Hola from Holland- Week 4

This week is a bit shorter because we come back from our weekend on Tuesday instead of Monday. Either way, this was a week that was funner and more intriguing than what I thought it

would be. I was hoping my host would be nice and very helpful. She ended up being just that. My host Baukje Andela, was really  great. She made sure that I was comfortable and taught be a lot about Holland.

We had some interesting lectures while visiting the faculty. I enjoyed comparing how the curriculum  of Holland and Europe is very different compared to the US. In Europe they have 6 years of straight study of veterinary medicine while we get 4 years of vet med education after 4 years of undergraduate studies. Even if US vet students don't get started earlier studying vet medicine, we are a bit more well-rounded because we are forced to study other subjects like political science and technical writing. We also get more time to figure out if we really want to do veterinary medicine. European vet students are just coming out of high school and don't have time to explore other subjects. However, education is covered in Europe. So even with the competitive nature of veterinary medicine, they have one less guilt of being more into debt. I cannot wait until universal education is accepted in the states. We had lots of discussions with the other hosts about all the differences. Both curriculum are good and bad in their own ways. Maybe in the future the two can be combined to make a nearly perfect curriculum.

My favorite lecture was the lecture about the Lab animal research section of the facility. The professor talked about a lot of small mammal handling in which I had learned in my lab animal club wet labs. It was very exciting to hear some of the similarities and differences. I really enjoy all of the tools and cages they had out to show what they did in their research. I kind of wish that I could of showed my rat handling skills but I do understand them wanting to prevent issues like the rats possibly biting someone, even if they were pretty friendly.

We had tours of two of the facility’s hospitals, the Horse and companion animal hospitals. The horse one was rather interesting but the companion one caught my interest a bit more. I really like the aesthetic of the waiting room. They even had some poles that could be used to tie dogs to. We got to look into the exam rooms and the main treatment area that is also used for vet students and veterinarians to talk about the student’s cases. There was even a area on the first floor (second floor for the US) that had computers and a study area for the vet students in the companion hospital. That would be great to have whenever someone needs to research something. We got to see a few other rooms but the one that impressed me the most was the intensive care unit. It had clean cages that were off the ground. There was vets in the room to watch the patients and there were even cameras so that the owners can see their pets while they are in the IC unit. I understood though when they explained that they would cover the camera and leave notes when they were drawing blood or doing other procedures so that the clients would not freak out. I really liked the exotic ward. It was separated from the dog and cat areas and even had its own waiting room. I was kind of said we did not get to see much of the exotic ward but I was glad we got to see a bit of it at least.

One thing that I did not realize would make this week so great was hanging out with our hosts every evening. We did not hang with all the host every night because some of them had papers or rotations to do. Yet, the ones who did have time took us out to have fun in Utrecht.

After saying goodbye to our hosts, on the last day of our study abroad program we stayed in Amsterdam. We had a walking tour with this great tour guide. She knew a lot about Amsterdam and told us about some of the secret stuff that not many people get to know about. I loved it the best that we got to try some Holland cheese. That was delicious. She also told us about the symbol of the 3 Xs that does not represent the red light district. That symbol was meant to help sailors to know that they have been to or are in Amsterdam. That was really interesting to find out. I made sure to buy a shirt for my fiance.

Now is the end of the trip. I really enjoyed myself through this whole trip. I learned so much. However, I am really glad to go to Italy to visit my godfather soon. I am starting to miss the US. I can't wait to go back home.

Wadding in the Wadden (Northern) Sea- Week 3

This week was a lot more exciting for me than the past 2 weeks. We did a bit more traveling this week (which was very tiring) but it was for sure more fun. I am still amazed at how many beautiful and massive building there are. Most of built hundreds of yeas ago. Thank goodness we have been given tours so I don't get soo lost in these eminence cities. Later in the week we go to Busum and that was a big contrast to Berlin. Yet, it was still cute and I liked it a lot. It was funny that Busum is basically a  smaller Florida with having more elderly people, but much colder.

The Anatomy-Histology institut was very interesting to visit. It was cool to see how vet students in Germany have their classes, at least in Freie University of Berlin. The most impressive thing is that they has windows, WINDOWS, in the anatomy lab. Ours has no windows at all. They were big and let in so much light. One could see a some green pastures and trees. I would love to have that in our anatomy lab. Of course there are issues with rights activists that would ruin that in the states. I also really like the book stands. This allowed the students to have their book up and away from the dissections. The books would still get a little dirty but not as much as they can like in my anatomy lab.  The anatomy lab also had a second story ledge that allowed one to look down into the anatomy lab. There was of course skeletons and plastic models in the lab to help students study. I am kinda in love with that lab. In another part of the Anatomy-Histology insitut, there was a study room that had glass cases full of skeletons, plastic models, plastered models and lots of other neat anatomy models to help students while they were studying. It was amazing. We have something kinda similar in a hall way but we really cant take  those out to study.

The Jewish museum tour confused me at first. We were given a tour of the architecture of the museum. Once we got started I understood why we were. The architect who was making the museum was trying to make people feel and sense more how Jewish people over the hundreds of years felt. It was intense. The one sculpture that freaked me out was the falling leaves/faces one. I cringed when I climbed over all the metal faces. I did not stayed on very long out there. We had to rush through the rest of the museum but it was still awesome all that I had seen.

In the zoo and wildlife research institute, it was cool to see the institute but it was too bad we could not take pictures (I understand though).  We got to see a grand CT scan that produced 3D and 4D images. I don't know if we have something similar but I would be happy if Texas A&M did.  I even got to practice some blow darting and after 4 tries I hit the 'cheetah' on the tarsus. I was super excited!

Except for the way the Tour guide treated us while giving the tour, The National History Museum was pretty interesting. What I loved the most was the room/wall of exotic animals. I never knew what a tanuki (raccoon dog) actually looked like and was very pleased to finally see one (even if not alive). The museum had lots of hands-on stuff as well.

On Wednesday, we headed over to Busum and stopped by two centers. The first was the seal center where they educate people about seals. The center was very well put together. They had 2 main pools that housed about 5 adult seals that are unable to be released into the wild. One of the trainers/caretakers talked to us about the facility and the seals they take care of. They work with seal hunters to rescue abandoned seal pups and raise them strong enough to release into the wild. I was amazed at all the work they do here. Their educational areas were very well made too. They were able to explain how the immune system worked in an almost accurate but fun way.


The second center we went to was the Multimar Wattfourm center. It is a educational center that teaches the public about the mud flats and waters off the northern coast of  Germany. I did not think that there would be soo much creatures living in the mud. I was excited to see them in real life in the mud flat walk in the next few days. The part I loved the best was the basement which talked about whales. I knew that whales used sonar to find food but not to paralyze them; that was amazing!

The next day we went to the Aquatic Wildlife center. We had a few lectures about the facility and the research being done there. The research on monitoring the movement of wild animals was the most interesting. Afterwards, we went to the most anticipated part of the whole study abroad trip, for me at least. We got to do dissections on two 'fresh' marine mammals, one harbor seal and harbor porpoise. The seal was more fresh so it bled a lot more compared to the porpoise. We found that the seal was pregnant when it died and had aborted its pup. The pup looked nothing like a seal pup, more like a ball of fur. The seal also had its intestines twisted onto itself. The veterinarians believed that the unborn pup was possibly dead before the mother died and that the twisted intestines most likely killed her. The porpoise had a more ironic death in my opinion. We think that the porpoise possibly died from choking on a fish. We found a fish in the bifurcation of the trachea. There was 2 more fish in the stomach and intestine. The veterinarians from the institute said it is unusual for marine mammals to choke on their meals. The end of the dissection consisted of helping the veterinarians make samples for them to sent to lab and finding parasites and preparing them to send off too. I very much enjoyed that dissection. The smell was tolerable, much better that formaldehyde.

The mud flats were one of the best things to happen this week. We first started off in an area with lots of shells from dead clams and mussels. We had to walk over these shells to get to the deeper part of the mud flats. I learned that day that my feet are sensitive and delicate. I was soo happy when we got to the more mud than sea shell part of the mud flats. The tour guide showed us many of the creatures that live in the mud like the lion worm and the pacific mussel.  He explained how many migrating birds stop here at the mud flats before going all the way to Africa. Who would of thought some mud is important for the ecosystem. It was hilarious to get knee deep stuck in the mud though.

This week was great compared to the previous week, for me at least. I am excited for next week and meeting the Netherlands vet students.

Holland: of stolen bicycles and wounded thumbs.

I have 15 minutes of free internet (so generous....) on this train, so I am going to use it to start my last post about the program! Right now I'm somewhere on the east coast of the UK, looking out at the seaside cliffs on my way from Edinburgh to London. None of the last few days in the UK were part of the study abroad, but Scotland was absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to travel after class ends!

Anyway. After a rendezvous in Amsterdam, the group headed to Utrecht, a town known for its big university about 30 minutes south of Amsterdam, "the center of the Netherlands". We met some of our hosts, who were very friendly and enthusiastic to have us. We went on a brief city tour then had a boat ride down the canals, which was relaxing and a neat way to see the town. I met my host, a second-year vet student interested in equine medicine. We got along and spent a while getting to know each other on the canal tour and at a "BBQ" dinner.
Our days in Utrecht were mostly spent in the veterinary school, learning about their program - which is very different from ours - and touring the clinics. Their students apply to a weighted lottery system directly after high school and do a 3 years bachelor's, then another 3 years of a master's/DVM. Each student has different odds of getting in based on grades and then are randomly selected - overall the odds are about 1/5 to get in since they take 250 students per year. It's nice that they get to start relevant coursework so soon, but on the other hand, starting such a difficult program at age 18 is not ideal and contributes to an attrition rate of something like 15%. The facilities are very modern and spacious. Obviously I loved the equine hospital... though I think the Dutch are a bit insane for riding a horse on an indoor treadmill! (...I would still do it...) 

The best part of Holland was spending time with the students. It was nice to stay in an apartment and get to know my host, who got up every morning to have breakfast with me. I felt awful when the bike she lent me got stolen the very first night I was there, even though I locked it right outside the door for just 5 minutes! We also went water skiing and played laser tag with the students, which was a ton of fun even though I failed at both of these activities. The opposing team we played in laser tag was a group of dirty Dutch cheaters, and I ended up falling rather spectacularly down a ramp and busting my thumb wide open. Worth it.  

Open Air Museum

Burger Zoo

The last morning in the area was spent at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, which is an outdoor exhibition of old farm houses and windmills representative of Dutch history. It was very neat, and I prefer being outside in the sunshine anyway. Afterwards, we went to Burger Zoo and had a guided tour of two of their "ecosystem" sections. I actually think this zoo had some of the most natural exhibits we've seen, and I would have preferred to explore the entire zoo at my own pace instead of with a guide. Nevertheless, I'm glad I got to visit. 

Shannon and I in Amsterdam

After a farewell dinner and breakfast with my host, the very final day of our program was in Amsterdam. I've heard a lot of interesting things about the city, so I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and quaint the city actually is. Our city guide was a sassy young woman who did a great job showing us both the historical and modern aspects Amsterdam as to offer, including the Red Light District, which isn't as seedy as it sounds despite girls in windows literally right next to the cathedral (sin and forgiveness had to be close together, as our guide explained to us). I really enjoyed strolling along the canals lined by ridiculously narrow and crooked houses, including the Anne Frank house, and I wish I had another day or so there. But, again, I'm still happy for the experience. 

And so we arrive at the end - after eating pancakes one last time together. I still can't believe how fast it all went! This was a great way to see Europe for the first time, and one of the best things about it was meeting vet students and people from around the world. The experience has given me confidence that I am not totally incompetent at navigating a foreign country and has inspired to me travel more in the future, and I really hope I will be able to see everyone I've met again in the future. Traveling - experiencing new cultures, getting lost in a different language, and seeing how history can shape a country (which is what makes Germany especially cool) - is something priceless that no one can ever take away from me. I am lucky to still have two more weeks here at Giessen University, where Rebecca and I have already started in the vet school clinics. I will fly home on July 3, after which I shall write my last post about how sad I am to not be in Europe anymore. 

~Andrea

Week 4: The Last Week

Nyhavn

The past four weeks have flown by, I can't believe it's the end of the trip already! We spent the weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark. Several of the vet students from the university there were kind enough to host us, even though it wasn't officially part of the program. We spent Saturday wandering around Rosenborg Castle where we got to see the crown jewels (!!!), and the botanical gardens. That evening our host drove us around Copenhagen and showed all the sights that we never would have seen just by walking! We saw the beach, The Little Mermaid statue, palaces, parliament, and Nyhavn. The next day the vet students scheduled a tour for us of their large animal clinic, and we were even allowed to go on rounds! We got to observe a guttural pouch endoscopy and an EKG on a calf. In the afternoon we visited the royal stables, went back to Nyhavn, and went to Tivoli, which is the second oldest amusement park in the world. It was a blast!

After Copenhagen we went to Utrecht, Netherlands and stayed with host vet students there. Once again I was impressed with how welcoming everyone was. The first day they took us on a canal tour and to a BBQ hosted by students in the equine department. For the rest of the week we had lectures at the University of Utrecht during the day on various vet topics, such as public health and history of veterinary medicine, and had tours of their clinics. In the evenings we hung out with our hosts. We had another BBQ and played laser tag one evening and they took us water skiing the next! On Friday, we took a train to Arnheim, and went on a tour at the Openluchtmuseum, or "open air" museum. We learned about the history of Holland as we walked through homes from different time periods. After that we went to the Burgers' Zoo and learned about the bush and ocean regions.

The narrowest house in Amsterdam!

Gouda cheese

For our last hurrah of the trip we went to Amsterdam. We went on a guided tour of the city and learned about Amsterdam's history as well as the unique aspects of its architecture. Many, many years ago home owners were taxed on how wide their houses were, which is why all the houses are so narrow and so tall. Because of this, the staircases in these homes are almost vertical, which as you can imagine makes moving difficult! Furniture has to get brought into the homes through the windows by a pulley system. The soil is so soft that the houses will eventually start to lean, and pillars have to get placed under the houses to hold them up. The Netherlands is also the home of Gouda cheese, so of course we sampled some on our tour! We had some free time after the tour so I went by The Anne Frank House and Rembrandt's grave. Our group ended the study abroad program in style, by eating traditional Dutch pancakes of course! Overall this was a fantastic program, and I would definitely recommend it to any up and coming veterinary students. There was a good mix of learning about both veterinary medicine and cultural/historical aspects of the countries we visited. I can't even begin to describe all the amazing things we learned and saw. We met wonderful people and animals and this is an experience I will never forget. I already want to visit again!

Week 3: Seals, Sun, and Sand

The third week of the trip found us in a place completely different from Berlin. Büsum, Germany is a small town located on the North Sea. We jokingly referred to it as the Florida of Germany, if that gives you any indication of the demographics there :) I loved it there. We stayed in a cute, resort style hotel just a few minutes walk from the sea and the center of town. On our way from Berlin to Büsum, we stopped at the "Seel Center" in Friedrichskoog where we got to view the different types of seals (seehunds) and watched a demonstration on how they are trained. The center is also the place where injured seals and seal pups are brought if they are found stranded on the beach. There is a quarantine area where the pups stay initially. They are then rehabilitated and can then hopefully be returned to the wild. Later in the day we went to the Multimar Wattforum Centre, which is the information center for the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park. Our guide was very knowledgable and taught us a lot about the ecology and creatures that live in this area.

The second day in Büsum was spent at the Aquatic Wildlife center. Several of the professors and vet students there gave lectures about their research involving marine mammals, and we got to participate in two necropsies! One was on a porpoise and the other was on a harbor seal. The porpoise died from choking on a fish, the fish was caught in the larynx. The seal died from a volvulus but also had a necrotic placenta. All of the organs were removed, parasite samples were taken, and the amount of blubber was measured for a student's project. These necropsies are important in that they help  

give veterinarians and biologists an idea as to what the health of the population of the seals as a whole is. Dinner later in the evening was amazing. Our study abroad group plus several vet and masters students went to eat at Kolles Alter Muschelsaal where we ate a delicious meal that consisted of several courses such as asparagus soup and stuffed fish. The restaurant is owned by what is known as a "seal hunter," which is a misleading name. Seal hunters nowadays are the ones that are called out when a seal or other marine mammal is stranded on the beach. They evaluate the health status of the animal and then transport the animal to a seal station where it can be cared for and hopefully nursed back to health. Last year alone seal hunters were able to help over 200 seals!

The last day in Büsum ranks as one of my favorites from the entire trip. For the first half of the day we did a mud flat hike led by a guide. We had so much fun finding our way through sand, mud, and all of the seashells while our guide pointed out different kinds of birds and other creatures living in the mud, such as jellyfish, little crabs, and lugworms. There were areas where we sunk in the mud all the way up to our hips! It was amazing to essentially walk on what makes up the ocean floor for part of each day. The second half of the day was beach time! It was the perfect day for it. Everyone spent most of the afternoon just reading and napping on the sand, but some of us (even the Texans!) swam out into the North Sea, if only for a few minutes, it was so cold! Later that evening we went out with a couple of people we had met at the Aquatic Wildlife center and ended up at a German karaoke bar, and I will never listen to Proud Mary the same way again. All in all, it was a great few days and we got to learn a lot and meet several interesting people!

Ich bin ein Berliner

Hallo!

Wow, it has been an even longer break between blog posts this time. It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun. I had initially written this entire post but then my tablet decided that it would be awesome and crash forcing me to perform a factory reset and lose everything that I had written while during one of our previous train rides. Oh well. Now on to more interesting topics, our adventures in Berlin!

We were forewarned by our tour guide, Mira, that when coming to Berlin not to expect a pretty city like all of the ones we had been to prior but that it was really rather ugly. This is indeed the view that we got from the windows of the train as well as during our bike tour throughout the city - a lot of gray and graffiti covered buildings. However, thinking about the fact that the city was basically leveled during the second world war and then subsequently divided into an East and West Berlin it is understandable that it will not have the charm and beauty of the the other German cities that received significantly less damage. Even though the buildings of the city were not all that aesthetically pleasing there was so much history around every corner that it was still an amazing place to visit. The entire city has this mixture an eery and depressive remembrance of the horrors that once took place along with a sense of hope and joy for the future.

The next morning after our bike tour we left the main city and went to an area outside of Berlin called Bad Saarow where we visited and took a tour of a horse clinic associated with the University of Berlin. At this clinic they focus mainly on reproductive medicine and we got to watch a couple ultrasounds of some mares. They were checking to see if they were in estrus and it was really neat to watch and learn about what to look for. They also showed us some ultrasound images they had taken the other day on a mare that was 65 days pregnant and got to learn how to differentiate the sex of the foal. Along with this while we were touring the facilities we got to see a group of Warmblood foals playing in the fields, and they were so adorable.  Afterwards we took a walk through the woods to a restaurant located on the lake. While we were eating outside we got to watch sailboats just drift along, it was so relaxing and just a wonderful time. After a great pasta dish and a glass of wine Mira told us that we had to speed walk back to the bus stop otherwise we would be late, and of course, upon getting to the bus stop we ended up having about an 8 minute wait.

The next day we went and took a tour of Sachsenhausen, one of the first concentration camps to be built. I had a lot of mixed and strong emotions while walking around the area and the impression it made up on me is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. On the iron gates, directly under the watchtower, leading into the camp are the words Arbeit Macht Frei which translated means "Work Makes You Free". In the early days of the concentration camps this saying had some truth to it, if you kept your head down did what was asked you had a chance to get free. Of course later on many of these people ultimately ended up back in a concentration camp for one reason or other and then even if you worked hard it was unlikely you would ever leave and if you did it was often to go to someplace worse. One of the places that really hit me hard was when we walked to what little remained of Station Z and saw the double-walled foundation of the rooms where thousands of people were systematically shot or even the gas chamber that took their lives to only be dragged by other prisoners to the crematory. This area was named Station Z because the gate where you entered was A so in order to exit you had to go through Station Z. We also walked through the old medical buildings, now turned into an exhibit on medical practices and experimentation, and by the end of these rooms I was literally sick to my stomach of the horrors that took place. And to think it was done by medical professionals and highly educated people just makes it all that more difficult to swallow. Overall, this was a life changing experience and even though I had known about all of this happening before hand just being in the place where it all happened makes it all that more real.

After the tour of the concentration camp we headed back into the city for a visit of the "Bundestag" or the German Parliament Building. Here we were able to climb the glass dome top of the building and learn more about how Parliament functions. The view was very pretty and you could even see the Brandenburg gate from above.

On Monday after returning from our free weekend trip to Prague we went and visited the Anatomy Building of the Veterinary School as well as took a guided tour of the Jewish Museum. We took a tour of the anatomy building with one of the Veterinarians that work there. It was really cool to see the collection of specimens that they had on display so the students could use them at any time to study.

In our tour of the Jewish Museum the guide talked a lot about the architecture of the building and how the building in itself was a piece of art and used to tell the story of the Jewish people in Germany. I'm certain if we didn't have a guide to help explain the architecture and how it merged with the rest of the museum I would not have gotten as much out of the experience. I really enjoyed this museum and it was very well done, I wish we had more time in our schedule to explore it further. One exhibit in particular that I found fascinating was off in a corner and not obvious. As you approached all you could hear was the sound of metal clanging together and I wasn't sure what to expect as I turned the corner. Inside were thousands of metal faces and you were encouraged to walk across them to explore the entire area. This particular part was to represent all of the thousands of Jewish people that were killed in wars.

Our last day in Berlin consisted of a visit to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research as well as the Natural History Museum. At the institute we got to learn about a lot of the different research projects they have going on there as well as their dedication to help with conservation efforts. We also got to learn how to use a blow dart and even were given some to practice with. I missed on my first shot and then actually managed to hit the target on my second attempt although still not on a part of the animal that would have allowed for tranquilization. There were some parts of the Natural History Museum that I found interesting but overall I was not all that impressed. I imagine some of this had to do with the fact that I have been to the one in New York City which is amazing and makes it hard for a lot of the smaller ones to stack up. One room I really liked was where they had floor to ceiling shelves full of different specimens that had been collected. I liked that they had this on display for the public because normally you can only see these type of collections if you go behind the scenes to areas where they perform research.

I really enjoyed my time in Berlin. It is an amazing city with a ton of history. There is so much to explore and I feel to fully understand everything there is to this city would require more time and hopefully someday I can come back.

Until next time,
~Rebecca

Genau.

Büsum & Copenhagen

The group said farewell to Germany last week, even though I will be returning to the vet school in Giessen after the program ends. Genau (something along the lines of "exactly") has turned into a joke word to us, because the Germans say it constantly but scoff when we don't use it appropriately. Anyway, after Berlin we traveled to the area of Büsum, which is a tiny town the North Sea. The landscape became quite flat and full of quaint little farms and windmills as we rode through the countryside in a big van. The first stop was at the Seal Center in Friederichskoog, where one of the trainers told us about their rescue program and resident seals, who live there permanently for various reasons. Unfortunately, we did not get to see any of the newly rescued seal pups since they were in quarantine. It would have been nice to see more of the veterinary work and facilities that the public does not, but it was still really neat to visit a seal rehabilitation center. 

Next we drove to the Multimar Wattforum museum in Tönning, located in a sea of grass with sheep grazing placidly outside the front door. It is an informational center and aquarium featuring the species fauna of the salt marshes and tidal flats in the region, which was pretty interesting since I didn't know much about it before. After a series of sharp turns down narrow country lanes, we finally arrived at our hotel in Büsum, a quaint yellow house with lilac bushes surrounding the door. The rest of the evening was spent walking casually though the small city center, which was lined with nautical-themed shops, and out to the beach. At low tide, the water recessed for miles and left behind soft but firm mud full of shells and jellyfish. 

The following morning, we walked to the Aquatic Wildlife Center, which is an extension of the vet school in Hannover. One of the veterinarians explained their research of marine mammals - mostly disease patterns, tracking, and population monitoring - before we suited up in white garb and joined some students and vets with a harbor seal and porpoise necropsy. It was awesome seeing not only the anatomy, but also parasites and cause of death (intestinal volvulus and undeveloped fetus in the seal, and a flat fish stuck in the trachea of the porpoise) of these animals. It's something I've never done before and enjoyed doing, despite the buckets of blood and aroma of fishy-death. We also got to meet the students and young vets working on their research there, and they were so friendly and happy to have a group of young people to interact with since Büsum is clearly a retirement/vacation for the elderly hub. They joined us at the group dinner of the seafood restaurant where the local "seehundjäger" ("seal hunter") cooks. The seal hunter actually rescues the abandoned pups who howl on the beaches and brings them to the seal center. One of my favorite things so far was actually just getting to know the students, who came from Denmark, Portugal, and the UK. They were so interesting and were in turn very interested in everything about the US, from vet school to politics. We talked for several hours and had a lot in common despite being from entirely different parts of the world. 

The final day in Büsum dawned sunny and only a little windy - perfect conditions for the mud flat hike. I won't lie, I did have reservations about walking around in mud and stepping on a bunch of shells, but once we reached the soft, more sandy areas near the streams and rivers flowing through the flats, it was actually pleasant and quite pretty, really. Our guide was a cheerful Biologist who let us catch a bunch of critters, including the tiny little shrimp that they eat locally after sending them to Morocco to be peeled - which no one understands why. We played around in the deep mud and everyone left in high spirits. After lunch, we hit the beach and spent all afternoon relaxing in the sun and swimming in the chilly North Sea (I did anyway - most of the Texans were wimps) before meeting the students again in a pub and karaoke bar for drinks. It was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. 

On Saturday, we began our trip to Køpenhavn, a long, long train ride north. I was in a bit of a daze about halfway through, when the train suddenly rolled into a container of sorts and one of the staff told us to get out. We were inside a ferry! I spent the entire 45 minute crossing up on the deck in the sun and wind. When we arrived, we split up to find our vet student hosts. Rebecca and I ended up in the dorm and partaking in a very strange Danish floor party (complete with costumes, games, and themes in each room) with our hosts that evening. The next day, we rolled out of bed late and met everyone in town, toured the Rosenberg castle (very cool!), and wandered though the botanical gardens. The last day, one of the students gave us a tour of the large animal clinic of the veterinary school, and we got to join rounds and watch a few neat procedures, including a gutteral pouch endoscopy and EKG on a calf. Then we returned to town, toured the royal stables (!!!!), walked along the part of the canals where Hans Christian Anderson lived, and finished the night at Tivoli, an old amusement park in the middle of the city. With all the brightly painted structures, vintage lights, and lovely gardens, I felt like I stepped into a 1930s circus. We watched a very strange outdoor ballet (some Danish folk tale) and I even rode the 100 year old roller coaster with manual brakes. It was quite the experience, and I'm really glad we spent the weekend with students there. If anyone decides to go, we can hook you up with the vet students there!

Currently, the program has actually ended and I am sitting in London Heathrow airport, waiting for my connection to Scotland. Since I am experiencing technical difficulties with my laptop (I typed most of this on my phone...), I will attempt to add photos and finish my last post about Holland if and when I can get that sorted out. I can't believe the four weeks are over!

Until then, proost! [Dutch is like a weird combination of English and German]

~Andrea