Third leg (Munich to New Delhi)

Look! We made it to Germany! Munich airport is beautiful. We landed about 5:15 local time (about 9:00 am Utah time). It's weird, we slept about 5-6 hours on the plane but our Sunday is just about over. We took off from San Fransisco with the sun setting and are doing the same thing again in a couple of hours. The flight was very nice. We flew on an Airbus A380 which is HUGE! Very quiet and big. Laura and I were able to sit together in the end thank to a great window seat bartering tool. We took it easy and listened to music and slept. This plane was cool because you had to go downstairs to use the restroom. Neither of us have ever done that before. There was a huge room full of restrooms. So far the only thing that has gone wrong on the trip out is that German security took our water bottles and now we are wondering if it is a good idea to purchase another 2 bottles to be taken away at India security. We'll see. I guess it's not the end of the world, although it is 90-100 degrees F in India and we can't drink the water unless it's bottled. We are arriving to the second largest population next to China in 8 hours. We are a little apprehensive about catching our bus to the domestic terminal when we arrive (typically foreigners are bombarded with cabbies and transportation representatives as soon as you exit the gate. There is a free shuttle bus from the foreign terminal to the domestic terminal and we were given specific instructions from Dr. Sinha to take the free shuttle bus and not take a ride from anyone. Wish us luck. Another 7.5 hour flight to Delhi seems a little daunting right now. Ha ha.

Second leg (San Fran - Munich)

We are happy to report we made it to San Francisco without any complication. We'd like to say all airports are as nice as Salt Lake and provide wireless internet, however, we found out they aren't! :) We have a four hour layover here in SF, and will leave for Munich at 10 pm local time, arriving in Munich at 5:15 pm their time...funny how world traveling also turns you into a time traveler as well! During our layover, we exchanged some money for Rupees, it was fun to get our first look at Indian money, it is very fancy and colorful. Interesting exchange rate, we exchanged $41 and got 1,560 rupees. Check out how cool it looks:

After exchanging money and hanging out for a while, we got some food. In honor of leaving America, we got Mexican food again! (the fact that the only other restaurant close to us was a Japanese sushi restaurant may have also been a factor) We have about an hour and half to go before our flight leaves, we will then be in the long haul, 11 hours! Hopefully we can sleep! We currently are not sitting by each other, we have two window seats in a row, so we are hoping to use them as bargaining chips to get some unhappy middle seat passenger to switch us, wish us luck! Pretty sure Laura's neighbor won't let her sleep on their lap like Brayden does!

It will probably be funny to see how we begin looking more and more disheveled over the course of our travels, still smiling though! See you in 12.5 hours!

First leg (Salt Lake City to San Fransisco)

We arrived at the SLC Int'l Airport 3/20/10 at around 3:00. (Thanks Mike and Ann for dropping us off, also, it was a fun surprise for Matt to be there, we thought he was either up at Utah State or still on Spring Break in California!) We went to check our luggage, dreading the undoubtedly large fee that would follow. We were able to combine all of our items into one bag, but we still had two suitcases full of glasses, making our total to 3. Also, we knew one bag was overweight and were pretty sure it wasn't the only one... We went through the check in process, and then suddenly the man checking us in told us to take our bags over the the TSA check-in...no weighing of the bags! Well, we weren't about to argue, so we took them right over. It was a baggage miracle! :) A nice way to start the trip! We haven't eaten all day so we decided to head to C3 and eat. We had some good lunch and said goodbye to beef, salsa, and and salad for the next 10 days. While we were eating, we got a call from Laura's mom and sister. They had just landed from a spring break in San Fransisco. We walked and talked for a minute and then found our gate. Right now we are just taking it easy for another half hour before we take off. Stay tuned!

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

Wow! We can't believe it has finally arrived! We are heading out later today! :) We spent the evening finalizing our packing and getting everything to fit. Brayden printed out all of our different forms and flight plans and got us ready to go.We have two suitcases completely full of glasses, so we were able to smash all our stuff together into one! Way to go us! Now we just need to hope that it doesn't get lost on the way...that would be memorable! We've had so much fun preparing and looking forward to going, its amazing to think that it's finally here! Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted for each leg of the journey! (assuming the internet cooperates!)

five days and counting...

We are getting so excited! I'm about ready to just get going! :) It was fun at work today to think that it was the last Monday before we leave! Seemed to make the day go faster and not nearly as stressful! Next Monday we will be arriving after our LONG flights in Patna! We are full of excitement right now, but also some feelings of venturing into the unknown, you reach a point where you can prepare and prepare, but you won't fully know exactly what you are doing until you just get there and do it! I know that I (and I think I can speak for Brayden too) am just ready to get there! Tonight we finalized our packing list, making sure that we aren't forgetting anything obvious! If anyone has any great suggestions please feel free to pass them on! :)


Funny story, last tuesday our furnace broke, so we have been without heat for the past 6 days. It really wasn't too bad, other than it seems to have lowered our body temperatures, this weekend when we went to family member's houses, it seemed WAY too hot! This is probably not a great thing for us to be feeling comfortable at 58 degrees, since the average temperature in Patna at this time of year is a whopping 90-100 degrees! We need to be practicing getting used to hotter than normal, not colder! Haha!

So maybe it wasn't this bad, but there were a few
cold nights we felt like this guy from one of our favorite movies! Pretty sure next week we'll be looking back on the cold with (semi) fond memories!

6 Days and counting...

Wow, we are finally down to less than a week until departure! We have been planning this for so long its crazy to think that it is actually almost here! Today we went to church, and it was wild to think that the next two Sundays we will be in India! This week we will be finalizing everything, weighing our suitcases, finishing packing and getting ready. Poor Brayden has a huge test on Friday, so he has to focus on that too this week! Laura is glad to announce she doesn't have any tests, and is looking forward to a break from work! One of the really exciting things about this trip is that we will get to spend a lot more time together. We get to busy between jobs and school that we only get a couple hours at the end of the day together, so it is really exciting to think about getting to work together all day! Woohoo! It is going to be hard to go about work and school this week when we are getting so excited to be leaving on Saturday! Amazing that it has finally arrived! We will keep updating as we go, keep checking back! We are so excited and grateful for the huge amount of support we have received from everyone, thanks for being involved and interested! It makes the experience all the more exciting for us to have such a huge outpouring of interest and support! Thanks!




Our ID photos for the AB Eye Institute

Good News!

Brayden has been waiting for a couple of weeks to hear back from the IRB at the University of Utah for approval to proceed with his research, "Patient perceptions of eye diseases and treatment in Bihar India" . Because the research presented no more than "minimal" risk to participants - that is to say, the survey that will be administered will not identify patients in any way, etc., it was approved for an expedited review. After the first day, the IRB posted the project in "final processing". For almost 2 weeks, nothing happened. Brayden (being a little impatient by nature, ha ha) contacted the IRB concerning the status. After all, we are leaving to India in 16 days. Turns out that there was a glitch in their study application que and Brayden's was overlooked. It was then immediately approved. Ha ha, I guess that means it isn't always bad to be a little impatient and ask questions.

What does this all mean? Well, now that Brayden's research has been deemed ethical and a good study design, he will be able to continue preparing for data collection. The surveys have been translated and must be duplicated to take to India. Because time is of the essence (we are only in India for 10 days) and a large sample must be studied, the research needs to start as soon as we arrive. That means that a plan needs to be formed for the clinical staff at the A.B. Eye Institute about their role in the research. Dr. Sinha has been an integral part of the formation of the research. He has arranged for the lead optometrist at his hospital to accompany Brayden as a translator. Laura will also be collecting data periodically.

We are getting so excited to leave! It is hard to believe that back in early December volunteering with Unite for Sight was only an idea. From the application process, the daunting task of fundrasing and glasses collection to preparing a research project in less than 2 months, we are both so proud to look at all that has been accomplished this new year! WE COULD HAVE NEVER DONE ANY OF THIS WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE DONORS! We will remember this experience forever and we hope that this blog will help everyone who has donated to feel just as much a part of the effort! Stay tuned for packing and then the updates from India!