Hey look! It's the interwebs!

Sorry about this, we kinda dropped out of internet for a bit, and i didn't feel like typing a novel on the blackberry. :) So now to catch up on the blogs!

Hooray for more Hannover activities! So since our last day was a day of excursions, they made us have a day of lectures L. Sad, I know. None the less, they were very interesting. It’s fairly entertaining though, almost every lecture we had started with a history lesson, and those started in the 13^th century. I think they were rubbing history in the face of the upstart American vet students. To be fair, their country had a whole lot more time to get the ball rolling, so I consider ours a quick start compared to theirs. The lecture was interesting, though it seemed as though the main difference really just lies upon the different array of endemic problems that are in Germany. Other than that, the approach is generally the same. It was interesting to note that there were a lot less spayed and neutered animals around. I guess that is just a cultural perception about population control. We finished up with a veterinary museum tour (again, historical aspects brought up) and then on to Sportfest! Sportfest is basically an entire afternoon of intramurals that culminates with a party. You can participate in a multitude of sports, from foosball to volleyball to track. I got to play soccer for a bit on one of the teams, and let’s just say the most important thing is that we finished the tournament unbeaten. Also we never won a game so we didn’t advance. Whoops.

That night was a BBQ by the people from the team, and had a lot of great grilled food! We followed that one up with the sportfest party, and it turns out, they like pop music. Lots of pop music. It was fun, though not exactly my scene.

Next we visited Lohman Animal Health (LAH), our first of some industry stops. These people specialize in poultry vaccines and the general poultry nutritional market. To get there, we had to travel to Cuxhaven, on the northern coast of Germany. Here we had some intro to their products and philosophies, and how to approach and overcome the nutritional challenges of raising broilers (chickens for meat). They graciously took us to a fresh fish market for lunch, where we had fresh halibut for lunch. Next we visited Alte Liebe, old love in German, which is the point of the northern coast where most of the people who immigrated to the U.S. left from. It was beautiful. Also the North Sea, kinda chilly.

We finished up the day with a trip to Bremen, the town most famous for its mention in Brothers Grimm tale of the Bremen town musicians. Another beautiful town steeped in history, here we got a taste of traditional German food. We ate at the Bremer Ratskellar, the restaurant under the city hall. I personally chose to try the leg of lamb with mashed potatoes (traditional!). Turns out that it was amazing. Also I could identify the muscles if was eating. Stupid anatomy just won’t go away! With a long drive back, to just a night full of rest, tomorrow we are heading for our last day of program in Hannover, clinic visits!

Switzerland and Berlin

Okay, so I must admit that I expected to see the Alps and huge green fields and rolling hills when we entered Switzerland, and that was not my first impression of Basel. Granted, once we got a chance to explore Basel, it is a pretty cool town, though was over-priced. I've got to say Kudos on the hotel though. I've never stayed in a hotel that nice before, and to have a room of my own was an extra bonus. Very luxurious.

When we went to St. Aubin to visit Novartis, I got to see more of what I was expecting for my admittedly romanticized version of Switzerland. The drive over there was very beautiful and makes me want to retire there. Of course I'll have to learn German or French first...one step at a time. The people at Novartis were awesome. It was interesting to hear about everything that goes into making a product and they were just so laid-back about everything that the whole experience was nice. They were also very open to questions and open to input from us, which was much appreciated. Plus they paid for our hotel rooms, so that puts them high in my books. *grin*

On wednesday we flew to Berlin where we met up with Olaf to begin the last leg of out journey. Today we went on a bike tour of Berlin which I was a little intimidated of at first as it's been a while since I've ridden a bike, and never in a city but it went fine and was quite interesting. One of my favorite parts of the entire trip though was visiting the Berlin Zoo this afternoon. We got a "back-stage tour" so to speak by one of the vets that works there and he was just fantastic. One of the first things we got to do was feed (and pet) a pair of rhinoceros (?) which was an awesome experience. They are such huge animals but just wanted to get a scratch and an apple. Then we went to feed the hippos which were so cute (especially the babies) and apparently like to have their mouth washed out by a giant water hose. I also learned that hippos can't swim but simply walk along the bottom of the river. Interesting. I also learned that moray eels have an extra full set of jaws that actually move up to the regular mouth and pull the food down to the stomach. Crazy. After the vet had to leave we wandered around the zoo some more and we spent quite a bit of time in the cat house. Those animals are absolutely breathtaking and I've never been in a zoo where you were able to get so close to the animals (being about 3 feet from a full grown african lion is quite the experience). Just awesome. Great day overall.

6/1 The Eiffel tower...it sparkles!!

On friday we went to these beautiful gardens in Hannover. They were huge and perfectly manicured and absolutely gorgeous. There didn't seem to be a leaf out of place in the garden, true to German style, except or these little hidden gardens throughout the large garden that were left a little more wild. They were very nice to spend time in because they were secluded and quiet.

After the garden, we spent some time in the city and than went to a modern production of the opera Carmen. The play was sung in French and had subtitles in German so it was quite confusing for me at times, but I certainly enjoyed it. I was a bit surprised by the frolicking naked people on stage, but it is apparently quite common here. It didn't bother me, but it's definitely a cultural difference between here and the states. I've also noticed a great deal of nudity in prominently placed billboards and posters throughout my travels though so it seems to just be a relatively everyday occurance here.

On saturday we woke up way too early (4 o'clock is not a decent time for anyone to be up) and Anna took me and Shannon to the train station (thanks a million Anna!). We got to Paris around noon though so it was worth it and we had the rest of the day to explore the city. Shannon's friend, Cassandra, who speaks french and lives in Paris offered to be our tour guide and was a life saver. She took us to the Notre Dame, the Eiffel tower (in the day and later that night), Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, and a fabulous french restaurant on saturday. The architecture was just amazing everywhere we went and since we had a guide it was pretty stress free. Plus it was really neat to walk around the artist's square in Montmartre and see everyone creating these works or art right on the street. On sunday morning we went to the Louvre first thing. I'm not that much of an art fan, but it was still amazing to see all those famous works of art. Plus we could take pictures which really excited me because how often do you have the opportunity to take a picture with the Mona Lisa? Overall, great food, awesome buildings and a fantastic time.

Pigeons and bunnies and budgies….oh my!

The end of the week in Hannover (including part of the free weekend), I spent observing and helping in the clinics. I really enjoyed comparing how the hospitals function in Germany versus the U.S. as well as just observing procedures and learning in general. I am so glad that TiHo is in the process of moving to their new hospital because they definitely need it. I went to the small animal clinic on Friday. They had rooms behind rooms and many places had to be multi-purpose in order to fit everything. I would think that the clinic at A&M is small for all that goes on there, but this was tiny. I am excited for them to get some more space.

When we observed surgeries, there were three tables set up in the same room (and they almost used all of them). I guess by a functional standpoint this makes sense because then all the technicians, supplies, etc are in the same room, but on the other hand, it gets rather crowded quickly (hence 4 students standing trying to observe as well). I was very excited to see procedures I had never seen before. We watched them take out urethral stones from a Yorkshire terrier, but since they could not get them all out, they left the incision open so the dog could still urinate. I wish we could have stayed to watch them open the abdomen to take out the bladder stones; maybe next time.

On the weekend, I was able to help at the zoo and wild bird portion of TiHo. This was really great opportunity to get some hands on experience and help out the German students that came on the A&M trip in March. We worked with all kinds of birds (African grays, budgies, pigeons, chickens, parakeets, etc) as well as small mammals in the small animal clinic. The most interesting/different thing that I noticed (although I have not observed the wildlife procedures at A&M) was that when we took radiographs of a wild bird that had a broken coracoid bone (so basically poor prognosis), the veterinary student was able to euthanize the bird immediately without calling a clinician first, taking the drugs out of a locked cabinet, or being a veterinarian. I do not know if the procedures are different for wildlife or Germany—but I thought this was very interesting because that would definitely not be an option in a small animal clinic (or owned animal).

I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit and work with the clinics (and thus I am really glad that I stayed in Hannover for the weekend and had this opportunity). Every chance I can get more experience in my future career is an amazing opportunity. I really enjoyed working with the German veterinary students— all of them were very nice and willing to help us. And on that note, all of them were very knowledgeable.

I definitely think that the clinics were one of my favorite parts of the trip so far. I am glad that this was added to the itinerary from previous years. Definitely a keeper! Now it is off to Basel!

Thanks for the memories.

For many years now, I have needed the chance to visit a concentration camp. I am fortunate that we were given the opportunity to visit Bergen-Belsen during this trip. I know how important it is for my heritage to visit these depressing parts of Jewish history, but I also think it is important for others to visit these memorials as well so history does not repeat. I think German schools do a good job of educating their children by having field trips to concentration camps.

I have never been to a concentration camp before, but I have heard stories from people who have gone. Therefore I was able to recognize how different Bergen-Belsen was from other concentration camp memorials. I have always imagined this dark, remote area with remains of where the gas chambers, barracks, and wire fences were once used. Like the camp was frozen in time from the end of the war in 1945. However, Bergen-Belsen was something else. The photos and videos shown in the memorial building were harsh reminders of the horrid past. Outside on the grounds were mass graves to remember those lives that were lost. Even though the shots from the military camp we heard when we arrived were disturbing, the way the graves was almost, if nothing else, a proper reminder of the people who lost their lives. I was only able to see maybe a quarter of the camp, but at least I could visit the graves of thousands of people to let them know they are not forgotten.

I think the memorial was very well done and even though humankind cannot exactly make up for past mistakes, at least they can help us to never forget. The things I saw there will be engraved in my memory forever.

Short but Sweet

Although our stay here in Basel, Switzerland was short, we had the chance to do and see a ton!

The visit to the Novartis Research Facility was great. I was surprised at the level of security at which the facility operates. The scientists there were extremely friendly and welcoming, At the facility in Basel, we were given a tour of many of the labs. We saw how tablets are made, the lab were formulation takes place, and the lab where analysis takes place. We were also shown the climate controlled rooms where the formulations are stored for safety testing. The samples are left in the rooms, of varying temperatures and humidity, for 5 years. During this time they are tested at regular intervals to determine the expiration date and required storage conditions.

From the Basel facility, we took a bus to the St. Aubin facility. There we got to see much more of the animal health side of the company’s research. I was very surprised at the cleanliness and standard of care provided to the research animals. The animals were very well taken care of. Other than the research animal facilities, the technology used in the laboratories was most impressive. Machines performed any mundane task, such as pipetting, recording results, and others. The parasite breeding room was also impressive. Thousands of flies were bred and kept easily in a 2x2 box.

Novartis was generous enough to put us up in the nicest hotel in town. We stayed in the tallest inhabited building in Basel, the Ramada Plaza. It was fantastic. We all had our own private rooms, with a phenomenal view of the city.

I enjoyed the free time that we had in the city. We had time for shopping, and a guided walking tour of city. I had a great time in Basel!

-Kati

Bayer spies- BEWARE-->

The team at the Novartis facility in St. Aubin are totally on to you! Luckily, we’re all innocent little Texas A&M students, so there were no problems. Even before our visit, Novartis had already earned a special place in my heart because they were nice enough to host our group (where other companies said no) AND the hotel we stayed in was very, very nice.

Visiting the Novartis headquarters was exciting. They put together a well rounded tour (Both in Basel and St. Aubin) that showed us important aspects of the scientific work they do as well as the business and marketing they do. It was interesting to be able to follow their setup all the way from the beginning with discovery of new chemical substances through development of the molecule (including testing for efficacy and safety, working on formulations, and determining expiration dates) all the way to designing of the packaging and marketing the final product. The time and money that gets invested into just a single product is amazing. Novartis recently discovered a new class of parasitacides (amino-acetonitril derivatives) that is the first new class to come on the market in about 25 years. It’s new enough that we didn’t talk about it in pharmacology last semester, so it’s something to look into more when we get home. It was gratifying to see how much avoiding antimicrobial resistance is a factor in every aspect of their research and development. I’d be interested to see some company facilities in the US in order to compare various views on the subject.

Basel and the surrounding area are absolutely beautiful, and our amazing luck with the weather continued. The city tour through Basel was an exceptionally good idea because we otherwise might have just written off the city as a pharmaceutical center and never known of its historical aspects. We got to see the grave of Erasmus of Rotterdam (who I remember from AP European history, yes!) and the Munster as well as some amazing views of the city and country around it. We even had time for a bit of shopping! Can’t wait to finally get to see Berlin after Basel, even though it’s our last stop on our trip.