The week after Ireland was pretty rough, in that we had a BMEN 211 test that following Wednesday. The test actually turned out to be pretty manageable, as Romi gave us a very similar template to study from before the test. Despite doing well on the test, the thing I hate the most about this class is I never know why we are doing what we are doing. If you have been keeping up with my previous blogs, I´m sure you can tell that I cannot wait for this class to be finished. Anyways, its finally beginning to feel like Spring in Bonn! I remember the first couple of months here were slightly depressing weather wise as it was cloudy/cold/rainy almost 24/7, so having solid sunshine for multiple days at a time has been quite a nice surprise. Need I also mention that the flowers and the leaves on the tree are starting to bloom, so dead old Bonn is really starting to come alive! After school on Friday, Shannon, Brynn, and I went on a nice long hike in "Siebengebirge", where we hiked up to the ruins of two castles. This is the same area that I hiked during Karneval, but a different path. At the top of the hill, the views of the Rhein River and Bonn off in the distance are gorgeous. The weekend after Ireland, I was planning on possibly going to Nuremburg or Luxembourg, but plans kind of fell through, so I ended up staying in Bonn. It turned out to be a very relaxing weekend- it is always fun getting to hang out with my host family and practice my German with them. My one regret from this trip is I have not gotten as close to my host brothers as I hoped I would have, but it has been hard as I usually have to go upstairs and do my homework when I get home from school. However, I still enjoy talking with them and my host parents every time we are together. I have probably gotten the closest to my guest sister Mindel, as we both don´t speak German fluently, so we can have long conservations without either of us getting lost.
On Saturday, Corey and I decided to do our weekly (hahaha who am I kidding, bimonthly) "training" for the half marathon. We ended up running 14 miles along the Rhein River, which was pretty amazing considering how little we have run this semester, but I was definitely sore the next day. I wish I had more time to run over here, but with all my traveling and school til 6 or later every evening, I don´t usually have time before it gets dark. On Sunday, I slept in (which was nice because I have been exhausted lately) and then went to the Rheingauer Park with Madeline, Lauren, and Emily. We ended up renting paddle boats and paddling around the pond in the middle of the park, and then playing volleyball with some local German guys. My hands were absolutely killing me by the end, cause we used a soccer ball that we had found in the pond for the volleyball, but it was really fun nonetheless. After hanging in the park, Madeline and Lauren invited me over to their host family´s barbeque. At the barbeque, I met their host family, along with their two neighbors, who are surprisingly both Americans.
The following week was the week before our Enmodes presentation in Aachen. We had classes on Monday and Tuesday, and then came in all day Wednesday and Thursday to finalize our PowerPoint presentations. On both Wednesday and Thursday, we stayed at school for 13 and 16 hours respectively which was crazy long, but not all of that time was spent working on our project. I probably played a hundred games of Pingpong this week. I´m not sure what kind of Heros´ Journey I´ve experienced here, but I sure know that Vijay, Harrison, Corey and I have all become ping pong gods in the time that we´ve been in Germany. On Thursday, Dr. Wasser made us present our powerpoints over and over again until they were perfect, so my group ended up staying at the AIB until 1 in the morning to finish. However, the AIB ordered Ethopian food for our dinner, and it was absolutely delicious. I probably shouldn´t have had two plates, cause I could barely walk, but it was one of my favorite meals that I´ve had in Bonn nonetheless.
On Friday, we all headed to Aachen to present our projects to Enmodes. I was a little bit nervous beforehand, but presenting was not near as intimidating as I thought it would be, as the engineers seemed quite impressed with our work. After our presentations, we took a tour of the Aachen cardiovascular engineering institute, which completely renewed my interest in possibly pursuing a career as an actual biomedical engineer, instead of as a doctor. On the tour, they showed us various types of artificial heart valves and hearts, along with lung support devices. I think this tour was the icing on the cake after my cardiology unit in physiology and witnessing the open heart surgery, but I have decided that I definitely want to pursue cardiology. That night, we all went out to celebrate the end of our Enmodes projects, and Nicky´s big 21st birthday.
My second weekend staying in Bonn was jam packed with activities. On Saturday, I participated in a community service event organized by the AIB, where Corey, Vijay, Lexie, and I volunteered in a retirement home. Corey and I ended up wearing some pretty sexy plastic full body protective gear while we power-washed the patio. After I finished my job, I went inside and played a little piano for the retirement home residents. I am horrified by how rusty I´ve gotten on the piano, but it was still fun getting to play bits and pieces of songs for the residents. It definitely inspired me to pick it back up this summer. After the volunteer work, we went out to an awesome Biergarten on the Rhein River with some of the German AIB student workers. I met some pretty awesome guys who I had not met before, as they don´t work in the same building that I go to school in, but I hope I will be able to keep in touch with them! I also found my favorite beer thus far in German- the Kristal hefeweißen.
On Sunday, Corey and I woke up early for the Bonn half-marathon. After arriving at the AIB to grab our shirts and timers, we walked to the start line and were off and running within a half hour. Although it was quite tiring (obviously), the course was beautiful, running along the Rhein river and through the Rheingauer Freizeit park. During the race, I ran past two guys running in beer costumes (yes, they ran 13 miles dressed up as a beer bottle) and a stand where they were giving out alcoholic beer and bratwurst. I have to say that there is nothing more German than that... After finishing the race, I cramped up really badly, as I went from sprinting through the finish line to barely moving through the crowds at the finish line. However, I slowly regained my strength in the after-party section, where I drank the German electrolyte of choice, alcoholic free beer. I ended up running the half marathon in an hour and 41 minutes- I could have definitely gone way faster, but it wasn´t terrible considering I had barely run over the past 3 months. Anyways, I can finally officially say I´ve done a half marathon, and what better place to start than in Bonn, Germany!
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