My last day in Europe.
I cannot believe that this was our
very last day abroad. I made sure to make the most out of it (after sleeping
in) and went to the zoo with a close friend I had made throughout the trip.
Once we had made it to one of the largest zoos in the world, we encountered a
man dressed in overalls and traditional German clothing who winded a giant
music box. Every time someone came to
tip him he would tip his hat in one exaggerated motion and shout “Danke!”
(“thank you” in German) happily. His music made me even more excited for the
zoo, and seeing how happy he was making other people cheerful only contributed
to my glee. Next came the skeleton marionette, who I found to be just plain
hilarious. As popular 60’s music played, a man made a puppet of a skeleton
dance and sing with conviction, sometimes making it walk towards people in the
line.
The first animal I saw was the alpaca,
lounging about in the shade with the rest of the herd. Across from them was a
machine that has the word “cheese” on it, so my friend and I both assumed it
was a place for people to purchase cheese to feed to the animals. Makes sense,
right? Of course, it was a photo booth, and my friend and I laughed about that
for a long time. After seeing many animals that I have never even seen before,
my friend and I managed to catch the orangutan feeding.All of the monkeys came
to one side of the fenced enclosure and hung there, reaching their hands to the
other side to beckon for food. After the orangutans we went to the nocturnal
exhibit, encountering lions and leopards along the way.
The dark nocturnal animals area was
underground and contained a vast expanse of desert foxes, moles, and, most
notably, bats. Once we left the area and our eyes had adjusted, we ran into an
enormous white bird that was just inches away from the gate separating it from
the zoo visitors. It could easily jump the fence, but it used its
three-foot-long beak instead to poke passersby. We spent the rest of the time
at the zoo looking for the penguin exhibit which wasn’t easy to find. When we
did find it, however, we were pleasantly surprised by the gleeful penguin
enjoying the attention of its visitors. It was the only visible penguin in the
exhibit, and people were able to touch it if the penguin got close enough. Whenever
anyone did manage to pet it, the creature would tilt its head back and smile.
It literally smiled. It was probably the cutest thing I had seen all day.
Once my friend and I felt as if we had
seen enough animals (the zoo was so big that we couldn’t finish looking at
everything) we headed to the Doc Martin store for her to look for a new pair of
shoes. It was a really fun experience, and we went to the hostel for a break
afterwards. After about two hours we both headed out to have dinner at the same
burger place I had gone to the day before. Of course, I tried something new and
enjoyed it in its entirety. The non-alcoholic Moskito and the Klassic burger
were both divine. After dinner, it was time to get ready to leave at 3:30 the
next morning. I went to bed for a few hours before waking up and heading on the
bus to the Berlin Airport. I will never forget the experiences that I had here
in Europe. I never thought that I’d grow so close with so many people in such a
short amount of time, but I really am going to miss not only the marketing
class, but everyone else, too. The trip abroad has helped me to grow as a
person independently and academically, and I do not regret making the decision
to take part in such a trip at all.
