Gail Goldstein – Mom, wife, dermatologist, volunteer, trip organizer, and chief carrier of the passports.   We’ve been dreaming and planning this adventure for years with the help and advice of family, friends, and many of my patients.  Stay tuned!

Andrew Goldstein- Let me start by saying that this IS NOT a midlife crisis. I’m definitely solidly in the middle of my life but the desire to undertake this adventure was not derived from dissatisfaction from my already very exciting and rewarding life. I’m the proud father of three special daughters and I’m thrilled to be spending my life with my exceptional wife. My career is also very rewarding- I am lucky that I have been able to combine patient care and research for women who are suffering from often debilitating vulvovaginal pain/disorders (sorry L, M, J – I know that this may be embarrassing). But, for those who know me, (and much to the chagrin of my father) I have a bit of shpilkes (wanderlust) and I am very excited to start this journey. My first goal, of course, is safety for my family. Secondly, I hope that each of us embraces this opportunity and grows from this experience in ways we can’t even imagine.

Lena Goldstein- Hello there! I’m an upcoming junior at McDonogh School. Over the course of 9 months, I’ll be taking online AP Spanish, AP Psychology, and an independent study in English. I’m most excited about our midwifery program in Otavalo, Ecuador, and our trip to Patagonia in Argentina and Chile. While I’m not ecstatic about the lack of Starbucks in third world countries, I can’t wait to try the ethnic food (to a certain degree). Cell service might be iffy at times but I’ll try to keep my fans updated. You know you love me. Xoxo -gossip girl

Mimi Goldstein- Hi! I’m currently a freshman at McDonogh School and intend on staying with my grade through out my year abroad. Although I was initially opposed to the trip, I am gradually warming up to the idea. Over the summer I attended summer physics at McDonogh for high school credit. On the trip I will be taking geometry, algebra II, Spanish 2, and hopefully Spanish 3. I have always been interested in community service and shown a fascination to medicine so many of the clinic programs are very educating. As a fellow middle child Miley Cyrus said its the “best of both worlds.”

Hi I’m Julia. I’m in the fourth grade, and during my year abroad I’m being homeschooled by my mom, so I can move on in school. I’m most excited about traveling to Japan, Antarctica, and the Galápagos Islands. Packing was very hard! The hardest part was to choose what stuffed animals I could bring. I wanted to bring all of them, but I narrowed it down to 15 animals, a few books, and a flute. I brought less clothes than toys.