Karneval is Coming

Personal

After a relaxing time in Vienna, this past week was quite stressful. Along with our normal workload, we had a physiology exam. I enjoy physiology, but the tests are always difficult and demand thorough understanding of the concepts. I feel that I studied well however, especially considering the distractions of being in a foreign and fascinating setting. I have had an opportunity to enjoy the class more this semester since I don't have 6 other classes to worry about.

I managed to add another transportation mishap to my growing list this week. Fortunately, it did not last the magic duration of 2 1/2 hours this time, though I did actually have to be somewhere. I accidentally set my alarm an hour late one morning and while I woke up after my first alarm, I quickly realized that I had very little time to get to class. I skipped a shower and rushed out the door. In an attempt to take the fastest route to the AIB, I took an unfamiliar bus. On the way, the green country scenery calmed me down...until I remembered that there isn't any country scenery in downtown Bonn. After staring at the map for a few minutes, I concluded that I had taken the right bus going the wrong way. I finally got off after some internal debate, and I was in luck. I was at a train station, and before I even had a chance to look at the schedule, my bus slid up, headed toward the hauptbahnhof. I ended up passing my normal train stop about an hour after I had left, so I would have been in a similar position even if I'd taken time for breakfast and a shower. While I arrived extremely late, I did eventually make it to the AIB.

On Sunday, I went to Duesseldorf. We attended what we thought was a Protestant English-speaking service but it turned out to be Catholic and German. Regardless, I still got a spiritual experience out of it because of the beautiful architecture and interior of the church. We then traveled to a place on the outskirts of the city where we sat down at a pleasant biergarten and then walked along the Rhein to some ruins. We went to a vintage car museum that was actually just a vintage car dealership, so we got to see a lot of expensive luxury cars and motorcycles for free. At this point, it was too late to visit any museums, so we had dinner at an acclaimed Irish pub called O'Reilly's. The day was overall pleasant and relaxing.


Program

To start out the week, we visited the Bonn Uniklinik to observe surgeries. I have observed surgeries that my dad has performed, but neither of the ones I had seen previously were very invasive. On Monday, I saw a surgery performed on a man who was infertile as a result of cancer. The surgeons were taking early semen samples directly from the seminiferous tubules. The second surgery was 7 hours long, so we did not view the entire operation. If I'm not mistaken, the man had a problem with his prostate, so the surgeons basically cut through his entire abdomen. Weirdly enough, I passed out during the first surgery, which was much less invasive, almost as soon as we walked in. I don't think the surgery itself was what caused it, but I did feel that the masks were cutting off my air. I was perfectly fine afterwards, but it took me some time to fully recover.

On Tuesday, we visited the Museum for the History of Anaesthesia at which each of our teams for the Ottobock project gave a short presentation on a specific subject related to the museum. My team presented on artificial respiration. The presentations were a good way to get everyone involved in what we were learning at the museum.

AIB hosted a Karneval warm-up on Wednesday night, during which everyone was encouraged to dress up. I unfortunately do not have a costume yet, so I felt very out of place, though I did have my face painted. We learned one of the main songs of Karneval, as well as some of the phrases that are important to know. The night was very fun and relaxing in the midst of a hectic week. I'm now on the search for a good costume and I'm getting nervous that I won't be able to find one.