Almost Done

It's hard to think that right now is my last Sunday in Bonn. At the beginning of the semester May seemed so far away but now it's here and time is moving so quickly! This week has been so busy with projects and what not that it seems to make time go faster. After the whole semester the physiology project was finally finished on Thursday. By tomorrow the math project will be done as well as all the assigned homework. What else is left? After that it's just the 485 project and some serious studying! Tomorrow I have to mail some extra stuff home, go to Haribo and get some last minute candy and attend my final class of the semester. It's been amazing to be able to live here in Bonn these past few months. I've gotten used to the idea of being here and College Station doesn't really sound very appealing. Unfortunately all good things must end and in a few weeks I'll be back at A&M taking classes once again. Well anyways here's a picture of some trees in Aachen! I love how everything turned green all of a sudden!

Aachen, Device Design, 1 Week Left!

On Wednesday, we all went to Aachen on a group trip.  First, we visited the Helmholtz Institute.  It was so cool learning about the different cardiovascular bioengineering projects that the students and professors were working on there.  However, what I found surprising was that not only were they working on their own projects, but they were also made themselves available to test various models that other companies had designed. 

My favorite part about the trip to Aachen was visiting the cathedral and the treasury.  It housed many important artifacts given to the church by Charlemagne and Barbarossa, such as a throne for God made from the stones that Jesus had walked on, a beautiful chandelier, and various bones from Charlemagne. 

On Thursday, the VTPP 435 students presented our device design projects that we had been working on this whole semester.  After finishing the presentation, I felt like a huge load had been lifted off of my shoulders to say the least.  I can’t believe that we are finally coming to the end of this amazing trip!  It is definitely going to be a bittersweet ending.  It will be sad to leave Europe but at the same time, I miss home so much. 

Our Parakidney!

We only have one week left of school, but it seems like we have so many things to fit in before we’re done!  Between my 485 research paper, four finals, and an infinite amount of math assignments, it seems surreal that we’ll be done in a week.  I’m looking forward to after finals because Kathryn and I will be making a short trip to Amsterdam and then we are all going to Berlin.  I’m excited to be just able to have fun and not worry about school!

Forgive me for how choppy this blog post is, I’ve just spent all day finishing 8 math assignments.  Anyway, my next blog post will be after finals so until then!  

Cardiovascular AMAZINGness

On Wednesday, we went to one of the coolest places in Germany, the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering. This was a premier engineering facility in the midst of the premier engineering school of Germany. The result, some really cool research and some really cool gadgets. We received a lecture from Dr. Professor Steinseifer, a really chill guy who gave one sweet presentation, bro. He was telling us about some of the cardiovascular devices, they are developing, as well as how their institute works with outside companies to develop new biomedical technologies.

This was pretty amazing to me, for not only did they perform their own experiments, but they also were pretty much guns for hire by other companies, testing the products a company or individual gave to them to test. The institute had many ways of testing devices to see the effectiveness of certain aspects of stents, those tubes that are inserted into the aorta, and other products. There was a part of the presentation where he was talking about how the institute calculated the rate of hemolysis by submitting blood to an 'obstacle course' that would spin blood to find the shear stress required to lyse a blood cell, funny thing is, we could actually understand what he was talking about, in relation to the shear stress testing!

We were then given a tour around the institute, inspecting some of the machines they use for testing and receiving another brief history on stents. Our tour guide was a mechanical engineer turned cardiovascular disease, and he was a really knowledgeable guide. I think we all appreciated the knowledge he brought to the table, because he was able to explain some of the complicated subjects with a student's point of view.

Above: Encasing of some of the bones of Charlemagne. The picture depicts the crowning of Charlemagne, who is higher (mightier) than the archbishop and the pope, effective propaganda by Barbarosa.

After the cardiovascular institute, we visited the city of Aachen and took a tour of Aachen Cathedral and treasury. The cathedral we visited was significant, to say the least. Within the cathedral laid some of the bones of Charlemagne, given to the cathedral by the Emperor (king?) Barbarosa, the same guy who gave the bones of the three wise men to the Köln cathedral. The cathedral was said to be an impressive sight during the period it was built, as it was built during the end of the age of roman architecture and the beginning of gothic (I think). It had influences of the Italian cathedrals of Rome, as well as the Hagia Sofia in today Istanbul, Turkey.

Until next time, yo.

April 22-29: Aachen and stuff

Aachen and stuff... here we go! 

The Hemholz Institute in Aachen was awesome! It's a school for applied engineering in medicine. What makes it so cool, is that the medical engineering companies are located right next to the campus. Students are constantly interacting with companies and applying what their learning in their courses. We got to take a look at some of the equipment built to test heart valves and related devices. We even had a chance to see a total artificial heart! Although, one of my favorite things there was their 3D printer. They have the technology to print almost anything with almost any material. For example, an aortic arch made of chocolate. That's right ladies and gents, deliciously sweet and tasty chocolate arteries. It was nice to FINALLY see some engineering related stuff on this trip. I realize this is a biosciences trip, not a bioengineering trip, and that there are students pursuing med school, or vet school, or dental school. But there seemed to be a heavy emphasis on recruiting bioengineers for this program. Seeing how devices are built and tested was a good experience, and hopefully next years' engineering students will be able to see more of that. 

The Aachen Cathedral was nice as well. It's home to the shrine of Charlemange and the tallest gothic windows in the world. That's all I really have to say about that. 

So I went online to see some of the professional photos taken from the Bonn Marathon and would like to share some. Needless to say, I was having an intense moment towards the finish line. Kudos to the photographer for catching this. 

until next time... 

April 22-29: What!? Two weeks left?

Seriously? We only two weeks until Texas?

Wow... That went by quick.

Last night we had our farewell party at the AIB. They had steak, sausage, chicken, roasted potatoes, salad and all kinds of food there, as well as beer and mimosas! It was a nice party. A couple of the host dads are in a "band" so they were the entertainment for the night. They were actually really good too. AND, they wore Texas A&M shirts. Megan taught me a couple two-stepping moves and we got a couple good dances in. It made me really miss Texas. I wanted to teach my host sisters how to two-step, but they left right after dinner was served. Lame.

As I reflect on these past few months, there's really only one thing I would do differently: bring more money. Seriously, Europe is expensive as hell. I definitely should have tried to save more of my money fall semester, but alas, Layne's got the best of me yet again.

All that's left is finals, then Munich (for me), and Berlin. Then back to good 'ol Texas.

Until next time...

AACH!(en)

        On Wednesday we went to Aachen as a class and visited the cardiovascular department of Applied Medical Engineering (CVAME) at Aachen university. The first thing that stuck out to me was that there were practically NO biomedical engineers working there, but they were working on artificial hearts, heart valves, cardiac assist devices, and extracorporeal oxygenation machines. They were mostly civil engineers, with some electrical engineers thrown in there, and a smattering of other sciencey people. That was the coolest thing about the place, and potentially one of the reasons for their success. People who know the body well and know everything that can go wrong will sometimes discount ideas outright because of one possible complication. As engineers with not a whole lot of specialized biological knowledge and a generalized understanding of the body as a machine, they are able to come up with some ideas that may at first sound far-fetched but turn out to work quite well. Also, they are very adept at designing testing rigs for their designs, and even make money on the side by testing devices for other companies.
         One of the most surprising things to me is that we have yet to find a good heart valve replacement with both an indefinite lifespan and few to no side effects. This was made clear by their little artificial valve "museum" which contained all the major models for heart valve replacement However, even though it is true that we don't have the ideal replacement, I learned that one of the best valves on the market was introduced in the 90's (by a Texas-based company!) and is still in use today.
         The CVAME's design for a total artificial heart (the ReinHeart) was also very surprising. I don't really know much about the pumping mechanisms of total artificial hearts in general, but the speaker-driver model for the ReinHeart's pump was an example of what I imagine is the result of using civil engineers in biological design. It is basically a piston that uses an inductor to drive the compression cycles. Biologists don't generally think of such solutions to these kinds of problems.

         After this, we went out to lunch and regrouped to tour the Aachen cathedral and the cathedral treasury. The first surprising thing was that the floorplan is not shaped like a cross--a feature shared by almost every large church in Europe. The sanctuary was in the shape of an octagon, covered with marble, and had a decidedly Moorish influence when it came to the decorative patterns on the floors and walls. The Throne of Charlemagne was amazing, both in the concept of it as a throne for God and because the marble from which it is constructed supposedly came from the Temple in Jerusalem. We also learned a little bit about the reliquaries which contained Charlemagne's bones. They were apparently used as propaganda in the middle ages, arguing that the principate had more authority in spiritual matters than the priesthood.

After this, we returned to Bonn, and my device design group worked for several hours on our presentation for the next day. We of course encountered several problems in this very important polishing phase of the project, and many *facepalm*s were committed. Thankfully it all ended up with a successful presentation on Thursday, and we are all one assignment closer to rounding out a successful semester.

Farwell Party

So long…farewell…Auf Wiedersehn…goodbye! Okay so yes I realize The Sound of Music was not filmed in Germany, and that we did not sing this during the farewell party, but it just popped in my head so I figured I would share.  Today was the Farwell Party at the AIB, which was a little ironic since our semester is far from finished.  The LMU people, however, are already done with finals (lucky ducks) so we decided to celebrate early. 

The party was a blast.  How could you not enjoy yourself with good drinks, good food, good friends, and good music? I even got the chance to two-step again.  Even though the music wasn’t quite country music we made the best of it, and had a lot of fun.  I think we surprised the non-Texans with our two-steppin’ talent, but it was a nice reminder of home.  You will be shocked to hear that I barely remembered how to two-step since it has been so long, but thankfully it came back quickly and I was able to teach Cameron and Austin how to do the “thread the needle” dance move.  Lots of whirling and twirling.  Unfortunately I do not have pictures of the event since my memory card was conveniently not in my camera, but Katie has one that I will share.

Photo cred: Katie

With the party over I cannot wait to be done with finals and in Berlin, where we will have a blast and our own farewell before all heading off to various places.

Aachen

You can definitely tell the semester is wrapping up by the amount of assignments due in the next few weeks.  Most of the week was spent working on our device design project (which all turned out well thankfully) but we did have a break on Wednesday with our group excursion to Aachen.

I had actually meant to visit Aachen earlier in the semester, at the suggestion of my host mom, but ended up never getting around to it.   After going I am very glad that I got the chance to go and see the sights.  The first part of the excursion was the visit to the Helmholtz Institute’s Cardiovascular Applied Medical Engineering department.   I had never considered myself very interested in the mechanical aspect of Biomedical Engineering until I came on this study abroad trip, and the visit on Wednesday only piqued my interest more.  It was really neat to hear about the development of the artificial heart and how they used flow modeling to create a better device.  The insight into PhD education in Germany was also interesting, but being able to actually hold an artificial heart pretty much topped it all.

After a delicious lunch (at which I ate more lasagna than I thought was possible to fit in my stomach) we were treated to a guided tour of the Aachen cathedral and treasury.  After the Köln Dom, you would think that no other cathedral could be impressive, but the Aachen cathedral did its best to awe me.  First off, I do not think you can even compare the two since they are so different.  Aachen was octagonal and the entire ceiling was covered with a gilded mosaic.  I loved hearing about the history and Charlemagne from the guide, and am very glad that we got to see this amazing place.

It was a long day with the excursion and putting the finishing touches on our device design project, but the awesome cathedral and the fact that the presentation went well the next day made it all worth it.

Two Steppin' in Germany

So tonight we had a "farewell" party. While we still have two weeks left here, one of the groups at the AIB is leaving on Monday. The food was great and everyone had a great time. There was also a live band. Many of us took this opportunity to two-step. I think it was apparent to everyone there just how much we miss Texas. I thought it was a little funny to see the looks on the faces of the people from LA and Penn State. Both looked completely confused at why we would start two-stepping while at a party in Germany. It was a great time though. I'm glad we've all gotten close enough to just hang out and be silly together :)

The End is Near!

It's already nearing the end of our semester in Germany.. At the end of this week, we are having a "Farewell Party". Just seeing that on the schedule made me a little sad. I've made so many good friends, both German and within the program, that I am going to hate to say goodbye to. While this semester has been busy and full of work, it was totally worth it. Knowing that I wanted to spend the weekend visiting Paris or Amsterdam made me work that much harder during the week to get my work done. I also feel like I made a bigger effort to get out (instead of nap in my free time), because who knows how long it will be until I get a chance to come back? 

As much as I don't want the semester to end, I do want classes to end. :) This week we are presenting our device design projects. This semesters project was to design a fully implantable artificial kidney. This semester long project looming over our heads has been very intimidating, but very interesting. On top of that my two semester long papers are due next week during finals. Finals are in a category all their own. I think everyone will be relieved once we have finished our presentations, papers, and tests, and get to enjoy the last week we have together in Berlin. :) 

Rhein cruise, soccer match, and half marathon

Last Thursday we went to the Hildegard von Bingen Museum and on the Rhein cruise. At the museum I liked seeing the pictures of Hildegard's visions because their was so much symbolism. It was kind of interesting that they're not even sure what all of it means. Also I really liked seeing the old medical instruments like the iron scalpels and probes, and the garden with the medical herbs.

The cruise was very nice and despite the somewhat rainy weather, we got to see a lot of the riverside including the castles that popped up nearly every 500 meters.

Once we got to the end of our cruise we got to see the ruins of the Rheinfels castle. It was so much fun to ramble around the ruins, climbing up stony hills and venturing into dark tunnels. I'm pretty sure we all felt like little kids on a jungle gym, and I know I could easily have spent another hour or more there, but sadly we had to head back to Bonn to hopefully be home in time for dinner.

On Saturday was the soccer match, Cologne vs. Stuttgart, which was a lot of fun. We got really into the spirit of it, and several of us bought scarves to support the Cologne team. These scarves came in handy when the crowd sang the team song before the match. Everyone was holding their scarves up in the air so of course we joined in, and then to my surprise partway through the song everyone doubled their scarf and held the ends in one hand, and began swinging it around above their head almost exactly as we swing our towels at A&M football games. It was really funny how similar the whole atmosphere felt to being at a football game in Kyle Field, but we also were reminded a little of the Quidditch World Cup in the fourth Harry Potter book. I don't typically think of myself as a sport person, but if I had a sport it would be soccer. No offense to American football, but there is a lot less standing around and a lot more running in soccer, which in my opinion makes it more exciting. I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the game ended in a tie, but it was still a lot of fun.

On Sunday was the half marathon, or for some really dedicated people, the marathon. I was somewhat nervous after last weekend when I went running with Kathryn and Andrea for about 11 miles and we had a really rough time of it. I wasn't sure I could make 13 miles if I couldn't even handle 11, but we got there bright and early and the excitement of race day and the track-meet-like atmosphere made up for my poor running skills. We nervously lined up at the start line and set off, and I immediately turned on my motivational music since I'm not hard core enough to run without music. Although it was the longest I had ever run at one time, and my energy would come and go, I made it without too much difficulty and even had a better time than I had expected, though still not a time to rival anyone of any athletic ability. After the race I felt so sore and tired, but also satisfied that I had finished, and back at the old AIB some of the girls from LMU had prepared a veritable feast of which I ravenously partook. When I felt up to moving again, I made my way home, where I promptly fell asleep for about four hours. I was really impressed with Candy because she ran a whole marathon, and I know how exhausting only a half is, so to me she has superhuman strength and endurance. All in all a very nice weekend and prelude to the stressful pre-final week to come.

Random Mix

Last Thursday we went on a Rhine cruise and I now know why they call it the "Romantic Rhine River." The seven mountains, all the castles, everything was so nice and beautiful. The Hildegard Museum was also very interesting. Since we had a class over her before going to the museum, I felt like we could connect and understand the tour better. The weather was a little against our favor when we got to Bingen, but the food made up for it. I think that lunch was one of my favorites! The wine, bacon-mushroom sauce, french fries, and cappuccino for dessert were delicious.

Speaking of delicious, we all know that Milka chocolate is good, but last week it blew my mind. I love oreos, so I was excited when my host sister asked me if I wanted the huge chocolate bar. I strongly recommend it!

Our hiding spot!

Coming back to Thursday, we also got to hike up St. Goar to Rheinfelds Castle. Once we got there, being the mature college students that we are, we noticed the castle ruins were like a perfect playground! Therefore, we started playing Hide-and-Seek throughout the castle and I must say we had a blast. Once Dr. Wasser and Kristin told us we were about to leave, I felt like a little kid saying, "5 more minutes Mommy please!" Actually, I did say that.

On Saturday, we went to the soccer game of Koln vs. Stuttgart. Soccer has always been a part of my life, so I loved getting the chance to watch a game here in Germany. After we tied the game (which was stupid), we took a packed tram to the center of Cologne to get dinner. Naturally, I somehow missed the stop and only noticed it when I saw the cathedral getting farther and farther away. I got off at the next stop and walked back to the center. On my way there, I passed by a carnival/fair which seemed like a lot of fun!

I've also been shadowing at the University Clinic in Venusberg and have been enjoying getting confused for the new doctor boss. Apparently there's a new boss coming in and I got confused for being her last week. The intimidated faces made my day!

My First Marathon!

Before the race!

After a month of intense training (sarcasm to it's finest), the marathon was finally here! This morning I met up with the other girl who ran the marathon and the first-part-of-the-relay people. We all anxiously waited for the race to start and I couldn't stop moving; partly because I was nervous and partly because I was freezing! After talking with the other marathon girl, I noticed we had almost the same goals in mind. No matter how slow, we wanted to keep our pace and not walk. Also, we both had a time in mind.

Once the race started, everyone split up. I knew the first 5 miles are one of the hardest, so I guess I was mentally prepared for it. I did get to run with Yesenia some and it was comforting having someone there. Once I lost her I didn't see many AIB students after that.

I definitely think running a marathon is mentally challenging more than anything. You have to be prepared for how long it takes. The farthest I had ran was 20 miles, so between the 18-23 miles I was dying. Not necessarily because my body was tired, but because I was just tired of running. There's only so much you can think of for 4 hours and after awhile you start focusing only on running and how much you have left. This gets you frustrated and makes you want to just quit and go home. Thankfully, I didn't really stop but started running very slowly. Once I was around 23 miles I realized I was being retarded. I was almost done and I felt good. My knees weren't bothering me or anything and my breathing was good enough, so I sped up and started running on a decent speed.

Around the final 2 km, I ran into Lars! He was just walking and when I saw him I told him we were almost done and made him run with me. I'm glad I did because we both finished together and it gave me that extra boost of energy to see we were almost done. At this point all I could think about was FOOD!

Once we crossed that finish line I started eating and drinking everything I could see. We headed towards the old AIB and I ate a nice dinner there as well. This random and quick mix of food made my stomach queasy, but once I got home I felt good enough to take a shower and eat once more.

The most painful part of this whole marathon was definitely taking a shower. I discovered blisters I didn't know I had our could even get for that matter and it was just so painful! Now, I'm just excited and proud to be done. I am officially Hilde's hero. She saw how lazy I was during my "training" and honestly didn't think I would make it. I'm glad to prove her wrong. Haha!



Tschuss! Hope everyone feels better. :)

Cake, Cruising and Castles

This week has been busy--scholastically, socially, athletically... you name it. With so much to cram in before the end of the trip, we're definitely making the most of our remaining time here in Germany. To start off the week, we began having guest lectures on cardiology piped in from back in College Station. Just doing that has been pretty neat- it's crazy how small the world seems under the influence of technology. Plus, it's a fun break in the normal routine of things to get a glimpse (literally) of what's going on back home.

Also, my twentieth birthday was on Wednesday! If you had asked my childhood self where I pictured myself when I was twenty, I never would have guessed that I would be studying abroad in a foreign country. It's strange that we've been here for the better part of four months, and I still have trouble realizing everything that's gone here in Europe this semester. Anyway, everyone went out of their way to make sure that I had a great day, even though it was the first birthday I'd spent away from home. Andrea made sure that I started the morning off with a giant Starbuck's latte fix and my host family even got me a big pot of flowers to celebrate the occasion (although all other festivities were postponed until the weekend due to the oncoming Biomechanics exam).

Birthday gifts, flowers and cake!

The very next day, we got a break from schoolwork to go on the Rhine Cruise. We actually started off not on the river, but busing to Bingen. There, we got to learn more about Hildegard von Bingen and her mystical visions. We also had a short jaunt about the garden, learning more about various herbs and their uses in homeopathic medicine. I think my favorite discovery was actually Dr. Wasser playing us some of her musical compositions earlier in class. They were so hymnal and ethereal- I think I may have found some new good study and relaxing music for my ipod. From the museum, we went on to a delicious lunch before making our way to the boat. The cruise was so beautiful! Saying that the scenery made up for the weather definitely does the Rhineland credit (being that we had to cope with some scattered showers and chilly breezes). On every single hill (of which there are many in this particular area) was another castle, looking all old and austere. Back in America, I don't think we have a single one to compare, and here they were just a common topping of the surrounding countryside. From the cruise, we hiked up an impressive hill to the Rheinfels ruins in St. Goar. It was a lot of fun to be let loose on the old grounds and to explore at our leisure. In addition to some amazing old structures and towering battlements, this castle came equipped with another amazing view. At this point, it seems like I should stop being surprised, but I can't help it. Too soon it was back on the bus where most of us grabbed a quick nap before making it back to Bonn. With the biomechanics test the next day, the little extra sleep was definitely appreciated later on in the study-centric night.

"COME ON FC, COME ON FC!"

Yes, the title is a chant that we heard at a BUNDESLIGA game on Saturday. I thought it was funny that they said it in English, unless the German term is a cognate, but who am I to complain? This was my second game, but it was just as fun as the first game since I could enjoy it with my friends, as well as some other people from the AIB. Of course, I missed the coolest goal of the game, but that was alright, as long as my team, FC KÖLN, came up with a draw or a win, which they did, with a draw. This was important because the opposing team is my host brother's team and I wanted to have bragging rights when I got back to my host family's house. The game was pretty sloppy, not just from the horrible FC Köln, but also from the away team, the fatigue of the long season must be setting in for both teams.

On Sunday, I ran the second leg of "The Fighting Texas Aggies German Relay Team". I felt good about how I ran and the team did good, as well. It was a pretty day for running and I was glad that I signed up for that experience, as it was a really fun and social event, as well as good exercise after a week of sitting and studying ~ 24/7. That's something I've noticed about this program, the hardships can be extreme at times, but experiences like running a marathon (relay) in Bonn, Germany, or attending a Bundesliga game, are priceless and make this whole trip worth it's weight in gold(mental gold?).

Short post because I have lots of homework to attend to now. Until next time everybody.

Soccer and Marthon

On Saturday, we all went to Cologne for the Cologne-Stuttgart soccer game.  Honestly, after getting six hours of sleep in the two days prior to Saturday, I hard a seriously hard time getting out of bed to make it to the train station.  After weighing my options, I decided that I should go solely for the experience.  I’m so glad I decided to go because I ended up having so much fun.  I had been to soccer games before back in the states but they didn’t compare to this at all.  First, the amount of people there was incredible.  I knew soccer was a big deal in Europe but I definitely wasn’t prepared for that.  I loved the amount of spirit that the crowd had and it was overwhelming to see their love of the sport and of their team.  After the game, Kathryn and I slowly made our way back to Bonn on crowded trams and trains.  We went to bed early that night in order to prepare ourselves for the half-marathon the next day.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement.  When I signed up to do the half-marathon, I was a little skeptical on if I would be able to finish or not.  I have had a knee injury for the past four years or so that has limited me every so often.  On top of that, the most I had ever run at one time before this semester was a 5K.  Once the race started, I felt pretty good.  I had taken Tylenol beforehand and I wore my brace in anticipation of my knee hurting.  Despite this, my knee almost immediately started bothering me.  I pushed through it at first, hoping the pain would just go away once I got used to running.  At about kilometer 9, I had to drop back from the group I was running with to give my knee some time to recuperate.  At kilometer 12, I had to stop because I couldn’t walk anymore.  I ended up riding in an ambulance to the finish line where there were medical tents.  I waited there for a while, icing my knee, then I went out to look for our group.  Choosing to stop was a really hard decision for me.  I played club and varsity soccer in high school, so I was used to pushing past the pain.  When I saw the 12K sign and realized that I was only just over halfway done, I decided that it wasn’t worth making my knee worse.  My consolation is that I tried my best.  Maybe one day I’ll be able to do a half-marathon all the way through.  

Bing Bang, Bingen!

This week, our group went to Bingen to see the museum of the 12th century savant, Hildegard Von Bingen. We had already received an interesting lecture about her from Dr. Wasser, but as with the Neanderthal, we then went to see first hand the place of her legend, as well as some other cool stuff (like my surprisingly huge salad, suckas!). Bingen was a quaint town, small from what I saw when I woke up from my nap on the bus. Side note: I love the naps that come with bus rides that are more than 45 minutes, especially after getting a healthy 2 1/2 hours of sleep the night before, absolutely delicious naps. The museum had a lot of the same information that we received from Dr. Wasser's lectures, but some of the paintings that we had seen in his slides were MUCH cooler to see in person (like the picture of the man within a circle, within Jesus, who had God's head on top of his head, deep stuff). Also, there were some Roman remains of medical instruments, including a trepanation device that looked a little like making a hole with the top of a glass bottle (quite painful). Also, it was interesting to find out that a doctor that had been trained at a medical university in Carthage used to preside near the town of Bingen to treat sailors who had mishaps with their cargo.

Also, the catholic church is now considering canonizing Hildegard, a development that even Wasser wasn't aware of!

Now, lunch, was amazing. Earlier on the bus, a sheet that had four options for lunch, three things that were pretty much wiener schnitzel but with different sauces, and a salad. For some reason, maybe from the lack of sleep or a dysfunctional reabsorption of H+ ions in the kidney, I felt like having the salad instead of one of the other delicious meats offered, it just felt right, like a true gut feeling. Later on, Kristine thought that a salad would not be enough food for me, since I eat as much as a... cow(? I think that's how the expression goes), and a salad would not fill me up as some hardy meat would. I decided to stick with my intuition and hope for the best. Boom! When we were being served, some relatively small Wiener schnitzel came out and was served to my peers and then I saw it. Beautiful like a green mountain that is illuminated by the mist of dawn, the salad was piled high with lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes (eh.. that wasn't great), ham, and three pieces of poppy seed bread, a personal favorite. Oh yea, and eggs, can't forget the eggs. After that meal, I was ready to challenge the world that day.

But then we got on a beautiful cruise, so that was a nice follow up to my amazing lunch. The cruise went from Bingen to St. Goar, following the part of the Rhine that is surrounded by Valleys of Vineyards and small towns. The countryside was truly beautiful to see. There were many castles along the river, remnants of the feudal age of Germany, when kingdoms were many, small, and apparently only a stone's throw away.

Beautiful Castle Rheinfels.

When we arrived in St. Goar, we hiked up a long hill to reach the Rheinfels castle, a remnant of the age of castles and knights. The castle was cool, but playing hide and go seek there was even cooler! I say that because not only did we run away to hide in places unknown to us, but we could explore the very picturesque castle. I'd like to brag for a second because when it was my turn to look for my peers, I only had trouble finding Yesenia, but everyone else thought that hiding in a huge opening with everyone else was good idea... No0bs.

Alright, until next time yall.

Sporty Weekend

After what seemed like a relaxing weekend, this week is not going to be that fun. Any sort of procrastination is catching up with me, mostly in terms of math homework that's left to be finished. Before thinking about my future demise I'd like to reminisce over this weekend one last time. Saturday was the soccer match with Cologne and Stuttgart! I had no idea why I expected to stay for 4 hours or so like a football game but this game felt so short. Anyways, in as few as words as possible it was pretty fun! I didn't quite understand everything (especially the bleating goats noises until I realized that they corresponded to a point gained by some team playing elsewhere) but Andrea was kind enough to answer any questions I had. Thanks! The game ended in a tie but all the yelling and whatnot throughout the match made some of the A&M games at home seem slightly tame.
Last night before falling asleep I was wondering why I decided to sign up for the marathon relay today. The morning was pretty cold to not be wearing a jacket but by the end of it all the weather felt quite nice out. Not being in the best of shape the beginning wasn't that great but when I caught up with this group of Germans in front of me I kept pace with them and it went pretty easy after that. After a while I caught up with Candy but we parted ways on the Kennedy bridge as she went faster or I went slower. Either or, most likely the latter. I made it to the end and passed on the timer to Vincent and felt quite content at running as much as I did. It's nothing compared to what everyone else so kudos to them, especially Candy and that other girl who ran the marathon! So overall it's been a great weekend and slightly unproductive but now it's time to word hard. Since I didn't take any photos this week I'm gonna steal one that Andrea took earlier today.

The Calm Before the Storm (Marathon)

This past week has yet again been a hectic one.  One of my favorite parts of this week was Wednesday when we celebrated Kathryn’s birthday with cake and some presents.  I had ordered the cake a few days before and I was really happy with the way it came out, especially since I ordered it completely in German!  On Thursday, the group went on an excursion to Bingen and then we did a Rhine cruise to St. Goar.  I was really impressed with our tour guide at the museum in Bingen.  This museum was focused on Hildegard of Bingen, who was a writer, composer, philosopher, Benedictine abbess, and philosopher who lived in the 12^th century.  We had had a lecture on her in history of medicine, so it was easy to follow along what the tour guide was telling us.  On top of that, her enthusiasm for the topic was captivating. 

After the museum, we all went to lunch and then boarded the boat.  I enjoyed the cruise because I got to see some new parts of Germany, including the Lorelei Rock.  This rock is significant because it is at one of the narrowest parts of the river and strong currents have caused many boat accidents.  It’s called Lorelei in honor of the fabled female water spirit.  After the cruise, we climbed to the top of St. Goar and toured some castle ruins.  We were given time to explore on our own, which turned out to be a lot of fun.  People started playing games, running around, and overall just having fun. 

After St. Goar, we all got back on the bus to Bonn where many of us spent the rest of the night studying for our biomechanics test the next day.  Despite the little sleep I got that night, I feel like the test went pretty well for not only myself but also the class as a whole.  After the school day, a group of us went out to celebrate Kathryn’s birthday.  We had a lot of fun just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.  Somehow, a few of us wound up in Cologne and didn’t get back until 7 AM the next morning.  That was the first time I had spent the whole night out and I had an absolute blast!  That night made for some interesting memories!