Well, we have lived on this island for a whole year now! Ben’s finished his first year of medical school and is now in the his second year, which makes him an “MS2.” With the new year comes new developments and new transitions in sight.

Over the summer, I took a five-week backpack trip to New York, Canada, and Arizona. While I was gone, our lease expired and Ben moved us to a new place about a mile and a half away from our old apartment. I can’t even describe how wonderful this change has been! Not only do I have a washing machine in the apartment, but we traded a black mold infestation for incredible views. We have views of both sides of Saint Martin as well as Anguilla, and the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, Simpson Bay Lagoon, and Mullet Pond. I wake up every day, open the curtains and think, what did I do to deserve this?

There are also new hopes for the coming school year. Ben has been invited to participate in a research project on zika, which is important to our island, where zika is a concern. We are in the process of becoming foster parents on the island, and we have an empty bedroom waiting for whoever God chooses to place with us. My writing business has been picking up, too, and I am hoping to get enough credibility to submit articles to more print publications. Kito just hopes to have lots of lazy afternoons watching people from the balcony, and time with her puppy friends.

We only have about eight months left on Sint Maarten, and to be honest, I hope it goes slow. It’s hard to think about leaving this place forever. I’m starting to really figure this island out. I’m just learning how an American can legally work, and it doesn’t seem so impossible anymore, if only we were here for longer. Which makes me realize that staying and supporting ourselves could be realistic. I’ve made so many good friends and built a wonderful life on this island. I’ve integrated myself enough that this place really feels like home.

This is how I felt when we left Arizona, though. We had such a great thing going there: the promise of careers, great community, and a sense of just starting to figure ourselves out. And then we picked up and left. I guess that comes with a transient lifestyle. You have to keep starting over and ripping yourself out just when you begin to settle in. I could be sad about it, or I could be thankful for the eight months I have left here. I guess that all I can do it enjoy it and let my roots grow deep anyway.

I have to keep blooming where I’m transplanted.

Who knows where we’ll be for Ben’s MS3 year? I bet it will be just as wonderful as Arizona or Sint Maarten. I bet we’ll make great friends there and become a part of the community we live in. We probably won’t have ocean views, but there will be other things to love. So I’m not going to worry too much about what happens next year. I’m going to enjoy the next eight months we are here and the three months of Arizona after that. This year is going to be a great year, and I’m going to get everything I can out of it.