Week 13: Germany

Week 13: Germany

April 15^th, 2018

This week might just be the peak of my existence. We had our Enmodes final presentations which all went flawlessly, my birthday which could not have been spent with better people, and the Bonn marathon in which I could not have felt more accomplished. But, I will start at the beginning.

To begin with the week, the public transportation workers had yet another strike. This time, I was not able to take a taxi so I had to bike to and from class. I honestly enjoyed biking SO much even though it was a bit far (3 miles each way) and luckily the weather was perfect for it. I actually still need to return the bike so maybe I will do that tomorrow or the day after. I do not want Nick to get mad at me J

On Wednesday, I had to sign up for classes online at like 2am because of the time difference. The best thing about signing up for classes is that me, Katie and Austin have the same morning classes each day, and decided we will go to class together since we will be roommates. Every time I think about how we will be living together, I get so excited!! I also found out I will be graduating ON TIME. May 2019, here I come!! This means I can go back to Germany even sooner and I am so happy that everything worked out.

Team Rafael

The rest of the week was filled primarily with Enmodes. We practiced our presentations over ten times to make sure everything was perfect for the company. We stayed late at the AIB and enjoyed pizza and then some yummy Ethiopian food, which I had never tried before. It made me feel super cultured. I also enjoyed staying late with my teammate, because I was able to spend a lot of time with people in the program that I was not used to talking with so much. It was really a nice bonding moment for all of us, supporting each other through each run through and throwing pencils at anyone who would say “sorry” or “shit” during their practice.

Once Friday came around, we all dressed up and met at the Hofgarden in the morning to make our way over to Aachen to give the presentation. My group, Team Rafael, did the best we have ever done and we were all so content with our performance. Everyone else did well too and we all looked very snazzy so many pictures were taken. We enjoyed champagne and a delicious lunch of grilled salmon and potatoes afterwards.

Birthday with pink crown!!

After the lunch, we went to the University of Aachen and toured around the biomedical engineering labs. It was cool to see the artificial heart valves, but at that point I was rather tired and wanted to take a nap.

Since Friday was also my 21^st birthday, I had to go out, naturally. All my closest friends from the program and I celebrated my birthday (and the end of Enmodes) at Tacos bar and then we later went to the club. It was so nice that everyone came out for me, and I felt extremely special especially because I was wearing a dazzling pink crown that Kate got for me. Katie and Kate were the best that night and bought me McDonalds after our many hours of dancing.

The next day was the charity event, and then me, Kate, Katie, Artavia, and Claudia went to Cologne. There, we spoke to a tattoo artist because we all wanted to get inked up together, but we did not like her so much and we left the place deciding not to get one (probably for the best). After, we got pasta for dinner since we were running in the marathon the next day and needed a good carb load.

Looking cute after 10K

That brings us to today, the day of the marathon. I ran 10 kilometers in my relay team that I was on with Deanna, Darby, and Camilla, and we killed it!! I have never felt so accomplished with myself physically, than during that run. My legs were hurting so badly when I would stop to walk, that I ran basically the whole thing and I really impressed myself with that. Now I feel inspired to continue running, but like I said, who knows how long I can keep it up. Next time I am in Bonn for marathon season, I would like to try the half.!

Host family and I at dinner

To end the perfect week, my host family took me out for a late birthday dinner. We went to a Peruvian restaurant that my youngest host sister Sonja works at. I love spending time with the three of them and I could not be happier about how close we have gotten. We talked for a long long time at dinner and shared a delicious molten chocolate cake for dessert, then drove Ingrid, the older sister back to her apartment in Siegburg.

Reflecting on this week, I think it was amazing. The weather was perfect, I spent the whole week in my favorite city, and I spent it with people that I really care about. This coming week will be great as well, as I have quite a lot planned like visiting the cherry blossoms and going to Berlin.

But for now, I must do other homework, like the physiology labs that are due tomorrow.

Thanks again for reading and Bis Spater!