The Big Move

On April 27th, Ben, Chase and I will be packing up and heading to our new home for the next 16 months: the island nation of Dominica. It's a tiny island in the Caribbean, between Martinique and Guadaloupe (for those of you who cruise the Caribbean often). Ben is going to be attending Ross University, which is an American University that has a campus on Dominica. We are doing his first four semesters there, and when those are over we'll be moving back to the US to finish medical school. All his clinical rotations will be done in the US. Our time in Dominica will be mostly book learning for Ben.
In a lot of ways, we are really excited for this move. It is a huge step towards Ben reaching his dream of becoming a doctor. We are also excited for the independence this will bring for us and a time for us to bond as just our family. Ben and I have always thought it would be fun to live in another country for a while, and this is an awesome opportunity. It will also be a grand adventure.
At the same time, the reality of this move is starting to sink in and we are getting really nervous. Ben is a little nervous about the rigorous nature of medical school and how he'll handle that pressure while balancing a family. I'm a little (okay a lot) nervous about being SO FAR away from home. (Like I told Ben last night, now a move to Texas or Oregon or somewhere like that seems like a breeze) My biggest fear is about our little baby. The island is very hot and humid and I worry about how he'll handle the heat. There are poisonous centipedes on the island that can be up to a foot long, along with tons of other bugs. I'm scared that I won't be able to protect Chase from the bugs! (Ben reminded me that I won't be able to protect Chase from every dangerous situation even if we are in the US) Since we haven't visited the island ourselves, we don't really know exactly what our little house will be like. If it still looks like it does in the pictures I think we should be just fine, but the unknown is still a little scary.
With all of these worries, I have felt very comforted that we are doing the right thing. I think that Ross University is really where we were supposed to end up and we have a great adventure in store for us there. A lot of things have worked out in just the right way, like Chase coming when he did, that will make this move as easy as possible. Even still- it's a huge change! Pray for us!