Internships Abroad, GRIP Another Year Around the Sun

GRIP: World Medical Association (WMA)

This summer, I turned 21 years old, thousands of miles away from home. This wasn't the first year I celebrated my birthday away from home; two years ago, after my first year at Penn, I even celebrated in Center City! However, this year I was abroad, and I was lucky enough to mark this momentous occasion by traveling across Switzerland. Even luckier was the fact that my parents joined me for this journey, making it an unforgettable week.

First, I hopped on the Golden Pass Railway from Montreux to Interlaken, enjoying the peace and quiet as I savored the amazing views. I've always been a fan of train rides; something about Amtrak seems like a perfectly curated experience to me, more grounded (both figuratively and literally) than a flight but smoother and faster than a car ride. Seeing the hills and lakes pass me as I lounged on the railway was the start to an amazing celebration.

In Interlaken, I then had the opportunity to make the steep journey up to Jungfraujoch, bundling up to savor the views. In Interlaken, we also celebrated our own heritage thanks to the memories created by Yash Chopra, a Bollywood director who created some of our family's favorite movies. All the talk about Bollywood only made me want to rewatch DDLJ!

After Interlaken, we traveled to Zurich to see the city, marveling at the majesty of the train station immediately upon our arrival. Near Zurich, we also visited the Brienz lake, enjoying the morning breeze on a boat ride around the area. Over the course of this week, I had come to appreciate just how integrated Switzerland, and Europe more broadly, was with the surrounding nature. Even walking around Geneva or Ferney-Voltaire, it was easy to find a park to relax in or a small lake to take a lunch-time swim in. This appreciation only continued to grow throughout the latter half of the week.

We next traveled to Zermatt, where we split our days between strolling through the cobblestone streets, enjoying the lack of cars and the street-side gelato, and the hilly grasslands of Riffelalp, hiking up and down to see the views. We also took a day trip to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, reflecting on the amazing week we had had so far and enjoying the views from the cable car.

Finally, we returned to Geneva so that I could see my parents off, closing the week with a bittersweet goodbye. While it was sad to say goodbye to them, I knew I would see them soon. Besides, I was excited to return to work, reinvigorated by the beauty of my Switzerland Grand Tour!