Living, Learning, & Loving on an Island

Our usual readers always get a taste of this little place through Heidi’s eyes, so I thought that I could share some of my thoughts about living in a far away land. Dominica as many of you know has been pretty tough on my little life. Many of you see the fun stuff that she gets to do every now and then, but what don’t you always get to read about is the way that she takes care of EVERYTHING for me. There are very few students who are privileged enough to have a partner in crime like I do. While all of my friends have to eat at Subway every day for lunch and dinner, I get to come home and experience the culinary delights of Heidi’s kitchen. This may not sound like that much to all of you, but trust me it has made a world of difference to me. There are so many things it’s hard to list them all everything from making sure the laundry is done to having someone to go for a walk with when I need a little study break, but most importantly there is always a smiling face and open arms to great me at the door after a long day. A lot of my success down here is due to her.

Things that I have learned:
• I love to learn, this is not really a new revelation but it was certainly solidified down here.
• I am a creature of habit beyond normal reason. I had to sit in the same chair at the same table everyday for 16 hours for 16 months and if any day someone somehow beat me to my table my entire day was shot. This is no exaggeration.
• The people I met down here will be friends of mine for life. Going through the struggles of medical school together certainly bring people together in a way that I never thought was possible. These guys have become my version of war buddies. If you can stare at one person for countless hours a day and never get sick of them you know you picked the right people to be with.
• I can do without. Living in Dominica has taught both Heidi and I so much about how much extra crap that we live with in the states. Life here is really simple; I don’t mean that it is easy I mean that there is very little that is overdone. As bad as it may be I really like having more than I need.
• I miss the hell of out my family. I have always been a momma’s boy and I think I always will be. This is the first time that I have lived more than a short drive from my parents and it was very hard for me. But I now know that I can do it and it made me realize that I am now an adult, which I am also not so sure I like. Sure was a lot easier being 10.
• I have learned that I can do anything that I put my heart into. Being a doctor has been my dream for a long time. I knew it was going to be a lot of work down here, I just was not sure it would be this much. I know now that I can persevere through just about anything.
• As I mentioned before I learned that I married a one of a kind, patient, and loving woman and I thank her for experiencing this journey with me. She is one cool girl and I love her more than she’ll ever know.

Thank you to everyone who has given us love and support while we have been on this adventure.

-Kyle