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!
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