Ready, Set, Go!

Study abroad week 1...

The course of the hero's journey started right on cue with some threshold guardians, AKA Ryanair employees who closed the gate 6 minutes before I arrived. Granted, they were just doing their jobs and I respect that - but when there's 7 people at the gate and the plane is still on the ground, it wouldn't reeeeally hurt to reopen them, right? Well, they didn't quite see it that way. The reason there were so many of us was because the metro/train on the way to the airport stopped on the tracks for a good while, and then the walk from security to the terminal is literally (I hate this word, but in this case it is necessary) over a mile long. So after running that stretch with a stuffed backpack and duffel, I arrived to a CRAZY scene: one girl crying hysterically at the gate with a few employees and two other airline employees SCREAMING at each other while a couple of police watched. It was one of the craziest things I have seen in my life; the lack of professionalism and cool-headed-ness between the two airline workers was just insane. Of course everyone was speaking Greek so I had no clue what was going on, but it was pretty obvious to me that I wasn't getting on that plane. Then the rest of the people who were on the train with me show up and start asking to get on, and of course the answer is no. So, for the first time in my life, I missed a plane. I even have a picture of it on the ground, 100 feet from where I stood. Yes, Mom, I have purposely avoided telling you this.

So then the pack of us start searching for another flight, and I end up on the same one as the girl who was crying when I showed up to the first gate. She was having a particularly difficult time because she didn't speak Greek, and barely spoke English or German. She did speak Spanish, however, and so I became her translator in the airport for the next few hours. We talked about each other and our situations that brought us to Germany, etc. We worried together about the connecting flight we booked from Rome to Frankfurt - but made a pact to get there together! So then boarding for Rome begins and her group is called first. When my group is called a few minutes later, she's standing at the gate holding a conversation with the flight attendant, half in Spanish and half in Italian. Clearly confused, she asks me to translate what the problem was... someone else booked her flight for her, and so the airline wasn't letting her get on yet another plane. I did my best to help her, but those airlines man, they aren't playing around. So as the gates are closing, I slip onto my flight and leave her in Athens. Moral of the story here, if you're having a bad day, just remember that there's (probably) someone somewhere who missed two flights today.

Eventually I arrived in Bonn, stepping of the train at 7:44 PM. I have class at 7:45 PM. No, I am not joking. But with the help of some really awesome AIB staff, and even after a crazy day of running miles in several airports, I get to go to genetics. The whole week kinda moved at the same pace. Classes haven't really gotten into full swing but it felt like we were moving nonstop from Monday until Friday night. With a few excursions and housekeeping items on the schedule, we were busy everyday. Everything has been a blast, and I especially loved getting an excused absence to go to a winery! Though that does mean that I am already behind in genetics - oops. I will have to use this week to catch up and get ahead... but since the CS campus is closed tomorrow I should have no problem getting up to speed.

Academically, I am still so beyond excited for the Enmodes project. It really feels like this has brought my entire college career full circle. I was pleasantly surprised to hear we would be focusing on ECMO treatments, as ECMO was very involved in the experiences that led me to decide to pursue medicine. Then with my engineering experience, (fun fact: applied for BMEN when applying to TAMU bc I thought I wanted to design prosthetics) it especially feels like all that I have done in college has led me to this project. Who knows, maybe I'll end up taking during my gap year(s?!) between undergrad and medical school. With the project, all my BIMS classes will finally come together in my final semester to do something that will actually make a real difference in the field. That just really gives me a sense of fulfillment, knowing that I have a bigger purpose than attending classes and taking care of just myself.

Culturally, there are a few differences that I will have to get used to. Shorter showers, hang drying clothing, everyone's innate bluntness (this one's my favorite). My host mom, Regina, has been great & she makes delicious food! Since I have been to Germany before, I have yet to feel that I have experienced the "unknowns" in the hero's journey. Instead, it feels more "unfamiliar" - but not even like I am in a different country sometimes. The only thing that really does make it feel like that is that I can't go home to Krys and Rizzo every day. Slowly but surely, this place is becoming a second home. The people are wonderful, the city is superb, and it's only just the beginning.