Monday I groggily woke up and fought the urge to snooze my alarm for a third time. My feet hit the cold floor and my day began. I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs for my routine breakfast of fruit and coffee. After slipping on my shoes, I grabbed my key and headed out the door for a full day of classes. I knew this week would be slow and tiresome as everyone would be looking forward to exploring Vienna. The first class I had that day was BMEN 211, the dreaded circuits and systems for biomedical engineers. I had been warned about this class since my first day of engineering freshman year. The class further delves into the dreaded topic of PHYS 208. I already anticipate struggling in this class because I was challenged by many of the concepts in Physics. Next, I had one of my favorite classes, German. I really enjoy this class because I can pick up on words that I overheard in conversations, and I can start incorporating new phrases into my daily language. Also, our teacher Hilde, keeps the class engaging with her charismatic persona. My third class of the day was BMEN 253. This class focuses primarily on the process of device design and its application through our Enmodes project. Although the FDA regulations are a bit tedious to learn, I know they will be important later on in my career. Also, the innovative nature of the Enmodes project gives the class some excitement and challenge. Once classes were finally over, Madeline and I headed to Bonn Hauptbahnhof to board our tram ride home. After a brisk walk past Kamps, we arrived home. We removed our shoes from our pinched shoes, grabbed a spoonful of chocoduo and headed upstairs to start homework. At 19:00, our host grandmother rang the bell which signaled dinner was ready. Madeline and I scurried down the spiral wooden staircase, being tentative to our footsteps so as not to slide the rest of the way down. Most of our dinners consist of traditional German food. Typically potatoes in some often served with other vegetables, a protein source, and on occasion cheese. After we finished the course and divulged in some homemade whole-grain,plumb cheesecake, Madeline and I climbed back up the stairs to finish homework and prepare for the next day.
Tuesday, Madeline and I were able to sleep in since we did not have any scheduled morning classes. After indulging in a breakfast of fruit, peanut butter toast and many laughs, we began our walk to the tram. We had our "beloved" BMEN 211 course again which I seem to always leave more confused than anything. Then after a brief break to refill our coffee mugs, we sat down for the VTPP 435 lecture. This class has become one of my favorites. I can honestly say that I enjoy learning about the human body, specifically the heart which we have focused on lately. Dr. Wasser provides intellectual and engaging lectures which I have come to greatly enjoy. We had a final break before beginning our online class, MATH 308. Growing up, I always enjoyed math and have become very talented in it. However, I am frustrated by the structure of this particular course. The first day, the professor gave us a list of quotes that seemed to have little to do with differential equations. He also has the problems and solutions typed on a power point so he has yet to actually work through an example with us. I hope the style of this class improves, I am just very grateful we have a tutor. After a long evening at the AIB, Madeline, Joseph, Jack and I decided to get something to eat. We decided to try a restaurant recommended by our host sister, Nia.
Wednesday, was the third day of me wearing my new black boots. I had thought wearing last weekend in cologne had broken them in since I walked around 25 miles in three days. Well, I was wrong. My feet did not have any time to recover from the weekend so continuing to wear them only made the problem worse. Although they had been stretched in width, the back of the shoe started to dig into my heel. So now in addition to sore feet, which I did not think was possible since there is not much muscle there, I also have two bruises on the back of either ankle :). I have since switched back to my less fashionable but more comfortable boots to allow my feet to repair before the Vienna excursion. Wednesday followed a similar schedule to Monday and Tuesday. However, we had a "Hereo's Journey" lecture. Since the newness of Bonn is beginning to fade, I had momentarily forgotten about the amazing adventure that this experience is. Dr. Wasser's lecture re-instilled hope, excitement and the urge to explore.
Thursday consisted of a mini excursion in the morning followed by a full afternoon of classes. The morning excursion was the House of History in Bonn, which Madeline and I were surprisingly on time to. At the museum we learned about post world war II Germany, a part of history that has been neglected in most textbooks. I was most interested to find out that women in this time period, occupied themselves by cleaning and stacking bricks from the city ruins. Oftentimes you hear of how cities were devestated after bombings. However, it is rarely discussed how the city unifies to rebuild itself. In this case, it was the women who came together to repair the ruins. I was also a bit pleased to find out the Germans also had a "peace and love" period much like the United States did during the 70's. The parallels in behavior between Germany and the US at this time is somehow comforting. After the excursions, Madeline, Katie and I stopped at a Falafel store front to purchase a wrap. We finished our afternoon classes then headed home for the day. However, today also was Emily's birthday. We decided to celebrate in a "Mexican" bar called Saucalitos. Needless to say the European definition of Mexican greatly differs from the actual definition but it was fun nonetheless. However, the tram stops running at midnight. So, this only increased sore feet issue since it was a 1.7 mile walk home :).
Friday was really cool because we were organized into our preliminary Enmodes groups. Taking a step further into the project has me really excited and a bit nervous about our task. However, one of the arts professors showed us an extremely useful brain mapping technique that I think will really help with grasping the concept of this project and projects in the future. After this meeting and the rest of our classes, Madeline and I eagerly headed home in need of a long nap. Last week I had mentioned to my host family that I had not seen the Harry Potter movies nor read the books. On the verge of kicking me out, they insisted that we watch the entirety of the movies during my stay here. I was excited to spend more time with them outside of mealtimes. After the movie, Madeline and I met up with some friends to further explore the night life of Bonn. We ended up at a night club by the name of Untergrund where we danced to 90s american pop and techno music. After a few hours, Madeline and I braced ourselves for the painful walk home.
Saturday was probably the laziest day I have had since arriving. After breakfast Madeline and I watched netflix, ate choco duo, listened to music and hung out with our host family. We watched the second Harry Potter movie then turned in early for the night.
Sunday we slept in. We enjoyed our ritual Sunday brunch with the family that consisted of bread with various toppings ranging from jam to humus and veggies. Sunday brunch with my family was one of my favorite things at home. With each of us having our own busy schedules, spending Sunday together was always a treat. I was really happy when my host mom, Astrid, told me they do the same thing here. It makes me feel a bit more at home. After breakfast, Madeline and I procrastinated by doing yoga, working out, and hiking the seven mountains with Jamie and Astrid. Germans are impressively active people. From the time they get out of bed to when the go to sleep they are constantly on their feet. I feel like this is a much healthier lifestyle and I really enjoy it. Finally we ate dinner and slowly headed up the stairs to begin studying and preparing for the exciting week ahead.
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