Good morning Iraq!

I have arrived safely in Iraq! I am here with a medical team with International Children's Heart Foundation. We have a team of about 25 people – surgeon, cardiologist, intensivists, perfusionist, PICU nurses, OR nurses, Engineer, and me (as the RT, of course! =).

Tomorrow we start work at the hospital, and I hope to keep you updated on our progress. Part of the purpose of this blog while I'm here is to raise awareness for ICHF and the work they are doing. They are a non-profit organization and are dependent on donations. They provide surgeries to patients free of charge or at greatly reduced cost, as well as paying for the travel/lodging expenses of their team volunteers. If you would like to know more about them, and/or donate to their cause, please visit their website at Babyheart.org.

I have to say, while the travel was long, I was blessed with very good flights and easy travel! My domestic flights were not full – so we had lots of space and there was never a line for the lavatory. My international flights were the same! On my longest flight (10 hours 45 mins) to Istanbul, there were so many empty seats that some people got to stretch out across 4 empty seats! I wasn't that lucky, but I still had a great flight and I have to give 5 stars to Turkish airlines. I had fairly low expectations, but they were amazing. The plane was very clean and comfortable, the service was excellent, and there were TONS of movies for us to watch (Sorry Ethiopian, looks like you're still at the bottom of my airline “like” list). I'm actually looking forward to the flight home!

When I arrived in Istanbul, I was alone and unsuccessful in finding my four fellow team mates. Luckily, a very kind airline agent who was forgiving of my lack of language skills helped me get a boarding pass for my next flight so I could get through Passport control. Then, I had about 7 hours in the airport. I saw mountains and mountains of Turkish delight (sorry, forgot to take pictures at the airport, maybe on the way home!) My first stop, of course, was Starbucks! The beverages are essentially the same, but the daily special was a goat cheese and fig sandwich. They also had quite an assortment of other sandwiches (butter and cheese being the common ingredients) and some amazingly decadent looking desserts! I got a Chai latte and a croissant. Then I spent the next hour wandering around trying to find the internet. There were wireless internet signals everywhere, but I could not connect to any of them. I finally found one after lots of trekking around. I also found one of the three electrical outlets in the whole airport. (Yes, I'm pretty sure there are only three. I looked everywhere! Just kidding...) So I charged my laptop and surfed the web and e-mailed my team members in hopes of connecting with them, but none of them found the wireless hotspot so I didn't connect with them until our gate was assigned 1.5 hours before the flight. At the four hour mark, I checked the pricing at the airport hotel to see if I could shower and relax, but at $116 for 3 hours, I opted to go back to the wireless hotspot and sit on the floor for two more hours! (I had to pass Starbucks again. Caramel Macchiato this time!) When my flight finally appeared on the departure screens, I found the gate. Luckily, it was pretty easy to spot the other three Americans traveling to Iraq. =)

We arrived in Iraq and a bus met our plane. Everyone got through customs just fine and we all got our luggage. (woot!) We arrived at the hotel around 4:30am. I have a room to myself so far, and it is clean, with a nice bathroom and comfy bed. Really, any kind of bed is comfortable after sitting upright for 36 hours! I unpacked all my clothes – there are way more than I remember packing – and took a cold shower (the only water temperature I could get was cold and colder.) Slept for two hours and then got up for breakfast. I have no idea what at least half the food was at the hotel buffet. I tried two new things, and I'm still not sure what they were. There was fresh orange juice and really yummy sort-of-like-Greek yogurt, so hopefully that is on the menu all week! There was also some fairly awful instant coffee. Hopefully the excitement of being here will make up for the potential caffeine deprivation that I am now anticipating! I think I may temporarily switch to tea.

Tomorrow's post should be much more exciting! Don't give up on me yet! =)