Wiener

After a regular day of classes Monday we began our exciting trip to Wein (Vienna) very early Tuesday morning. Almost too early I would say, as I overslept my alarms and had to get my host Mom to take me by car to the tram stop (Sorry Bibiana). But in the end our trip began with a long train ride. After getting settled in the hotel we started by visiting St. Micheals Church, or more specifically the crypt where we saw a bunch of dead people, quite the unique introduction to the city. Afterwards however we headed to the Goulash Museum which showed us the exquisite taste of a good goulash. P.S how am I expected to go back to regular American food after I’ve been shown the light, I believe it’s impossible. After a long rest we woke the next day to a tour of Wien medical history by doctor Schnabel, a ridiculously old plague doctor who made us drink young boy pee to protect us from the Black Plague I’m not sure if it really was pee, I don’t particularly want to know. After Kaffee und Kuchen at Café Demel (minus the coffee) we relaxed back at the hotel (sadly that means hw time). To end the day we went ice skating in front of the City hall, and I must say for being a Texan and being only my second time skating, I’m happy I only fell on my face once :) That is by far the biggest ice rink/ice course I’ve ever seen, I would never of imagined a second floor to an ice rink. The day after our night of skating we began by visiting the Narrenturm which used to be an insane asylum, but now holds a huge collection of anatomy pieces. Many of the pieces were disgusting in there realism, and as a BMEN student they were fascinating to see. After a brief look into Sigmund Freud’s house we finished our day with a classical music concert in the Beautiful St. Anna’s church and the best Wiener Schnitzel I’ve ever had. And unfortunately our time was quickly coming to an end, on Friday morning we visited the natural history museum and then wandered through town before catching our train to Prague, but I’ll save that for its own post, Wien was a great trip and filled with fun times with friends. I would love to go back again sometime and see more of the city and learn more about the great Austria-Hungarian Empire, and also eat more delicious food, let’s be honest food is the priority in all cases :)

Week 6: Sweden & Norway

Week 6

Last weekend we had an Airbnb in Narvik, Norway. It was one of the best Airbnb's I have ever stayed in. It comfortably fit all six of us, it included a small kitchen, and the view was incredible. What more could you need? 

view from our Airbnb

The first night, we drove to the Aurora Sky Station in Abisko, Sweden (about an hour from our Airbnb) in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights. We got there around 10 pm, which was right around the time that the lights became visible. We stayed there for a few hours while the lights continually got brighter and brighter. They really do dance in the night sky. 

Northern Lights from Aurora Sky Station

For breakfast we cooked bacon, eggs, potatoes, and banana-Nutella french toast. It was so yummy!!! Thank you Kevin for being our head chef for the weekend. Kevin was in charge of the cooking, but the rest of our group did our best to help out with preparation and cleaning.

we (mostly Kevin) cooked breakfast ☺ 

Last weekend I got the chance to go skiing for my first time. It was so fun, and for sure one of my favorite parts of this trip. I love the outdoors, being active, and challenging myself to try new things, and skiing is the perfect combination of all of these things. 

my first time skiing - Narvikfjellet Ski Resort

me & Kevin swinging on the mountain 

after a long day of skiing

Pictured below is us with the Mercedes van we rented for the weekend. A van is a must-have for getting around Norway/Sweden because everything is so spread out. We had the best time riding around in the van and Ashley was a very safe driver (even in the blizzard). Thank you Ashley for driving all weekend!!!

our van for the weekend

I say this in every blog, but this really was my favorite weekend trip so far. It's going to be a hard one to beat. The best part was getting closer to the five other people on the trip. I'm thankful for getting to have these awesome experiences with great friends.

Thanks for treating us so well, Sweden ~

I ♥ Sweden

photo creds: Kevin & Cody

Week 6: Sweet Times in Sweden

This past week has been the best week of my trip so far! We only had school three days this week which was very stress relieving, Karneval started this week with us getting to march in one of the parades which was a great experience, and the best part going to Sweden and Norway! Karneval was awesome, after we finished in the parade with AiB I put on my costume and joined the party. It made up pretty well for missing Mardi Gras this year back home, and it was really funny to see how everyone was dressed up like it was Halloween. It was also quite the trip getting back from Köln but luckily we all made it back safe and sound. It took a lot more traveling than I thought it would to get to our destination in Norway but it was completely worth the three planes, all-night train, and the two hour van ride. The air BnB we stayed at was perfect with a view to match and being able to drive less than an hour away to Sweden and see the Northern Lights definitely makes it on my top ten experiences of all time. The trip overall was the best vacation I've ever been on and those are definitely memories I will cherish for life. I got to see snow for the first time, build a snowman, have a snowball fight, and we cooked all of our own meals in our nice little cabin, so nothing but good times on that trip. I am a little glad to be back in some somewhat warmer weather though even though it still isn't as nice and warm as back home it's still warmer than the arctic circle. Hopefully the next few weeks will be filled with just as much fun and excitement!

#Gentletrain

Week 5: Rest and Relaxation

This is the first week I've taken off from traveling since we arrived here in Europe but it was still a fun week filled with activities and it was nice to just relax for the weekend instead of traveling and then crunching homework at the last minute. We got to shadow surgeries this week and talk with the doctors about all the different types of work they do on a daily basis. It was a great opportunity to see what I may be doing in the field in a few years and learn about how medical practice differs across the world. I also found it really cool to watch a procedure up close to learn about all the work that goes into even the tiniest procedures. Then having an extra day off really helped me catch up on my homework since the week before all I did was travel and have fun. Even though my weekend was filled with homework assignments it was very peaceful to stay in town and just take it easy. It's also fun getting to spend time with friends at the local bars. With that I'm super excited for Karneval this week and can't wait to write about that and my upcoming trip to Sweden!

Week 6 in Europe

Hallo!

We’ve been in Germany for over a month now. This past week was my favorite week so far. On Sunday Feb 16^th, I went to a Karneval parade with my host sister Laura and I had such an amazing time. My host mom helped me dress up like a 20’s era flapper. My host sister and all of her friends are so welcoming and patient with my bad German. They love asking me questions about the US and I love spending time with all of them. It was a priority of mine to make sure to spend time with Germans my age to really immerse myself in the culture, and I really love all my time with them. I feel like an actual German sometimes. During the week we caught up on schoolwork, and on Thursday we were in the Beuel Parade with AIB. It was such an incredible cultural experience, and I learned how hard it is to not eat the candy you are supposed to throw out. After the parade, some of us stayed after, drank some Kolsh and went to the street party. Then we left for our trip to Sweden, and boy was it a long trip and expensive. There was a blizzard, travel issues, extra unforeseen costs, but none of it matters because we saw the Northern lights and it was the most amazing experience of my life. We went skiing In Narvik, Norway and I am still feeling the soreness from keeping myself upright with the wind. Sweden and Norway have been my favorite trip so far. After about 30 hours of traveling straight, we went straight for Karneval in Cologne for Rose Monday, and it was so fun! This week was busy, hectic, and exhausting, but I am so happy and wouldn’t change a thing. Now off to studying for a change for my first physiology exam, then Berlin and my host sister’s 18^th birthday this weekend. Bis bald!

Semana Seis

So this past weekend was carnival...that is basically all that needs to be said but i shall explain more. I stayed in Bonn thursday and went to Cologne Saturday and Monday. I must say carnival in Cologne vs carnival in Bonn is a different beast *roar*.

Being apart of the parade in Bonn was definitely a good time. I enjoyed seeing the smiles on children’s faces when i threw candy at them. No one cared if a snickers bar was hurling straight at their forehead. It was smiles and laughs and drinks all day

Cologne was different than Bonn because there were parties in the streets everywhere you went. Most people were super friendly and fun. With the exception of a few people who were just looking for confrontation.

I must say that learning German is easiest from the locals. Carnival was a whole other world. Truly an unforgettable experience unlike anything including marci gra. The only downside was waking up the next morning for 8:45am German 😅.

This coming weekend I go to Switzerland so that’s going to be a blast!

Yeet Yolo #americandream

Bonn Week 5

Karneval pt.1  and Brussels, baby!
This week was really exciting after all the buildup about Karneval this semester. Being in the parade was super fun, and I had CRAZY baby fever looking at all of the little kids dressed up, which honestly freaked me out a little bit. After the parade, we hung out with some of the people in the other AIB programs, and they were pretty fun. It was cool meeting new people, and they had developed some of the same inside jokes as us, especially involving catching pigeons, not that it's a particularly original thing. Going out that night was pretty crazy. Germans really know how to party! Some dude dressed as a basketball player offered me coke (which I politely declined) and another random guy handcuffed me and Bri together in an attempt to get us to kiss him (which I also politely declined).
I went to Brussels with Bri and Dany over the weekend for a lil girls trip and it was GREAT for bonding. Against all common sense, we went to a Starbucks that had crazy weird architecture and took up way more space than necessary, but it was actually pretty good. They also had a Uniqlo store, so we went and I picked up some more thermal clothes and a fanny pack and I can't believe I waited that long because it's so much better than carrying everything around in my pockets. We found an amazing brunch restaurant and went to Grand Place, as well as taking a chocolate tour that was really interesting and led us to a restaurant in an area we never would have explored to get mussels for lunch and found an amazing honey beer. Overall, Brussels probably felt the most like a city in the US, but I still really liked being there with Bri and Dany, and Gesine loved the chocolates that I got her! Stay tuned for more Karneval content in my next post.

Week 6 (and Week 5)

Week 5
This week I got to see three surgeries!! I was totally overthinking everything the night before, but once I got there everything went pretty well. The whole week was just studying and relaxing in general. I didn't go out this weekend, but Saturday evening my host parents invited a couple over, and they spoke English very well, so I had an enjoyable time.


Week 6
This week was nice. Tuesday evening my host mom had her friend over, and she too spoke English so I had a lot of fun talking with them. Wednesday was our meeting with Enmodes, which I was a bit nervous about at first, but I am glad I know what I'm working on now and am more motivated. Thursday and Sunday I did something for Karneval, so that was really nice too. I did have to do homework in my spare time, but hopefully next week won't be so exhausting with the long days at school.

Week 5

This week we traveled to Vienna and Budapest. We arrived at the train station and departed for Vienna. It took roughly ten hours. After arriving, we went to the hotel and settled down. As we got to Vienna in the afternoon, we took a small tour of the crips of the famous churches and went to dinner. Throughout the remaining four days, we attended another city, museums, and church tours. Additionally, we got to see the Sigmund Freud house that encompassed his some of his works. This excursion ended on Friday and a small group of us traveled to Budapest. We took a three-hour bus there and arrived in the evening. During this trip, we went to a historic bathhouse, toured the city, and sailed on a river cruise. These adventures we very educational and cultural which broadened my perspective on European countries and their innovations.

Week 5 in Bonn

Monday ~

We came home from Prague on this day (*one day late*) because of the storms. Prague was amazing! I'm definitely going back one day. My favorite thing in Prague was going to the top of the Petrin Tower and then eating REALLY good Mexican food after trekking many miles

Tuesday ~

Genetics test day/study day 

Wednesday ~

Surgery day

Thursday ~

Bonding with Bossa

Friday ~

Valentine’s dinner 

Weekend vibes ~

Tacos Bonn!

Mila the Pug (pugs are my favorite)

Shannon got into Vet school (GO SHANNON)!

And she got locked in the bathroom (Oh Shannon...)

Other fun things ~

My host dad is learning to play guitar, so I've been practicing with him 

I'm going to Sweden this weekend! Hopefully I'll be checking 'see the Northern Lights' off my bucket list very soon

The weather was awesome this past weekend, so I went to the forest near my home in Bonn (aka my favorite place in Bonn)

Week 5

*Most of this blog post was written on February 12th and 13th

This past week, I continued to travel in Vienna and finally made it back to Bonn despite a profusion of storms cancelling most travel to northern Germany. On Thursday, the class toured the fool's tower, a museum made up of strange medical cases involving a variety of deformities to skin and bone structure. Many of the displays were unpleasant to view, but I managed to make it through the entirety of the tour without collapsing so I feel more confident in my ability to one day become a doctor. On Friday, we toured the Natural History Museum, and Dr. Wasser and a museum worker gave great explanations of the different animals and rock formations showcased to the public. I spent the rest of Friday studying and eating until a group of students and I took a bus to Budapest.
The bus dropped us off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I was mildly afraid of the area as we walked through a long, vandalized tunnel until I saw two young men shouting and banging their heads against the tunnel wall; I was then very afraid. Thankfully, we found a subway and quickly scurried inside. After arriving to our AirBnB around 11:00 pm, the group set out to buy wine and breakfast supplies. I bought my wine and stood outside the store with Jack while we waited for the others to finish shopping. A homeless man approached us, asked for money, then screamed and kicked anything he could after we told him we had no Forints. The homeless man later returned and tried to buy my wine for less than I paid, and as we walked away, we could hear more banging as the homeless man was frustrated with his lack of alcohol.
The next day, the group set out for the thermal baths and relaxed for several hours as our skin turned to raisins in the warm pools.

That night, we sailed on a party boat for two and half hours, getting great views of Budapest until we finally went back to the AirBnB at 1:30 am.

Our flights were cancelled so we stayed an extra night in Budapest. Sunday mostly consisted of resting and eventually eating desert at the esteemed New York cafe. The day was mostly uneventful, but we took some good pictures.

*A picture of me at the cafe
Monday consisted only of travel (and combating a worsening cold), and Wednesday has only consisted of studying for BMEN 211. Next week, I will write more in depth about my experiences watching surgeries on Tuesday, as I will not have much else to write about. I am glad to finally have a break from all the travel, but I am not happy about being thrust into a stressful testing period.
I cannot wait for carnival and my upcoming ski trip to Switzerland

Week 4

*Most of this Blog post was written in word on Wednesday, February 5th.

This last week has been quite hectic, and I can only see my schedule getting more packed as our trip in Vienna and Budapest continues. Friday after classes, I went to bed early and woke up at 5 am Saturday morning, ready to depart with a group of classmates to Amsterdam. The train ride was long and boring, but the city was worth every moment of unpleasant travel time. After exiting the train, we immediately walked downtown to one of the largest European outdoor markets and browsed the large variety of wares while eating fried chicken and stroopwafels. Most of that day was spent wandering aimlessly throughout the city as we gazed at the plethora of beautiful views. At night, we visited the Anne Frank museum, which was a far more emotional and informative than I had anticipated. We left the museum and bar hopped for the remainder of the night.
The next day involved sleeping in until noon then failing to purchase Van Gogh museum tickets as they had promptly sold out. We instead went to the Modern Museum of Art, which had great pieces by Picasso and other talented artists I had never heard of.

I had one full day of rest, then our entire class set off to Vienna on Tuesday. The train ride was long, but I managed to study and get some work finished. The first night, we toured a crypt beneath a Church, an equally creepy and fascinating experience. We later ate at the Gulaschmuseum, where I tried a horse dish. Honestly, horse is nowhere near as good as cow, so I plan to stick with beef products in the future. The next day, we got a great tour of the city from Dr. Wasser dressed as a Middle Ages doctor. That night, Zaheer managed to find a bar of mostly college students open on a Wednesday night by talking to strangers. Overall, this last week of travel has been a great experience and I look forward to continuing my journey outside of Germany.

*Me outside of a Viennese Castle after a long day of travel.

Five was Not live

So here we are, my fifth week is now in the books. Not gonna lie to you all this week was kind of lame and not much to talk about. I had my first exam(BMEN 211) and the majority of people’s opinions after the exam sounded about as negative as mine so i am not too worried.

The weekend was chill, I hung out with the J squad. This was my first weekend in Bonn since week one. It was nice to not constantly be in travel mode. Now i need to study for my Diff Eq test was n wednesday.

Luckily this is a short week and then we have a four day weekend. A lot of ppl are going to Sweden but I am staying here and going to carnival. I can’t wait to see what cologne looks like during this time.

Wish me luck!😬🤞🏽

I forgot last weeks weekly quotes but here they are this week:

“bark bark bark”

“yolo #Americandream”

“did you check the itinerary”

“osama has the same birthday as me- i have the same bday as bill clinton”

“if i was a woman i would not be into myself”

Week 5 in Europe

Hallo!
We have been abroad for a Monat now! I spent week 5 abroad catching up on sleep in Bonn. We got delayed coming home from Budapest due to the severe weather, so I got home late Monday night. Tuesday, we went to the Bonn Hospital to scrub in on surgeries. I got to watch them extract the Parotid Gland with 3 golf ball sized tumors out of the head. They then sent it out for a biopsy to determine if the tumors were malignant or benign. I left at this time. The surgery was really cool, and informative. A lot of the information from Physiology related to what the Anesthesiologist was doing. Wednesday I had off since the other group was going to shadow. So I caught up on sleep and went to all you can eat sushi for lunch. Thursday was a normal school day, and then Friday was Valentine's Day, so we all went out to keep each other company. My host family got me Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and I was so happy! They are so incredible. Saturday I slept all day (wasn't kidding about all the sleep). Sunday I went to my first Karneval parade with my host sister Laura, it was so fun! This week Karneval continues and then Sweden/Norway for the Northern Lights! Bis Bald!

Bonn Week 5

So it turns out 211 is pretty hard! Doesn't seem like it's anyone's strong suit, least of all mine. But besides working on the school/vacation balance, I don't want to talk a whole lot about school.
The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful, but Valentine's Day was fun! Dany's boyfriend got flowers delivered to the AIB, which was super thoughtful and sweet, and she was really happy about it. We went out that night in Bonn and it was super fun to hang out with the whole group, as always. Europe feels like home now, and that's a really nice feeling. Of course, it's still frustrating when I don't have the knowledge I need to communicate the way I need to, but that's on me. I spent a lot of time at home studying this week and got really sick after going to the hospital to watch surgery. The OR was cool, but it was mostly ENT stuff, and watching surgery on a screen is less exciting than, for example, the leg amputation that Dany got to see. Going to the doctor was pretty interesting despite the circumstances that brought me there (HR over 130 for multiple hours and waking up in a cold sweat every 30 minutes anyone?). It was kinda weird to have Malek reading the paperwork to me and filling it out because I hadn't really talked to him before, but walking there with him was interesting; Gesine said that public universities in Germany only cost like 200 euros/semester so I asked him about it and he said it was more like 400, as if that was a lot. Needless to say, he was pretty shocked when I said I pay around $7500/semester to go to a state school, but it was cool to talk to someone who's gone through the system in another country. Gesine makes some of the best chicken soup I've had, and she's been so nice while I've been sick. I love living here. 

Week 5

Hallo!

During this week, class on Monday was first canceled because the flights from our weekend travels had been cancelled. However, classes were officially cancelled by AIB because the storm was so bad in Germany. I ended up coming home from Prague midday on Monday. Tuesday, I had a normal school day and I had developed a cough. Also, me and one of my friends went to a concert that night and I did not get home until 2 in the morning because the train had dropped us off at the HBF at 12:35, which was the time for the first night bus. So, I had to wait a whole hour for the next night bus in order to go home. On Wednesday, I got to observe open heart surgery which was pretty cool. I could not see anything the first two hours because I could not see over the tarp (I was too short), and I did not want to interrupt the surgery just to ask for a stool so I could see. The anesthetist noticed after two hours and brought over a stool so then i could see the surgery. When I was leaving i almost went into the guys locker room, because I was lost. I went home and studied for my 211 test the text day. On Thursday morning I woke with a massive headache, I was shivering, and I felt super dizzy. Therefore, I decided to miss my first two classes to rest and then just come to school to take my 211 test that was later in the day. The test was hard, but I got through it and i was sick the entire day. On Friday, I finally got some medicine and started to feel better by the end of the day. Now, it is Sunday, and I feel better than I did on Thrusday, but i still have a cough and I hope it goes away by Carnival.

Tschüss!        

Week 4

Hallo!

During week 4, we traveled to Vienna, Austria with our program and then over the weekend a few of us went to Prague. Vienna was full of so much history and the medical museum we went to with the wax figures was my favorite place that we visited. The train system was very simple so it was very easy to get around town on our own. One day our professor dressed up as a plague doctor and gave us a tour around Vienna which was hilarious because so many people gave us strange looks. Prague was crazy because we were only supposed to stay Saturday and Sunday, but our flight got delayed due to a storm in Germany so we got to stay another day. We walked so much during the whole trip, and on one of the days in Prague I ended up walking over 31,000 steps. School work wise, we missed two math lectures which i had to review when i got back. And,  I was working through the BMEN 211 homework sporadically throughout the trip. Overall, it was a great experience.

Tschüss!

First Exam Week!

Let me start this post off by saying...

Ouch.

Big wake up call coming off non-stop travel to Signals and Systems mixed with Diff EQ beating the mess out of you back and forth. There was so much work to catch up on from the previous week in our math course, and then when you added in the fact that we had an exam in our HARDEST course that week? Yeah, ouch pretty much sums it up.

Aside from those courses though, it really wasn't too bad across our others. We also got the opportunity to sit in on a few of the surgeries going on at the University Clinic here in Bonn! I have to say, watching surgeons operate and listening to the anesthesiologist walk us through her work as it was happening DEFINITELY makes my top 3 of coolest things I have had the opportunity to experience. 

Sorry I don't have as much to give you this week, it was a rather relaxing one coming off all that travel from the week before!

Until next time!

Travel Weekend to Week to Weekend

Wow.

I honestly don't even know where to start with this one...

With our first travel weekend coming up on us, everyone was excited to get out and go somewhere altogether (for the most part). We actually split off into two different groups, one on their way to Amsterdam and the other out to Munich. I was off with the group to Amsterdam, and the story is as follows...

First thing's first, we have to catch the 5:45 train going out from Bonn Hbf, right? So Matt and I decide that we aren't playing any games, and woke up at 3:30 to catch the 4:02 night bus out of Heidebergen...

Well we missed it.

But wait! Here's the best part!

We were actually at our stop with plenty of time to spare, but had no idea that the night buses only ride on ONE SIDE OF THE STREET...

we were standing on the other :)

Our 608/609 bus into town usually comes through on the side we were standing on (of course), but we had no idea that the N4 route didn't play by the same rules. So there we are, standing at the stop literally watching our bus drive off, and someone who had hopped off it starts walking over to us. He starts off in German as one would here, and I hit him with my usual, "Sprechen sie englisch?".

He answers, "Yeah you just missed your bus."

Great.

Aren't adventures supposed to be riddled with problems that you overcome though? Is this NOT what the hero's journey is all about??

I pull out my phone. Moovit app is about to save my rear once again. I type in the central station, and we are now left with two options:

1) wait an hour for the next N4 bus to make its' way out to Heidebergen

2) walk 1.5 miles to another stop that can get us into town at an earlier time

...game on.

Writing that was almost as exciting as experiencing it had been tbh...

But now I have all 3 cities to still cover in this post, so I regret to inform you that I will not be able to keep up this writing style from here on. Maybe in another post one day... We'll see :)

AMSTERDAM

 What a wild ride! I actually got to meet up with some of my highschool friends on this trip as they are on their own study abroad in Spain and planned out the same weekend as us. We had a wonderful time walking around the market, eating local dishes, and checking out the beautiful scenery! 

We got to go into the Anne Frank house the first night, and that was truly something amazing to experience. Learning about the history of WWII and her story back in elementary held nothing to how REAL this felt. I would recommend the visit as a must if Amsterdam is ever in your future travel plans.

The second day we were planning on checking out the Van Gogh Museum, but unfortunately arrived too late to get any tickets. We then opted out for a nearby modern art museum which I also felt was a great way to spend the day!

Coming back to Bonn was a mess. 3 transfers on train lines, and one of ours had gotten cancelled so we ended up having to hop on a different one to make it back. Matt and I made it back home at roughly 2:30 in the morning with an 8:45 German class that following morning. Honestly the only thing that got me up for that class was the fact that it would be our only day of school that week. The rest of the week we would be taking a group excursion to...

VIENNA

This was a week just absolutely PACKED with history! It was really cool to have an excursion as a group as we weren't just mindlessly wandering the city with no guide, but instead had Wasser and Mats to take us around and explain the history behind a lot of it!

I think my favorite thing we got to participate in was the Wax museum of the many skin diseases. Disgusting? Absolutely. Mind-blowing and interesting? nothing less. We got to hear about how many doctors treated their patients back in the day. One particularly interesting way was a doctor that would cure a disease (I forget the name) by giving his patients Malaria! He would then treat them for this Malaria of course, but talk about a process!

Although we did have to attend one lecture for the history of medicine class, I found this lecture over Sigmund Freud to be fascinating! The history of his life I have to admit was not so much so... but his work on the psyche I found grasping. I even ended up buying one of his books that talks about his patients and work he performed on them.

Aside from my favorites, there were of course many other activities we got to take place in. Some of these things were more museum tours, city tours, and even a concert in beautiful St. Anne's Church!

Now moving on to the final (and favorite) travel destination...

PRAGUE

This one I have to admit was a struggle. I was sick the entire time we were there, but there was absolutely NO way I was letting that define how much fun I was going to have.

I went with a group of 4 of my close friends here in the program and we had an amazing time! Such a great time actually, that we decided to send a hurricane to Germany so we could get an extra day ;)

The city and all its' sites are in a rather close proximity to one another, which makes Prague a wonderful place to travel on foot! No need for public transport at all. From the Astrological Clock to the Charles Bridge, it was truly something else experiencing my own culture for the first time. A good half of my ancestry is of Czech descent, so it was very exciting to go back and see where that all came from. 

The St. Vitus Cathedral within the castle walls was one of my favorite cathedrals I have seen so far in Europe. And not to mention this was the first castle I had ever set foot in! 

A wonderful week it was, moving between 4 different countries in the span of 10 days. Definitely an opportunity I am so very thankful for.

Tschuess! Bis naechste Woche!

Week 5 in Bonn

At the beginning of this week, a hurricane hit the coast of Germany and grounded all flights coming back to Bonn so my friends and I got stuck in Prague for another day. Not the worst place to be stuck in the world. I was glad that I got to explore more of the city before coming back to Bonn. On Tuesday I had a day off because half of our class was shadowing surgery at the Uniklinik, and on Wednesday it was my turn in the OR. I was really excited to watch some interesting surgeries and learn from the physicians there, however in the first surgery I felt like I was going to pass out so I had to step out and take a break. I went back to watch the rest of the procedure, and ended up seeing 2 more procedures that day. I'm really glad I stayed because I saw some really interesting surgeries like a leg amputation, and I got to talk to the physicians and learn about the differences in the medical fields of Germany and the US. Thursday and Friday were normal class days, and because Friday was Valentines, I went out with some friends to our favorite bar in Bonn, Tacos. This weekend I decided to stay in Bonn to relax and recover after all of the traveling I did last week. I'm glad I stayed because I got to spend time with my host family, as well as attend the Carneval celebration in my host family's village. I'm looking forward to my trip to Berlin next week, as well as spending Rose Monday in Cologne.

Week 3 and first travel weekend!

Howdy again y'all!

I apologize for my tardiness on this week's blog, they just really started slipping away from me between all the excitement of our first travels! Unfortunately, if you're reading this blog for that side of the story, you'll actually have to go to my next weeks' update...

School has been not what I would describe as a struggle so far, but something closer to a challenge. I know this is all part of a process working here, and I am thankful for how it is going to transform me on the other side! I have quickly realized that time management is going to be crucial to my success on this study abroad. If I plan on spending the majority of my weekends in other countries, then there is going to have to be some serious planning going on behind the scenes to make that possible.

211 is once again being as difficult as ever. It is truly the only class I am worried about so far. Everything else I know I will be able to work with, but Signals and Systems just REALLY aren't wanting to click with me for some reason... who knows.

A few of the activities we got to take place in this week were 2 museum tours! One of these was the the Anesthesiology Museum where we had the opportunity to learn all about the history of anesthesiology, and the development of the process through the past century or two.

Our second museum was our "House of History" tour, one on the history of Germany post-WWII. A very interesting time that was! Dr. Wasser has a gift with museum tours, and I honestly have no idea how the man can keep so much information in his head!

The weekend was one well-spent in Amsterdam, but as this groups well with our following week and weekend in Vienna and Prague, I will leave it for that blog post.

Danke und Gig 'em!

WEEK 5

WEEK 5 
This week went by super fast. I think it's because classes got canceled due to the hurricane so it was really only a 4 day week. We had our first exam of the semester on Tuesday. It was for genetics and I was glad to get it over with. We took it about a week late since we were in Vienna last week when the rest of the class took it. I spent the weekend trying to get ahead since this upcoming week is going to be pretty busy. 

2/9/20

This is a doppler radar of the hurricane Sunday night. Even though this hurricane seemed to be pretty mild where we were, the all the flights in and out of Bonn/Cologne were canceled. This made it interesting because the majority of the class was in Prague and Budapest and had to wait til Monday afternoon to come home. 

2/12/20

On Wednesday I got to go to the University Clinic of Bonn and shadow an anesthesiologist. It was super interesting. Because I work in a surgery department at a hospital in Austin, I found it super interesting to see the differences between hospitals. The anesthesiologist I shadowed taught me a lot about specific practices and procedures as well as what it's like to work at a teaching hospital. 

2/14/20

On Friday during physiology lab my friend Maggie sent me a care package in celebration of Galentines day. It consisted of 3 types of Mac'n Cheese, heart shaped Reeses, nuun tablets (because I've been telling her I've been dehydrated), a Badass Women magazine, and a card that brought me to tears! What a Freundin! 

2/14/20

I have really enjoyed having host brothers. This is a video I made with my younger host brother Julius. We were shooting the drum with a nerf gun and I video tapped it in slow motion. 

2/15/20

I ran some errands on Saturday around the pedestrian zone and got to see some of the festivities leading up to the big Karneval that will be happening next weekend. 

Week 4!

Wow so this week was hectic but in the best way. I started the week super tired since we got to Bonn so late from Amsterdam and had an early day both Monday and Tuesday. Vienna was so beautiful and I had such a great time exploring the city. I thought the pathology museum was really interesting (probably not the best thing to visit with an upset stomach). On one of the nights we made some Viennese friends and they showed us some fun places to go to. The last day we were there we had a lot of fun in the Natural History museum and taking pictures in the museum square. For the weekend we went to Prague. I have been once before, and while it's not my favorite city in Europe, I still had a good time seeing all the beautiful landmarks and buildings. We ended up having to stay another day because of our flight cancellation but we got to spend more time walking around the Prague Castle and the city which was nice. The worst part of the entire week was when we were on the flight back to Cologne and I fell asleep for awhile but we hit really bad turbulence and the plane dropped a bit and woke me up and my heart decided to go crazy for the rest of the plane ride. Otherwise it was an amazing week and I'm happy I got to see so many beautiful places.

Week 4: 4 Countries in a week?

Ok, last week was one of the most fun, most chaotic weeks of my life. I started my week (Sunday) in Amsterdam, went back home to Bonn for Monday, left to Vienna on a program excursion on Tuesday, then went to Prague on Friday. This means that I was in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic all in one week.

I'll start in chronological order, obviously. In Amsterdam, we spent most of our time having fun and just goofing around. Amsterdam is honestly such a "young city" and it's so beautiful and lively. I wrote about the specifics of what went on in my last blog post so I'll spare the details for now.

For Bonn, it was rough. Since we got home from Amsterdam around 1:30 am and we had to be up at 7am because we had class at 8:45am. the class day was long and boring, nothing special. I mainly just wanted to go through the day so I could go back home and nap, that's how tired I was. Overall, a very mediocre day that was much needed as a rest day between Amsterdam and Vienna.

On Tuesday, I had to get up at 4am to leave to Vienna. The 8-hour train ride there was gruesome, I already hate long plane rides and trains aren't any better by my standards. That Tuesday morning I just spent recovering on the train. Once we got to Vienna we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and went on some tours, which were fairly interesting but my exhaustion took priority for me. Don't quite remember what we did that night, probably went out to a bar and drank a bit but nothing too wild.

The Wednesday, however, was much better. I don't quite remember what tours and activities we did that day, but I do remember the fun I had that night with my friends. We went out that night to a bar called "Dick Macks" and met some cool Austrian people who took us to a pizza place and then to a nightclub called "U2". Apparently, nightclubs in Vienna go hard and are open until 6am, so it was my kind of city. The night overall was really fun and we stayed out dancing (which I LOVE) until 3am.

...however, I felt the consequences of my actions Thursday night when we had to be up at 7:30am to go to a medical pathology museum. The medical pathology museum I think has been by far my most favorite but it didn't help that I was exhausted from the night before. That night I decided to chill out and went back to the hotel early and slept all night.

That Friday we went to a natural history museum which was really cool and interesting. I took lots of pictures and loved running around and pretending I was the new lead in the next Night in the Museum movie. Outside the museum was also very beautiful so we took lots of photos as you can see:

 Then on Friday, we went to Prague which was so beautiful and amazing. I honestly didn't know that much about Prague before I went but I'm glad I went because I had an amazing time with all my friends. We got to see the astronomical clock and the Prague Castle and just have a good time in Prague.

Overall, the week was chaotic but so so amazing and truly a week I will never forget.

Week 4 - First Week of Travel

This was the first week I've gotten to travel outside of Germany, and it is an understatement to say that I was excited. Vienna was absolutely beautiful and full of so many things to do. One of my favorite parts of Vienna was seeing the Lipizzaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School. They where beautiful animals and I was happy to get to see them. Vienna was busy, but I enjoyed the Natural History Museum and the Anatomical Collection and getting to learn about all of the specimens in each collection. That weekend I traveled with a group to Prague. The city was beautiful and already so much different than Vienna and Bonn. We visited several sites like the astrological clock  and the Charles Bridge, and on Saturday we all went to a Medieval dinner. The dinner was five courses and had numerous shows. Overall, it was  a good week of travel and I can't wait to go somewhere new.

Week 3 - Lots of Chocolate

My third week in Bonn was pretty crazy. School is starting to pick up and finding a new way to balance studying and traveling has been interesting. In week 3 we all visited the Anesthesiology Museum. It was interesting to see how much anesthetic drugs and machines have changed in the last 100 years. I wish we had gotten to spend longer in the museum, but what we did see was interesting. Pretty much everyone either went to Munich or Amsterdam that weekend, but I chose to stay local. I went to Koln on Saturday and toured the Chocolate museum. Needless to say, I left with a lot of souvenirs from that museum. I also toured the Ludwig Museum of Modern Art. Some of the art was interesting and I enjoyed it, but other pieces just went right over my head. I guess I don't have the brain for modern art. However I enjoyed the pieces by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, as they are some of my favorite pop artists. Overall my day in Koln was nice and I enjoyed a day to just explore the city on my own time.

Week 4: "Miles from Budapest"

So this week we went on our first excursion to Wien in Austria. The city was very different from what I expected but it was really amazing to see and also let me emphasize this, cold. Luckily AIB put us up in a nice hotel with great heating, the warmest I've been since we got to Europe, and great service. I enjoyed all the cool tours we took during the week particularly Dr. Schnovel's , I think I spelled that right, tour of Wien during the plague. The crypt was spooky but I had fun scaring Langley and Kait who were very easily frightened. The Gulasch Museum was a wonderful dinner for our first night in the city. On Wednesday some of us went to the ice skating rink which was a blast. Literally the biggest ice skating rink I've been to it had little trails running through the park with trees lit up like it was Christmas, that was probably my favorite part of Vienna. The Fool's Tower on Thursday was a little more grotesque than I was expecting but it was very educational and really shows how far medicine has come over the centuries. It was fun getting to dress up for the orchestra concert and hear a little cultural music. I also enjoyed trying some authentic Wien Schnitzel. On Friday we saw the biggest museum I've ever been to, which is now my favorite by far. The Natural History Museum in Wien had some of the largest collections I've ever seen they must've had every animal you could think of and the largest rocks and minerals collection I've ever seen. After the museum I spent the day waiting on the bus to Budapest which was not the most comfortable way to get there but it was cheap. It was not fun searching through Budapest at night to find the Airbnb but it was well worth it because that was a very nice Airbnb and I think that was the best place I've stayed so far while we've been traveling. Budapest itself was incredible we spent Saturday at the thermal baths which were soooo relaxing and then took a boat cruise on the Dunabe that night which was a very memorable experience. Getting our flight back cancelled was actually a huge break because we got to see so much more of the city and Kevin and I got to cook breakfast for a second time for our Budapest group so if I just block out the fact that I have 211 homework this past week was a great time!