In the Begining...

The Adventure officially began on July 1st at 1pm.

Everything leading up to departure was busy, but I would not have it any other way. Many are still surprised that I am not in the States, over the last 3 weeks of June my job in LA ended and I decided to volunteer in Palestine followed by a short (3 mo) third breast surgery fellowship in France & Germany.

Before I left LA I needed to pack all I owned in LA and put it in storage. God provided a guardian angel with muscles & a truck to help. It was a good thing because I was working 3 jobs to make extra money before volunteering over seas for the next four months.

Visas were also an issue before leaving. I had not realized that in order to vacation in Syria you need a visa, which cost $131 and is only good for 15 days. So my trip began by visiting Syria with friends for vacation and then will proceed to Jordan to visit their Breast Cancer Center, followed by going to Palestine to work with the Palestine Children Relief Fund in a Mission Hospital on the West Bank.

I was most worried about missing my first flight from LAX to Chicago. I did everything I could to miss the flight but still some how made it. Thank God for Sakura, because she made sure I and my bags made the flight.

My flight left LAX at 1pm on Wednesday July 1st and arrived in Damascus, Syria at 11pm Thursday July 2nd. As you can see from the pictures it was a long flight. The first picture is when I left LA and second is when I arrived in Syria. Thankfully I slept the whole way, because I had not gotten much sleep the 3 days and 2 nights before due to moonlighting.

Syria is beautiful, as you can see...

Internet is limited in Syria due to the government, and I learned that facebook is not allowed.

More pictures to come...