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A lot of random events happened this past week. Since my last post, we went to a classical concert performed by the University of Bonn student orchestra. They played two pieces by Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op 98 and A German Requiem, Op. 45. It was fun to see everyone dress up and even though it was a little long, I did enjoy the music. My roommates and I also ate out at a German-Spanish restaurant with our host mom this week. It was…interesting. Definitely no Gringos! I don’t think we will be going back there anytime soon. Earlier this week, Laura and I decided to see how far the bridge adjacent to the one we walk to get to school was. An hour and ten minutes and 6 miles later, we found it! It was a really nice run though with pretty views of the Seven Mountains. Karneval was also this week! All of AIB met up together and went to the parade here in Beuel. It was so funny to see the streets filled with people in the most random costumes just having a good time!

The most exciting part of the week was when we went to a hospital in Bonn and got a tour of the facility/observed some surgeries. This has definitely been one of the highlights of the trip so far! I sat in on three different operations. The first one was a 79 year old who had been hit by a car and few weeks ago. This poor lady had broken her wrists, her arm, her left leg and ankle, and had bleeding in her brain. Today they were just putting screws/plates in her ankle. By the time I got there, she had already been prepped and the doctors had already made about a 2 inch incision. The orthopedic surgeons were very friendly and everyone could speak English. They made sure to ask me repeatedly if I had eaten breakfast and if I felt lightheaded, to let one of them know immediately, haha. I was surprised with the atmosphere in the surgery room; all the nurses, anesthesiologist, and surgeons were laughing and listening to the radio playing (which sounded just like any station from the United States), and the overall mood was very light. The surgeon would drill a screw in, then take an x-ray to check the position, then readjust, and repeat until he got it. I was able to stand right next to the operating table and watch him and the x-ray screen. The next surgery was on a 63 year old man who was had an aortic aneurysm, I think. They were inserting a stent in the artery and I was able to watch the screen as they worked. I came to this surgery right as they were finishing though, so I didn’t get to see much other than them stitching the incisions. The last surgery was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life. Laura and I walked into the cardiac wing of the OP where the nurse informed us that this 73 year old man was having an aortic valve replacement. The surgery had already been going on for about 4 hours now and they had a drape separating his head and chest area. The anesthesiologist was monitoring him in front of the drape and the surgeons were behind the drape. There was a stool right below his head so that Laura and I could stand on. I can’t even describe how it felt when we peeked over the drape onto his chest. There, only about a foot away from us, was 10 inch incision with a giant pounding heart literally beating out of his chest. His sternum had been cut in half and they had already replaced the valve and were just cauterizing some blood vessel s before the closed him up. Even though the surgeons were in the middle of open heart surgery, they joked with us about if we all wear cowboy hats at home, if we all carry guns, the Super Bowl, and some differences between Germany and America. It was an absolutely incredible opportunity.

Tomorrow we leave for Zurich! Yay! …at like 4:00 am, but that’s okay! We’ve got a few things we want to do, but mostly we are just wingin’ it! More to come when we return!