Welcome to Dubai

I'm in Dubai! I am currently sitting in Terminal 3 of the Dubai International Airport, or the single largest building in the world by floor space... in case you were curious. I'm stuck in the airport until 7:40 am...and it's 11:46pm right now...almost new years! It's weird that I'm spending new years alone this year...sitting next to a battery charging station on my laptop. kinda sad...but I'm still so excited for Ghana! well I don't really have anything interesting to talk about so I'll just say Happy New Year!


view of the fireworks from the airport :)

The time has finally come....

I can't believe I'm finally leaving for Ghana...tomorrow! 500 sunglasses and reading glasses, $2500 of funding, over 11,500 words in essays, a (painful) yellow fever vaccine, and a visa later, I'm finally all set to go! I never knew how much work had to go into getting ready for this trip, but I think it was worth it and I hope to have an amazing experience. I'm writing this blog so that I can share my experience with other people, but mostly because I don't want to forget this experience a couple years down the road.

I will be going to Accra, Ghana to volunteer at the Crystal Eye Clinic from January 1st to January 11th through Unite For Sight. It's amazing how this program was created by a sophomore in college...and has now provided eye care to millions of patients in Africa, Asia and Latin America. I'm so excited to be a part of this and hopefully it will open my eyes to a new area of medicine and patient care that I won't be able to experience anywhere else!

After packing two big suitcases with all the glasses and as much bottled water that will physically fit in them, I've noticed that I forgot to get sunscreen. (The weather is supposed to be in the 90's in Ghana!) I'm off to the grocery store to get some now...I'll update again probably while I'm waiting in JFK tomorrow or during my 7hr layover at the Dubai Airport.