Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof

"Life is not a pony-house", one of the German expressions we learned this first week in Bonn. I'm currently on the high-speed train to Paris, sipping coffee and eating pastry. So far, all of our travels have been going smoothly and Europe has been everything I've hoped for. Rebecca and I flew into Frankfurt last Satruday, took a train to Mainz, and stayed in a hotel on the Rhine. The first day we were struggling to stay awake on a river boat cruise, but I adjusted after the first night. 

The hilly vineyards in the Rhine river valley

We met the group the following morning with an AIB student worker, Maren, who was happy to tell us about Germany and her own experiences in the US ("Do you have trees in Germany?" I'm slightly embarrassed how stupid that particular American was). The Texas students have all been great and we seem to get along very well - but I was never worried about that in the first place since we are all in vet school. 

First night in Bonn. With gelato of course.

Since I knew virtually nothing about Bonn before arriving, I actually found the town to be pretty interesting. It is known as Beethoven's birthplace and as the former capital of West Germany. After the first day of exploring the city a bit and finding the hotel, Bonn was very easy to navigate. I honestly never felt lost or unsafe the entire time that we were there, and it's the kind of small city that I could almost picture myself living in. Some of the interesting things we did in the area included visiting a very nice animal shelter, touring the exotic animal zoo at Museum Konig, visiting the Center of Integrated Dairy Research in Frankenfrost, drinking the local Bönnsch beer at pubs, visiting Beethovenhaus and the German contemporary history museum, and working in an equine clinic outside of town for a day. My internship was at Kottenforst where it was a surgery day - I got to watch 5 laproscopic surgeries on warmbloods! The veterinarian actually knew one
of my teachers at UT from when he was in the States, so he was pretty friendly and explained what was going on in English to me. Another intern from Egypt (a vet with his PhD in reproduction) was there to learn more about these surgeries, and he spoke English so we were able to talk extensively about what we were interested in. Three of the other girls got to work at the enormous and beautiful rival clinic some-20 minutes away.

  

The horse clinics outside of Bonn

The final day was spent in Cologne, and it was my favorite so far. As soon as we entered the central train station, the cathedral towered into view through the glass ceiling above us. I knew it was tall, but I was still stunned by its size. We had a city tour and learned about the history of Cologne, went inside the cathedral, then climbed up one of the 500-foot spires. It was a tight stone spiral staircase, with a landing about halfway to see the enormous 24-ton bell. I was doing fine until the last set of stairs, which were an open wire spiral up to the top. I got a little nervous while looking out at the roof, but I clung to the railing and made myself keep going. The climb up was definitely worth it. From the top we had a beautiful view of the river, bridges, downtown area, and the church itself. The stairs down were even worse to navigate. It was a narrower stone spiral where I immediately got dizzy, and it felt even longer than the climb up. But I made it, bought a stupid amount of postcards and a rosary for my super-Catholic grandmother at the giftshop, then was happy to eat a giant bratwurst and drink Kölsch at a brewery. Afterwards, we went to the Cologne zoo and got to go tour their amazing elephant house! The keepers showed us how they train them to stand for various medical procedures and how they manage their captivity. It was probably the best elephant facility I've ever seen, and I got to feed and pet a beautiful female named Maha Kumari ("Blossom" in Thai I believe...) After they were let out of their stalls to roam and eat in the indoor exhibit, another one came over, reached through the gate and brushed my hand and camera with her trunk. It's pretty amazing how gentle they can be.

Cologne Cathedral

So after a night of the vet students being fuddy-duddies at the AIB welcome party, we're on the first free weekend to travel as we please. Rebecca and I are heading to Paris and the others will be in Brussels. The Germans are a precise, prompt, and friendly lot so I am interested to see how the French compare (I don't speak a lick of French so I'm bound to insult someone). I've been dying to visit Paris since I was in high school (10 years ago now, good God...) and now I'm somewhere in the Belgian countryside, only two hours away! But I am actually glad that I'm doing this trip as a graduate student, because I feel mature enough to navigate my way through a foreign country without panicking or making foolish decisions. I'm not so sure about the rowdy undergraduates in the other programs! Anyway, it's been interesting to see the differences between American and European dairies (for example, the individual feeding system and smaller herd sizes), clinics, zoos, and even animal husbandry (the dogs are so well behaved!). Life may not be a pony-house, but I'm lucky to be able to do what I love with the animals while learning about European culture.

Until next time, au revoir, 

~Andrea