Week 16

 Wow, last week. 

This has been such an amazing experience. Our last week here was just filled with exams, but Amanda and I made sure we went to our favorite places before leaving. We ate at Bono (got sick so that was fun), ate at our favorite Greek place, got our daily coffees at Backwerk, and just enjoyed each other's company a little more. Friday we went to Braubach and visited the Marksburg castle. It was so beautiful, and definitely a hazard to clumsy people. I think this castle was honestly probably one of my favorites. I loved the guide, the castle, and the vibe of the overall place. On Saturday, Amanda and I spent our last weekend in Cologne. It started off so badly. We both were wearing shorts and this older man sitting in front of us on the tram was taking pictures of our legs... we were so freaked out. We made the most of the day, ended up eating breakfast at Isabellas, and then ate a late lunch at a cute little Italian place. When we were leaving Cologne, we had another traumatic experience. We saw this poor man just collapse and hit his head so hard on the concrete. It is a sound I will never forget in my life, people rushed to help him and called emergency services but... Later that night we ended up packing and that was so stressful. The videos and pictures I took of us attempting to get our bags the correct weight will be forever cherished. On Sunday, we packed all day and just hung out. 

Just a few more days until I'm home with my best friend, my cats, and my momma! I have never been so excited to go home to Texas... 

Week 16: April 24-May 2

It’s the last week in Germany. How crazy is that?! I remember being one week into the program and still thinking that the 15 weeks left felt like forever. Now, here I am thinking that there is no possible way it has already been 16 weeks. I’m starting to get excited to see my family and friends, my boyfriend, and my dog (!!!), but I’m also sad that my time in Bonn is coming to an end.

This week was filled with tests. On Monday, we had our last physiology lecture, and then I spent most of the day finishing up our DHF. On Tuesday, I spent the whole morning studying for exam 3 in physiology. It went pretty well, thankfully. I then took Tuesday night and Wednesday morning off from studying because after Enmodes and the first test, I was tired of studying and needed some sleep. On Wednesday afternoon, we had our German final and then our last pharmacology class. After class, Erin’s host mom took me, Elizabeth, and Erin out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Bad Honnef. We drank margaritas and forgot about the stress of exams for a few hours. It was really fun! Then, on Thursday, I studied all morning and took my physiology final in the afternoon. It was my last day of class as an undergrad!

On Friday, we had an AiB-wide excursion to Braubach to visit Marksburg Castle. I was not expecting the hike up to the castle, but it ended up not being that bad. The castle was really pretty and had a cool history. I particularly enjoyed touring the living quarters and learning about the evolution of armor. I didn’t realize musketeers were called that because they carried muskets until our tour guide mentioned it. Who knew?! Then, we ate schnitzel and headed home. Thankfully, we beat the rain by like 5 minutes. Right when we pulled out of the parking lot, a torrential downpour started.

On Saturday, I went to Cologne with a few people to celebrate Jackson’s birthday. We had drinks, ate more schnitzel, and shopped. I learned that Sion is spelled with an S and not an L like lion and that I don’t hate Sion Kölsch as much as other beers. I headed back to Bonn around 3pm, did a little bit more shopping for last-minute gifts and souvenirs, and then went home to start packing.

On Sunday, I had a lazy day. I slept in a bit, watched Netflix, and continued to pack. I finished the final revisions on the DHF and updated my blog posts. Today is my host dad’s birthday, so I got to meet my oldest host brother, Felix, who was over for breakfast. Stefan doesn’t like to make a huge deal out of his birthday, though, so we didn’t do anything to celebrate.

Tomorrow, we have our last excursion to Drachenfels. It’s a full circle moment because, if you remember, we hiked up Drachenfels during our first week here. Hopefully it won’t be below freezing and raining tomorrow. Plus, we’re taking the cog train up the mountain this time, so that will be nice. Then, I’ll finish packing and have a nice goodbye dinner with my host family.

On Tuesday, I leave Bonn at 6am to head to the airport. I’ve downloaded 16 episodes of Suits for the plane, so that should be plenty to keep me occupied during the 11-hour flight.

So with that, goodbye Bonn, and goodbye Europe. It has been an incredible, life-changing experience that I will never forget. Until next time…

That's Life. Una experiencia inolvidable.

 

              Damn, this week has been interesting. It’s weird seeing that we are going to be leaving this country and not coming back for who knows how long. All the time spent here among friends, in local pubs and bars, in the gym, at Ali’s, at Theo’s will be a memory told to our kids. Amazing how fast 4 months rushed by, and I can say with happiness that a lot of things have changed in my life. For one, I became more cultured. Which is very weird to say but a big possibility considering the number of countries we visited and the number of people we interacted with during those excursions. It is something that I was expecting but not necessarily counting on changing me as much as I think it did. Was it so big a change that I would change my name to Patricius? No. But, it definitely got me thinking of the possibility of moving out here to Europe and doing vet school somewhere in the area which I had thought about before but not to this degree. In another aspect, I also got an appreciation for the languages spoken in Europe and the importance of language in communication and cultural appreciation. It is not an essential for traveling Europe but it is something that is essential in truly appreciating a culture. The way people speak and communicate with each other and describe things is something that can only be seen or heard when that language is being spoken and it is beautiful when you understand it.

              On another aspect, I grew as a person by cultivating relationships with people in my program and strangers in other countries like the man in Lyon who sat us down in a bouchon. Something that I learned is that with every relationship there are different pieces moving, almost like a chess game. Not every move may make sense at the time, but as the game, time, progresses you begin to realize the importance of that once useless moving pawn. This “game” occurs in every relationship you create and every relationship you are currently cultivating. Sometimes, you win those games and sometimes you lose. I grew in accepting to lose some games, which before, I would have killed myself in an attempt to save the game and in that pursuit, destroying myself. Thankfully, these experiences here in Germany have helped me mold how I see relationships for good and bad and it is something that although painful at times, I would never trade for anything. On the good side, I have made some great friends over here and I am glad that I now have some friends that share experiences like mine. I will of course hang out with them back in CSTAT and continue our bar drinking every now and then, nothing compared to how it was here. My liver needs a serious detox after this experience.

              The experiences I’ve had over here ranging from my first Bundesliga game, first cigar, first time drinking beer in Germany, asking a girl out, eating the best French food I’ve had (apart from my grandmothers), ordering maseca and a tortilla press to make Mexican food here, getting stuck in random cities because of the DB, late night talks with my host mom, late nights at Barleycorn playing darts and others have been the highlight of this trip. Nothing stands out more than the other and they are all things that I will cherish till the day I die. I was lucky to have the opportunity to come out here and experience these things and nonetheless with friends who both humbled me, picked me up, and hyped me up when I needed it. With each day that we have been here, I’ve made new memories and created new friendships that at the beginning of the trip, I did not expect to have leading me to leave with more friends than I began with, something that I am eternally grateful for.

              At the end of the day, all I can say is that I am very happy with the things I have learned on this study abroad. I did not think that what Dr. Wasser said in the beginning of the trip would be true as I felt that it was something every professor would say during a study abroad, but I’ll be damned, he was right, I did grow a lot as a person. And as time goes by, I hope to maintain and even repair some relationships from my time over here. Thank y’all for this amazing opportunity and for putting up with us the entire trip, it was a hell of an experience. Hopefully, we will stay in contact with each other.

Week 15: April 17-23

Hell week is upon us… and it was exactly like, yet nothing like, what I expected.

The week started out with classes on Monday. We had physiology and our last history of medicine lecture. Then, we had our lab final… which was… something… After the test, our focus shifted to Enmodes, and it stayed there until Friday afternoon. We spent a few hours on Monday afternoon working to finalize our design and make progress on the DHF.

On Tuesday, we got started around 9:30am, and went full force on figuring out what the heck we were doing. Pat, Milo, and I started working on the presentation and continued the DHF, while Elizabeth worked on Solidworks and Amy did calculations. It was a busy day, but we headed home around 6 or 7pm.

On Wednesday morning, we were greeted with news from Amy that our design didn’t work. Based on her calculations, the length of wire we chose, when heated to 40 degrees Celsius, would only raise the blood temperature by less than half a degree. And since the point of the project is to raise the blood temperature back to normal core body temperature (which is an increase of about 3-4 degrees), this was bad. So, Amy and Elizabeth spent the next 5-6 hours reworking calculations and running Solidworks flow simulations with the help of Dr. Carrell and Scott. We finally got everything figured out and could put final figures into our presentation. It was a beautiful and sunny day, so we spent about an hour and a half outside. We gave our practice presentation around 5pm, and then got pizza courtesy of Dr. Wasser. After dinner, we spent the next few hours editing our figures and presentation slides to make them better. It was around 10:15pm when I finally left to go home.

On Thursday, we continued working on our presentation. We had another practice presentation around 3pm, and then made final changes to our figures and slides before our last practice presentation at 7pm. Thankfully, we didn’t have many cosmetic changes to make after that, so we got our final PowerPoint turned in at 8pm, and then we went home to get sleep before the big presentation!

On Friday, we met at Hofgarten at 7:45am. I got up early to grab Theo’s beforehand, of course. On the drive to Aachen, Elizabeth and I practiced what we were going to say for our parts of the presentation. At Enmodes, the conference room where we were presenting wasn’t big enough for all of us, so Dr. Borchardt took us on a tour of the clean room, lab, and other facilities on the property. Unfortunately, the tour took as long as both other groups’ presentations, so we didn’t get to see their final designs. But it was also nice to not have time to think about the presentation beforehand, since we presented basically the minute we got back to the conference room. Our presentation went really well, and Austen especially liked the single-use nature of our design. Afterwards, we got lunch and printen and then headed back to Bonn. I spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Saturday was Charity Day. I went to ZeSaBo and helped organize summer and winter jackets by gender and size. I really enjoyed the opportunity to give back to the Bonn community, but I would have preferred it to have been on a different weekend just because we were so busy. The rest of the weekend consisted of finishing the DHF and studying for the physiology tests.

Week 16

 The final countdown. 

Today is Sunday. We have our genetics exam 8am Monday morning. My grade is on the line. I'm tired. I am wishing I was a trust fund baby.  It is dismal out here. But I'm sure my lovely readers don't want to hear about that, so instead I will take you through my week.

We had physiology exams Tuesday and Thursday. I studied a bunch and I'm proud of the effort I've put in.  Both went well. I'm expecting an A in the class. I really enjoyed physiology this year. 

Peri's 21st birthday was Tuesday night. A group of us went and ate Indian food and then went to a bar and played darts and drank. It was very fun and we made sure Peri got very drunk. I think she had a good time. I went home with her to make sure she got home safe and didn't aspirate or something awful like that. 

One thing Peri and I noticed about our classes is that a bunch of previous classes have taught us things that we are being re-taught in our higher level classes. It is nice because even if learning those topics didn't pay off back then it is paying off now. Having a base to understand these physiology topics has been extremely helpful. 

I haven't seen my host mom for 2 or 3 weeks. I feel kind of bad. She turned 75 yesterday so I made sure to go to her birthday party. I know she appreciated me being there but everyone there speaks German so for 3 hours I pretty much just sat there and picked words out of the conversations going on around me. Her daughter Andrea and granddaughter Amerei (if she is there) always make sure to talk to me for a bit which I appreciate a lot. They certainly don't have to come talk to me. I think Anna enjoyed her party. I didn't mind it but it made studying at home pretty much impossible. 

I think it was a strategic move by those running this program to make the last 3 weeks so stressful and intense. How else would we be ready to go home if we were having fun and enjoying ourselves? 

On Thursday we had our history of medicine final. It was a big jeopardy game. I was placed in Slytherin with Mason, Jackson, and Victoria. I love and hate jeopardy because its so fun if you win but I become a monster when playing no matter the outcome. I was happy to see Mason on my team because I figured that whoever had Mason on their team would win. He is generally knowledgeable about random topics and (like me) paid attention during our history of medicine lectures. Slytherin did in fact win which was very fun. I would estimate that Mason got us 70% of our points while the rest of the team and I got the other 30%. After that all of us went to eat at a greek restaurant. It was nice to relax and talk for a bit. 

On Friday we went on an excursion to Marksburg. I really enjoyed the castle and learning little factoids about the customs and times. I thought it was very cool that the castle was still inhabited. I would love to live there. 

On Saturday, Peri and I went to Köln to study and do some shopping. It was a fun and relaxing day. We listened to an episode of one of our favorite podcasts (normal gossip), bought some clothes, and ate traditional German food for probably the last time. It was nice seeing the cathedral again. It is stunning. On the way back we were talking about how we are more comfortable with stressful situations and things we can't control because of this study abroad. For example: you have a 4am night train transfer? Only thing you can do is wake up at 4am and make the transfer. No point in freaking out about it. This kind of mindset has leaked into other aspects of our lives and I am appreciative of it. 

I am excited to go home and see my family. I am excited about not having school for a bit. I'm excited to rest and drive my car and see my dog. But I don't know if I'll ever be fully ready to leave Germany. 

Last Saturday in Germany

     A group of us went to Köln/Seigburg for the afternoon/evening I concluded that Sion Kölsch is the best kind of Kölsch I will miss it dearly. I bought a few last minute things such as the original Eau du Cologne. I will miss seeing the amazing structure that is the Köln Dom. Seeing it always just makes me stop in awe. We finished up the evening in Seigburg where we played a little pong. Great bonding with such good friends that I already miss so much. Saturday taught me a lot. Saturday taught me I've made some life-long friends.

Marksburg

 The unconquered castle. As well as un-attacked castle. That fact kinda disappointed me. I thought I was going to hear a fairy tale along the lines of an Alamo style defense, but like winning of course. The garden was the most impressive thing to me it wrapped 270º around part of the fortress and was home to all kinds of medieval plants herbs and sorcery items. 

Week 8- Berlin

After a healthy Week 7, I was unfortunately beginning to feel nagging fatigue in Week 8 that continued to affect me for a good portion of this semester. My exams went well, something I was very thankful for given my anxiety about starting off in a hole with exam scores like I did last semester. I had two incredible highlights this week. The first was an unexpected Facetime with one of my really good friends back home. I was able to talk to him and my Mission Buddy (a kid that I mentor back in CStat), Julian, for a while, which was really sweet and uplifting. My brother committed to Davidson for soccer, which made me a very proud big brother. He's worked so hard for so many years, and to see his dreams turn to reality has been incredible to be a part of. After a tough week of school, me and a couple of friends spent the weekend exploring Berlin, the site of so much history. The highlight for me was definitely Sunday afternoon, which I spent at the Pergamonmuseum and the Berlin Wall memorial. 

Certainly an important week with long-term ramifications. With Spring Break around the corner, I was certainly looking forward to the days ahead.

Colby Wilkens

04/27/23

Week 7- A lovely week in Bonn

 After our adventures in Croatia, I was sorely in need of a week to slow down and refocus on my studies & personal health. Thankfully, Week 7 proved to be just that. Many of my evenings were spent studying for my upcoming Physiology and Differential Equations exams, and I was able to spend quality time building relationships with many of my friends here in Germany. On Saturday night, I went to Jackson & Pat's house in Bad Godesberg with Milo & Kass. We ate tacos and had an incredibly fun evening, which served as a really nice change of pace from the busyness of travel. Although weeks like these don't have as many Kodak moments to write home about, they're crucial to provide balance to such a busy semester. Thankful for walks like these around Vilich, my neighborhood:

Also, the heart is really cool. Learned quite a bit about cardiac physiology, both in my studies and through watching a bit of The Good Doctor. Very successful week.

Colby Wilkens

04/27/23

Week 6- Croatia

 After settling back in after Vienna & Prague, Karneval week was dawning upon the Rhineland. Karneval is a massive festival that takes place in Western Germany every year in which the Germans essentially take a few days off of work to dress in costume and party in the streets. Simple in essence, incredible in reality. Major hubs for the festivities in my region of Germany take place in Düsseldorf, Mainz, and especially Köln. We were given Thursday and the following Monday (Rosenmontag- Rose Monday, the final night of Karneval) off of school. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to walk in the parade in Beuel, a major residential district of Bonn. Cheers of "Karamelle" rang throughout as the local kids, dressed in costume, lined the streets for miles as we threw candy their way. Super cool experience. Earlier in the week however, I did a thing. Tuesday morning before class (Valentine's Day), I was sitting at AIB and looking through the Champions League Round of 16 slate (as I do). Dortmund/Chelsea Leg 1 was at the Westfalenstadion that night, and the tickets were only 85 euros, which was actually less than what I paid for the Freiburg game. I ended up pulling the trigger, and for under a hundred dollars, I had a pretty incredible vantage point for a Champions League knockout game.

BVB is just incredible. As the two teams filed out on the field before kickoff with the Champions League Anthem playing in the background, our entire side of the stadium unfurled a tifo that featured a Dortmund fan with a backpack looking at continental Europe, reading (translated from German): "And every time it was worth standing by your side, the journey will always go on.” The game itself was a thriller, as some heroic defending, coupled with a brilliant Karim Adeyemi solo goal proved to be the difference as Dortmund won on the night 1-0. At 19 years of age, Jude Bellingham captained BVB on the night- the kid is special. As this was my second game in the Westfalenstadion in as many weeks, I had learned essentially all of the lyrics to the songs of the Dortmund faithful in German. Since this game featured English opposition, much of the Dortmund banter was actually in English, and we certainly ensured that the Chelsea players and fans heard it for 90 minutes. This was an incredible European night that fulfilled a lifelong dream.

Karneval weekend was our first three-day weekend of the semester, and after our original plans didn't make it out of the group chat (Northern Lights, a major bucket list item that will not be fulfilled this Spring), we ended up pivoting towards a warmer country that I have long wanted to visit- Croatia. I have long admired the nation of Modric for their footballing achievements throughout their fledgling history, and it certainly did not disappoint. I had high expectations for Croatia, but they were absolutely blown out of the water. This country is extraordinarily beautiful. We spent the weekend in Split, a large coastal city in the southern portion of the country. The Adriatic Sea and the mountains were separated by mere miles, and the cities and towns of the region are located in between. Croatians are proud of their country, and we were routinely told that we visited at the best time of the year. Highlights included watching the most stunning sunset that I've ever seen, visiting the Klis Fortress (of Game of Thrones fame), venturing to the breathtaking waterfalls of Krka National Park, and exploring the small towns of Primošten and Trogir. This undoubtedly has to be one of the most beautiful countries on earth.

As for the aforementioned sunset: these were taken our first night in Croatia & are completely unedited.

Colby Wilkens 

04/27/23

Week 15!!!

I know I said last week went by really fast, but this week went by SO FAST. All we did was work on Enmodes. On Monday, I had classes in the morning and then worked on Enmodes in the afternoon till 18:30. On Tuesday, Erin and I got to school and worked on Enmodes from 8:00 to 20:00. On Wednesday, we worked from 8:00 to 23:30. Same for Thursday. It was a busy week. My group worked well together and I am proud of what we came up with. On Friday, I woke up exhausted but ready to present. We presented in Aachen and it went very well. They were very impressed with our design and even complimented something that I worked hard on. After, we had a long group lunch in Aachen and then I fell asleep on the way home. On Saturday, we had charity day. At first, I was dreading this day because I was exhausted and had too much to study, but it forced me to have a relaxing day. We went to the youth farm and painted some buildings. After, Pat, Peyton, and I went to a burger place in Siegburg. It was good, just not as good as Burgermanufakturer. On our way back, Peyton and I stopped in H&M. We got some cute stuff for warmer weather, and I am excited to wear all of my warm clothes again. On Sunday, we studied all day. We started off in Starbucks and then went to the AiB. This coming week will also consist of a lot of studying. I have my 3rd physiology exam, my 4th signals exam, my physiology final, my German final, and my math final the following Monday. So close to finishing the semester!!!! Although I have to study a lot, I want to enjoy the last week we have here in Germany. I can't believe it’s almost over. 

Week 15

 This entire week was SO stressful. It was Enmodes and Enmodes and Enmodes. I think everyday this week we stayed at the AiB until eleven, maybe even midnight. I had multiple panic attacks and ended up calling my mom to calm me down. It was a blast ◡̈. On Friday, we had to present to Enmodes and that honestly went really well. Afterwards it felt like there was a weight lifted off my shoulders. While some groups presented, we got to see what Enmodes works on and it was so interesting. I loved getting to walk around their facility and see first hand what they do. On Saturday we had Charity day. I honestly was stressing out about exams and then finals that Charity day seemed like a burden BUT, it was much needed and an absolute blast. Amanda and I got put together in our group, and we painted a little building rainbow colors. It was so fun and very much needed relaxing time. For dinner that night, we went and ate at BeReal. It was a burger joint, it was good, but not as good as Burgermanufaktur. On Sunday, Amanda and I studied all day and crammed for finals. I cannot believe time has flown by so quickly... I'm going to miss Germ, but I am so excited to go home and see my babies! <3

One more week?!

 

            The enmodes project is finally over. What a stressful damn week. Didn’t think it would be that bad but after a few complications and some work from the team we were able to figure it out and present a complete and working protype that would solve the problem. Very proud of the team and the hard work that they put in. Glad and lucky that I was put into this group and have to say that I’m very proud of them, what a hell of a group.

              The genetics exam did not go to plan per se since I barely missed a B but spoke with Dr. Derr and he is giving me another opportunity which is generous for a university professor. Hopefully, the final will go well, and I can prove to the prof that he was not wrong in giving me this opportunity. Other than that, nothing else is going on with genetics, which is pretty nice.

              Finals week is coming up and I don’t feel as stressed as I would regularly feel. Don’t know why but I feel prepared for the exams and don’t feel the need to study as much as some of the other classes like genetics. Maybe it was the fact that I listened to the lectures a lot more intently than I usually do, which paid off in this instance.

              We had our charity event this week and it went great. I enjoyed the work we had and working with both Peyton and Amanda and the Lafayette lads was a great deal of fun. Didn’t think I would have as much fun as I did but I was wrong. After our great shed designs were completed, Peyton invited me to go eat with them at a place called “Be Real” and it was good. Nothing compared to Burger Manufacturer but good for Germany. I tasted this weird lemonade thing, and it was weird with a spicy taste to it. Maybe they messed with my drink once they realized I was an American imposter. No but that dinner was quite fun and something I had not planned for. After that, I headed to Siegburger brauhaus and tasted their local beer and it was great. One of the top ones for sure. I need to return to buy that glass, so I’ll probably head back this coming week with Joaquin.

              This week surprised me a lot in terms of both academics and life itself. I have begun to see that I am going to miss Germany once I get back home and get some rest but also seeing that there are some things I regret doing and some opportunities I missed. But that is life, and I will learn from them and use them to get better, which should always be the goal. On to the next week!

Week 15: Hello Exhaustion, My Old Friend

     Every semester I think about how tired I get during finals week and that it is hell on earth. Turns out I was wrong. Hell is a place on earth and it is this week and next week. We spent an absolutely ridiculous amount of time at AiB trying to get our projects finished and our presentations down pat. We were all up there late into the night several days this week trying to fix everything that that told us to fix each time after we presented. Our last run through was a total disaster. Most of us forgot what we were supposed to say or couldn't help having a stutter in our voice. It was completely due to being burnt out, exhausted, and done with giving the same presentation over and over. Our official presentation on Friday went very well when we presented to our program and enmodes. We didn't have any issues during and were able to answer all of the questions that were thrown our way.  It was a little sad to have a semester's worth of work over in ten minutes.

    A few of us also had our third genetics exam on Thursday. We spent a lot of time holed up in Starbucks whenever we had free time early on in the week before we had to stay late. There was this super cute dog that wanted to come up to Erin but the owners were a little wary to let him come up at first. After they saw that he wasn't being aggressive they let him walk over and he shoved his nose right into our hands when we reached out to pet him. I know that the dog trying to come up to Erin made her feel special. Let's be honest, being chosen by a stranger's dog is a high honor. As we got to the middle of the week the two of us would go back to her house late and study for the exam after being at AiB all day. It was hard to find the motivation to go through our 46 page study guide at 10:30pm. The exam ended up going fine and now we get to turn around and prepare for the final that is in a week. No rest for the wicked. 

     I still felt absolutely exhausted and congested so I had to tell the charity day coordinator that I wouldn't be able to make it on Saturday. I didn't believe that it would be a good idea to try and work outside when I still had so much crap in my lungs. I slept a lot over the weekend and spent the rest of my time studying for our third physiology exam and final that is coming up this next week. Erin and I, again, found ourselves in Starbucks for hours on end trying to finish up our study guide. Four exams in a week will do that to you.

    

Enmodes

     This project was particularly difficult for many reasons. But in the end it was great to be a part of and get to see people come together to make a coherent and innovative presentation about cutting edge equipment. Touring enmodes was also super cool. Understanding how complicated the facilities are and how complex the systems of running it smoothly can be.

Week 15

Week 1 in Purgatory. (unfortunately didn't make it out, planning my next escape attempt soon) 

We had our physiology lab final on Monday. I did so bad. To the point where I wasn't even upset. Like clearly I had no idea what I was doing. My saving grace was that no one knew what they were doing. You know it's bad when everyone turns over their exam and starts laughing. The only upside was bonding with my fellow physiology students over the shitshow that was that exam. It sucks doing bad on an exam but my spirits aren't too down because I'm pretty sure I can still make an A in physiology if I study hard for the upcoming exams. 

One of the highs of this week was that my Aggie ring got delivered to my house in Dallas. I'm excited to get back to the states and put it on. My dad was the one who signed for the package and he sent a montage of photos detailing the delivery, unboxing, and reveal in our family group chat. Here is a picture of my dad trying my ring on. It makes me laugh so I thought I'd include it here. 

All week we have been grinding on our enmodes projects. It is crazy because you put in a bunch of work, present, and then are told to go back to the drawing board. After the very first round of presentations (on Tuesday or Wednesday) I was feeling cooped up so Peri and I went on a brief walk and saw the famous cherry blossom street. It was very pretty and helped me relax a bit. I was appreciative of the critiques because I knew they would make our presentation better, but after the 3rd time it was kind of like no I'm actually not going to redraw my device graphics again thank you (spoiler alert I did in fact redraw my graphics). 

The genetics exam was supposed to be Wednesday but it got moved to Thursday which I was appreciative of as it gave me a little bit more time to prepare. Peri and I studied a bunch leading up to the exam so I was really hoping that it would pay off. It was inconvenient having our exam rescheduled several times on such short notice but I can't complain too much because that whole week was like that, not just our exam. I thought this exam was the easiest one we have had to date which was a relief. If the exam had been bad it would have been difficult to get myself back into the headspace to work on the enmodes project again. 

Friday was our enmodes presentation. That morning I saw a pug while going to the meeting point which is a good luck symbol according to Victoria so I took that as a good omen for our presentation. Overall the final presentation went well which was is always a good feeling. Our group had worked so hard on our two devices and it was nice that we could present a polished final presentation that we were proud of. Seeing the enmodes headquarters and everything they were doing was actually really cool. I loved getting to see all their facilities and the sciences and technology that went into it. After the presentation was over we ate lunch and then headed back to Bonn. I got home and crashed. I woke up around 8pm and got ready for bed and then just relaxed until I fell asleep. 

Charity day was on Saturday. I have not been feeling very good as of late (from the cold) and asked Rike if I could opt out. She graciously said yes. Waking up on Saturday I felt awful. I know it was a combination of stress, not eating and sleeping as much, or drinking as much water as I normally do on top of the cold, but I was still surprised I felt so bad. I went to try to study with Peri later in the afternoon and she said I looked awful. I know opting out was the right decision but I still felt a little sad because I like volunteering and community events. 

I'm very tired and not really looking forward to week 2 in Purgatory. It means that I have to study a bunch and take a bunch of exams, and it means that I have to return to the states. I need to decide on which mcat resource I'm going to use and need to mentally prepare for shadowing in the OR again. It'll be nice to see my friends and family again, but I think they would much prefer to visit me in Europe rather than me visit them in Texas. I can say I'm looking forward to the sunshine though. 

A couple of stresses

 

            Another week down, another week that is more damn stressful. This week has been such a pain since I am having to study for genetics and need a B in the class, as well as enmodes and packing for the trip back home. My dad has made sure to remind me that I need another suitcase to bring back home so I’m going to have to start looking into that sometime this week or next week. Knowing myself, I will leave it till the last minute so I would say that most likely next week.

              With enmodes being due this week, I am definitely having to put in some work that I would rather focus on genetics but enmodes is quite important so I don’t mind doing that for now and seeing if I can sneak some genetics in. I bet the group will let me do some studying once I finish some work for them and show that I am available for other help. Shouldn’t be a stressful week and I’ve loved working with the “compas” this week so it will be a good experience as it has been since the beginning. Got lucky with a group of very hard-working individuals so I am quite pleased with how the project has turned out so far and I bet it will be great for the upcoming presentation.

              The genetics has been going well so far and I am a bit stressed with taking the exam but considering that I need an 80 to get a B in the class, I need to put some overtime into it which is a bit hard with the current situation with enmodes, but ill figure it out. Dr. Derr has been very graceful with his grading of us over here in Germany so I can’t complain about grades since he has been more than fair and there is nothing else I can do but study.

              Should be going home in a couple of days and I want to enjoy what is left here in Germany with a smile and see what else I am missing before I head back home. Relationships with people have been improving and I think everything will be pretty damn good before I head back home. Hopefully nothing changes and those things will continue to improve. See y’all next week.

Week 14!!!

This week went by very fast. On Monday, I was very stressed because I felt like I had a lot of assignments to do and not enough time. However, Peyton and I went on a walk outside and got some coffee and I felt much better after. It’s crazy how spending some time outside in the sun can significantly change your mood. After that, we came home and I wrote my essay for BMEN 253. That night, Peyton and I got Greek food with our host dad. We went to a restaurant in Siegburg and it was one of the best meals I have had in Germany. On Tuesday, I had classes all day, as well as Wednesday. Wednesday evening, I had my 3rd BMEN 211 exam. It was so interesting… there was so much on the test I did not know. However, I tried my best, so I am trying not to worry about it. On Thursday, we had a day trip to Remagen. We were supposed to bike there but the weather ended up not being great, meaning I could sleep in an extra hour, which I was of course fine with. We went to the Friedenmuseum and learned about the Remagen Bridge. We then walked to an Italian restaurant for lunch and it was so good. After, Peyton and I headed home and I worked on my Enmodes DHF then relaxed. On Friday, we had another day trip to Bingen and Andernach. On the bus there, Erin and I worked very hard on our DHF so we did not have to work on it in the evening which made me happy. We started off in Bingen at the Museum Am Strom where we learned about Hildegard, ending in her garden outside. We had a weird encounter with a German conspirator who was very mad that Peyton was wearing a mask. It was uncomfortable and reminded me that we always need to be on our guard in a country where we don’t know the language and where things are, just for our safety. We got back on the bus and headed to Andernach. We went to a Bavarian restaurant where I ate the best (and probably last) schnitzel I’ve had in Germany. Our last activity of the day was going to the Johann-Winter Museum. This was one of my favorite museums we have been to. It contained the history of medicine from the start of time up to the present day. It was exciting to hear our guide talk about things that Dr. Wasser has taught us in BMEN 400 or things we have seen in person, such as the Hotel Dieu in France. After, we got back on the bus and headed back to Bonn. Peyton and I went to the grocery store and then back to our house. On Saturday, I slept in and then studied at Starbucks all day. In the evening, I watched 500 Days of Summer, which was a pretty good movie. Sunday also consisted of Starbucks and studying. I got a lot done this weekend which I am glad for since the entirety of this week is devoted to Enmodes. I cannot believe there are only 16 days left. I am excited to go home and see my family and friends :) 

Week 14

 This week went by super fast! I didn't have much this week, Amanda had tons of school work. On Sunday, we went to dinner with our host dad at some Greek restaurant in Siegburg. This was my first time ever having Greek food and it was amazing. I love our host dad, he's always so nice and very jokeful. During the week, we just had classes. On Thursday we went to Remagen and went to this museum that taught us about the Remagen bridge and its significance. Then on Friday, we had a trip to Bingen and Andernach. It was honestly a lot of fun, but I was just so tired from traveling in the two days. This week was crazy just because of Enmodes, and then finals coming up. I'm honestly just so tired from everything and cannot wait to catch up on sleep in the summer. We keep getting closer and closer to going home... I am honestly excited to go home (I never thought I would say that) but I really am going to miss Germ. It has become home. 

Week 14: Patient 0

     Well here we go again. I don't know why I keep getting sick here, but I have fallen ill more times in Germany than I have in the past three years. Whatever virus I had this past week knocked me down for the count. I'm talking KO. I was tired the entire week and so congested in my lungs. This really made it difficult to get prepared for the coming weeks. I have two exams and the enmodes presentation this next week and then three exams the week after that. I really need to get better so that I can focus on studying and getting ready for finals. We hardly have any time to prepare for finals with classes still going on and finalizing our presentation. We also have the charity day on Saturday so that is taking away more time to study. I will admit that the packed schedule is a little frustrating. 

    We had two excursions this week on Thursday and Friday. Our first one was in Remagen, where we went to the Peace museum and learned about the history of the bridge. The next study trip was to St. Bingen and Andernach. We visited the medical herb garden in St. Bingen and Erin and I were able to sit in the sun to enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the feeling of the warmth on my skin. It easy to get used to cloudy days here in Germany during the winter. 

    I know this next week is going to be a real challenge when it comes to energy levels and my sanity but all I can do is push forward. I have come so far in the program to stop short of the finish line. I want to be proud of everything I have accomplished come the end of this trip in two weeks.

Week 14: April 11-16

On Tuesday, I worked hard on my med school app draft, and we had an enmodes session, our last physiology lab (yay!), and pharmacology. On Wednesday, we had physiology, German, and an intercultural workshop. We learned comparisons in German and played more Jeopardy in the workshop. I had one more essay to write for my application, so I took advantage of an empty house on Wednesday night, sat in the yellow chair downstairs, and was very productive!

On Thursday, we had an excursion to Remagen. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we didn’t ride bikes there because it was too cold and rainy. We took the train instead and walked along the Rhine to the Friedensmuseum. The museum was built inside the towers that held the bridge on one side of the Rhine, and it was really neat to learn about the history of the bridge before it fell. After the museum, we had lunch, and that’s when I really started feeling bad. Once home, I submitted my application draft and then relaxed. Claudia made me tea and gave me fennel honey to help with my cough and voice.

Sadly, I had to stay home from the Bingen/Andernach excursion on Friday. My cold was getting worse, and I needed to take the day to rest, especially with an even busier week coming up. I’ll have to hear how the trip went on Monday. On Saturday, my cold symptoms started moving from my chest to my sinuses, which is no fun. I’m hoping I can get better by Monday because I can’t afford to not be 100% this week. Saturday consisted of homework and studying for the MCAT. I have a lab exam on Monday, so that will be my focus tomorrow. Then, all efforts shift to finishing the enmodes project before our final presentation on Friday.

Week 13: April 4-10

This week was different. We had Monday off after the France excursion, and then we also got Friday and Monday off for Good Friday and Easter Monday, so I only had three days at home before traveling again. And of course, they were busy three days filled with school and working on the draft of my medical school application.

On Tuesday, we had pharmacology, which was back on Zoom since Dr. Fajt went back to Texas. Then, we had an enmodes session, where we tried to nail down some more details of our design. After lunch, we had physiology lab. On Wednesday, we had history of medicine, German, and physiology. On Thursday, we Zoomed with Austen from enmodes and presented our design ideas. This presentation went much better than our first one before Spring Break. Our idea was more fully developed and it was better received by all. They were particularly interested in our ideas for temperature sensing, so we’ll have to hone in on that in the coming days. After lunch, we had another enmodes session, where we started working on our DHF, and then, we ended the day with physiology.

Erin, Elizabeth, and I woke up bright and early on Friday morning to catch a train to Antwerp. We ended up running into lots of other people at hbf taking the same train to Cologne on route to our various destinations. We made our transfer in Cologne with plenty of time to spare, but in Brussels, our 6-minute transfer turned into a -1-minute transfer that we only made because the last train left late. I’m sure it was quite the scene watching me, Elizabeth, and Erin sprint through the Brussels train station. Once in Antwerp, we ate a Belgian waffle with chocolate and strawberries (of course), checked into our hotel, ate at a less-than-stellar burrito place that made us wish we had Freebirds, and then went back to the hotel so Elizabeth could register for classes. After, we went to Chocolate Nation, which was the coolest museum on how Belgian chocolate is made. The three of us spent WAY too much money on chocolate, but it was so worth it. We went back to the hotel to work on homework and then splurged on a nice Italian dinner, which was definitely a highlight.

On Saturday, we ate breakfast and then walked around the city. We wandered past the city hall building only to find about 5 couples getting married! One bride was wearing a full wedding dress and had bridesmaids, one was wearing a simple long white dress and had a bouquet, and another pulled up in her fiancé’s baby blue Porsche wearing a gorgeous white cocktail dress. We had lunch and then went back to the hotel to do more homework. In the evening, we bought more chocolate, wandered some more, had dinner at a burger place on the water, and got another Belgian waffle.

Sunday was Easter! Praise God for the gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of His son! It was definitely a different Easter than the ones I’ve had in the past. We had breakfast and got one more waffle before catching our train to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, we checked into the hotel and then found a place to eat lunch. After, we wandered around the city. On our way to see a church, we stumbled upon the red-light district, which was quite an experience. We got stroopwafels, saw the Anne Frank House, and walked through the tulip market. We went back to the hotel to do more homework. I ended up watching the live stream of the Easter service at Grace Southwood, which was really nice. Then, we had a really fun dinner at an eccentric street taco place. While I missed being with my family and celebrating Easter the traditional way, it is still fun to be traveling and making memories.

On Monday, we wandered even more (can you tell we didn’t really plan anything?!). We took a canal cruise and had wine and cheese. The cruise ended about 75 minutes before our train left, so we rushed back to the hotel to get our stuff and then to the train station. The train ride consisted of yet even more homework.  We made it back to Bonn around 9:30pm.

This upcoming week is sure to be even busier. My med school application draft is due Thursday, and we have lots of work to do on enmodes with only two weeks left. We also have two excursions this week, so that should be fun. Hopefully I won’t be too stressed this week because it’s only going to get worse as we round out the semester.   

Week 14

I've been struck down in my prime. 

I've been sick with a cold all week and this cold has some serious hands. I've been down for the count and the timing couldn't be worse. I have to prepare for exams and enmodes but I get so tired that I end up going home and just sleeping. I know it's what my body needs but it is still inconvenient. I have an exam Monday, Wednesday, and enmodes presentation Friday. Then I have 3 exams the next week and a final a couple days after that. All the students have such a stressful and packed schedule these next few weeks so at least we can commiserate together. 

This week was very short. We had class for 2 days and then excursions. The two days of classes weren't bad, but they made me feel unprepared for next week. The Thursday excursion was fun. We went to Regamon and saw where the bridge was and got a tour of the museum associated with it. It was a little rainy but other than that it was nice weather. During the lunch we all talked about our hogwarts houses and I think we all get sorted at the end of the year which is exciting (Go Slytherin!). The Friday excursion included us seeing the Hildegarden and the museum. I really enjoyed the garden. Peri and I sat in the sun like lizards for a bit before continuing on to Andernach and the museum there. The museum there was very cool. It had all kinds of things in it from Roman surgical tools to 1950's gynecology devices to plague doctor costumes to a covid exhibit. It was very homey in there and our guide seemed like a very nice man. After we got popsicles and returned to Bonn. 

I haven't seen much of my host mom this week and I feel kind of bad about it. From what I can tell she enjoys spending time with me and I feel like I'm neglecting her when I only see her for about 10 minutes a day. The next few weeks are very busy and I've been sick this week and I think she knows she won't see me much. It feels like we are phasing out of living together. 

I have loved getting to see Germany transition from winter to spring, but it is a little bittersweet. I think Germany has a beautiful spring and summer and I won't get to experience it. I want to stay here because Texas summer is awful. 

Bingen/Andernach

 A lovely day trip with the class turned out to be one of the sunniest days of the semester.

We learned all about the iconic Hildegard von Bingen. Even more than learning, we were in the place she made history. Thats the special thing about this program. It's within the history.

Week 7

 This week was a normal week here in Bonn. We basically just had time to study and I focused on my academics. I also took advantage of this week to spend more time with my host parents and was able to learn more about their journey here in Germany. They told me their story of how they escaped East Germany and moved to Bonn to get a better lifestyle for themselves and their kids. What shocked me the most about their journey was the fact that 4 months after they escaped, the Berlin Wall finally fell. When I learned this, I was simply amazed by the fact that absolutely no one in Germany knew that this event was going to occur. They then showed me some videos of the fall of the wall that they collected from some of their friends recorded on that historic day. Later in the week, we hang out at Patricio's and Jackson's house and we made some chicken quesadillas and drank some beer. I finished the week by just relaxing in my house and eating dinner with my host parents. 

Week 6

This week was a special one in my books. After the marvelous visit to both Vienna and Prague, we came back to take a normal week of classes and focus on our academic performance. As the weekend ahead of us was a long weekend, I asked Matt and Colby about the possible destination we could visit during those 4 days. Colby mentioned that Croatia is a beautiful place and that this city called Split on the Croatian coast was worth visiting. We then got together a group of 7 of us and booked our tickets to this unique place for the weekend. As Saturday came, we met at the Dusseldorf airport and then took the plane to split. Matt and the girls were a bit late and if it wasn't for the flight getting delayed, they probably wouldn't it have made it. However, despite this, we got to Croatia safely and headed to the Airbnb where we were going to stay. The apartment was simply amazing, we had a nice view of the sea from the balcony there. In the following days, we explored the beautiful city of Split by having a look at the beautiful places this city had to offer. What really surprised me the most was the sunset that we got to see first, it was by far the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in my entire life. The following day we had the opportunity to visit the castle that used to be controlled by the Croatian Empire. The city was simply amazing, the food, the people, and the beautiful landscapes made this trip an unforgettable one. Split, Croatia was one of the best cities I have ever visited in my life and is a destination that will be visiting in the future. 

Week 13

 We are back in Bonn after France. We need to prepare for our enmodes presentations and for our easter weekend travel. It was a very short week of school. 3 days including the Enmodes presentation day. It went better than expected honestly but we definitely have tons of work to do still. Genetics still managed to test me because zoom at 7:45 is awful. That being said I begrudgingly admit that I like the class. 

Peri and I finally decided (on Wednesday) that we will be going to London for Easter weekend!!!! Very excited to go and see London as I've never been. Kassy and Colby will be coming as well so yayyy! I've been debating on if I should try to go to a soccer game in person but ultimately I want to have a relaxing trip and going to a soccer game will be very expensive and complicate things so I think I'll end up at a pub watching it instead. 

London is amazing. It is so pretty and there is so much to do and see! The only downside is that everything is so expensive. Like a basic meal that should be $8 is more like $20 in London. The public transportation is soo nice. It is clean and a train comes every 3 minutes I swear. We bought public transport day passes and it is so convenient and much cheaper than taking bolts or ubers everywhere. One thing I noticed is that the time it would take to uber was essentially the same to get you somewhere as public transportation. I was a big fan of that because a book I'm reading highlighted how public transport often doesn't connect throughout the city, so going across a city and trip linking (picking up kids, buying groceries, posting a package, etc. in one trip) would take ages while ubering would be faster but extremely costly. I thought it was very cool how public transport took the same amount of time as an uber but was much cheaper. The entire trip made me realize how relaxing it is being in a country that speaks your language. Moving abroad here would be much easier than moving to any other european country like Germany where I simply don't speak the language. It was so strange to understand the voiceover on the train and to be able to read advertisements and understand people's conversations around me. 

Our friday night consisted of the Buckingham Palace and the F1 arcade. The Buckingham Palace was pretty but honestly it felt like any other building. The F1 arcade was so much fun, but pretty difficult. Peri and Kassy crashed into me in most of the races so naturally I blame them for my low placement (no other reason). It was fun laughing about our races and which teams we got to drive for. I drove for ferrari and Peri was VERY jealous. Kassy drove for McLaren and we all felt bad for her. Peri drove for red bull so she was our common enemy (they had the best car by far). That night I made Peri and Kassy try some of my favorite UK candies (pastilles and cadbury mini eggs). They didn't appreciate them enough if you ask me. 

Saturday was a slow day. Peri and I walked across the London Bridge and went to the Borough Market. We had the best gluten free brownie ever. I mean ever. It was delicious. We also had a victorian sponge cake. It was also delicious but that brownie was insane, you couldn't even tell it was gluten free. After that we went to a pub and watched the Manchester United vs Everton soccer game. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to be in that kind of environment where everyone was watching the game. At least where I grew up people didn't really do that unless it was the Super Bowl or the Olympics or World Cup. The culture around soccer is very different here and one I can appreciate. 

Sunday was jam packed. We started by seeing the Tower of London and walking the Tower bridge. I enjoyed seeing the castle and the Tower bridge was very pretty. The weather was amazing which helped a lot. Colby, Peri, and I then went and saw the West Ham soccer stadium. It was cool to see, especially since it is involved in a Ted Lasso season 3. Then we went to the Natural History Museum. I love natural history museums so it was a 10/10. We didn't stay terribly long though because everyone was starving. We walked to a wingstop for lunch/dinner. It was delicious. Can't wait to go back in the states. I always forget that I like chicken wings and buffalo sauce until I eat it again, and then I'm like ohh yeah I forgot I love this food. Happens every time, without fail. After that we went and saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We also saw the Parliament building and all I could think about was the movie "V for Vendetta". After that Colby went to go see another soccer stadium and Kassy went to walk Tower bridge so Peri and I went and saw Scotland Yard and then went to a bakery. Peri wasn't feeling well and the bakery was mid so we went back to the air bnb and finished Ted Lasso. It was bitter sweet catching up with present day because now I can't binge watch it anymore. Plus it was fun watching and discussing the show with Peri. We started the show Money Heist in replacement of Ted Lasso. I had heard good things about it but I do really like the show so far. 

On Monday we woke up and got ready to eat breakfast before heading to the airport. I had a classic english breakfast with english tea. Honestly it was pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. It was raining the whole day though so it was nice to be inside and have all of our sight seeing done. I was nervous about making it through airport security in time because the last time I was at that airport it took over an hour to get through security and people all around us were missing their flights. All in all thought it took 15 minutes to get our boarding passes and pass through security which was a relief. The flight was short and we got back to Bonn around 5. I wasn't feeling very good and I'm pretty sure Peri got me sick, but it is just a cold so things could be much worse. 

I'm apprehensive about the next 3 weeks. They are absolutely filled with exams and the enmodes project. I'm not quite ready for it all but I'm hoping I can prepare for things this week so the next 2 won't be bad. 

I can't believe the program ends in 3 weeks. It feels like we just got here. I've seen and done so much and I don't really want to head back home. Here I just have my classes which I enjoy and traveling. Back home I have work and school and the mcat and volunteering and all kinds of other things so being here has been nice. I feel like I'm in a weird limbo where I can see the end and all my looming responsibilities but it is too far for me to really recognize that I'll need to figure out how to repack my suitcase by myself in 2 weeks. 

Week 13: It's London Bruv

     I spent less time in Bonn this week than I did in France or London. I felt like I hardly had any time to recover from one trip before we were off on our next adventure. We're trying to squeeze as much into the time we have left as possible. That's probably why I got sick again; It's chronic exhaustion at this point. Sorry I got you sick again too Erin:/. 

    The small amount of time we did spend in Bonn was filled with catching up on class work and trying to do more on our project. We have so much left to figure out before we are ready to present to enmodes. It's hard to find precedent for our idea and the research is slow going. We also never signed the NDA so we don't have access to some of the information that would be helpful to properly calculate numbers. We'll manage though.

    London was absolutely incredible. I loved just walking the streets of the city and being able to understand the language was nice after being places where I had no clue what was going on around me. Once Erin, Kass, and I got to London our first stop was to get some classic fish and chips. We had a pretty good meal but we all just about had a heart attack when we got the bill back. We knew that it would be expensive in London but we didn't realize it would cost us almost $30 a piece for some fried fish. We also made sure to try the Indian food in the city and were not disappointed. Also made a stop at Wingstop because why not. We saw so many landmarks in the city and were so impressed with the efficiency of the London underground. The city is so expensive but I could imagine myself living there.

    I wanted to ride on one of the double-decker buses at least once so Erin and Kass were nice enough to indulge my whim when we left the pub we had watched a soccer game at. Overall, London has been one of my favorite places that we have visited. 10/10 would go back. 

Week 13

 This week went by fairly quickly! Amanda and I started the week off eating at Lighthouse Cafe! I got to try their dark chocolate, almond oatmeal and it was phenomenal. On Tuesday, we had class and I love the lectures we are doing in 427 right now. I think the reproductive system is one of the most interesting units in the class. On Wednesday we had a German quiz that I felt so unprepared for, but it went fairly well! On Thursday we had our informal Enmodes presentation. I was not ready for the presentation, and I felt like you could tell. This Enmodes project is becoming even more stressful as the program is nearing the end and I am not prepared for this stress level. After our presentations, Amanda and I headed home to pack for London!! Our flight out on Friday was at 8 am, so we packed and then headed to bed. Friday morning, I was so antsy and ready to get going. The Cologne airport is so nice and it is actually pretty efficient, so we got through security really well, the plane was on time, and everything was going smoothly. Once we arrived in London, Heathrow was massive, or at least felt massive. The public transportation there was SO nice, but they definitely take advantage of needing the transportation. Amanda and I paid $50 each for a ticket to our hotel... Once we got to our hotel, we relaxed for a bit and then headed to this brunch place. They had the best gluten free pancakes that I have ever had. They also had loaded tater-tots, and they were phenomenal as well. After we ate breakfast, we just had a chill day around London. We went shopping, got some coffee, and we ended up walking by this little place called "Donut Time"!  They had gluten free donuts, and I was able to get two to try. One of them was the "Megan Foxx" and the other was the "David Beckham". Both of them were really good, and they were so sweet. Once we got tired, we headed back to the hotel and ordered Wingstop for dinner. This was a taste of home, which was so nice. We spent the rest of the night eating Wingstop and watching Bridgerton. The next morning, we slept in, and then headed on about our day. We went to Waterstones book store, and spent quite a bit of time inside. The store was five stories, I could have spent days inside. One memory of this store that I will cherish forever, is that I was looking at a book when an author came up, found her book, and just whipped out a sharpie to sign it, put it back, and then just left. It was the most amazing thing, and obviously I picked up her book to see what it was about. I wish I was into the genre that she wrote, but sadly I wasn't so I out it back and went on about the store. After looking through the store, I found one of my favorite series and they were in the UK editions. I wanted to cry ˙◠˙ I have never seen prettier editions of books, and I wanted to take them all home. After the bookstores, we headed to this Tortilla restaurant for lunch. They had gluten free tacos, they were good, but after a while they just did not sit well. We then headed to this bakery on the outer side of London, and I regret it. The pastries were rough, not very good at all. Somehow, we ended up in the River Oaks of London, and actually found some very expensive stores. We even tried on some dresses that were over 600 pounds. After looking at these shops, we headed back to the hotel to rest for an hour, made a reservation to eat at this restaurant called "The Alchemist" and then we headed to the London Bridge to see it at sunset! The bridge was pretty packed, but it was still beautiful to see. When we got to the restaurant, it was so cool! Music was pretty loud, and you had to be 18 to go in which was crazy to me. Once we were sat, we ordered these drinks. Mine they literally lit on fire and then added something to it to make it produce like a fog, and Amanda's was the same without the fire. They even had gluten free fried chicken, and whew it was so amazing. Amanda and I literally thought they lied about it being gluten free because it was so good, genuinely thought I was going to be so sick. Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel and just watched Bridgerton for the rest of the night. For our last day in London, we went to Nandos for lunch! The workers were so nice and were very knowledgeable on Celiac, I felt very comfortable eating there. After Nandos, we headed to this place called ChocoMelt, and they had the BEST chocolate covered strawberries. They were so good, and they weren't really too expensive. After this, we headed back to our hotel and grabbed our things to head to the airport. Getting through security was easy, and we just relaxed at a cafe until we got hungry and went to this restaurant for dinner. It was not good, do not recommend. After this, we boarded the plane, made it to Cologne quickly, and then just headed home. On Monday, we slept in and then just had dinner with our host dad at this Greek restaurant. The food was amazing, and speaking with our host dad is so much fun. The only thing I hate is that I talk too fast for him to understand me, and even when I slow down it still is too fast. So I've kind of just stayed quiet most of the time, which is fine, but also I feel bad. We got gelato after dinner and then we just headed home. 

London felt like home but 10x better. The food, the people, and just the vibe of the place was amazing. I loved every minute of it, and if we could have stayed longer, I would have and never would have left. This program is just flying by and now we only have three weeks until we are home ◡̈ 

Week 12- Beane, Colmar, Paris, Nice, Monaco, Antibes

 This week was our second (and last) big excursion. It was really fun to travel with everyone again. I think out of the three places we went all together, Colmar was my favorite. It was a really cute small town that we had the afternoon to wander around in. Even though Paris was not at the top of my list, I still really liked it and even enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think we were all a little worried about the amount of trash and riots going on but that was never an issue. The main thing that made me really like Pairs was getting to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We went up as little groups but ended up seeing each other at the top which was really funny.

After the group trip, we went to Nice. We stayed there for 3 nights but took day trips to Monaco and Antibes on Saturday and Sunday. All of the places were drastically different in their cultures. It was interesting getting to see all of the rich people and cars in Monaco compared to the regular ole towns just a 20 minute train ride away. Either way, all the places we went that weekend were warm and had a beach so all my boxes were checked. 

0.5 or 1-L?!

         This weekend I ended up going to Munich with Senor Estes and Senor Joaquin. It was crappy not because Munich is a bad city, but because my lucky self was sick the entire time. Luckily it wasn’t COVID according to 3 self-tests which got me to go considering I had spent a ton of money on this trip. The trip to Munich was pretty nice since we missed the connection in Koln and had to get on another train that was delayed for about an hour. At the end of the day though, we got to Munich at around 2 am so it wasn’t horrible. On the other hand, we did get to see the German police in action for the first time this entire trip. The second we stepped off the train and started walking out, we heard a ton of commotion outside and noticed a group of people surrounding a group of cops who were detaining a man who seemed very pissed off about getting detained. The funny thing is that the more he yelled and resisted, the more the cops wanted to body slam him into the wall, which funny enough, they did. First time I have seen a cop body slam a suspect in person and it was hilarious. Once we got to the hotel, we were out immediately and decided that we would meet up the next morning at around 10 to see the city.

              The following morning, we stopped at Rewe for some breakfast which was lowkey good and then we headed out into the mysterious city of beer and bread. We first went to the marketplace which surprisingly was packed and selling beer at 10:30 in the morning, my kind of place. Once we did some exploring there, we ended up heading for the gardens, where Matt wanted to eat at the center of it. Of course, I agreed since I am not one to turn down the opportunity to drink beer and eat, even when I’m dying of some random infection. The beer selection consisted of two sizes, a 0.5- and 1-liter beer, so Matt took a 1 L and Jackson, and I went for a 0.5 mostly considering the fact that I felt horrid but not bad enough to not drink a beer. This decision would turn out to be a horrid decision since I felt worse after drinking the beer. We ate and walked around some more and ended up heading back into the hotel to chill until we wanted some dinner at the Paulner München Bauhaus. The dinner was great, and Jackson was told to try some actual Bavarian food next time we ate there which was hilarious. Ended the night with some Powerade and some blue mountain state with the boys, great show.

              Ended the next day with seeing what we had missed the past day and got to sit in the Olympic pool building which helped with breathing and brought back some nice memories of my high school competitive nature. Watched some BMS before heading back to the train station. However, Jackson got an email telling us that our train was canceled. The second we got this, we packed everything up and ran to the station to try to get on another train. Luckily, when we got there, there was a train that was leaving in 3 min that would drop us off in Siegburg 3 hours before our original train would drop us off in Bad Godesberg. Greatest save ever. We arrived in Siegburg at around 11 pm and ran into Peyton and Amanda which was a hell of a coincidence. Headed back home and passed out sleeping in till 1 pm, the first time I had slept past 10 am since getting here.

              For the most part, this weekend was fun and it would’ve been a lot better if I had not been sick, but I am glad that I got to see Munich and that Jackson and Matt were homies and got me some medicine and food when I felt like shit. BMS was a fun throwback to when I didn’t care about anything and I am genuinely surprised that the show hasn’t been canceled by everyone in todays society. Not looking forward to the upcoming exams and need to see whether I want to go to Amsterdam or stay in and do some studying.

Week 13!!!

 This week started with a day off from school which was nice. Peyton and I went to Lighthouse Cafe (our favorite) and did homework for a while. After we went to REWE to get some groceries. On Tuesday, we were back in school. I had 4 classes, so it was a long day. Our Enmodes project started to really get into action, so I got very stressed out this day. On Wednesday, I had some classes along with a German quiz. On Thursday, I got to school at 7AM to take my differential equations test. I think it went well besides the fact that I was tired during the exam. After that, we had a company call with Enmodes where we did an informal presentation. We finished that early so Erin and I worked on some calculations for our device. It was very frustrating. After that, I did some homework and then headed home. I packed for my London trip and straightened my hair; it was the first time I had straightened my hair in Europe! On Friday, Peyton and I left our house at 5:30 to head to Köln Airport. We got lucky because our bags were definitely oversized but Eurowings did not charge us extra. I fell asleep on the flight before we even took off. We landed in London and took a train and then a tram to our hotel. We settled for a bit and then headed to brunch. We got some amazing brunch food and then started wandering Piccadilly Circus. We did some shopping which was super fun. At around 5, Peyton and I went back to the hotel to watch Bridgerton and order in our dinner. We were exhausted and realized it was because we walked 10 miles in 5 hours! We had a fun night in and then went to sleep. On Saturday, we slept in until 10AM, which was so needed. We got ready and then went to Costa Coffee for breakfast. After that, we walked to a few bookstores and spent a while in there. The second Waterstone bookstore we went into was 5 stories! After that, we went to a place called Tortilla that reminded me of Chipotle. It was so good and it was very nice to eat some flavors from home that I have been missing. After this, we headed to an outer part of London to go to a gluten-free bakery. On the way, we stopped at Black Sheep Coffee which ended up being the best coffee I have ever had. We got to a very rich part of London which was fun to see. We saw some very high-end stores including Love Shack Fancy. The bakery ended up being terrible but luckily we saw many things around it that we would not have seen had we not gone over there. We headed back to our hotel for a bit and then walked to the Tower Bridge during sunset. It was so pretty. We then took the tram to our dinner restaurant. We went to a place called The Alchemist, which ended up being more of a bar than a restaurant, but it was still good. The drinks were very elaborate and entertaining and the food was just as good. It was about 10:30 when we left so we headed back to the hotel. We tried to watch an episode of Bridgeton but ended up being too tired because we walked 13 miles! On Sunday, we woke up to the church bells of St. Paul’s church celebrating Easter. We walked to a Black Sheep Coffee that was near us for breakfast. Then we headed back near Piccadilly Circus. We went to Nando’s and it was so good, I was glad Peyton was able to eat there. We also bought our postcards of course. After lunch, we went to a place called Cocomelt; it was like a dessert place. We had the best chocolate-covered strawberries ever, I wish I could have them again. After this, we decided to start heading to the airport. We went to our hotel to grab our things and got to the airport about 2 hours later. I’ve heard terrible things about Heathrow, but we actually had a really good experience. Now we are on the way home and should be at our house by 23:00. I am so thankful for this weekend, it was so much fun and a great last trip. I know we are so close to going home, but we have a lot of things to do before then, including a lot of tests and the Enmodes project. I am definitely stressed about it, but trying to not be dreadful about the days to come just because they will be hard. 

München

    Easter weekend every price of travel was inflated. Because of the timing of the trip I didn't want to break the bank but I wanted to utilize the 3 day weekend. So München. Where the beer is only sold in half liters and full liters. It was a bit cold while we were there so experiencing a Biergarten wasn't the same as in the summer months, but it was lovely. I enjoyed the energy in the air.

Wk 11; Back to Bonn

week 11

After spending an entire week in Spain, I was looking forward to getting back to my regular routine once I got back to Bonn. 

At this point in my study abroad experience in Bonn, I have been able to locate my preferred locations throughout the city. On a typical day, I get up, have breakfast, and then begin making my way to Konrad-adenauer-Platz to board tram 66 and make my way to the Aib. There is nothing unusual about this week, as usual go to school and after school go studyin front of the Rhine or go to the library at the University of Bonn. My weekend, on the other hand, turned out to be quite interesting because I chose to spend it in London💂💃 with my friend Claudia, who had been in Spain for the previous week. We went to see some of the sights that London had to offer. 

During my time there, I went to the Elizabeth tower, the National Museum, the London Eye, and China Town in London, the Buckingham palace, etc...  It was unquestionably an experience, and I cherished each and every one of the moments that made up my time there. 💙💂

(I thought it would be nice to add my bereals hehe) don't forget to add me (@celewele)😏😉