Germany : Malachi Clark (A New Experience)

A New Experience

CIEE offers excursions to eventful places around Berlin and to nearby Berlin cities, they aren’t mandatory, but when they’re offering, why not go right??

They took us on an excursion to Beelitz, which is this town about a 45 minute train ride away from Berlin. In Beelitz, the major attraction is the Beelitz Tuberculosis Sanatorium. The sanatorium is this gorgeous time capsule that shows a glimpse into how it was to live while you were suffering with tuberculosis. We were able to have a guided tour, to learn specifically about the camp and what was occurring there. From what I remember, a lot of the cure, or lack thereof, for tuberculosis came from just a bunch of sunbathing, which I personally vibe with. It also had this insane tree top walkway that allowed you to see the whole sanatorium campus.

It was a truly lovely experience learning about the camp and all of the ways it was preserved BUT what truly stole the show was the Barfuß Park (Barefoot Park) behind the sanatorium where you literally just take off your shoes and walk around on different textured surfaces. It’s truly so wild that behind the tuberculosis sanatorium that there’s a barefoot park but hey if it works it works. We spent about an hour walking around the park, playing around with our senses. We smelt a bunch of different scents, felt a bunch of different textures with our hands and feet, and saw forest that went on for miles and miles. I think one of my favorite parts was when we had the chance to walk through mud with varying degrees of thickness. One of the student advisors, that was along for the excursion, said it reminded her of home and my home truly has no connection to mud but I couldn’t agree with her more.

The Beelitz Sanatorium and the Barfuß Park is a must-see if you’re in the Berlin area!

 

Malachi Clark

Major: Computer Science and German

Hometown: Glen Ellyn, Illinois

Program: CIEE Berlin Open Campus