Month in Germany

Over this past summer, I was lucky enough to get to spend a month in Germany. Somehow our group ended up having two vegans, two vegetarians, and two pescatarians, including two of the leaders (one vegan and one vegetarian). Almost everywhere we went was very good about getting food we all could eat. Although in Berlin we had a few snags here and there about getting food for the vegans, my host family definitely went above and beyond to make sure I loved all the food I was getting. Although some of my friends talked about cliques forming to some extent in their programs to other countries, I don't think that happened with my group. We all grew incredibly close over the month we spent together, and we're still in touch even a few months after coming back.
We went to some of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. We spent only a day in the Netherlands and I already feel as though I need to go back, and the Bavarian countryside definitely grew on me. I'm hoping that I will be able to go back and visit my new friends over there and get to say hi to them all once more.
Our leaders were also very good about keeping us all safe. There were several times participants had to see doctors (though there was nothing terribly serious), and our leaders were able to get the participants all of the help they needed. Having such wonderful leaders definitely made the experience a lot smoother and helped us know that we would be able to get whatever we needed. When I got a bad sunburn at the beginning of the trip (I'm very pale so I burn easily, and having just come from school and winter I forgot to apply sunscreen often enough), we were in Brussels and it was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, so almost all the stores were closed. One of the leaders practically ran around town to find something to help with the sunburn (although I didn't end up needing it). She was our in-country leader (we had two from the US and one from Berlin) and seemed like your typical strict German, but she was so sweet in trying to make sure that I was okay after I got sunburned. She almost seemed like the overprotective older sister for the rest of the trip. So if you're worried about something happening to you, don't be! Even if it's just a sunburn, the leaders will do everything they can to make sure you are okay.