, pinch, clamp, cut, repeat. All the way around the bladder. The procedure started at about 10am and by the time I left at 1pm they had only removed his bladder. Right before I left they pulled this giant mass of tissue out of his abdomen, his bladder, and I could see the tumor (cancer) at the base. I can't imagine what else they had to do to make his new bladder. I almost wish I could have stayed. Almost. I was getting a bit nauseous towards the end -take me back to the pharmacy, please.

The next day we got up early again to go on a Rhine cruise. It was fun and beautiful, but that is when the plague started to take me so I slept most of the ride. Once we got to St. Goar we hiked up to Rheinfels Castle and had a great time running through the tunnels with candles and learning about the history.  

On Thursday we spent most of the day moping around about it being our last day in Bonn. This is when the plague really took a toll on me. I was really looking forward to going out one last time but unfortunately I had a fever and thought it best to sleep instead.

We arrived in Berlin yesterday...although most of it was just a blur to me. As soon as we got here I went to sleep. I skipped the bike tour and dinner. I slept much longer than I intended to but it was well worth it as I am feeling better today. I'm 100% positive that it was the plague. We are all coming down with it. I guess Europe is tired of us.