Enmodes & Hiking: what could go wrong??

Two of the CRAZIEST things of the entire semester happened this week. Enmodes & Easter weekend. The week started off with two full days of preparation for the presentation and then traveling to Aachen on thursday to give the presentations. The days of preparation were rough. They both ended up being late nights and I don’t do well with little sleep. Somehow I survived and throughout the process I was stretched in a lot of different ways. Throughout the process I found myself complaining a lot, but slowly I started to realize that this project was very good for me. Throughout my college career as a BIMS student I have had very few group projects. Working with other towards a common goal is extremely beneficial. I also got to learn a lot about the field of medical devices and see just how much research and trail and error has to go into these products. I am glad I had such a turn around with this project, it really opened my eyes to the importance of giving things a try, even if you don’t think you will like them at first.

After the presentation on Thursday, Madyson, Joshua, and I caught an overnight Flixbus to Basel, Switzerland to start our four day hike through the Black Forest. I could not have been more excited for this trip. Madyson and I had practically spent an entire day ironing out the details of this trip. 

Once we got there the next morning we started walking. At first we were in high spirits, the little bit that I was able to see of Switzerland was very beautiful. I could not have been happier, hiking is probably one of my favorite hobbies and I was so excited to be able to share it with some of my closest friends on the program! However, there might have been some slight error in our planning and we soon realized that this first day of hiking was going to be longer than anticipated. At the end of the day we had walked a total of 26 miles. As we walked the last little bit to our hotel in Kleines Wiesental I remember my feet feeling like they were about to fall off. But we had made it!!! And we treated ourselves to a great dinner. 

The next morning we heading to the next city of Totdnauberg, this next day would not be as long, and I was able to survive for the majority of the day until the very end. This might have been one of my favorite days because of the beautiful views. At the very end of the hike I saw a huge waterfall and I literally started tearing up. It was the perfect way to end the day, it made all the blisters and sore feet absolutely worth it. On Sunday we hung out around Totdnau which was down the mountain and rode a roller coaster!! We waited for a while in line but it was so worth it. That afternoon Joshua and I wanted to hike the highest peak in the Black Forest called Feldberg. My feet were really sore at this point, but I knew that if I left without getting to the top I would regret it. So with Joshua’s continued encouragement/tough love we hike the snow covered mountain. It was quite the challenge, but I was so excited that I was able to make it to the top. A true success….

On Monday we slept in a while and finished the last bit of our hike to Frieburg. By this point I had gotten into the rhythm of hiking and was having a blast. It wasn’t until the very end that I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it to the train station, but I am proud to say I decided not to hope on the city bus at that point. 

Sadly our overnight Flix bus back to Bonn was very delayed, but we passed the time by talking to some of the other people waiting for the bus. I met a nice lady from Cuba that was living in Essen, it was so cool to get to talk to her in Spanish. Thankfully those few hours didn’t feel too bad. 

This trip turned out to be quite the success. I saw this trip as a little mini training session for when I walk the Camino de Santiago across Spain at some point during my lifetime. That hike is about 500 miles and takes a month, ours was only about 80 in 4 days, but after accomplishing that I think that I would be more than capable of walking the Camino! 

self timer pic from day 1: we had NO idea what was coming