Malak's Blocker Blog

Update: I am in Österreich and I am currently in the highest town in Austria called Obergurgle! This is my current view:  Current altitude:1,930 - 2,150 m a.s.l. So cool, right?! But as you can see from my computer screen, I'm working on my Neuroscience seminar essay while my friends are out on a hike.   A quick background on the reason for my trip to Österreich. So since I still have an art goal to fulfill before I graduate, I decided to take an art class here in Germany. There were so many Art class options to pick from but this class stood out, the title of the course is called: Into the Wild: Observing Fragile Alpine Nature Through Lenses of Art & Science. Such a cool title, right? So now I am here, exploring fragile alpine nature! The goal of this course is to really dive into the art expressed by nature and the science component is addressing the climate change aspect and how it has affected the Alps.  So far, we went on one hike yesterday morning–which lasted about 7 hou

A lot has happened over the past month and a half. Living in Germany has been a roller coaster ride so far. everything is still quite new, I am still adjusting to the environment here and classes have been quite on the difficult end.  Adjusting to life here in Tübngen has had its ups and downs. To begin with, the transportation system here is amazing. I love being able to hop on a bus and go to the other side of the city within 30 minutes. But there's also a downside to this. A few days ago, I experienced my first encounter with a bus strike. I woke up, got ready, and made my way to the bus stop, waiting for my bus to go to my morning lecture. Thankfully, I was there an hour ahead of the lecture– because I planned to have breakfast at the Mensa (cafeteria near the lecture hall). I waited for about 15 minutes for the bus (thinking it was just very late) until someone walking by asked if I was waiting for the bus. To my surprise, they said that the buses were on strike today. To say