Airport life

So it is now January 18 at 6:50 am London time, 1:50 am EST. I have been in airports/planes for 10 hours and I still have 19 hours left until I reach my final destination. So far the journey has been an interesting one. I am not afraid of flying, nor have I even been, however this flight did push a couple buttons. We left from Raleigh in the middle of the storm that is hitting the east coast. It was an adventure to say the least. As we taxied down the runways you could see the wind blowing the rain in all directions. We sped down the runway and lifted off. The first two minutes were problem free, and then the turbulence happened. I looked out of my window and the wings appeared as though they would actually snap in half. The drama of the accent was not helped by the others in the plane. People were screaming, babies were crying, and people were praying out loud. At that point what ever was going to happen, was going to happen. I decided to take joy in the situation and just thought of it was a really expensive roller coaster ride. I mean how can you not be happy thinking about roller coasters? From there, the flight did not get much better. I have flown on many planes, all around the world, and this was by far the worst aircraft. The plane did not have individual tv's in each seat, instead they had three little overhead tv's down the middle isle, coach bus style. I know beggars can't be choosers, however, not only could I not see any of the tv's from my seat, but the audio did not work either. It was not like i was just flying to another state, it was a 7 hour flight to London. I have been on better planes flying from Chicago to San Fran that had tv's. I know, it's pretty pathetic my dependence on technology and things to occupy my mind. I did however have my iPad equipped with multiple episodes of Royal Pains, which filled my entertainment needs. Outside of those debacles the rest of the flight was pretty smooth. The food was pretty decent, chicken with rice for dinner, and a croissant with yogurt for breakfast. Also on the plus side, I had my row to myself, which is always nice.

London airport is actually a pretty decent airport. I get 45 minutes of free wifi so please excuse any typos and grammatical errors...this goes for future blogging too as Internet time will probably be limited. Looks like I am about to beat the storm here. It just started snowing as I boarded the plane, and there is 2 inches on the ground already as we took off.

Talk about a change of scenery. As soon as you walk to the Emirates international gate it is an entirely different world. Free newspapers and magazines await you in the pre-boarding area. Once you enter the plane (I am on an A-380) it is pure magic and luxury. You are greeted with a warm lemon scented towel to wash your hands, and given a menu (breakfast again, and lunch). There is Internet on board, over 200 movies to choose from, individual plugs to change electronic made to accommodate every country, cup holders, and USB connectors so you can plug your device into your personal tv. Maybe it's the plane, maybe it's flying to Dubai, but it just feels like money! This might be the best flight ever. Oh and there are stickers on your seat to let the, know if you want to be woken up for food or beverages (how simple is that, yet i have not seen it on any other aircrafts) I am sure not going to mind the next 8 hours on this plane!

Now for a little information about my trip. My eventual destination is Khambhat, India (formerly known as Cambay). It is a city of 80,000 people in the Gujarat state. The economy is pretty stagnant and the only business they have is local goods. There are 23 volunteers participating on the mission: 8 surgeons, 3 residents, 6 anesthesia providers, 3 nurses, and 3 support staff. We are being provided room and board at the local hospital. As of now,we are expecting to do 200 surgeries in 6 days in 5 operating rooms. To give you a comparison, at Wake Forest we do 200-250 cases in 1 day in 40 operating rooms, so this is ambitious, but will be done.

Welcome to Dubai. Everyone says that Paris is the city of lights but I beg to disagree. Flying into Dubai was remarkable, more lights than Vegas, and more lights than Paris. It was a beautiful sight, especially at night...It is now January 18, 8:35 pm Dubai (11:36 EST). A major plus...free internet, yay!! Another 3 hour layover, 3 hour flight, 1 hour wait for all the volunteers to arrive and 2 hour bus ride and I will finally be at my destination. To kill time, and stretch, I have been walking around the terminal and where are the longest lines...yep, you guessed it...McDonalds followed by Burger King. On another note, they do have very nice gardens at both ends of the terminals.