Busum part 2

Then it was the morning of the dissections! We were all so excited at breakfast in our coveralls. Before we went into the lab we had a lecture about the research projects they have going on in the area and on seals and porpoises. They are really concentrating on how noise pollution is affecting these animal species not only with breeding but with turning them toward dangerous areas and ultimately leading to their death- specifically whales. I never realized how big of an issue this was for all marine life. They have shown by catching wild porpoises and testing their hearing ability that they are actually losing their full ability to hear du to the noise pollution. Those that are monitored have also shown that they dive deeper in areas of higher noise. They also believe this pollution is the cause of whales moving into shallower waters and ultimately beaching themselves. Some other things they are looking at is the behavior of the grey seals which have now been seen a few times attacking and eating Harbour seals. More studies need to be done to determine if it is just a few aggresive seals or if this is a normal behavior for grey seals. Overall it was a great lecture and I learned a lot. Then we made our way into the dissection lab! My group dissected a less than 2 year old seal who was shot by the seal hunter because he was not eating and sick on the beach. When opening up the abdomen we found parasites in the stomach, and the small intestine. We pulled every worm we found out of the intestine and into a jar to be examined. The seal also had a severe Granulomatous pneumonia. No other complications were seen. The group with the porpoise found a fish in the larynx which was determined to be the cause of death and parasites were found in the ear. We had so much fun! Later that night we had a delicious dinner with the seal hunter at his restaurant. By far the best food on the trip and it was great getting to hear some of his hunting stories. 

Last day in busum was spent on the mud walk! It was such a fun and relaxing way to end the trip

Berlin and Busum

Berlin was beautiful and rich in history. I wish we had more time there because there just wasn't enough time to see everything while we were there. The city tour was one of the best and a great way to see and learn about the city. Also going to the top of the Reichstagskuppel gave us an amazing view of the city and the view of a beautiful building. While in Berlin we also traveled to a concentration camp which is something I have always wanted to see. It is one thing to learn about everything from a book or lectures but it is a whole other experience to see first hand. It was a very somber experience that I could never truly explain.

Busum is yet another unforgettable experience from this trip. The seal center is a great place and it was awesome to see they are helping these animals and releasing them back when they can. The mudwalk was fun, interesting and educational at the same time. There were several times I was sure I was going to fall on my face in the slippery mud but luckily I managed to stay on my feet. Walking through the soft mud was a very odd feeling and differed depending on how squishy the mud was. At times it was difficult to walk because there were so many shells just beneath the surface until I finally figured out the best way to walk across them. There were also times I didn't realize how soft the mud was and ended up sinking down to my midcalf. There was also a delicious dinner that we had in a local restaurant that not only had great food but also a great atmosphere. The fresh seafood and other meat was one of the best meals I had the entire trip. But by far the best experience of this entire week was the necropsies we had a chance to take part in. There was a yearling seal that ended up being sick from systemic pneumonia that a seal hunter found. During the necropsy I collected stomach worms that would later be studied to determine what exact type they are. Also I removed an earbone and cleaned it out in order to collect all of the parasites in it. This was one of those days we realized that we find very strange things exciting!

Copenhagen and Clinics

While Denmark may not have been my favorite stop of the trip, working in clinics was definitely one of the highlights of the whole experience. I was working in the Copenhagen Animal Hospital which is about a 19 doctor clinic that is mainly for secondary opinions and specialty work. I was very nervous going in on the first day and very happy that Brittney was there with me so at least we had each other. As soon as we go there all of the staff was very welcoming and made us feel very comfortable. They immediately let us observe whatever we wanted and even had us help with a lot of procedures. Some of the procedures we were able to see were an enucleation surgery on a small little dog who unfortunately came in contact with an angry barn cat and was scratched in the eye all the way down to the lens. After the surgery was removed they allowed us to dissect the eye in order to see the structures of an eye as it is unpreserved. We also saw many different dental procedures from one of the few dental specialist in Denmark. On dental surgery was a small dog with a cyst that had grown so big several teeth had to be extracted, including careful extraction of a lower canine that could have caused the lower jaw to break since the cyst had eaten away so much bone. The canine was successfully removed without causing any other damage. Also while we were there we had Dannish bread for lunch which was very heavy and had interesting flavor.
Tivoli was a blast. It was so much fun to run around and ride as many rides as possible. We were riding everything we could and I even faced my fear of a ride I have never been on but my friends got me on it and I'm pretty sure they got a good kick out of my screams. Our visit to Tivoli was by far one of my favorite days in Copenhagen.

Berlin/Busum part 1

Berlin- loved the city tour. Learned a lot of interesting history not only about World War II but about the Berlin Wall. Did not realize that only a day after Hitler got married  him and his wife killed themselves. Really interesting hearing all of the stories of people trying to climb over the Berlin wall( hot air balloon). A group of us ate at a great restaraunt with the girls and enjoyed some great German beer. Loved the lectures at the zoo research center in Berlin. If was so much fun learning about all of the projects they have going on and research on animals in the wild vs those in captivity. Malaysia rhino cannot breed in wild or captivity and almost extinct. Due to tumors so trying to conserve the population with artificial insemination and other methods. We got to look at some ct of lions and they have the ability to do 3 dimensional image of animals with movement!  Talked about how in captivity polar bear dies of equine herpes virus due to close contact to hooved animals. Visited the sachsenhausen concentratoin camp. Getting to walk through and read about all the torture and hardships those prisoners had to go trough to just survive another day was very emotional for me. Overall a great stay in Berlin 

On our way to busum! We were all so excited about the seal projects we were going to get to see and get to participate in. Started out at the sanctuary where we were introduced to some grey seals and some Harbour seals. Never realized how different they really were from each other. Not only are they different sizes but their teeth are different, the grey seals have cone shaped teeth while the Harbour seals have sharper teeth.  We ended the day with a tour and lecture about the wildlife in the area. I really enjoyed everything we saw and learned because I do not have a lot of experience with fish and marine mammals. Finished the first day with a delicious dinner of flounder!

Week 4

After arriving in Bonn on Monday, Nils took our group on a tour of his
hometown and bought us all ice cream!! This was no ordinary ice cream; it was
the best chocolate ice cream I have ever tasted. It was a very nice surprise,
especially considering that the weather was pretty warm (upper 70s). I really
enjoyed the tour, especially since Nils knew our group pretty well by this time
and could show us parts of the town that he knew would be particularly
interesting to all of us. I really enjoyed seeing the remains of an ancient Roman
house that showed how such houses were heated under ground and insulated by
building two walls with a small space between. After our tour of Bonn, the group
walked to an outdoor restaurant on the river, called Alter Zoll. We had fun sitting
in picnic tables and chatting while drinking some nice cold drinks and eating some
good food. That night, we ventured home to Hotel Bonnox where Stormie,
Brenna, Bianca, and I shared a room. Since it had been so hot during the day, we
were a little concerned about sleeping with no air conditioning. Luckily, a storm
rolled in and cooled us off just in the nick of time before bed.

Tuesday was one of my favorite days of this entire trip - our visit to the Cologne
Zoo where we were able to feed a baby elephant!!! I have always loved
elephants. I find them fascinating, and I would actually love to work with them.
The only reason I have chosen to track equine veterinary medicine is because I
have grown up with horses and am most comfortable with that species. If I had
grown up with more exotic/zoo exposure, I am sure that I would be leaning really
hard toward becoming a zoo veterinarian. Anyway, this visit to the zoo was like a
dream come true for me just to be so near to an elephant. When they said we
could FEED one, I was so incredibly excited!! I really enjoyed watching the
trainer work with the elephants, and I found the filing of the feet and toe nails to
be very interesting. The soles of the feet and the toe nails looked very similar to
the soles and nail (hoof wall) of a horse's hoof. I even saw the caretaker use a
hoof knife just like the one my dad uses when he cuts away the old sole on our
horses' feet. I wanted to ask to touch the foot to see if it really was that similar
to a horse's, but I didn't want to overstep any boundaries - especially since the
zoo was kind enough to let us see behind the scenes. After the elephants, we
toured the rest of the zoo. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to go behind the scenes
to see how the zoo operates and how the animals are cared for. I wish we had
been able to have this experience at the Leipzig Zoo as well. After spending a
few more hours at the zoo, it was time for our Cologne city tour. I was
exhausted by the time we made it to the city, but our guide was hysterical and
really did a great job keeping our interest despite the fact that we were all
exhausted. We learned about Agrippa and his granddaughter Agrippina, who built
the city of Cologne and was the mother of the Emperor Nero. Apparently,
Agrippina had a couple of her husbands killed because they were interfering with
her agenda, and when her son Nero became Emperor, she "ruled" through him.
Nero grew tired of his mother and tried to kill her twice, failing both times.
Finally, he hired an assassin who got the job done. He only lived for a short time
after his mother's murder. We later saw a building with statues of important
individuals from Cologne's history. The figures were commissioned by a masonry
worker, and therefore had to be sculpted according to a specific design... but the
bottom of the figures were not commissioned, and this is where the masonry
workers let their creativity flow. On the bottom of Agrippina's figure was a
spider, which I associated with a Black Widow (since she used her husbands and
then had them killed to further her own agenda). The bottoms of other figures
were even more creative, and quite comical. After our tour, we were given free
time. Stormie, Brenna, and I traveled back to Bonn to visit the Haribo shop. I am
completely obsessed with gummy candies, so I bought a ludicrous amount of
them to bring back to the U.S. Before heading back to the hotel, we ate supper
at Casa del Gatto and got some ice cream at the same place Nils had
recommended the day before.

Wednesday's activities were lots of fun. Animal shelters in the U.S. make me
really depressed because I feel so bad for the animals who might not ever have
the chance to be loved by a human. I usually can't even walk through a shelter
without tearing up. The Animalshelter Bonn was different, though, because it is a
no-kill shelter with tons of room for lots of dogs, cats, rodents, birds, and reptiles.
The facilities were fantastic, especially for a shelter. The dogs in the kennels had
plenty of room inside, plus runs that went outside but were still covered. There
were outside play areas where lots of dogs could be turned out all together. The
tour guide told me that they have room at the shelter for over 100 dogs, but that
they only have about 50 right now. The cat rooms were perfectly arranged so
that the cats could socialize, play, exercise, or have some seclusion. I thought it
was really cool that the cats had a room inside and an outdoor patio-style area.
One room even had awesome play and lounge areas all over that had been
donated by the designer, but would have cost around 20,000 euro if they had
been purchased. I don't know much about birds or rodents, but the areas for
those species seemed really great, as well. I didn't leave this shelter feeling sad
and depressed because it was obvious that the staff members really cared about
the animals. Each animal had a card on its enclosure that contained thorough
history about the animal and the types of people with whom the animal would be
most compatible. The tour guide said that volunteers come every day to walk
the dogs and play with the other animals and that they sometimes even have
more volunteers than animals! A dog trainer even comes to work with the
shelter dogs and volunteers in a play area. This place was really awesome, and I
wish the U.S. could get more of a handle on the unwanted pet situation so that
we could have shelters like this for the few animals who lose an owner or
somehow fall between the cracks of finding a home and people who love them.
It really breaks my heart that so many innocent animals in the U.S. are mistreated,
left to fend for themselves, and eventually euthanized in kill shelters. I understand
that the euthanasia is necessary because of our surplus of unwanted pets, but
understanding the situation doesn't make it any less heart-breaking. After the
visit to the animal shelter, we toured Gut Ostlar, an organic farm that used to
host lots of educational outings for children in the area. The farm has been at this
location for a very long time. In fact, it was originally a farm amongst other farms;
now it is a farm within a city because the city has been built up to completely
surround it. The Gut Ostlar tour guide was a very interesting person. She had
gone to school in Frankfurt and was a sculptor and painter, but she came to work
at Gut Ostlar because she loved working with children and teaching them about
agriculture. She was very knowledgeable about the farm, and taught us lots of
interesting things about edible plants that you wouldn't even know were edible,
raising organic chickens for their eggs, bees - you name it, she knew it. I found
this visit very enjoyable. I was saddened to hear that the town tried to put the
farm out of business and in the process greatly reduced their ability to host as
many children's educational visits. Young people need to know about and
appreciate agriculture and agricultural products, and I believe that Gut Ostlar
would do a great job if supported by the city. I hope they are able to pull through
these hard times and continue the legacy of the old farm while continuing to
educate children who I'm sure are very grateful for the knowledge they would
gain from such a unique place.

Thursday was the start to our visit of Utrecht! When we arrived at Utrecht
University, we had a lecture on the history of veterinary medicine. I found the
lecture very interesting, especially since we have never had such a lecture or class
at TAMU-CVM. I think it's cool how Europeans are so interested in the history
and culture of everything, and I find it interesting to know how things like
veterinary medicine began and have evolved over the years. After this lecture, we
took a look at the school museum and then headed to the Small Animal Hospital
for a quick introductory lecture and tour. We weren't able to see as much of the
behind-the-scenes aspect of the hospital as I would have liked, but it was still a
nice tour. The hospital was very nice and welcoming for clients, and it had a very
cozy atmosphere. After the tour was our welcome BBQ at the Utrecht
University D.S.K. courtyard/bar/lounge area. The host students cooked us
hamburgers, chicken, and pork, and we all hung out and got to know each other
with beer, wine, and dancing until the early morning hours. During this party, I
met my host, Marjo. She was a little younger than me and has about 3 years of
school left. I was so excited that she lived outside of town on a dairy farm and
that Bianca and I would get to stay there!! It was such a cool place!! The
farmland was beautiful, and her apartment was so cute. There were cows, of
course, a Yellow Labrador named Kim, cats with kittens, and pigs. We even got to
witness the birth of a calf one morning!! Marjo was SO nice and super willing to
do everything she could to help us and to make us feel welcome.

Friday was a day full of lectures, which aren't my absolute favorite, but they were
interesting. We mostly discussed and tried to understand the differences
between European and American vet schools. After our first lecture, we learned
about the lab animal class that is taught at Utrecht University. We were able to
hold and learn how to restrain mice and rats, as well as "draw blood" from a
simulated rat tail. I enjoyed that part of the lectures the most. We grabbed a
quick lunch and then headed back to the university for our final lecture on public
health. The lecturer was quite passionate about this subject, and I learned a great
deal about public health issues in Europe, such as trichinellosis in French people
due to eating raw horse meat, vertical farming (housing pigs in buildings on
different levels), and he talked about animal rights activists and those who believe
we should stop vaccinating food animals because they believe the vaccines make
the meat unsuitable for human consumption. It was a long talk on a wide variety
of subjects that was very interesting. Later that night, we met back at the D.S.K.
for Sportsfest, which was a soccer game between Holland and Spain that the
Dutch take VERY seriously. Marjo bought lots of orange items for us to wear to
support Holland, and we even painted the flag of the Netherlands on our faces.
I'm not a huge fan of sports, but I enjoyed watching the game and experiencing it
with the students who were so passionate about it - and they WON!!! Needless
to say, there was lots of partying that occurred after the game finished.

Saturday was our last day of the trip. We took a city tour by canoe through the
canal system in Utrecht, and Stormie, Brenna, and I were able to share a canoe.
Although my muscles were tired and sore after canoeing for a couple of hours, I
thought it was really fun. I'm not sure that we got the best impression of the
city's history or sites to see from the canoe, but it was definitely cool. Afterward,
we went shopping until supper time, when we met back with the rest of the
group for our final meal together at Florin in Utrecht. Nils thanked us for a great
trip, we discussed our likes and dislikes of the organization and experiences on
the trip, and we completed our program evaluations during a very nice meal. Nils
then treated us to a final ice cream (which was so creamy and delicious), and we
all then ventured to a bar for a final drink together. Marjo joined us, and we just
sat and talked for a couple of hours until people slowly began to say their
goodbyes. It was quite sad, actually. We all had a great time and learned so much
not only about Europe, but also about ourselves and our classmates. I am so
thankful to the people who made it possible for us to be a part of such a unique
program. I will never forget it!

Week 3

Monday's tour of Berlin was awesome! I thought the tour guide was by far the
best that we have had this entire trip. He was very knowledgeable, funny, and had
some very interesting stories to keep our attention. I am not a huge fan of cities
just because I tend to prefer the country life, but I was definitely a fan of Berlin.
It's past is very interesting to me, as I love learning about World War II and the
components involved in it. I really respect that the city embraces its past and has
taken certain measures to prevent problems with Neo-Nazis and still allow the
appropriate commemoration of those who were lost during the conflict. The
New Holocaust Memorial was very touching. I must say that I was disappointed
to see high school aged children running and playing through the memorial. I
found it very disrespectful; they were old enough to know better. Anyhow, I
learned a lot on this tour, and I would definitely recommend it to next year's
group.

Tuesday morning was our tour of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife
Research with Steven Seet, who lectured about some of the projects with which
the institute is involved, such as an effort to improve the reproduction of
endangered rhinoceros species. I have a M.S. degree in reproductive physiology,
so I found that discussion particularly interesting. We also discussed the backlash
that zoos received after the giraffe in the Copenhagen Zoo was necropsied and
fed to lions. I must admit that I do have difficulty with killing a young giraffe just
because there is not enough room at the zoo. I do not fully understand the zoo
situation in Europe, but I believe that the giraffe could have been relocated to
another zoo in the U.S. that would have been happy to have him. With that said, I
am glad that Marius was able to serve many educational purposes, and I do not
think that sacrificing an animal for the advancement of science is barbaric. The
final part of our tour of the Leibniz Institute involved learning about and seeing a
demonstration of an amazing CT scanner. A gorilla skull was scanned, and the
machine was able to portray the entire skull in a 3-D image that could be rotated
and moved up and down perfectly on the computer screen. It was amazing! I was
surprised to hear that the institute is planning to get a new and even better CT
scanner! Tuesday afternoon was spent at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp,
which was pretty surreal. I have learned about the Holocaust and concentration
camps since I was a child, but it has never been more real to me than when I was
walking through the place where so many undeserving people lost their lives. The
design of the camp was interesting, but sick at the same time. I do not
understand how someone could design a place that was to contain so many
horrors. Then again, I do not understand how so many people were convinced
that the "Final Solution" was a good idea. Thank goodness places like
Sachsenhausen still exist as proof and as a reminder to today's people never to
let that kind of thing happen again. Nils did a great job showing us around the
camp. This is was a tour that I will never forget, and I am really glad that we took
the time to visit this important historical site. To finish a busy Tuesday, we went
to the Reichstagskuppel. From high atop the huge government building, we could
see almost all of Berlin. We walked to the top of the dome and admired the view
for a while before heading down and finding a place to eat supper and relax after
a great but exhausting day.

Wednesday was marine animal day! We visited Friedrichskoog Seal Center and
had a guided tour that was very educational. I know very little about marine life,
but I absolutely LOVE to learn about it. Our tour guide was very easy to
understand, and she taught us a lot about the differences between Grey and
Harbor Seals. She explained the lives of the resident seals, the rehabilitation
process of seals brought in by Seal Hunters, and the important and necessary role
of the Seal Hunters. After the tour, it was feeding time for the resident seals!
The trainers had the seals perform for the public to get their suppers. It was so
cool! I took probably hundreds of pictures and maybe 20 videos. I cannot wait
to show my family what I got to see! Wednesday afternoon was spent at
Multimar Wattforum, where we learned about birds, crustaceans, fish, whales... I
might be leaving something out - it was a lot of great information! The tour guide
was extremely knowledgeable, and I loved how the museum guided the visitors in
to the habitat of the particular animals it was explaining. For example, the cool,
dark downstairs entrance to the whale exhibit was to signify the cold depths of
the ocean in which they live. The museum was very educational, and the exhibits
were all fantastic. After the guided tour of the museum, we took a bus to Busum,
where we arrived at Hotel Siegfried. Stormie, Brenna, and I were put in the same
room, which appeared to be an attic that had been converted to a suite. We liked
it, except that the ceilings were too low in one of the bedrooms and in be
bathroom. I can't count how many times I hit my head on the ceiling in the
bathroom. Poor Brenna had to sleep in the tiny room with the low ceiling on the
first night. However, after a door opening inexplicably, a light turning off
randomly in the middle of the night, and a terrible nightmare of mine on the first
night, Brenna decided to move to the middle of the king sized bed where Stormie
and I had slept for the remainder of our time there.

Thursday was our visit to the Aquatic Wildlife Center in Busum. Professor
Siebert began with a presentation about the aquatic wildlife in the North Sea. As
I said before, I know very little about marine animals and aquatic wildlife, so the
lecture was very interesting to me. The dissection of the harbor seal and
porpoise was even more interesting! I stayed on the harbor seal case for the
majority of the dissection time. The seal was around one year old and had died
by a Seal Hunter's gunshot wound to the head. The hunter had found the young
female seal struggling to breathe with blood tricking from her nostrils. She also
had diarrhea and was very lethargic. He put an end to her misery and brought
her to the Aquatic Wildlife Center to determine the etiologic agent behind her
respiratory disease. During the necropsy, we discovered that she had
pyogranulomatous lesions in her lungs that were probably due to a bacterial
infection of some sort. The porpoise had been found dead, and the other team
worked to find out the cause of death. A fish was found lodged in the porpoise's
oropharynx, which had caused suffocation. Further evidence of suffocation was
discovered in the bronchi of the lungs, which were filled with foamy fluid. These
necropsy cases were SO awesome!! I really enjoyed learning about marine
animals and the necropsies were especially cool because we were actually trying
to determine the causes of death of the animals instead of simply dissecting them
to learn their anatomy. I thought it was a fantastic learning experience. The fun
continued Thursday night at a restaurant called Kolles Alter Muschelsaal with a
buffet prepared specially for us by the owner, Karl-Heinz Kolle, who is also a Seal
Hunter. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was incredibly unique.
Seashells covered the walls completely, depicting scenes of ships at sea and
flowers, among other ornate designs. A mermaid figure head stood at the center
of the room, which had originally stood outside to bring customers in to the
restaurant. It was now fully restored and preserved within this room as an
historical relic. After the meal, the Seal Hunter presented a short powerpoint to
explain his duties as a Seal Hunter and to answer questions. Of course, we had
many questions about this very unique job title, but I have to say that my favorite
part of the question and answer was when Johanna asked if he was bothered by
having to end the lives of the seals when they are ill or injured. Mr. Kolle
responded that he was especially bothered the first time he had to end a seal's
suffering because they "look at you with their cute little eyes..." but the job is
necessary. I have great respect for Mr. Kolle and the other Seal Hunters as well
as those who work so hard to maintain the seal and marine animal population in
Busum..

Friday was our much-awaited Mudflat and beach day!! We started our tour of
the Mudflat by searching for and learning about many of the sea creatures that
can be found in the North Sea shore. We learned about mussels, oysters, jellyfish,
snails, kelp, birds, and even worms! We walked all the way to the tidal creek,
where we found some tiny shrimp that are very common in that area. Our tour
guide explained that the tide comes in very quickly, so we had to start walking
toward the shore. During this return trip, our guide took us through the really
muddy areas where you can actually find quicksand! I sank in to the mud up to
my mid-shin once, but it wasn't too scary. When we made it back to shore, we
were able to sit out on the grass in the sun. It was awesome. This was definitely
a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will always remember. During our free
time, Brenna and I even returned to the beach to relax in the sun.

Stormie, Brenna, and I traveled to Frankfurt on Saturday for our final free
weekend. We stayed at Hotel Amadeus, which was a really nice hotel in a town
on the outskirts of the big city. The first night, we walked to a restaurant that is
known for food that is very specific to Frankfurt. I cannot remember the name
of the restaurant or the name of the food that I ate, but it was delicious. We
were very thankful that a fellow customer offered to explain the menu to us in
English so that we knew what we were ordering! On Sunday, we went on a tour
of Heidelberg Castle. The tour guide was a very nice man who was very
knowledgeable about the history of Heidelberg and Frankfurt. The town was
beautiful, and the ruins of the castle were very interesting. After the tour, we ate
at Restaurant Mediterran, which was fantastic. Frankfurt definitely had great food,
and we really enjoyed our relaxing weekend before heading to Bonn for tje final
week of the program.

Week 2

Stormie, Brenna, and I arrived at the Hotel Transit Loft in Berlin on Monday at
1:30 a.m. and awoke the same morning at 4:00 to pack up to head to
Copenhagen. After arriving in Copenhagen, we were able to have some time for
shopping and napping for a few hours before commencing our tour of the
Taastrup Campus and the University Hospital for Large Animals and the tour of
the Frederiksberg Campus and the University Hospital for Companion Animals.
Both facilities were amazing - especially the small animal hospital. I have not had
much personal experience in small animal practices or hospitals, but this one
seemed to be state-of-the-art. I was highly impressed. The joint dinner that night
at Cafe Vaeksthuset (the old greenhouse) was fun. I enjoyed meeting all of the
hosts and the atmosphere of the greenhouse was great, but I was not a huge fan
of the food. This was no fault of the chefs, I just do not like fish or veal; therefore,
I opted for the vegetarian option which I thought would be a salad. Instead, the
chef brought out half of an eggplant, to which I recently discovered I am allergic. I
did not want to cause any more trouble, so I just ate the carrots, potatoes, and
mushrooms that had come with my eggplant. The vegetables and the chocolate
cake (similar to a brownie) were quite delicious. Stormie and I had the same
hosts, Pipaluk and Thorkil, who were so much fun to get to know. After dinner,
they took us on a short driving tour of Copenhagen in their Fiat. When we
arrived at their apartment, we met their two Chihuahuas, Phoebe and Kaylee,
who were definitely the sweetest and most adorable Chihuahuas I have ever met.
I went on a walk with Pipaluk and the dogs around the block that night before
going to bed. We talked about school, her dogs, where she comes from in
Greenland, and even religion; she is a great girl and is very easy to talk to. She
even let Stormie and me try some salted licorice before we went to bed. It was
not too bad!

On Tuesday, Stormie and I caught a ride to Faxe Dyrehospital with a veterinarian
who recently started working there named Malene. We were both exhausted
from the lack of sleep on Sunday and Monday nights, and we both fell asleep on
the one hour and fifteen minute ride to the hospital. It was embarrassing.
Anyhow, once we arrived at the hospital, we were refreshed from our little naps
and went straight to work. This hospital was quite large. It had both small and
large animal facilities that were state-of-the-art, along with an administration
building in which there was an area for all employees to prepare their lunches
and keep their belongings locked in locker rooms. The practice was owned by
three veterinarians, and it employed around 18 veterinarians and 20 nurses total.
The most unique aspect of the practice was that almost all of the veterinarians
working there had a specialty of some kind. In the small animal hospital, we met
three orthopedic specialists, one dental specialist, one imaging specialist, one
internal medicine specialist, and one chiropractor. Stormie and I only spent one
morning in the large animal medicine hospital, but we were able to meet a equine
lameness specialist and an equine internal medicine specialist as well. A bovine
veterinarian had already left for her farm calls by the time we arrived at the
equine hospital, so we were unfortunately not able to experience bovine
medicine there. Stormie and I are both more interested in large animals than
small, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent at the small animal hospital in
Faxe. Stormie was able to scrub in on an arthroscopy and a patellar luxation
while I assisted with various other cases. I helped clean the surgical equipment,
sat in on a couple of consultations, helped with a CT scan, and restrained dogs
for radiographs. In the equine hospital, I worked with the lameness specialist
discussing one horse's lameness and limb radiographs. Stormie and I also assisted
the equine internal medicine specialist with a horse that had been coughing. He
let me give the sedation and assist with endoscopy, a trach wash, and a
bronchoalveolar lavage. All of the veterinarians and nurses worked great with the
animals and were more than happy to explain things to us and make us feel
welcome. One of the orthopedists even had Stormie and me over to his house
for a barbecue on Wednesday night. We truly enjoyed our experience at Faxe
Dyrehospital, and we wish we could have spent more time there.

Thursday was our tour of Copenhagen and trip to Tivoli!! Tivoli was definitely
the highlight of the day. We had SO much fun; I just wish we had more time to
ride all of the rides! The tour of Copenhagen was fine, but I wish we had made it
to the harbor where the Little Mermaid sits and the royal family lives. Thankfully,
Pipaluk was nice enough to take Stormie and me on our own personal tour of
Copenhagen. It was awesome! She called herself a "Royalist" and knew lots
about the royal family and about the history of Copenhagen. The dinner at
Madklubben that night tasted great, and we had a wonderful time talking with
both our hosts and our classmates' hosts. Altogether, our stay in Denmark was
fantastic. We learned a great deal and had lots of fun in Faxe Dyrehospital, and
we had a great time with our classmates and our hosts at the social gatherings.

Stormie, Brenna, and I spent our second free weekend in Vienna, Austria. We
stayed in the Art Hotel, which was really nice! We had only booked a room with
a king sized bed, but they gave us a loft that was almost like a condominium. It
had two separate bedrooms (one with a king sized bed and one with a queen), a
living area, a refrigerator, a large bathroom, and a private 7th floor balcony! We
were so happy with the accommodations, we almost did not want to leave the
room! On Saturday, we had booked a tour of the Danube River Valley and a river
cruise. Although it rained on and off, the cruise was nice and relaxing. The river
valley was absolutely gorgeous. After the cruise portion of the tour, we ate lunch
in Melk, where we sat with a couple from Ireland. We told them about our
program, and they thought it sounded great... but they suggested that next year's
group should visit Ireland. After talking to them about the beautiful countryside
and the wonderful opportunities for veterinarians, a trip to Ireland is definitely on
my bucket list. After lunch we toured the Abbey of Melk, the library, the church,
and the gardens. Everything was absolutely gorgeous. Sunday was spent leisurely
wandering around Vienna. We found Cafe Denel, suggested by Dr. Wasser, and
had a nice lunch followed by some souvenir shopping and some relaxing in our
hotel lobby before hopping the night train back to Berlin.