Rockstar Much: (Traveling to Nasiriyah)

Arriving in Baghdad was definitely a surreal experience. I don't believe I realized exactly what I was doing until I got there, and let me tell you, Baghdad is much different from what it has been betrayed as. As an American, of course I have terrible preconceptions of the area, but the more I visit Iraq the more it breaks those preconceptions. The people in Baghdad were very nice and the city was actually quite beautiful. From what people say about the are, it was absolutely gorgeous before the start of the war. Anyway, on the plane ride to Baghdad, I sat next to a person who was probably the most hardcore/Bourne Supremacy/Bear Grylls fella I've ever seen. He was ex-British military and current security force for whoever hires him around the world. For the first hour of the flight I just stared at his hands knowing he could kill me with his pinky. But after striking up a conversation about weird accents and silly Americans (I wasn't going to dispute him) we had a pleasant time drinking coffee together. So, it was another lesson in not judging a book by its cover..... Anyway, I digress.

When we got to Iraq, after a lost baggage fiasco, we headed to Nasiriyah in a convoyish style, with Iraqi police in front and behind making people clear the rode for us. This was really cool at first, but after a while I just felt like a bully watching the guards points AK's at people to close. Were safe and nobody was being threatened. I think some people here are just a little to carless with their big guns, and that should definitely change. All this aside, the guards were still very appreciated and we arrived safely after an interesting bathroom stop.

We're staying in a really nice place, with Nasiriyan people that feed us the best food and are so nice. For our safety, supposedly, we have to stay inside the building with guards, but nonetheless we are having a great time with each other and our new, absolutely amazing Iraqi friends.

After arriving, the head hanchos got to work very quickly, assessing the soon to be patient's echocardiograms and discussing what approaches to take. This is the cardiologist Dr. Robert from Liverpool, and there are PICU nurses, a respiratory therapist, perfusionist, cardiac and OR nurses from all over the globe. It's really been spectacular to listen to these professionals talk about what they do and the different approaches their countries take towards healthcare. Sometimes I want to stop them mid-sentence and just say, "Sorry, but you're spectacular... now continue." All I'm saying is these children in need are getting world class care.

Finally, Don the perfusionist had a birthday celebration with cake and fire-code-breaking birthday toys brought from our new Iraqi friends.

Sorry if this seemed rushed, but I will have more on the surgeries that happened today tomorrow.

All the best,

Preston