Last In Light In

"While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about."
~Angela Schwindt

 

4th Semester on the Island Banquet

Lovingly known as the "Med School Prom" the 4th Semester Banquet is Ross University's way to honoring those students who have made it this far and sending them off to represent well on rotations in the States. Up on Fort Young on the top of Cabrits, they had a really beautiful event for us, complete with flower arrangements, music and passed appetizers. It really felt like a wedding. More than anything else, it was just the symbol that we have almost reached the very end of our time here that made the night so much fun for us.

 Taylor and I all done up outside her apartment

 So proud of this guy. 30 more days! You can do it!

 Beautiful view of the harbor. Not a bad place for happy hour...

Canon picture for the record...

 Back to Miami kids- let's do this!

 Kyle missing his Emma, looking manly.

Couldn't help but look at all of these faces we've seen for 16 months now and feel very proud of all them. They have worked super hard to be here and have been through a lot on this island. Give me a Ross doctor any day.

St. Patrick's Day with the wee wee one

In honor of the greatest Saint and his day, I had to post a little image of the Emerald ISle. This is my dream house, a cozy cottage alongside a babbling brooke in the countryside, which we'll put somewhere in the northeast of the US. What could make you more at peace than looking at scenes of Ireland...



St. Patrick's Day will forever be my favorite day of the year. It's the joy of Christmas combined with the feeling that you are among the special few that are so Irish that you can really feel how awesome it is to celebrate with family and friends on this occasion. March 17th, this year, is one that will definitely stick out in our memories forever. It wasn't the typical St. Pats complete with beer and parades of Irish music and lots of green clothing like we usually see in Boston, San Fran, or NY. It was a day in Dominica, where we jumped in a transport and headed on a bumpy trip to Roseau for our 12 week appointment at the doctor. 

As soon as we got into the room with the radiologist and she set up the machine to touch my abdomen, we saw the baby come up on the screen, clear as day, and he or she kicked both its legs so suddenly and strongly. Emmet and I were amazed. We laughed out loud. We couldn't believe it. Since our 8 week visit, the baby had grown hands, legs, and a cute little face. We were able to count all of the fingers, and the radiologist surprised us with a high tech 3D ultrasound picture to take home. I have never felt so special in all my life than to be carrying this little child who was squirming around in there. We were in complete awe of how active this kid is. It's definitely ours and we feel pretty lucky.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Last Day with Con Man on the Beach

We wanted Conor to get fully relaxed before his trip home, so we took him to most beloved beach, Batibou (I left my camera in the car, need to get Con's pics). Emmet's day was complete when he got to use his new hammock attachments to hang our red hammock between two palm trees on the water. It was pretty magnificent taking a nap in that thing. After many hours laying in paradise, we headed over to the nicest restaurant around, Red Rocks for a Caribbean pizza and some drinks at sunset. Life doesn't get much better...

We loved having you Conor!! We miss you already!!

Snorkeling, Waterfalls, and getting "Screwed"

On Saturday, we rented a car, and set off down the west coast with Scotts Head, Trafalgar Falls and Screws Spa as our destinations. As always, we took our lives in our hands driving on the one main road of this nation, with its countless potholes, goat and cow crossing and blind turns around cliffs and brush. The boys equated it to playing Mario Cart, which I would say is pretty accurate. Kudos to Emmet for keeping us safe and sound and being as always, the best tour guide in the world.

 Scotts Head Bay

 Conor always trying to be taller

 We all saw some incredible marine life snorkeling. My favorite was a flounder that I saw on the ocean floor right below me.

 Conor, like most people, was shocked by the number of stray dogs in Dominica. Here are some of the cuter ones we ran into looking for some love.

 Beautiful church in Soufrie

Trafalgar Falls is still my favorite waterfall hike on the island. I love the feeling of standing on the boulders beneath that gigantic waterfall and taking in the rainforest. This time around, I laid low, so as not to take a tumble while pregnant, but Emmet and Conor scurried all the way up the waterfall base for a cold swim. 

 Gorgeous...

Like two mountain goats, scaling the hillside...

 Last stop of the day was "Screw's Spa." Screw has masterfully set up his backyard to include three pools of water at varying degrees. He just adjusts the pipes flowing in from the rainforest's natural hot springs in order to maintain the temperature. It was relaxing and fun after the hike. I sat above the pools, sipping on fresh juice and loving his Caribbean play list.

 Chilling in the "cool pool."

Eating fresh fruit from Screw after the soak...

Conor and Screw. I love this picture :)

The day couldn't have gone better. Conor loved all three stops on his mini island tour. The boys polished off the day with some drinks up at De Champs and some Chinese Food at the Tulip. I went to sleep early, after a long day on the road.

Special Guests and Secret Beach

I invited Conor to come to In Light In, an afterschool program for local children of all ages which is run by some spouses here at Ross in order to give the kids some food and friendship. "In Light In" was started by a pastor named Ryan Miller, whose wife is a med student and the relationships which have been sustained between Ross spouses, students, and these local families is really remarkable. There is nothing I look forward to more all week than seeing these kids and I was really excited that Emmet and Conor wanted to come spend time with them.

 Shernaya, Kelvin, Conor, Angela, Meg, Emmet, Josais, Johnson, Paula, Akel, Joseph, Jonathan

 Paula, Johnson, and Shernaya

 "Coach" Jayeem

 Taylor with Janelle and Paula

 Free rides on Conor brought a lot of smiles that day... Shernaya was a little too old for it!

 Our craft that day was a big hit- crowns with glitter. The glitter is still in their hair, I'm sure.

 She's a queen...

 Kelvin and Johnson enjoying some mac and cheese!

 Fun guys to hang out with- the kids were in heaven! Conor, Kyle and Emmet were the center of attention

Good juice from Addison served by our very own Taylor ...

After a forfilling time with the kiddos, we met our fisherman friend, Mosque at Indian River to set off on a row boat motor ride to Secret beach. It just never gets old to be in a boat at sunset in one of the most spectacular places in the world... topped off the excusion with dinner at Pete's Ribs with friends- kubuli and goat= happiness.

 not many beaches in the world left where you can only get there by boat

 Mosque coming to pick up us...

 Gotta love Mosque... salt of the earth. Always a gentleman, always a smile, always a mesh T-shirt :)

 Mosque drops us off after teaching us about some of the local birds and sharing about the new complex they built for the fisherman in Portsmouth recently. The occupation is as timeless as the ocean itself and there's always something that fascinates me about life out on the sea. It's been fun to have personal insight into a local fisherman's life through such a sweet man.

Portsmouth harbor at sunset...picture is worth 1,000 words.