Highlights from first 2 weeks in Prague

Unfortunately I haven't been able to write about every single excursion I've had on this trip because I've been insanely busy! Since we spend the mornings doing hospital rotations and 3 afternoons a week in seminars, I'm always on the move going somewhere in Prague. Luckily, everyone on the trip has definitely made use of our free time by taking advantage of the beautiful sites the city has to offer. Here are a couple of the highlights from the first 2 weeks of the trip:

Some of my fellow classmates and I with Dr. Stransky, director of the SGU Prague Selective, and Andrew Schapiro, U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic

Me and Helen enjoying a late night Wenceslas Sausage

Me and Roxy about to try Trdelnik for the first time: a traditional central european pastry with lots of cinnamon and sugar. This particular one had nutella on the inside! Was so delicious!

Some of my fellow classmates of the Prague Selective enjoying a lovely dinner cruise at sundown on the Vltava River

Prague is gorgeous at night, no filter needed!

Friends during our segway tour around Prague sites

During the second week, I scheduled a private tour (accidentally) for me and Shannon of the Jewish Quarter in the middle of Prague's Old Town. This area was used as a Jewish ghetto for hundreds of years, but during the late 1800s-early 1900s, much of it was demolished for remodeling. We did however visit a number of the sites that weren't destroyed, including 4 synagogues: Pinkas, Klaus, Old-New, and Spanish Synagogues, as well as the Old Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery houses thousands of graves that date back to the 1400s and because of it's small area, there are 12 layers of graves. All the synagogues we visited had their own unique style, and none of them are still in operation, rather they're now used as museums to house jewish relics and memorials of fallen Czech Jews in the Holocaust. It was a very informative tour that I am so glad I took.

The old jewish cemetery housing thousands of graves packed very close together

The bema in the Spanish Synagogue, which was very elaborately decorated

Klaus Synagogue, with displays of traditional jewish rituals

In my next post I will talk a little bit about my Pediatric rotations during the second week, followed by our weekend in Vienna for my 25th birthday!

Weekend of Music in Leipzig, Germany

When deciding what I wanted to do with my free time this weekend (7/17), I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to take advantage of being in central Europe and the ease of traveling to other places, but that was all I was going on. I then decided, “okay, I’m just going to look at a map and see what cities stood out to me and seemed easily accessible by bus or train”. Immediately, Leipzig stood out as I zoomed out of Prague… I remembered first hearing about Leipzig my sophomore year of college when I took my first music history class, Baroque Music. At this time, I really didn’t know what Baroque meant and I didn’t even know if I was actually going to enjoy being a music major. Little did I know, I was about to take on something I’m still passionate about today.

As many people don’t know, Leipzig, Germany is one of the musical capitals of the world. It is home to some of the greatest composers, including Bach, Mendelssohn, Wagner, and Schumann, all of which are names I’ve learned a great deal about as a music major. Bach, however, is the one I was most excited about because Leipzig is the place where he did most of his work for 27 years until his death in 1750. With that, Shannon and I had a very productive weekend, hitting up many cultural spots as well as some live music!

We started our weekend with a trip to the Old Town Hall where we learned a bit about the history of Leipzig and important people in it's history. We next moved onto the Bach museum, which is situated right outside of the St. Thomas Cathedral. The museum was extremely interesting, where we learned about what life was like for Bach as the music director of all the major churches in Leipzig, and we also got to see many original copies of his scores! We next moved to the Cathedral, which is the final resting place of Bach's remains. we were also lucky enough to be there on a day where an organ concert was going on, so for about an hour we were consumed with the beautiful sounds from the instrument I find so complex and interesting. I had such a wonderful time being able to listen to amazing live music in such a historically significant place of western music.

Old Town Hall in Leipzig, converted into an exhibit about the city

Statue of J.S. Bach outside of St. Thomas Cathedral

St. Thomas Cathedral: Bach's workplace for 27 years until his death!

There was truly beautiful music everywhere we went in the city; even outside of the church was a beautiful string quartet playing gorgeous music that we were able to enjoy with a glass of wine at a nearby cafe. The importance of music is everywhere you go in Leipzig and it is clearly appreciated.

On Sunday morning (7/19) we took a tour of the Mendelssohnhaus, where we were able to walk around the house where the composer lived with his family and conducted his works. Additionally, we got to see another live performance at the house of 2 young violinists from other countries studying in Leipzig. 

Violin duo performing at the Mendelssohnhaus

I had such a wonderful time in the musical city of Leipzig. I left there feeling completely appreciative of all the live music I was able to see and how immersed I felt in the culture. I was only there for a short time, but I could absolutely feel the importance of the city's history just from walking around. Being an American girl in the 21st century, I often feel a bit alone in my love for classical music because it isn't something my generation is exposed to on a regular basis. However, this doesn't bother me at all, for being in a place like Leipzig just reinforces that there are so many people in this world that understand the beauty that classical music has to offer. There is always something to learn from it, in terms of musicality, emotion, intelligence, etc... and I love always discovering something new, for there is an infinite repertoire out there. That being said, coming to this place left me feeling wonderful, and I hope to never forget it.

Not a big beer drinker, but when in Germany!

Overall thoughts of Neurology

I've been so busy so it's been a while since my last post, but I wanted to give my overall thoughts on my first week of rotations. I had a wonderful experience in the Neurology Department. We started each session with a lecture from different attending physicians on each of their specialties; these include Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, and Vertigo just to name the most discussed topics. Amazingly, I found a lot of what I learned in Biochemistry came back in helping me understand these lectures, so that felt awesome! It felt really good to be able to take knowledge I’ve learned from such a short amount of time in medical school and apply it to real-world scenarios.

After the lectures, I rotated in different areas of the department each day. I already talked briefly about the second ward in my last post, but I was lucky enough to see a lot of exciting patients in the 1^st ward and ICU.  One patient I saw had suffered a stroke a few days prior, so we got to see a CT scan where the bleeding had occurred and watch the draining of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) while the doctors explained his bleeding was massive because he was on blood-thinners. Another patient we saw that day had a tumor on his medulla, and as a result had issues swallowing as well as Horner’s Syndrome, a situation I completely understood from gross anatomy! This was so exciting for me.

Another patient I saw was probably the most exciting, where we watched a man get some sort of spinal procedure which involved a lumbar puncture. I’m still a little confused about what was going on exactly, but the man had scoliosis, therefore the doctor had an extremely difficult time inserting the needle between the vertebrae. After many attempts and about 20 minutes going by, the needle was inserted and some kind of fluid was being inserted to measure intracranial pressure (I believe they called this a Tap Test); after the nurse monitored the pressure and took down the pressure every minute for 10 minutes, they released some CSF to relieve the pressure.

In addition to seeing the patients, I really enjoyed seeing real-world MRI and CT scans. St. George’s really emphasizes getting us used to radiology, but everything we see is without pathology. Seeing scans on real patients that had disease or accidents was amazing, especially when I felt like I was actually able to see what the problem was. This scan in particular was the most shocking to see:

This patient was born with congenital hydrocephalus and showed no symptoms until he was in his 60s! pretty amazing he lived such a normal life up until this point, considering how much CSF is built up in the brain!

In Ultimately, I had a very enlightening week in Neurology and felt like I learned a lot about the clinicalaspects. While I’m very interested in Neuroanatomy, I’m not quite sure this is the specialty I would go into myself, but I definitely have a new appreciation for it. Next week is pediatrics, so that should be a very different experience. Having grown up with my parents in this field, I’m sure it will be much more familiar territory for me, but still excited to get a new perspective!

First Day in a Prague Hospital and the Jerusalem Synagogue

Sunday we finished up our time in Amsterdam and made our way over to Prague! At our orientation we finally learned how exactly we’re going to be spending our time doing the academic component of the trip  (yes, the day we arrived is when we finally got the details… I shouldn’t be surprised). Anyway, we were assigned into small groups that will be doing hospital rotations in the mornings, and a variety of lectures in the afternoons. This week I’ll be spending the mornings doing Neurology rotations, while next week I’ll be doing Pediatrics, followed by General Surgery.

This morning we woke up super early to meet with a guide to take us to Motol Hospital to show us how to get there on our own for the rest of the week using the train. We all purchased a monthly ticket since we’ll be here for a few weeks, which cost 670 Czech Koruna, or about $27 USD. The conversion rate is pretty wild… I keep thinking I’m spending a ton of money, when in reality this country has so far proven to be pretty cheap!

Traveling via train and finally arriving to the hospital was a bit overwhelming. We quickly realized that Prague is definitely not a place where you can assume people speak English, and none of the signs are in English either! Thank goodness we had guides otherwise we’d be completely out of luck. We arrived in the Department of Neurology where we had an introduction lecture (yes, in English!) by the chair of the department, which entailed discussing basics of the specialty and it’s importance for the country. The most interesting thing I took from this was that people in the Czech Republic who complain of back pain are always sent to Neurology first. The doctors told us repeatedly that it’s definitely inconvenient for them, and it’s often nothing neurological, but it’s just a typical custom of their healthcare system… totally weird!

I spent the next two hours shadowing neurology residents while they conducted their morning rounds and charting of their patients in the 2^nd Ward. It was pretty laid back, but the doctors seemed to have a really good grasp on their patients’ needs and expectations for their treatments. For the first day, I felt I got to see a number of interesting scenarios.

Lucky for me I had the afternoon off, so Shannon and I decided to do a little exploring of our area. In doing so we stumbled on the Jerusalem Synagogue, which is supposedly one of the major Jewish centers in Prague. Being in the Art Nouveau style of architecture, I was pretty stunned by the place because I’d never seen such an extravagant temple before. In my past experiences in Europe, I spent majority of my time seeing churches, so it was particularly interesting for me to see a piece of architecture of my own faith that was pretty different for me. I’ve heard there are a number of Jewish sites worth seeing in Prague so I hope to see more soon!

Facade of the Jerusalem Temple

Inside the Jerusalem Temple

And finally, for dinner I had my first Czech meal! Goulash and dumplings! It was actually really delicious, considering I wasn’t sure how I felt about it when it arrived on the table.

Me, Shannon, and Helen enjoying a local beer

My first authentic Czech meal: Goulash and Dumplings

So far this is what I’ve learned from my very short time in Prague:

-most people don’t speak English! And those who don’t won’t bother trying to converse with you

-The only places that really have English written anywhere are restaurants or tourist sites

-Everything is much cheaper than it is at home. I’ve barely spent the money that I’ve converted, and I’m not complaining.

Can’t wait to see what I learn tomorrow!

Final days in Amsterdam

My last 2 full days in Amsterdam were jam packed, but I feel like the pictures speak for themselves here (so I won't write up a storm!). On Friday we spent the day with Chana, who is a friend of ours from SGU who lives outside Amsterdam herself. She took us around to a couple of great sites outside of the city that we likely wouldn't of had the opportunity to do if we didn't have a local to take us. First stop was Marken, where we went to a clog factory and a museum of the people of the former island:

Marken; a small dutch town outside of Amsterdam that used to be an island

Me, Wendy, and Shannon at the Marken docks

Pofferties; traditional dutch mini-pancakes with toppings 

Next stop of the day was Volendam, which was a fun spot to eat some dutch food and do a bunch of touristy attractions. We took a ferry boat from Marken to get there:

overjoyed by the amount of dutch cheese i'm getting to try!

Lastly, we just had to see some windmills in the country, which was beautiful:

Chana and Shannon enjoying some home-made stroopwaffles

We had such a lovely day being taken around by Chana; I couldn't have appreciated it any more. The last day in Amsterdam was spent at the Rijksmuseum, which houses some of the world's most important dutch works of art:

The Rijksmuseum was a beautiful building by itself

Shannon is excited she spotted a lobster in the art!

Lastly, we spent the evening doing a canal cruise of the city. Unfortunately I didn't take any memorable photos, but it was a lovely time spent on a boat in a city that is so centered around the water. Overall I enjoyed my time in Amsterdam tremendously and would love to come back one day. But until then, we're off to Prague for the major component of the trip!

Amsterdam Day 2: Van Gogh, Rembrandthuis, and Anne Frank

Our first day of “touristy” activities started in the Van Gogh Museum. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be; a collection of so many of the great works we all know (“The Bedroom,” “Sunflowers,” tons of self portraits, “The potato Eaters”), yet so many more I had never seen before. Being an art lover, I knew a number of fun facts about Van Gogh’s life, but I felt like I really walked away with a better understanding of what a genius he really was. For example, in the last year of his life while he was severely suffering from mental illness, he still managed to produce an average of one painting per day. I’m always so blown away by not only the fact that these artists create such masterpieces, but they create so many of them! Van Gogh already impressed me before this, but I walked away completely blown away.

Wendy looking chic as always 

me having a necessary tourist moment

Since we were on an artist-kick, we next decided to go to the Rembrandthuis Museum, which is the actual home where Rembrandt created majority of his works and taught his students. I had no idea what to expect from this place, but I absolutely loved it. We got head-sets to do a self-guided tour, and the house was basically untouched for the last 400 years; you left there having such a sense of what a house was like in the 17^th century. There were also museum staff giving very cool art demonstrations of activities that Rembrandt would have done in his house, such as making oil paints from scratch, creating etching blocks, and collecting paintings and sculptures as a seller. I walked away very impressed by this place. 

me in Rembrandt's bedroom

The last activity of the day was the Anne Frank House. Having grown up hearing numerous accounts from the Holocaust, and of course knowing Anne Frank’s story beforehand, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to see there. I will say, however, it was pretty crazy to actually step behind the moveable bookcase that I’ve read about and stand in the place where it all happened. I walked away feeling more amazed at the fact that the Frank family lived in such a confined space for 3 years and more impressed with how insightful she was for being so young. I admit I got emotional at some of the videos of people talking about their firsthand experiences with the Franks because it brought me back to the stories I grew up hearing from my grandfather. Particularly, Anne’s best friend growing up discussed how she ended up in a concentration camp next to Anne’s, and she spoke about how Anne had given up at the end after her sister Margot died in the camp, leaving Anne with nothing left to live for; this hit close to home because my grandfather too lost most of his family in the Holocaust. Really glad I had the opportunity to be in such a significant landmark.

Shannon and a whole lot of clogs

regaining my energy between museums

Those were the major points from the day! Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures in a lot of places today, but hopefully I drew a nice picture for you. It was a really busy day and now I’m exhausted, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’re going to be leaving the city and see some more rural areas that I’m sure are going to be gorgeous!

Initial Thoughts, Day 1 in Amsterdam

If you know me and you’re reading this, there is a very good chance you know I love to travel. I particularly like to go to places I think I’ll never have another opportunity to see; I find the places that put you in the most unfamiliar situations are the ones you tend to learn the most from. With that, the trip of greatest growth for me has been this past year going to school in Grenada. While you don't typically go to the Caribbean to “find one’s self,” I’ve learned more about myself and gone through the most growth on that tiny island than I ever have before.

I’m not really sure how this all started for me… The first time I ever spent time away from home was one of the most traumatic experiences of my childhood (spending the summer away at sleep-away camp). While that may sound silly, I just always loved spending time at home with my friends and family. I think a small part of me at that age always hated that I didn’t like to venture away home, and with that I looked for better reasons to leave the nest.

In conclusion, I’ve gone on a major excursion every year since I was 16 and realize now I’ve finally found the joys of leaving your comfort zone behind. People have asked me what I hope to expect for myself this time around, and I honestly don’t know right now. All I do know is that I hope to take what I’ve learned about myself in medical school and apply it to a completely new setting. I don’t even know what that means at the moment, but here’s hoping I can tell you in a couple of weeks.

The first leg of my trip included a quick layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. I’m now looking back wishing I spent a day here because it’s somewhere I’ve been wanting to visit. As trivial as it sounds, I watched an amazing foreign film in college that took place there, and it’s been on my list of places to visit ever since. It has definitely moved up the list of my places to visit after getting a glimpse of the amazing landscaping, the cool summer air, and experiencing the longer hours of daylight.

After finally arriving in Amsterdam later in the day, I quickly noticed that this city has an interesting combination of old and new. The architecture is exactly what I pictured:

View from our apartment in Amsterdam

… yet the transportation seems very modern. Taking the train to meet Shannon at Amsterdam Centraal was an experience in itself. My paranoia about not getting off at the correct stop most definitely got the best of me!

After FINALLY meeting up with Shannon, we arrived at our rental apartment in the middle of the city. The location is absolutely amazing… we’re walking distance from tons of restaurants, parks, museums, etc; tomorrow we’re planning to spend most of the day taking advantage.

Shannon in our apartment in Amsterdam

Bikes on Bikes on Bikes

So far all I can tell you about Amsterdam is this:

-Shannon has already got me hooked on stroopwaffles

-It stays light out past 10PM, which is weird, but kind of amazing

-Bicycles absolutely dominate the roads, and the bike lanes are probably the best ones I’ve ever seen. I always appreciate a city where the people use an active mode of transportation

-everyone seems to speak English, which is great for me, but if I leave here learning a couple of Dutch phrases I would absolutely love it.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow we’re planning to do a bunch of museums and the Anne Frank House (which I’m sure will be a major sob-fest for me, but It obviously has to be done).

Thanks for reading my first post. I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you thought or if you have any questions, or have suggestions for things I need to do!