6/14/09
I arrived back to the United States exactly one month ago and it’s amazing how quickly things return to normal after such a monumental trip. This summer seems even busier than past summers because the five weeks I spent in Europe shortened my time at home. I still think about the Europe trip every day and love telling anyone who will listen about our adventures overseas.
I distinctly remember when I was sitting in the Berlin airport waiting for my plane I heard a man with an American accent and I thought “that sounds like Dr. Wasser.” Then I heard another man speak with an American accent and I thought “Hey! He sounds like Dr. Wasser, too!” Then I realized that the only male voice with an American accent I had heard in the last three weeks was Dr. Wasser’s (other than Chris, but he sounds more young) so these guys automatically sounded like Dr. Wasser to me! I thought that was pretty funny.
After the Germany part of my trip, I met up with my boyfriend and went to an Oasis concert in Manchester which was pretty intense and tons of fun (check out Oasis Heaton Park on youtube). We then continued on to Venice (where we got engaged!!), Florence, and Rome. I had an amazing time in Italy and it was definitely one of my favorite European countries.
I arrived home late Saturday night, had Sunday to get situated, and then started work Monday morning. I wish I had taken a few days off before starting work so that I would have had more time to reflect on the trip. I think about it every day for one reason or another, but I don’t feel like I’ve really had time to organize all of my thoughts (and pictures!) or to tell anyone every detail of what I did while in Europe. One thing that bothers me about being so busy is that I haven’t been able to go through all of my pictures and remember everything I did and I worry that I’ll start forgetting things already.
When I got back to the US, I was quite happy to have the conveniences of home again. English, American dollars, my car, American food, laundry, and the lack of a suitcase were all nice to return to despite how comfortable I became with European travel. There are definitely characteristics of European life that I admire, leading to the following consequences: Seeing Americans waddle through the airport with their huge suit cases seems silly now. I don’t let myself absent mindedly drink 10 free refills of soda at restaurants anymore. I feel guilty filling up my car with gas when I could probably find a way to carpool more often. Cities lacking any buildings over 500 years old seem dull. Pickup trucks and SUV’s that have never been used to haul something seem like a big waste of money and strain on the environment. I can’t use the restroom in a McDonalds without buying something, even if I’m on a road trip. Of course the worst thing about America is that there’s no Olaf and Steffie here…
Going to Europe was a great learning experience for me both for the veterinary part and the basic world travel aspects. I have never been a history/geography buff and traveling around Europe really opened my eyes to what that area of the world has to offer. I saw the Berlin Holocaust monument on television a couple weeks after we returned to the US and it was just so cool to me that I not only knew about the monument and its significance, but that I had actually stood in that spot looking out over the memorial. This experience allowed me to realize the joys of experiencing people and places completely foreign to me. It was great to learn to navigate travel in a country where English was not the primary language. I went in to this trip thinking this may be my only opportunity to travel to Europe, but now that I’ve experienced world travel, I know I will find a way to return to Europe and to journey to other faraway places because I think I’m addicted, and where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Not too late I hope...
I realize we were supposed to write a post-adventure blog about a month after we came home but I'm hoping two months is acceptable. It's hard to believe it's been that long since our trip ended. I think it's because I've been telling everyone I know about what an amazing time we had that I still kind of feel like I was just there.
Some of my favorite parts of the trip were the visits to the organic farm and to the veterinarian who practices holistic medicine. Those were especially interesting to me because we got to see things that we're probably really not going to get any exposure to in our classes at A&M. I really enjoyed the time we got to spend at the vet school clinics in Hanover and Berlin because we got to watch some really neat surgeries, but I know that those are things I'll be exposed to in 4th year so actually going out to see a farm and to talk to a veterinarian in her clinic rather than sitting in a classroom and maybe just getting a lecture on the same subjects made it much more appealing and interesting.
On the cultural side of things I'm really happy that seeing historical places and learning about different cultures were both so well blended in with the academic side of things. The cathedral in Cologne is a tough thing to beat and being able to hop over to Paris (even if just for the weekend) was awesome. Even though agreeing on places to eat lunch or dinner was sometimes a bit tough it was still fun because everything we ate was something new and different... ok, except for the bagel sandwich place. My host students in Hanover were absolutely wonderful and I need to be better about keeping in touch with them.
Overall this was a great experience and I think all I'm going to say to the 1st year students in the fall is that they should all try to make it next year!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
At the end of if all...
Okay, so I believe we were supposed to write a summary blog after a month back home? Or two...? Okay, so I may have forgotten, just a little bit. But I still find myself relating random tales of our trip and comparing things to how they are in Europe versus here. First off I have to say that the trip to Germany (and the Netherlands, France and Switzerland), was hands down the best trip I've ever been on. Not only was it further than I've ever been from home (approximately 4500 miles from Austin to Hannover to be precise), but we we immersed in a whole different world culturally and linguistically speaking.
I think I learned a lot both about myself and the world around me. My independence and confidence in myself increased a lot for one. For example, I had never been on a subway (or a train for that matter) at all, and then all of a sudden I had to use one by myself in Hannover. And I must admit, I was inordinately pleased with my ability to do so. Even though I had quite the detailed cheat sheet courtesy of my host student, Anna. In addition, while it is false to assume that everyone in Germany speaks English, it is possible to get by with the written word and hand gestures...for the most part. I also learned that although some cultural faux paus seem to be inevitable (why again can I not drink a bottled drink I purchased from a bakery in that same bakery??), they're just part of the experience. Plus they give you fun stories to tell. :) And for the most part, people are more alike than different, and it is our differences that make us interesting.
I don't really have any new stories to relate or revelations about the world around me. I just know the following things: I would like to go back to Europe some day, I met some wonderful people there (particularly Steffie, Olaf and Anna), had some awesome adventures (ahh, mudwalking...), and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to travel with such a great group of people. :)
I think I learned a lot both about myself and the world around me. My independence and confidence in myself increased a lot for one. For example, I had never been on a subway (or a train for that matter) at all, and then all of a sudden I had to use one by myself in Hannover. And I must admit, I was inordinately pleased with my ability to do so. Even though I had quite the detailed cheat sheet courtesy of my host student, Anna. In addition, while it is false to assume that everyone in Germany speaks English, it is possible to get by with the written word and hand gestures...for the most part. I also learned that although some cultural faux paus seem to be inevitable (why again can I not drink a bottled drink I purchased from a bakery in that same bakery??), they're just part of the experience. Plus they give you fun stories to tell. :) And for the most part, people are more alike than different, and it is our differences that make us interesting.
I don't really have any new stories to relate or revelations about the world around me. I just know the following things: I would like to go back to Europe some day, I met some wonderful people there (particularly Steffie, Olaf and Anna), had some awesome adventures (ahh, mudwalking...), and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to travel with such a great group of people. :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
6/6/09 All Good Things Must Come to an End
Berlin was a great city to finish off the program. We arrived Wednesday night and met up with Olaf who we were all very happy to see again. We made it to the hotel Alex which ended up being my favorite hotel during the trip, and then we walked the streets of Berlin to find restaurants for dinner. A group of us went to an Italian restaurant and had a tasty and filling meal before heading back to the hotel and passing out for the night.
Thursday we started out the day with a Berlin on Bike (BOB) tour. I was kind of nervous before the tour started because it’s been years since I was last on a bike, but it turned out to be no problem and I only feared for my life a couple of times, haha. Our tour guide was great and did a good job presenting the history of Germany and Berlin’s role as the capital city. The most interesting part of the tour was seeing the remains and reconstructed stretches of the Berlin Wall. I didn’t realize how wide the “death zone” was and seeing the wall in person made it clear why escaping was so difficult.
After the morning bike tour, we had lunch at the train station and proceeded to the Berlin Zoo. Our private tour of the zoo with an emphasis on the veterinary aspects of taking care of the animals was amazing. I never would have expected we would get to pet a rhino! It was really cute seeing the rhinos and hippos begging for food just like a dog. The zoo hospital was very impressive with its pharmacy, surgery room, radiology, and elevator used to bring the animals up to the second floor. It was cool seeing radiographs of different zoo animals and hearing about cases they’re faced with as zoo vets. I was also fascinated by the fact that the veterinarians are not given budget restrictions when treating animals, they can continue with treatment as long as they feel the animal has a chance at recovery. The world famous Knut was my favorite animal to visit in the zoo and seeing him covered in mud reminded me of my fluffy white (but usually more of a brown) dog at home. After the tour was over, some of us went on to visit more of the exhibits and we got to hear the male lion full out roaring which was awesome (and a little scary!).
We left the zoo and took the metro to meet up with everyone at the Brandenburg gate after stopping for a hot chocolate. We all went to the Holocaust monument together and walked through the cement blocks considering the monument and what it was trying to portray. Our last night in Germany we went to a Moroccan restaurant that had excellent food and we all enjoyed our last night together. In the morning, I took an early taxi to the airport with Jessica and flew out to my next destination, Manchester, UK.
Thursday we started out the day with a Berlin on Bike (BOB) tour. I was kind of nervous before the tour started because it’s been years since I was last on a bike, but it turned out to be no problem and I only feared for my life a couple of times, haha. Our tour guide was great and did a good job presenting the history of Germany and Berlin’s role as the capital city. The most interesting part of the tour was seeing the remains and reconstructed stretches of the Berlin Wall. I didn’t realize how wide the “death zone” was and seeing the wall in person made it clear why escaping was so difficult.
After the morning bike tour, we had lunch at the train station and proceeded to the Berlin Zoo. Our private tour of the zoo with an emphasis on the veterinary aspects of taking care of the animals was amazing. I never would have expected we would get to pet a rhino! It was really cute seeing the rhinos and hippos begging for food just like a dog. The zoo hospital was very impressive with its pharmacy, surgery room, radiology, and elevator used to bring the animals up to the second floor. It was cool seeing radiographs of different zoo animals and hearing about cases they’re faced with as zoo vets. I was also fascinated by the fact that the veterinarians are not given budget restrictions when treating animals, they can continue with treatment as long as they feel the animal has a chance at recovery. The world famous Knut was my favorite animal to visit in the zoo and seeing him covered in mud reminded me of my fluffy white (but usually more of a brown) dog at home. After the tour was over, some of us went on to visit more of the exhibits and we got to hear the male lion full out roaring which was awesome (and a little scary!).
We left the zoo and took the metro to meet up with everyone at the Brandenburg gate after stopping for a hot chocolate. We all went to the Holocaust monument together and walked through the cement blocks considering the monument and what it was trying to portray. Our last night in Germany we went to a Moroccan restaurant that had excellent food and we all enjoyed our last night together. In the morning, I took an early taxi to the airport with Jessica and flew out to my next destination, Manchester, UK.
6/3/09
Switzerland is my favorite country I’ve visited so far in Europe. The land is so green and beautiful here… and the chocolate isn’t too bad either! We arrived early in Basel and went to the hotel to check in. It was nice having our own rooms in Basel because we were able to relax and spread out after 2 weeks of being with our classmates 24/7. I unpacked my whole suitcase when we arrive because I’m getting pretty tired of living out of a backpack and relaxed for a while watching trashy MTV.
Sierra, Sarah, and I enjoyed a sauna in the hotel and even toughed it out the whole 15 minutes despite our dyspnea and hyperemia of the face, haha. We had a short meeting once the whole group arrived and then headed to a Thai restaurant for dinner. The one downside of Switzerland was the extremely high prices. After dinner, Sierra and I played some poker (we had to use the cheat sheet to remember what makes up each hand) and watched Britain’s got Talent (we decided for the most part, Britain does not have talent).
Tuesday was our Novartis visit day. We first headed to their office for some lectures about the company structure and how animal health plays a role in the overall business and then took the bus to their animal research facility. First we had lunch (not as elegant as Steffi had suspected) and then listened to a brief lecture that unfortunately had a lot of overlap with the morning lecture. With that out of the way, the fun began. We toured the facilities and got to see their labs, tick and fly colonies, dog and cat colonies, canine testing room and equipment, and a couple of us went through the cattle barns. This was all very interesting and our guide was fantastic.
Wednesday we did a city tour of Basel in the morning which was great. As the trip progresses, I’m learning that it’s very hard to get to know a city without some sort of structured tour. Our guide on this tour was also very good and made me fall in love with her town. After the tour we had free time until we had to meet back up to go to the airport. We went clothes shopping which was awesome and bought Steffi some flowers. At the airport we all said goodbye to Steffi (so sad) and browsed the duty free shops until our flight arrived.
Sierra, Sarah, and I enjoyed a sauna in the hotel and even toughed it out the whole 15 minutes despite our dyspnea and hyperemia of the face, haha. We had a short meeting once the whole group arrived and then headed to a Thai restaurant for dinner. The one downside of Switzerland was the extremely high prices. After dinner, Sierra and I played some poker (we had to use the cheat sheet to remember what makes up each hand) and watched Britain’s got Talent (we decided for the most part, Britain does not have talent).
Tuesday was our Novartis visit day. We first headed to their office for some lectures about the company structure and how animal health plays a role in the overall business and then took the bus to their animal research facility. First we had lunch (not as elegant as Steffi had suspected) and then listened to a brief lecture that unfortunately had a lot of overlap with the morning lecture. With that out of the way, the fun began. We toured the facilities and got to see their labs, tick and fly colonies, dog and cat colonies, canine testing room and equipment, and a couple of us went through the cattle barns. This was all very interesting and our guide was fantastic.
Wednesday we did a city tour of Basel in the morning which was great. As the trip progresses, I’m learning that it’s very hard to get to know a city without some sort of structured tour. Our guide on this tour was also very good and made me fall in love with her town. After the tour we had free time until we had to meet back up to go to the airport. We went clothes shopping which was awesome and bought Steffi some flowers. At the airport we all said goodbye to Steffi (so sad) and browsed the duty free shops until our flight arrived.
6/2/09... Yes, I'm a little slow
For the second free weekend during the Germany program, Sarah, Sierra, Lindsey, and I went to Paris. Our train departed from Hannover very early in the morning so I stayed with Sierra’s host student, Anna, the night before we left. My hosts lived about a half hour outside of town so we would have had to wake up even earlier if I had stayed with them and they were pretty exhausted from the work week anyway. Anna drove us to the station and even walked us to our platform and then we all tried desperately to sleep away the hours on the train.
When we arrived, my friend, Cassandra, who has been living in France for almost a year met us at the station and helped us navigate to our hotel. Cassandra moved to France to perfect her French so she was an excellent translator for us during our stay. Once we checked in to the hotel, Cassandra lead us through the metro stations (up and down about a thousand stairs) to arrive at Notre Dam. We decided the line wasn’t worth it to go up to the top, but took a ton of pictures from every angle on the outside. Next, we headed for the Sacre Coeur or Sacred Heart. We weren’t planning to visit this site, but Cassandra highly recommended we go and it turned out to be one of our favorite areas of Paris. We browsed the square with all the painters selling their art behind the Sacre Coeur and each bought a scarf in the tourist trap shops nearby. We also visited the “I Love You Wall” where “I Love You” is written out in every language you can imagine which was fun.
After a crepe and coffee in Montmartre, we hopped back on the metro to get to the Eiffel Tower area. We watched the street performers (some of whom were friends with Cassandra!) and spent some time gazing at the Eiffel tower from the far side of the fountain before walking down for a closer look. We again decided the line was too long to go to the top of the tower and instead headed for a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious.
After dinner, we headed back to the Eiffel tower to watch it twinkle. The tower is lit at night and it twinkles once an hour for about 10 minutes. It wasn’t quite dark when we arrived so Sierra, Cassandra, and I decided to stay another hour to watch the next twinkle in the true dark. Laying on the grass in the dim light from the tower seemed like a dream.
The next morning, we headed for the Louvre before it opened to try to avoid a long line. The whole area was beautiful and we took lots of pictures before the museum even opened. Inside, we headed straight for the “Mona Lisa” (again to avoid crowds) which I found much more impressive than I was expecting. Everyone talks about how small the “Mona Lisa” is when you see the real thing, but I had heard this so many times that I was expecting something much smaller than the actual painting. The look in the woman’s eyes truly is amazing and can’t be appreciated from a print. Also in the Louvre, we visited “Cupid and Psyche,” “Venus de Milo,” “Sphinx,” “Winged Victory,” and quickly browsed through most of the museum.
After the Louvre, we headed through the surrounding gardens to reach the Champs Elysees. Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but I doubt we would have bought much in Gucci anyway… The plan was to meet Cassandra at the Arc de Triomph, but this proved to be somewhat difficult with no cell phones and about a million tourists crowding the area. When we finally met up, we went to a park where cute little boys were using sticks to push their sail boats in the fountain, a stereotype come true!
We returned to the Eiffel tower area for dinner and again had an amazing meal. My crème brule was the best I have ever had and definitely the best thing I’ve put in my mouth since arriving in Europe. We lay by the Eiffel tower again after dinner and watching the twinkling will be my last memory of Paris. The next morning we had a fairly early train and arrived in Basel ready to check out the tick colony at Novartis!
When we arrived, my friend, Cassandra, who has been living in France for almost a year met us at the station and helped us navigate to our hotel. Cassandra moved to France to perfect her French so she was an excellent translator for us during our stay. Once we checked in to the hotel, Cassandra lead us through the metro stations (up and down about a thousand stairs) to arrive at Notre Dam. We decided the line wasn’t worth it to go up to the top, but took a ton of pictures from every angle on the outside. Next, we headed for the Sacre Coeur or Sacred Heart. We weren’t planning to visit this site, but Cassandra highly recommended we go and it turned out to be one of our favorite areas of Paris. We browsed the square with all the painters selling their art behind the Sacre Coeur and each bought a scarf in the tourist trap shops nearby. We also visited the “I Love You Wall” where “I Love You” is written out in every language you can imagine which was fun.
After a crepe and coffee in Montmartre, we hopped back on the metro to get to the Eiffel Tower area. We watched the street performers (some of whom were friends with Cassandra!) and spent some time gazing at the Eiffel tower from the far side of the fountain before walking down for a closer look. We again decided the line was too long to go to the top of the tower and instead headed for a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious.
After dinner, we headed back to the Eiffel tower to watch it twinkle. The tower is lit at night and it twinkles once an hour for about 10 minutes. It wasn’t quite dark when we arrived so Sierra, Cassandra, and I decided to stay another hour to watch the next twinkle in the true dark. Laying on the grass in the dim light from the tower seemed like a dream.
The next morning, we headed for the Louvre before it opened to try to avoid a long line. The whole area was beautiful and we took lots of pictures before the museum even opened. Inside, we headed straight for the “Mona Lisa” (again to avoid crowds) which I found much more impressive than I was expecting. Everyone talks about how small the “Mona Lisa” is when you see the real thing, but I had heard this so many times that I was expecting something much smaller than the actual painting. The look in the woman’s eyes truly is amazing and can’t be appreciated from a print. Also in the Louvre, we visited “Cupid and Psyche,” “Venus de Milo,” “Sphinx,” “Winged Victory,” and quickly browsed through most of the museum.
After the Louvre, we headed through the surrounding gardens to reach the Champs Elysees. Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but I doubt we would have bought much in Gucci anyway… The plan was to meet Cassandra at the Arc de Triomph, but this proved to be somewhat difficult with no cell phones and about a million tourists crowding the area. When we finally met up, we went to a park where cute little boys were using sticks to push their sail boats in the fountain, a stereotype come true!
We returned to the Eiffel tower area for dinner and again had an amazing meal. My crème brule was the best I have ever had and definitely the best thing I’ve put in my mouth since arriving in Europe. We lay by the Eiffel tower again after dinner and watching the twinkling will be my last memory of Paris. The next morning we had a fairly early train and arrived in Basel ready to check out the tick colony at Novartis!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Our last home away from home... con familia!
Aunt Carmen prepared us a delicious lunch (the biggest meal of the day here) which was baked chicken and a Spanish version of potato salad, however it is actually called Russian salad. LOL. I actually like it a lot more than our version back home. Maybe she will share the recipe! Aunt Carmen had to go back to
We spent the remainder of the afternoon doing laundry and lounging by the pool. How wonderful after a busy week of traveling! The weather is quite warm and there is definitely a nice breeze constantly to fight the heat. I finished my Dick Francis book and took a siesta under the tree by the pool until Ruffo licked my face for my wake-up call and proceeded to steal my shoes… Then we ventured inside to watch Spanish game shows and hear all about typical Spanish culture through the eyes of an assimilated American.
The evening ended with a tapas run at around
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Stateside...
i've been home for a week and still find myself comparing everyday things to european life...free stillwater refilled at your table, dollar coins from an automated ticket machine and the looks i received from vendors when i tried to use them, a boxer with a long tail...as amazing as the trip was, i do enjoy being back at home with my family...i think it was the right amount of time for a vacation, albeit an educational one...i am really happy with the program and how smoothly it ran...i think the planned activities were phenomenal (with the exception of one maybe)...enlightening and inspiring would be the two words i would use to describe the trip...instead of learning something new every day, vets learn at least 5 things new every day, and the program was no exception...i'm sure that when i go through my pictures today and look through the countless frames from everyone else's cameras, the desire to return to europe will flood back into me...but for now, i must buckle down and get back to "real life"...perhaps i can share a thing or two with my colleagues and bring new knowledge to the animal hospitals here...many sincere thanks to everyone for making this such a wonderful experience!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
What do you mean hippos don’t know how to swim?!?
Once again...sorry for the delay...internet is difficult to find for free in hostels.
The last few days of our trip spent in Berlin have been awesome! I would highly recommend going on a walking tour of Berlin with the New Europe tours. Even though I only was able to go for a couple of hours, I learned so much about the history of Berlin and certain sites we saw.
A definite highlight to the entire program was the visit to the Berlin Zoo. I have been on a “back-stage” tour of a zoo before, but this one was an amazing experience. Dr. Schuele was very knowledgeable and helpful. I especially enjoyed being able to get up close to the animals. Feeding a rhino…check. Throwing bread to a hippo and watching the vet “clean” the teeth with a water hose…check. Just getting up close to the animals was not the only benefit; we also learned a lot of new and interesting facts. I had no idea that hippos don’t know how to swim, but that they walk on the bottom of the body of water. Eels have a second set of teeth? Who knew?!? Going on this tour of the zoo reminds me how much I enjoy learning about exotic animals and pushes me further to wanting to work with such animals.
On a different note, after the zoo, I went with Jenny and Melissa to see the Holocaust memorial exhibit. We were so lucky that we randomly realized that a Holocaust survivor was talking about her family that was in one of the presented families in the exhibit. We decided to tag along and listen to her speak. There are so few survivors left— I would stop whatever I was doing to listen to one describe his/her experiences. The survivor we met was Elly Gross. She was 15 years old during the Holocaust and was the only one in her family who survived. Each step of the way she narrowly escaped death and is now here to tell us her story. I don’t know how we got so lucky to hear her. She literally was in Berlin for one day because she wanted to visit her parents’ graves one last time and then she was off to Romania to settle some business. Despite all the trials she went through, Elly Gross not only survived but also has a family and continues to tell her story. I admire the strength it took her to get through such horrors. I was recently reminded how important it is for everyone to be educated about what happened during WWII with the shooting that just occurred in the Holocaust memorial in Washington DC. An 88-year old man who thought the Holocaust was a hoax brought a gun into the memorial and a guard was shot. It blows my mind that there are still people out in the world like this. I just wish that people would open their minds to what happened so that these types of things can stop occurring.
So I don’t end on such a sad note, I really enjoyed our visit to the F. U. Berlin clinics. I was able to observe small animal surgery again. The suites were gorgeous and brand new. Compared to TiHo, the surgeries were in different rooms and therefore not as crammed in a small area. I know TiHo is getting new facilities soon, so hopefully they are as nice as the ones in Berlin. We got to see several orthopedic surgeries, which I had never seen before. There were a lot of Ph D students there who were very nice and helpful with answering our questions.
Overall this Germany trip was an amazing opportunity. I enjoyed spending time traveling with my peers. I learned about the culture, the language, the country, and veterinary medicine. I think that about sums up my personal goals as well as the goals of the trip. Who could ask for more? I just hope one day I can return to this beautiful country. I would absolutely recommend this trip to current and future A&M veterinary students.
Tchoos, Deutchland!
The last few days of our trip spent in Berlin have been awesome! I would highly recommend going on a walking tour of Berlin with the New Europe tours. Even though I only was able to go for a couple of hours, I learned so much about the history of Berlin and certain sites we saw.
A definite highlight to the entire program was the visit to the Berlin Zoo. I have been on a “back-stage” tour of a zoo before, but this one was an amazing experience. Dr. Schuele was very knowledgeable and helpful. I especially enjoyed being able to get up close to the animals. Feeding a rhino…check. Throwing bread to a hippo and watching the vet “clean” the teeth with a water hose…check. Just getting up close to the animals was not the only benefit; we also learned a lot of new and interesting facts. I had no idea that hippos don’t know how to swim, but that they walk on the bottom of the body of water. Eels have a second set of teeth? Who knew?!? Going on this tour of the zoo reminds me how much I enjoy learning about exotic animals and pushes me further to wanting to work with such animals.
On a different note, after the zoo, I went with Jenny and Melissa to see the Holocaust memorial exhibit. We were so lucky that we randomly realized that a Holocaust survivor was talking about her family that was in one of the presented families in the exhibit. We decided to tag along and listen to her speak. There are so few survivors left— I would stop whatever I was doing to listen to one describe his/her experiences. The survivor we met was Elly Gross. She was 15 years old during the Holocaust and was the only one in her family who survived. Each step of the way she narrowly escaped death and is now here to tell us her story. I don’t know how we got so lucky to hear her. She literally was in Berlin for one day because she wanted to visit her parents’ graves one last time and then she was off to Romania to settle some business. Despite all the trials she went through, Elly Gross not only survived but also has a family and continues to tell her story. I admire the strength it took her to get through such horrors. I was recently reminded how important it is for everyone to be educated about what happened during WWII with the shooting that just occurred in the Holocaust memorial in Washington DC. An 88-year old man who thought the Holocaust was a hoax brought a gun into the memorial and a guard was shot. It blows my mind that there are still people out in the world like this. I just wish that people would open their minds to what happened so that these types of things can stop occurring.
So I don’t end on such a sad note, I really enjoyed our visit to the F. U. Berlin clinics. I was able to observe small animal surgery again. The suites were gorgeous and brand new. Compared to TiHo, the surgeries were in different rooms and therefore not as crammed in a small area. I know TiHo is getting new facilities soon, so hopefully they are as nice as the ones in Berlin. We got to see several orthopedic surgeries, which I had never seen before. There were a lot of Ph D students there who were very nice and helpful with answering our questions.
Overall this Germany trip was an amazing opportunity. I enjoyed spending time traveling with my peers. I learned about the culture, the language, the country, and veterinary medicine. I think that about sums up my personal goals as well as the goals of the trip. Who could ask for more? I just hope one day I can return to this beautiful country. I would absolutely recommend this trip to current and future A&M veterinary students.
Tchoos, Deutchland!
Thanks Novartis…I guess I could sell my soul for a nice hotel room.
Sorry this is so delayed...I just found available internet during my extended travels.
The trip to Novartis in Basel, Switzerland was really interesting. I knew there was a lot of work that went into creating a drug, but I had never been able to see the behind the scenes work that goes into creating a product. I was really impressed with their preparation for our visit. I really did not know much about their products before visiting their animal health department, but they gave very informative presentations.
I really enjoyed getting a tour of the facilities. They showed us where these products are created. There are so many obstacles to overcome and a great deal of research that as to be done before a product goes out in the market. Now it makes sense why it takes as little as 5 years for a product to go out. I was really interested in how they create a palatable pill, etc for the animal to take. The small details that go into each step are amazing. The powder has to be homogenous otherwise different amounts of the active ingredient will be distributed to each pill. Then the pill has to be coated so that it does not immediately dissolve in the mouth and dissolves at the pH of where the medicine should be digested. Additionally, they can add another coating that makes the medication taste better—whether within the pill or on the outside. Just one little problem with any step can lead to a set back in the distribution of the product.
I am also impressed (and I guess would also expect) with how much research goes into testing of the product and determining shelf life. The various products spend varying times (months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years) in the many “coolers” in the basement. These coolers are set at different temperatures and levels of humidity. Determination of shelf life appears to be a complex interweaving of different factors that have to be weighed out. The veterinarian that overlooked this portion of testing was very knowledgeable and answered many of our probing questions.
I think the St. Aubin Animal Health research center adds on to the layering that makes companies such as Novartis work so well. Working with the parasites and animals to have controlled studies that determine in what capacity the product should be used and if it works. I enjoyed seeing their colonies of dogs, cats, and even ticks and flies. My eyes have been opened to ideas I had never even thought of before.
Overall my experience at Novartis was a positive one (even if they didn’t let me keep my name badge) and I would definitely support their products in the future.
The trip to Novartis in Basel, Switzerland was really interesting. I knew there was a lot of work that went into creating a drug, but I had never been able to see the behind the scenes work that goes into creating a product. I was really impressed with their preparation for our visit. I really did not know much about their products before visiting their animal health department, but they gave very informative presentations.
I really enjoyed getting a tour of the facilities. They showed us where these products are created. There are so many obstacles to overcome and a great deal of research that as to be done before a product goes out in the market. Now it makes sense why it takes as little as 5 years for a product to go out. I was really interested in how they create a palatable pill, etc for the animal to take. The small details that go into each step are amazing. The powder has to be homogenous otherwise different amounts of the active ingredient will be distributed to each pill. Then the pill has to be coated so that it does not immediately dissolve in the mouth and dissolves at the pH of where the medicine should be digested. Additionally, they can add another coating that makes the medication taste better—whether within the pill or on the outside. Just one little problem with any step can lead to a set back in the distribution of the product.
I am also impressed (and I guess would also expect) with how much research goes into testing of the product and determining shelf life. The various products spend varying times (months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years) in the many “coolers” in the basement. These coolers are set at different temperatures and levels of humidity. Determination of shelf life appears to be a complex interweaving of different factors that have to be weighed out. The veterinarian that overlooked this portion of testing was very knowledgeable and answered many of our probing questions.
I think the St. Aubin Animal Health research center adds on to the layering that makes companies such as Novartis work so well. Working with the parasites and animals to have controlled studies that determine in what capacity the product should be used and if it works. I enjoyed seeing their colonies of dogs, cats, and even ticks and flies. My eyes have been opened to ideas I had never even thought of before.
Overall my experience at Novartis was a positive one (even if they didn’t let me keep my name badge) and I would definitely support their products in the future.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Behind the Scenes in Berlin
although we only had a couple of days in berlin, i feel like i saw a lot...there's definitely another trip in store, though...i never fully understood how complex the berlin wall was and what its implications were...between the bike tour guide, dr. wasser, and the checkpoint charlie museum, i can imagine how terrible a life it must've been on the eastern side of the wall...the escape stories were remarkable, ranging from tunnels and scuba diving (with homemade equipment) to super low sports cars and hot air ballooning...the lengths those people went to to be reunited with their loved ones on the other side of the wall...it's still a little shocking to think that this was still so recent...perhaps the highlight of my limited berlin days was listening to a special holocaust survivor, elly gross...known worldwide, elly has recounted her story several times, but i am sure it does not get any easier...i don't think time can heal all wounds...while at the holocaust memorial for her family's memory, elly shared how a few simple things such as the point of a finger or a cough turned into miracles that allow her to continue educating today's generations of history's mistakes...it was really a rare opportunity and truly inspired me and deeply touched my heart...
So Many Bugs!
the folks at novartis were kind enough to open their super secret scientific doors to use curious vet kids...fortunately, they didn't open the doors to the breeding cages of fleas, ticks, flies, worms...now, i know i'm gonna be a vet, but all these creepy crawly creatures are still plain gross to me...it was a good wake-up call for my work to come!...i had no idea that novartis makes so many products across the board, from flea/tick preventitive to heart medications...i thought it was very interesting that the company goes through thousands of chemical compounds a week and tests every single one and all its derivatives in order to find the perfect combination...not only that, the integrity testing (with super cool walk-in fridges at obscene climate settings), pill/liquid formation, and even packaging is all done by the various novartis teams...it truly is a cooperative effort in all ways possible...the innovation level is absolutely a1, top-notch...apparently, the hill's research facilities are even more stellar...now that i gotta see!...(this was pre-written before actually being posted)
Country of Chocolate, but no Chocolate Fondue?!
free weekend number two was no less exciting than the first...jenny and i made our way over to switzerland early and visited the absolutely gorgeous geneva...very stunning was the breathtaking view from the former watchtower over the entire city, mountains and lake...somewhat scary was discovering that the church tower was built in 1527!...geneva is a great place to get a good workout, though...walking up and down stairs and hills all day...very cool was taking a tour of the un hq in nations plaza...the artwork in the conference rooms and the famous broken chair by the numerous fountains was amazing and truly told the story of all of what the un stands for around the world...we also visited the red cross museum, which was just so unique in the way it presented its history...the diverse and interactive media was so informative and just so great...only way to say it...they had a temporary exhibit of photography displaying natural disasters and other tragic occurrences in a different light..it was also very impactful...i'm looking forward to basel (maybe it'll be a bit less expensive?!) and our guided visit to novartis!...i hear their facilities are quite something! (this was pre-written before actually being posted)
Monday, June 8, 2009
week three: blog six
This was written the Saturday after the program. I would like to thank everyone involved in making this trip possible and all of my traveling companions for making this trip both memorable and spectacular.
The program schedule saved the funnest days for last. I really loved the Berlin Zoo. One of the two staff veterinarians gave us a back stage tour, which including giving the black rhinos and hippos a snack, walking through the zoo clinic, and listening to interesting lectures about the zoos inmates and history. We even saw Knut the polar bear and the Berlin Zoo's own giant panda.
We even cross examined x-rays taken of an eel that showed off it's second set of jaw bones. Really cool.
At the clinics in Berlin, several students and I had a blast in the surgery wing. They had just opened their new clinics about a month before. The staff were obviously very proud of their new facilities. They were very nice. The first surgery involved a hind leg fracture in a cat, the second, a osteo hematoma, and medial collateral and CCL ligament, also in a cat. The local veterinarians were very condsiderate.
I would recommend this experience to anyone interested in different cultures and veterinary medicine. Thanks Dr. Wasser! Danke, Steffie! Thank you, Texas A&M!
Lindsey Sampson
The program schedule saved the funnest days for last. I really loved the Berlin Zoo. One of the two staff veterinarians gave us a back stage tour, which including giving the black rhinos and hippos a snack, walking through the zoo clinic, and listening to interesting lectures about the zoos inmates and history. We even saw Knut the polar bear and the Berlin Zoo's own giant panda.
We even cross examined x-rays taken of an eel that showed off it's second set of jaw bones. Really cool.
At the clinics in Berlin, several students and I had a blast in the surgery wing. They had just opened their new clinics about a month before. The staff were obviously very proud of their new facilities. They were very nice. The first surgery involved a hind leg fracture in a cat, the second, a osteo hematoma, and medial collateral and CCL ligament, also in a cat. The local veterinarians were very condsiderate.
I would recommend this experience to anyone interested in different cultures and veterinary medicine. Thanks Dr. Wasser! Danke, Steffie! Thank you, Texas A&M!
Lindsey Sampson
week 3 blog 5
Having just finished the first half of the week in Switzerland, I must say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the last few days. First off, the hotel sponsored for us by the great people at Novartis was Amazing. The Ramada hotel was the nicest place I've ever stayed. Also, the presentation at the Novartis headquarters and lab was incredibly informative and interesting. It opened up a perspective on drug companies and marketing that I hadn't considered before. I really liked seeing the kennels and tableting machines. I wish that we could have seen the 'artificial cat,' which is used in breeding fleas, in person.
Expect a lot of very nice treatment when you meet the Novatis staff. They treated us as future colleagues and fellow professionals.
One thing about Switzerland, however. It is very expensive to shop and dine there. Don't expect to pay less that thirty euros on a meal. Shopping for other necessities is out of the question.
Expect a lot of very nice treatment when you meet the Novatis staff. They treated us as future colleagues and fellow professionals.
One thing about Switzerland, however. It is very expensive to shop and dine there. Don't expect to pay less that thirty euros on a meal. Shopping for other necessities is out of the question.
Auf weidersehen, goodbye! (written on 6/6/09)
So long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye!Just like the Von Trap family would sing, I hate to go and leave this pretty sight. This whole experience has been amazing. I was interested in the talk Dr. Wasser had given during orientation explaining the program, but had done nothing about registering for the program. Good thing I happened to work PetFare with Allison, who convinced me I should definately go. It's really been a great life experience! I'm sitting at my gate, waiting to leave Berlin for Houston and it's a bit sad.
I'd love to stay a few more days in Europe. I'm not sure i'm ready for it to be all over! This past week, we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Berlin zoo! It was probably one of my favorite activities for the entire trip. I mean, who wouldn't get excited about hand feeding rhinos and hippos! We got to tour the hospital, which was strangely placed on the 2nd floor. I mean, what if the tiger they sedated to treat woke up and they were stuck in the elevator! ahhhh! We learned about how certain animals were medicaly trained so the Vet could treat them. Trainers taught the elephants and apes to show their hands or feet through a special gate, present their chest for auscultation, even turning around so the vet could take a temperature! how cool is that! could you imagine target training a chimpanzee so you could evaluate gait for a lameness exam? So cool. As an added bonus, it seemed like almost every animal had a baby so I got to fawn over the baby elephants, baby giraffes, baby hippos...it was too cute.
I got to pet a rhino!
That pill the Dr. is showing us is birth control for hippos.
We also got to do Berlin On Bike. That was really great because we got to see a few of the historic sites and learn a little history. Unfortunately, we started running out of time and didn't get to see quite as many things as I'd wish we'd had. I mean, Berlin has so many things and we really didn't get to spend enough time there or have enough free time to enjoy more than 1 or 2 sites in full.
The visit to the FU clinics were really cool because I went to go see small animal surgeries and it was my first time to fully scrub in and watch inside of the room. I mean, besides helping out with a few dentals and smaller procedures, i'd never been in a surgery room for cool stuff like what we got to see: repairing a dog's fractured femoral head, a totally blown knee on a cat (pretty much every ligament was in bits when they opened up the joint capsule..it wasn't pretty), and fixing a growth plate on a puppy's femur. It was pretty awesome. I wish we'd gotten to take some pictures so i will remember it better.
For our free time in Berlin, we were able to go see the richstag/congress house and that was super pretty since the dome is made out of glass and you can pretty much see the entire city from the top. We also checked out Olaf's favorite discotech from his 20s when he lived in Berlin and unfortunately, it was a flop because it was closed on thursday and the bar wasn't anything to write home about. I also went to Checkpoint Charlie with Mis and Rachel. The museum was information overload city. I mean, every single nook and corner had text or pictures or sculptures. Half-way through I had to give up on reading everything and went through the rest of the museum looking and the ingenious contraptions people came up with to get through the 'death zone' and reading some of the stories of successful and sadly, some unsuccesful berlin wall hoppers.
At the Checkpoint Charlie Museum
I'd love to stay a few more days in Europe. I'm not sure i'm ready for it to be all over! This past week, we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Berlin zoo! It was probably one of my favorite activities for the entire trip. I mean, who wouldn't get excited about hand feeding rhinos and hippos! We got to tour the hospital, which was strangely placed on the 2nd floor. I mean, what if the tiger they sedated to treat woke up and they were stuck in the elevator! ahhhh! We learned about how certain animals were medicaly trained so the Vet could treat them. Trainers taught the elephants and apes to show their hands or feet through a special gate, present their chest for auscultation, even turning around so the vet could take a temperature! how cool is that! could you imagine target training a chimpanzee so you could evaluate gait for a lameness exam? So cool. As an added bonus, it seemed like almost every animal had a baby so I got to fawn over the baby elephants, baby giraffes, baby hippos...it was too cute.
I got to pet a rhino!That pill the Dr. is showing us is birth control for hippos.We also got to do Berlin On Bike. That was really great because we got to see a few of the historic sites and learn a little history. Unfortunately, we started running out of time and didn't get to see quite as many things as I'd wish we'd had. I mean, Berlin has so many things and we really didn't get to spend enough time there or have enough free time to enjoy more than 1 or 2 sites in full.
The visit to the FU clinics were really cool because I went to go see small animal surgeries and it was my first time to fully scrub in and watch inside of the room. I mean, besides helping out with a few dentals and smaller procedures, i'd never been in a surgery room for cool stuff like what we got to see: repairing a dog's fractured femoral head, a totally blown knee on a cat (pretty much every ligament was in bits when they opened up the joint capsule..it wasn't pretty), and fixing a growth plate on a puppy's femur. It was pretty awesome. I wish we'd gotten to take some pictures so i will remember it better.
For our free time in Berlin, we were able to go see the richstag/congress house and that was super pretty since the dome is made out of glass and you can pretty much see the entire city from the top. We also checked out Olaf's favorite discotech from his 20s when he lived in Berlin and unfortunately, it was a flop because it was closed on thursday and the bar wasn't anything to write home about. I also went to Checkpoint Charlie with Mis and Rachel. The museum was information overload city. I mean, every single nook and corner had text or pictures or sculptures. Half-way through I had to give up on reading everything and went through the rest of the museum looking and the ingenious contraptions people came up with to get through the 'death zone' and reading some of the stories of successful and sadly, some unsuccesful berlin wall hoppers.
At the Checkpoint Charlie MuseumWell, they're calling for us to board our plane now. Tschüs!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Berlin fades to Paris....
Berlin was such an interesting city… full of history and turmoil… a struggle for freedom that we take for granted every day here in America. I think it’s difficult for the most recent American generations to grasp the struggle that we faced as a country to have the freedoms that we use every day. Just 20 years ago, Berlin struggled with an East v. West separation and the remnants of this past can still be seen today in the city structures, pedestrian lights and of course historical museums.
How do you know when you are in East Berlin today? My favorite East Berlin-ism is the pedestrian crossing man that remains from pre-reunification. He has a hat and an attitude. A picture is worth a thousand words.
We stayed in the super cute Hotel Alex and enjoyed the excellent public transportation that allowed you to be in the heart of Berlin in minutes. A city excursion would be incomplete without a bike tour, so we headed out with a guide who showed us the remains of the Berlin wall, the soccer stadium of East Berlin, Reichstag building, Brandenburg gate, glances at all most of the museums in town, and historical points along the way. It was interesting to see the changes in architecture as you moved from East to West Berlin… We had a great 360o degree view near the Berlin Hauptbanhof (main train station) where we could see almost the whole skyline of government buildings, statues, the river and museums. The Germans built their government buildings all out of glass to symbolize their attention to the people they were serving and to let the world look into their daily proceedings- no secrets!
Later that afternoon, we were fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Berlin Zoo led by one of the veterinarians. He took us to the elephant exhibit, let us feed rhinos by hand and then toss bread to hippos from a bridge overlooking their enclosure. He also had a high power water gun to give them massages! They LOVED it. For dinner, Olaf took us on a winding tour of Berlin to arrive at a fantastic little restaurant called Der Kartoffelkellar (basically a “Potato Shack”) where every dish was made from potatoes… soup, casseroles, desserts…
The last day Kati and I went to Check Point Charlie Museum and walked around Berlin. I can’t believe the lengths that people went to cross the wall! Crazy! We boarded a train for 13 hours over night. Unfortunately we didn’t have sleeper seats so it was bit uncomfortable but we managed… Lots of snacks and cat naps. We woke up this morning to the beautiful scenery of PARIS.
Here we are. In our awesome hostel, St. Christophers… ON THE RIVER! We can’t check in until 2pm, so we will run around the city and then the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre! Love love!
How do you know when you are in East Berlin today? My favorite East Berlin-ism is the pedestrian crossing man that remains from pre-reunification. He has a hat and an attitude. A picture is worth a thousand words.
We stayed in the super cute Hotel Alex and enjoyed the excellent public transportation that allowed you to be in the heart of Berlin in minutes. A city excursion would be incomplete without a bike tour, so we headed out with a guide who showed us the remains of the Berlin wall, the soccer stadium of East Berlin, Reichstag building, Brandenburg gate, glances at all most of the museums in town, and historical points along the way. It was interesting to see the changes in architecture as you moved from East to West Berlin… We had a great 360o degree view near the Berlin Hauptbanhof (main train station) where we could see almost the whole skyline of government buildings, statues, the river and museums. The Germans built their government buildings all out of glass to symbolize their attention to the people they were serving and to let the world look into their daily proceedings- no secrets!
Later that afternoon, we were fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Berlin Zoo led by one of the veterinarians. He took us to the elephant exhibit, let us feed rhinos by hand and then toss bread to hippos from a bridge overlooking their enclosure. He also had a high power water gun to give them massages! They LOVED it. For dinner, Olaf took us on a winding tour of Berlin to arrive at a fantastic little restaurant called Der Kartoffelkellar (basically a “Potato Shack”) where every dish was made from potatoes… soup, casseroles, desserts…
The last day Kati and I went to Check Point Charlie Museum and walked around Berlin. I can’t believe the lengths that people went to cross the wall! Crazy! We boarded a train for 13 hours over night. Unfortunately we didn’t have sleeper seats so it was bit uncomfortable but we managed… Lots of snacks and cat naps. We woke up this morning to the beautiful scenery of PARIS.
Here we are. In our awesome hostel, St. Christophers… ON THE RIVER! We can’t check in until 2pm, so we will run around the city and then the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre! Love love!
Friday, June 5, 2009
6/3/09
They do seem to like their orange stuff...
We went to visit Novartis in Basel and they just launched a new product in New Zealand. It's orange. It was everywhere. Well, at least pictures and demonstrations and the like. Zolvox (an AAD class drug) to fight sheep parasite. It was the first new class of action drug in about 5 years so Novartis went all out and made it their color (orange), created new, more egernomaically-designed dredging packaging for it, and even had cute little sheep plush toys to demonstrate. First, we went to the "sciency" building and we were shown how they create the pills, test solutions, and test shelf-life. It was neat to go into the rooms where they simulate all the temperature conditions and humidities the products must endure and cool to see how all the technical-looking machines worked. Then we went to the St.Auben facility and checked out all the flies and bugs they raise, looked at dog kennels, and sheep and all kinds of fun things. The researchers were really informative and told us all about how everything worked. it was great. An added bonus was the hotel rooms care of Novartis. It was great to have your own room for two days. Basel is a really great city and we went on a short tour the next day.
Now I'm in the airport waiting to fly back to germany! Here we come Berline!
We went to visit Novartis in Basel and they just launched a new product in New Zealand. It's orange. It was everywhere. Well, at least pictures and demonstrations and the like. Zolvox (an AAD class drug) to fight sheep parasite. It was the first new class of action drug in about 5 years so Novartis went all out and made it their color (orange), created new, more egernomaically-designed dredging packaging for it, and even had cute little sheep plush toys to demonstrate. First, we went to the "sciency" building and we were shown how they create the pills, test solutions, and test shelf-life. It was neat to go into the rooms where they simulate all the temperature conditions and humidities the products must endure and cool to see how all the technical-looking machines worked. Then we went to the St.Auben facility and checked out all the flies and bugs they raise, looked at dog kennels, and sheep and all kinds of fun things. The researchers were really informative and told us all about how everything worked. it was great. An added bonus was the hotel rooms care of Novartis. It was great to have your own room for two days. Basel is a really great city and we went on a short tour the next day.
Now I'm in the airport waiting to fly back to germany! Here we come Berline!
And down the stretch they fly...
This one is a bit long, but hey, gotta go out with a bang!
After we got to Berlin, we were first impacted by something strange. It was rain! We have had fantastic weather and haven’t even seen the stuff on this entire trip! Fortunately, it blew over in about 10 minutes, so nothing to worry about. From the airport we headed to our hotel, which is located in East Berlin. It is remarkably obvious the difference in the architectural styles of East and West Berlin. The east screams communism, with square buildings that have square windows placed at even intervals, all topped off with the fantastic concrete building décor – all gray. The west on the other hand shows an architectural development, with the styles of the times showing as West Berlin was able to choose and then change with the times.
We started off the next chilly day with a bike tour of Berlin. This was very good, giving a quick overview of the city and some of its rich history (albeit some dark parts). We also visited the renovation of the wall of Berlin, which shows a roughly scale size of the how the wall was constructed to keep the people in East Berlin. We unfortunately were unable to visit Checkpoint Charlie, but another task for another time. Despite another quick little rain shower, the weather actually warmed up and improved for our visit to the zoo. This by far was the highlight of the day. It was a “behind the scenes” tour of the Berlin Zoo and how it works.
This meant we first got a tour of the empty elephant house to show how they trained the elephants to make it easier and safer for the veterinarians and how they house their elephants during the winter. The next stop was the rhino exhibit. There, the vet kindly took us behind so that we could pet and feed the rhinos. They really were just like big dogs, except a bit scalier and a lot dirtier. Next we stopped at the clinic for the animals and talked about the process for figuring out what treatment should be given to such exotic animals, how to radiograph, and where they do the procedures. Then we quickly went through the zoo to the hippo exhibit. We first started at the viewing area, but soon went once again back behind it all to see their cages and the birthing pool. From there we went to a balcony overlooking their main pool and were able to feed them bread. This is done by banging on the rail, so the hippos come over and open their mouths so that you can loft it in there. Absolutely amazing!
Finally, we finished the program with a visit to the Berlin vet school clinics. I worked in small animal exams, so just the routine day to day work. The most striking difference, is that the exam contained five to six tables, and these were all filled with a variety of cats and dogs with a separate vet on each case. It was like organized and unorganized mass chaos! After this, we had a bit of free time to collect our things together, and then out to dinner one last time as a group. We ate at Kasbah, some absolutely amazing Moroccan food. I had lamb in a cinnamon honey sauce with prunes and almonds covered in sesame seeds. And look at that, there you go starting to drool.
That pretty much is it. I am finishing up this blog and then have to leave for the airport in four hours, so we’ll see how much sleep I get. Thanks for reading and have a good one!
I Wasn't Kidding About Catching Up
See, I told you I had them saved up. It's like I did all of my trip in about fifteen minutes of the last night i was here ;).
Seriously, we are just flying through this trip! Our next leg took us to Basel, to visit the animal health portion of Novartis, who graciously put us up in a very nice hotel near old city of Basel. A couple things that instantly stand out are the fantastic scenery and ridiculous prices. Weird? I think not. Also our hotel was the tallest inhabitable building in Basel, a mere 103 meters tall, with a bar and lounge at the top. We got in with not much time to spare in the evening, so we really just hung out at the lounge and took an easy evening. We traveled to Novartis, which is based in Basel, to learn about and have some great tours of a couple of their facilities. In Basel itself, we learned about what goes into making a pill, how to actually create the tablet (which turns out it like a super packed snow-ball), how to test shelf life, and how to market their product. Trust me, actually a whole lot more interesting than it sounds. After that, we traveled to St. Auben (which I may be spelling wrong), to see their flea and tick facility. This is about an hour and a half outside of Basel, and here is where you really start to get into the rolling, beautiful countryside. At the flea and tick center, the researchers develop preventative treatments against these parasites. Turns out to test the products, you have to breed these parasites. I have never seen a room with so many fleas before. There was enough that their wings almost sounds like an air conditioner. Crazy, but awesome.
We finished up Basel the next day with a tour of the old town. Once again, more history, art, and great views than you can imagine, and every town and city has their own library of this stuff! Also, had pear gelato. Just absolutely amazing. You should try it sometime, but only from Movenpick ice creams. Then we got to the airport, and flew off to Berlin! Seriously, these long days just never end!
Bye Bye Berlin!
I get the feeling that I’m definitely going to have to make it back to Berlin sometime in the future because a few days here just isn’t enough. This place definitely gets two thumbs up and a score of 10/10 because a) our hotel is fabulous, b) they have a very nice vet school (Freie Universdad), and c) we got to feed a rhinoceros – two, actually. So how do you beat that?
First off I’m glad to say I survived the bike tour, which was actually a lot of fun and a good way for us to see some of the more important places around the city we didn’t have time to see later on. The Berlin Zoo afterwards was definitely one of the main highlights of this entire trip. Like I said, we got to feed rhinos! The veterinarian who guided us through the zoo was extremely friendly and informative. He obviously remembers what it was like to be a student though because he was ready with some special treats and interesting things to show us. Not only did we get to feed rhinos up close, we also got to feed the hippos, which was hilarious. Then we all learned a lovely tidbit of random anatomical weirdness: Moray eels apparently have two complete sets of jaws. The front set feeds into a rear set that goes into the esophagus. Looks wicked cool on radiographs. Even if you don’t get to go behind the scenes, the Berlin Zoo is great. Their large cat house is crazy – you can literally get about 3 feet away from lions and leopards and all those other big scary predators to see them up close. SO much fun!
This morning was also a treat because we got to go around the clinics at the vet school here. In surgery we got to see a cruciate ligament repair on a cat and hip surgery on a very young puppy that had damaged growth plates on her femur that had to be pinned to keep from sliding around. The students there were very welcoming and interested in learning about our vet school system. They were also nice enough to take the time to translate what their professor was teaching them about the surgeries so we could have some idea of what was going on!
It’s sad to be going home tomorrow (especially because it means it’s time to figure out how to pack up everything I’ve accumulated over the trip) but I know I’ll come back to Germany and the rest of Europe sometime in the future.
First off I’m glad to say I survived the bike tour, which was actually a lot of fun and a good way for us to see some of the more important places around the city we didn’t have time to see later on. The Berlin Zoo afterwards was definitely one of the main highlights of this entire trip. Like I said, we got to feed rhinos! The veterinarian who guided us through the zoo was extremely friendly and informative. He obviously remembers what it was like to be a student though because he was ready with some special treats and interesting things to show us. Not only did we get to feed rhinos up close, we also got to feed the hippos, which was hilarious. Then we all learned a lovely tidbit of random anatomical weirdness: Moray eels apparently have two complete sets of jaws. The front set feeds into a rear set that goes into the esophagus. Looks wicked cool on radiographs. Even if you don’t get to go behind the scenes, the Berlin Zoo is great. Their large cat house is crazy – you can literally get about 3 feet away from lions and leopards and all those other big scary predators to see them up close. SO much fun!
This morning was also a treat because we got to go around the clinics at the vet school here. In surgery we got to see a cruciate ligament repair on a cat and hip surgery on a very young puppy that had damaged growth plates on her femur that had to be pinned to keep from sliding around. The students there were very welcoming and interested in learning about our vet school system. They were also nice enough to take the time to translate what their professor was teaching them about the surgeries so we could have some idea of what was going on!
It’s sad to be going home tomorrow (especially because it means it’s time to figure out how to pack up everything I’ve accumulated over the trip) but I know I’ll come back to Germany and the rest of Europe sometime in the future.
Because Sometimes, We Do What We Want
Again, I apologize for the tardiness, but I mainly blame the internet :)
As our last day in Hannover, our program had us going to visit the various clinics of TiHo. I chose to go to the cattle clinic, and had a blast. The veterinarians there were kind enough to allow us to sit in on a couple surgeries, one involving a bone infection of the medial coffin bone of both thoracic limbs and the other dealing with hardware’s disease. This allowed us to view some of the different facilities, approaches, and how they handled the animals themselves. First off, the animal handling caught me off guard. In the area of Texas that we are in, there are mostly meat cattle. These are more or less wild and precautions as such need to be taken. In Germany though, most of the cattle are dairy cattle. The are constantly handled, haltered, and rather compliant. This means that in the entirety of the clinic, there exists about two chutes to control them. Most of the time you just walk into the pen and poke on it like it’s a big dog. And most of them are. It’s rather ridiculous.
After the clinic visits, we had some free time before heading to the opera! This was my first time to attend an opera and I ran into some difficulties. The opera was “Carmen”, which is sung in French. Being in Germany, the supertitles were in German. So that left me just watching and trying to figure out exactly what is going on not by the words, but really the actions and facial expressions. Let’s just say that it was more a “visual” experience than anything else. Still, it was good and very interesting, hopefully the next one that I get to see will have a language that I understand involved in some way. ;)
And that leaves us with our second free weekend! Some of us decided to take it slow and stay in Hannover for an extra couple days, letting us sleep in on Saturday and Sunday to finally catch up on some of the little sleep we’ve been getting. We did a couple mundane things like run to the grocery store, etc, but then some of us went to help out with evening rounds at the cattle clinic. It was a great experience! We got to really handle some of the animals (remember the no chute thing) and get an insight on a lot of the different practices. Also, there were near 40 patients there at the time, and way too many of them needed drenches. This is where you pump 30L of water with some medicine directly into the rumen. By the end of the evening, all of us were tired of using the hand pump to push it in there.
Finally, on Sunday, we took a walking tour of Hannover itself. More than 50% of Hannover city limits is green space, so that definitely allowed for some great scenery. We also traveled to the top of the Hannover city hall for some spectacular views. To get up there though, you have to take an elevator that travels along the curve of the dome. That means lateral movement! One of the oddest feelings ever! Then we topped off the day with a visit to a beach bar, an area on top of a parking garage where they truck in tons of sand to create a fake beach 100 feet in the air. Most random bar ever. Quickly, on to Basel!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)