Surprise! We are moving to Michigan! Actually, it was more a surprise for us. 

Now that Ben is done with the first two years of medical school, the books and exams are behind him. Now he gets to do the fun part- shadowing doctors in hospitals! 

Ben’s medical school, American University of the Caribbean, has partnerships with hospitals all over the United States. While students do get to submit a list of prefered locations, the school assigns us to the hospital that fits best, depending on availability. It feels like one of those surprise grab bags we used to get at convenience stores as a kid. And while it made me a little nervous, it was kind of fun to have someone else decide where our next home would be. 

We had hoped to go to Bakersfield, California, the closest hospital to our home in Phoenix. However, we heard rumors that it was full, along with Baton Rouge and Detroit. That left Miami as the only available location on our list, so we planned for a Florida move. Tank tops and Spanish! We were getting prepared. 

Imagine our surprise when we got a call telling us that someone dropped out of the Michigan clinical rotations and we were next in line! We would be joining the previous class’s schedule, starting a few weeks earlier than Ben’s class and making up the Pediatrics rotation at another hospital later. We agreed! 

Ben’s clinical rotations start on August 14, so we had to leave 10 days after we got the news. Not a lot of time! We left Saturday, and we have been driving for two and a half days. We are almost there! 

We still don’t know where we are going to live, and the more we hear about Detroit, the less we know what to do. Go for a 15 thousand dollar home and risk the rough neighborhoods? Let more money slip into the black hole of rental properties but live in a safer area? I don’t know anything about Michigan, except for a little town called Fruitport that so visted two years ago for a wedding. Fruitport is a long way from Detroit. 

Well, I guess that is what we will figure out in the next couple days. We’ve know what it’s like to move far away to a place we had never been, but we’ve never showed up in a new place as a couple of homeless people and a dog! What will Michigan bring? I guess we will find out soon! This is all part od the adventure.