Week 9: Italia

I would like to start off by saying: I. LOVE. ITALY.

This week was by far one of my favorite weeks. I knew I’d have fun but I had no idea I’d have as much fun as I did.

Milan:

First top was Milan. I’m glad we went to Milan first because it was a very beautiful city but there wasn’t a ton of stuff to do. I didn’t realize until we got there that Milan is one of the fashion capital’s of the world. Once you got there though, it became very obvious that it is famous for fashion and shopping. In the town square, there was this really huge building that has every fancy store known to man in it. On our last day there, we walked around the hipster district, which was cool because there weren’t a lot of tourists in that area so you got to see Milan from the eyes of a native.

                                             

Venice:

Venice will forever and always be one of my top 5 favorite places to visit. Venice is just so aesthetically gorgeous to look at. I could’ve literally walked around the whole city and be in such awe of how beautiful it is. It’s so sad that in a few years all of it will be underwater, but that realization makes visiting there even more wonderful.

Cerci and I walked around one night and we got to meet the best Italian man ever named Armando. He was so sweet and gave me and Cerci the “native” discount. We started to talk to him and he was telling us that he and his wife have been married for over 20 years. We asked him the secret of marriage and he said “it’s important to not let the little things get to you and you always have to be forgiving. And the woman is always right [of course].” I decided that when I get married, I’m going to go on my honeymoon in Venice so my future-husband can talk to Aramando.  

Florence:

Florence was very nice as well. My favorite part was going to visit Pisa, Italy and of course seeing (and going to the top) the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Getting to the top was rough because since the tower is leaning there were parts of the stairs that were very steep, which made the climb challenging, but once you get to the top you forget about all of that because it was so incredible.

Rome:

 When in Rome… you get a ice cream that is dipped in chocolate. By far, the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my life. Rome had the most historical sites to see than the other 3 cities. My favorite part of Rome was getting to walk around the Roman ruins. When you are standing there it’s so crazy to think that years ago, there were once these massive (and beautiful) buildings there.

Week 8 - FRANCE!!!!!

Paris was fun; I got to check a lot of things off of my bucket list. My favorite part was definitely seeing the Eiffel Tower and getting to see it at night twinkling was really cool. Even though there were a few injuries, I really liked the bike tour because we got to see parts of France that I don’t think we would’ve been able to see otherwise. And I'm no art connoisseur, but I feel 10% more fulfilled after seeing the Mona Lisa. 

  

Unfortunately, I got really really sick towards the end of the week and that kind of stunk, but I did get to play charades with the pharmacist to explain to her that my throat hurt and I had a fever. She didn't really understand what I was saying she ended up giving me like five different medicines, but I will say, that was one of the quickest recoveries I've had from an illness in my life. 

N-E-ways, Paris was fun but I'm really stoked for next week because I'm going to Italy and I know it's going to be amazing. 

  

Week 6- Die Schlümpfe

Welp, Karneval has come and gone and I consider myself so lucky to have experienced this Rhineland tradition. Now I feel like a real Bonn-er. 

The weekend of festivities began with the women's parade in Beuel in which the entire AIB got dressed in costume and went together. Angelica and I dressed up as blue smurfs, which are actually called Schlümpfe in German, and we had such a great time. The parade itself was awesome because candy was flying everywhere and music was blaring throughout the streets which contributed to such a stress-free, fun environment. Sadly, I along with all the other BMEN students had to come back to the AIB that day because we had a differential equations test (which did not go as planned lol).

The next day, a bunch of friends and I went over to Maggie's host family's house where they were having a party for their neighborhood parade! I believe it was the Villich Muldorf parade. This parade was much smaller but still had its charm. There were tons of kids their having such a great time and it was really fun to watch. My favorite float was the one where they had a man dressed as Queen Elizabeth on top, waving to the crowd hahahahaha. After that, we went back to Bonn city-center and ate at a nice Italian restaurant for Claire's 20th birthday! We had such a great time and I'm so glad that I have found a group of friends that I can call my own. Once dinner was over, we decided to go to the "disko" to dance the night away. We started out at Carpe Nachtem... but it was super lame... I'll never go back. Then we went to a club that Kanci's host mother recommended called N8 (nacht) Schnicht! 10/10 would recommend to anyone in Bonn. They played great music, had decently priced drinks and overall just a great atmosphere inside! Angelica and I ended up leaving at 2:30 in the morning and made our way to the HBF only to find out that we had missed our train by 2 minutes so we had to wait a whole hour for the next one. We did however make it home.

Come Sunday, we all decided to take a break from the Karneval festivites and do some homework/relax because the next day was Rosenmontag and we had plans to go to Cologne. 

Then, the final event had approached us. Monday morning we all woke up really early in order to try and make it to Cologne by 9. Once we arrived, we stopped at a playground which was actually really fun and it made everyone wake up in time for the parade! That parade was hands down the best parade in all the Rhineland. By this time, we had all learned the words to the most of the Karneval songs which were playing non-stop the entire weekend so getting to sing alongside other German's definitely enhanced the experience. All in all I had such a great weekend and I can't wait to come back in the future and experience Karneval again. ALAAF!!!!!

 ^Me at the playground^

^The coolest Schlümpfe you've ever seen^

Week 7 - Just Chillin'

This week was pretty chill. I stayed in Bonn this weekend for the first time in a while. I finally had time to finish all the homework I procrastinated doing, which I would never recommend doing.

Stephenie & I went to Hillsong Church in Dusseldorf, which was really fun. The first person we met when we got there was a girl who happened to have graduated from Texas A&M. Stephenie noticed that she was wearing an Aggie ring and asked her and all of us had a mini-freak out. 

I am really looking forward to going to France next week and going to Italy for spring break. So in actuality, I didn’t go out this weekend because I have no money and I’m trying to save for the next two weeks.

But enjoy this picture of Clare kicking me in the ankle and then me accidently putting my hand in her mouth (LOL). You’re very welcome Clare!  

                                          

7: The Week We Found 59c Coffee and the Reasons We Needed It

This week was the week before our program excursion to Paris and spring break.  While all of us were incredibly excited to go to Paris and travel throughout Europe in the week after, it also meant we had to get a lot of stuff done in that week beforehand.  We had Monday off for the Rosen Montag parade in Cologne (not even the Germans had school), so we had a short week, a project and presentation due, as well as a physiology test and circuits homework due.

So we put off sleeping for a while.

Our point teams for the enmodes project met daily for hours, tying up loose ends, getting our ideas straightened out and ready for presentation to the company executives.  Any and all spare time was split between talking out the physiology of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and trying to wrap our arms around the latest fight that was 211 homework.  On Ash Wednesday we had a Paris pre-departure meeting where we got to make our own crepes for lunch to get us in the mood (score).  It took our minds off the looming trials of the days to come and gave us something to look forward to and to work towards.  The presentations the following day actual went very well, the two enmodes execs that came to hear our ideas were very nice, asked good questions to understand our designs, and we got lunch again (score is now 2-0).  Finally, all that was left was our physiology test and finishing up our homework.  The test on Friday was tricky, but, as always, we got through it, turned in our homework, and then went home to chase the sleep we had let get away from us at the beginning of the week. I forgot to mention this earlier, but the big discovery of this week was the 59c espresso we found at Rewe, the local grocery store that's only about a 5 minute walk from the AIB. I'm still not sure whether or not this can be considered a score, as it was great stuff that kept me from sleeping, but on the other hand, it kept me from sleeping... No matter, though: we made it through the week, and now it's time for Paris!

Week 6: So you think you know parades.

Coming to Germany on this program, I was especially looking forward to the following things: Vienna, Paris, Karneval, and the Bonn marathon.  I've talked about Vienna and Paris, the Bonn marathon is in April, so that leaves Karneval for me to discuss today.

It's difficult to portray how centrally Karneval culture is held in Bonn, Cologne and many places in the Rhineland.  Planning begins on November 11 at 11:11 - and the planning parties and festivities don't end until Karneval does (this year that day was February 27th).  Just about every weekend we were in Bonn, we'd see some costumed group getting together, practicing their songs for the parades, etc.  Teachers and AIB student workers alike built up Karneval until the suspense was driving us crazy; we couldn't wait for the kick-off parade in Beuel on Thursday.  We all went as a big AIB group, all dressed up in our costumes, and enjoyed, at the time, the best parade I had ever been to (this would change that Monday, or Rosen Montag).  The paraders' (?) costumes were splendid, they threw plenty of candy (and carrots, sausages, tissues, plastic car banks, popcorn, pretzels, flowers, etc.), the Karneval music put everyone in a great mood, and the weather was thankfully cooperating.

As I hinted earlier, Thursday's parade was fun, but the real cake-topper was the Rosen Montag parade in Cologne.  More than one million people come annually to this parade, because it is that incredible.  Originally, we thought it only went for 3-4 hours; it lasted for over 6.  The catch was, though, we didn't even notice how long we had been there because it was that fantastic.  Everyone was dressed up, the paraders had 700,000 chocolate bars to throw to onlookers; 220,000 boxes of chocolate (yes, there is a difference); 140 tons of sweets; 300,000 bunches of flowers (what we focused on after an hour of filling our bags with chocolate); and thousands of soft toys and additional knick-knacks. There were also 74 decorated floats and 67 tractors, no small number when you remember that between these marched groups of 50 or so people, and sometimes multiple groups in between floats.  The other neat logistical thing was when vans would drive by, following behind the floats and paraders, literally stuffed with candy to refill on-the-ground supplies.  The Rosen Montag parade was one of the best days of this trip, and one of the best parades I may ever see in my life.  If you ever get the opportunity to go, take it.

Week 10

This week we participated in the international big event. Big event is such a good cause and I was so excited that I would be able to participate in it while I am studying abroad. The day started with an early morning of going to town and meeting at old AIB. While there, we got our shirts, had breakfast, practiced Aggie yells, and sang the war hymn. It was truly an Aggie led morning.

Side note: when the germans ask you what size of shirt you want, it isn't unisex sizes. It's the female specific shirts and you should know that ahead of time. I was handed the smallest shirt I have ever seen.

Once we split into our groups, we walked towards the donation center that we would be volunteering at. We got name tags and then got to work. I worked at the first station where we opened the donation bags and sorted through them. We looked at all of the clothes to decide if they were good or not, focusing on stains and holes/tears. Then if they were good, we sorted them into women, men, children, and baby. We did this all day and got a lot of work done. I got to meet and socialize with other people from AIB that I never knew and also more of the student workers.

It felt really good being able to volunteer and donate my time to help a place that does such good work. All the clothes we sorted through would ultimately go to refugees who need a lot of help. It was also really cool because there was an article written in the paper about our volunteer work and my picture is in the article. My host dad got a copy of it for me to keep so I will forever have memories of this day.

Week 8: Paris and France

This week we went to France! It was so amazing. We woke up at the crack of dawn and got on a bus that drove to Colmar, France where we got lunch and went to an old monastery/art museum. It was interesting but we didn't spend much time here. We got to see a famous altar art piece that had a lot of relevance to medicine. Then we got back on the bus and drove to Beaune. We spent the night here. I shared a room with Kanci, Rachel and Claire. Our room was weirdly in a separate building across the parking lot completely seperate from the rest of the hotel, which was kind of strange.

The next day we drove to Paris. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Paris. I thought it would be overrated. But I absolutely loved it. The first night we went to a creperie for dinner and met our Parisian tour guide Julian who was a super cool and interesting guy. The next day was probably my favorite day. We started the morning with a bike tour of the city. I hadn't ridden a bike in a long time so I was a little nervous but it was so much fun! We got to see so much of the city and it was so nice outside. A couple of us fell and one of our teachers ran into a truck, but beside a few minor scrapes and bruises we were all fine and had lots of fun. Afterwards we went to see Notre Dame and a medical museum. Notre Dame was beautiful and impressive. The medical museum was a little harder because we were all hungry for lunch, but they had a table made entirely out of human body parts which was pretty cool. Afterwards we went to get lunch. The food in Paris was almost always amazing and one of the highlights of the trip.

After lunch we went to the Arc de Triomph and climbed to the top. There were a lot of stairs but the climb was worth the view. The Arc is in the middle of the roundabout so from the top you could see all of the cars driving around the circle. I'm pretty sure there are no rules to driving in Paris except don't hit anyone else. Its actually terrifying. Afterwards we went to a coffee shop by and had some espresso and desserts. I had never had espresso before but now I love it. While the food was good the meal was slightly ruined when we saw a mouse run across the corner of the restaurant. It was like a real like Ratatouille.

That night we met up with the rest of the group at the Eiffel Tower. While the Eiffel Tower is impressive during the day it is so much more amazing when it is lit up at night. I also discovered that every hour on the hour the whole tower sparkles for about 5 minutes. It was probably the prettiest thing I've ever seen. After standing in line for what felt like forever and going through security twice we got to go to the very top of the Tower. I was a little nervous because I'm pretty scared of heights, but I'm glad I went. It was beautiful at the top, but also extremely windy. Luckily the whole top is caged in or you could easily just be blown off. We also saw a proposal while we were at the top which was super sweet.

The next day I got to sleep in and then went with Kenneth and James to get lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Afterwards we found this really good macaroon store and bought one of every flavor to try together. The best flavor was the lemon. Then we went and met the rest of our group at the Louvre. We saw lots of sculptures and the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa was cool but not as impressive as I was expecting and also very small. Afterwards we went to a small  English bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. We also went out to dinner at a French restaurant. We tried escargot which was so good. After dinner we decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower and sat on the grass and watched the lights for a while.

The next day was the last day with the program and we went to visit Versailles. I was super excited for this visit but wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. The palace was beautiful and impressive but it was also too crowded to fully appreciate. In the picture I took of the Hall of mirrors, one of the more famous rooms of the palace, all you can really see is the massive crowd of people and very little of the mirrors. The best part of this day was the picnic lunch we had in the gardens. Our tour guide Julien bought lots of wines and cheese and baguettes and we had a taste testing. My favorite was the Brie with a layer of truffles in the middle.

That afternoon half of the group left for spring break while Claire, Kanci and I stayed for another night in Paris. We went to check into our hostel and then took a night cruise down the Seine River. And then it was time for Spring Break!!

Sunshine Has Magical Powers - Week 10

Bonn, Germany

March 19th - 26th

I've always found the week after Spring Break to be a difficult moment. You realize this marks the half way point in your semester and it's time to kick things into high gear, while also realizing that another year has come and gone. Then you begin to recollect on all of the great memories you've collected during this school year and remind yourself that despite the difficult times ahead, you've had some great times and it'll all be worth it in the end.

Working hard or hardly working...the world my never know

As tradition, the moment you step back into the classroom after a break, each of your professors greets you with, "Hi, hope you're break was nice, here's a test and you have homework due this week." If you're lucky they'll even make more than one homework assignment due in the same week for the same class. Let's just say, I have encountered this unfortunate series of events. Lots of homework and studying later, and I've finished a week full of busy work to come toward two tests. Yay...





A side from the hectic week, the weekend was wonderful. As this weekend marked the Big Event back at A&M, we decided upon participating as well, despite the fact that we are abroad. Our event was known as the International Big Event that AiB has helped us to set up. Different groups went around Bonn and helped the people with different projects. My group got to go to a senior home and help plant a garden. We planted flowers, pulled weeds, dug holes, planted trees, moved rocks, and most importantly, had a fun time doing it. The people of the senior home were very sweet and served us barbeque with pasta salad, sauerkraut, and potato salad for lunch. All day the sun was shining and warming us up. It was a perfect spring day to be outside and soak up the suns rays. What a long winter it has been.

This whole week revolved around enjoying the sun and the beauty that is spring. I finally get to actually experience a real spring and not the three days of nice weather we get in Texas, right before the heat sets in and your sweating constantly. Flowers are starting to bloom everywhere and the cheery blossom trees are incredible. The sun has decided to make an appearance every day this week and there was absolutely no rain. I was able to run several times this week, enjoying the beauty of the nature around me. Astrid took me running in a new place this weekend as well. We went to a forest behind the house and ended up traveling up these really steep hills but once you were at the top, everything leveled out and there was nothing but huge trees and the sounds of nature. No more hustle and bustle of the city below. One of my favorite smells in the world is the smell of trees, usually pine, in a forest. I haven't been able to be immersed in nature like this for a while and it was nice to be able to smell that smell again, and get lost in thought as I ran through the forest with Astrid at my side. Despite the desolate feel we had being in the forest there was civilization around us like the Uniklinik, which is a hospital I will visit next week to shadow an anesthesiologist for a day. Overall this was a good week in terms of weather and the start of spring, but a bad week when it comes to school. Oh well, just have to keep pushing forward and make the best of what comes to me.

Pictures from my many runs

Week 5- MÜNCHEN!!!!

Let me start by saying this was probably one of my favorite trips that I've taken so far. This trip, like Vienna, provoked a sense of nostalgia since I had been there six years prior. To start it off, me, Claire C., Rachel, James, Maggie and Kanci got on our train at the Bonn HBF which took us to Mannheim where we would have a quick changeover to get on another train to Munich. On our tickets we purchased, it said we were supposed to have a 10 minute layover in Mannheim which would have given us plenty of time to find our connecting train.. However... we arrived in Mannheim 13 minutes LATE. I thought for sure our train had left us since I saw everyone else running while I struggled to get off of the train. Thankfully, some kind German's were holding the doors open on the connecting train so we eventually all made it and were able to get to Munich alright (but that didn't take away from how stressful that situation was lol) Once we arrived, we all decided to just hangout and play card games in the hostel which actually turned out to be very.... eventful to say the least.

Me and Maggie in our hostel

The next morning we woke up bright and early to catch the train to Füssen which is where the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwanga Castles are! The last time I was in Munich I was only able to visit Neuschwanstein but this time, I got to see the other one too. They are both beautiful in their own way and they were just as grand and regal as I remember. We got to eat at a restaurant that is on the way up to the castle that my sister and I had eaten at 6 years prior and we actually sat at the exact same table as before (~trippy~). I had some delicious fried chicken and fries. After taking tours of both the castles I really wanted to walk to the special bridge in the mountains that provides a breathtaking view of the Neuschwanstein castle because during my previous visit, it was closed due to snow.... well the same thing happened again. BUT THAT DIDNT STOP US. Me, Rachel and Claire may or may not have slipped passed a no trespassing sign in order to go to this bridge and take some awesome pictures..... if we did, they probably would have looked like this

 

Honestly a once in a lifetime experience and I would have traded it for the world. After our visit at the castles, we made our way back to Munich and Maggie and I decided to go out! We went to a small bar- Shakesphere's Bar- which was right down the street from our hostel and had the time of our lives. We met a few guys from Norway who wanted to play against me and Maggie in darts (big mistake on their part) and WE WON. At one point, the other people in the bar were chanting U-S-A! U-S-A! because they knew we were from America! It was such a great time. We then made our way to a club and danced a little before we went back to the hostel, It was such a great night!! S/O to Maggie for getting us home lol. 

The next and last day, we woke up early again to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was such a humbling experience and it realized the events of the Holocaust for myself and everyone else who went I'm sure. It still sends chills up my spine thinking about the things that took place there. Ironically, while we were there, Vice President Mike Pence was walking visiting the camp as well. Although we didn't see him, we definitely saw his secret service men walking around all in black, keeping an eye on everything. 

Once returning from the Concentration camp, we made our way back to Bonn which brought an end to such a great weekend. Definitely my favorite so far on the trip. I'm so glad I got to share this time with such awesome people because they definitely made the excursion as great as it was. Thanks guys!

Week 4- Cologne to Leverkusen

At the end of week 4, a group of friends and I visited Cologne to explore more of that great city. We started out at the Chocolate museum which was pretty interesting but most importantly, very tasty. I was mostly happy because although it took a whole month, I had finally branched out and made some awesome friends. After buying our chocolate souvenirs, we mapped out a path throughout Cologne so we could visit six of the biggest brewhouses in the city. We decided we were going to try all of the Kölshes we could and I may have gotten carried away....... Thirteen beers later (they were small ok) we ended the night at Gaffel al Dom where there was live music playing and drunk people all around. It was AWESOME. Rachel and I even made friends from London and Transylvania who met up with us there and enjoyed a drink with us as well. We had to end the night a bit early and head back to Bonn because the next day we had the Leverkusen vs. Frankfurt soccer game to attend!

That game was actually really intense (even though we, Leverkusen, won 3-0). Europeans love their fußball. The crowd was rowdy as can be, I thought I was at a fightin' Texas Aggie Football game for a second. There was a time during the game where I felt so bad for the players because they were getting rained on and it was literally freezing outside. My friends and I stayed warm with some warm wine (sounds weird I know) which was actually very good! In the end we had a great time and it felt good to just take a break that weekend from all the work we were doing (mostly 211 lol). Also, sorry for no pictures this week but the one picture we took at the soccer game-- I look hideous. So until next time, stay tuned (:

Week 7: Preparing for Paris

This week was packed with school and packing and not much fun to be honest. We had lots of tests and assignments due before we took a two week break off from school which was super stressful. But the break was worth it! To prepare for the break and the warmer weather (its almost always above 50 degrees now!!) Kanci, James and I went shopping on Saturday. We bought some summer clothes and each got a cute new pair of shoes. We also found a super good gelato place near the markt area that we now frequent.

I also spent a lot of the weekend trying to clean my room and pack. Trying to fit two weeks worth of clothes into a small suitcase is truly a feat of engineering. I was so impressed that I was able to zip it completely closed. I just couldn't let myself buy anything too big during those two weeks because I had absolutely no where to put it. I'm glad we got to spend the weekend in Bonn and just relax after the stressful week of school. But I was also so excited to finally go to Paris and see my best friend who came to visit me for spring break.

Week 3- Vienna, We Meet Again

After six years, me and one of the greatest cities in Europe have been reunited. Im talking about Vienna. What can I say other than the fact that I had the time of my life here. After landing in the airport and checking into our hotel, we were taken on a city tour by "Dr. Schnaubel" which was a real treat. Although my toes were nearly frostbit by the end of the tour, I enjoyed seeing the city. Not much has changed since 2011! It is so clean there and beautiful (especially with all the snow). One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting "Fool's Tower" and learning about the history of the world's oldest mental asylum. I did however nearly pass out during the tour after looking at a jar containing tuberculosis infected lungs.. (I blame it on the poor air circulation though lol). Once the tour was finished, our entire group went outside and had a massive snowball fight- BMEN vs. BIMS- which was AWESOME. I felt like a kid again and enjoyed every minute of it. It was the perfect ice breaker to make everyone start talking to each other. Later that day, we were allowed free-time in which some friends and I went to Schönbrunn Palace to check out the zoo and the Palace itself! I was so excited because the last time I was in Vienna I didn't get to see the zoo which was the first zoo in the world created by the Palace's inhabitor, Maria Theresa. Here is a picture of my friends and I on the Palace grounds:

Before I continue, let me just say, the Schönbrunn Tiergarten (Zoo) is PROBABLY THE BEST ZOO IN THE WORLD. It was massive and had every animal you could possibly imagine- even newborn twin pandas! Also, they had a giant indoor rainforest that was probably 80 degrees on the inside while the outside was covered in a blanket of snow... totally cool. We then went to check out the Palace which I had already seen in the past but it was still breathtaking even 6 years later. I still can't believe that a single family lived in a house like that (NOT FAIR). 

The next day we visited the Sigmund Freud house which was very interesting and taught me a lot about his studies on psychoanalysis. Another highlight of the trip was the concert we went to. It was a classical string quartet which played arrangements by Bach and Mozart inside a beautiful church which was small enough to resonate the sound of the instruments but big enough to hold a hefty audience. It made me miss playing the violin back at home and performing concerts in high school. 

By the end of the week we also visited the Spanish Horse Riding School which was a real treat and then ended by going to the Natural History Museum in Vienna. That was probably one of the best museums I've ever been to. So much history and so much information (I love history). In the end I had a great week and loved every second in Vienna (literally every second i want to go back).