- From Haiti to Arizona -- although I was only there for a few weeks, that is where I moved all my things back to (and where I still have many boxes!)
- From Arizona to my aunt's in Minnesota
- From my aunt's to a friend's in St. Paul, MN -- I thought I would be there for several months but it turned out to only be weeks
- From St. Paul to a now-friend's house in southwestern MN -- where I thought I would only be a few weeks but it turned out to be several months :-)
- From that house to a furnished apartment in the same town, waiting for another place to be renovated
- From the furnished apartment to my own apartment in the same town -- got the keys last week, move in tomorrow!
Ever since moving overseas in 2007 I've been planning to come back to the US to prepare for my every-10-year family medicine board exam (taken two days ago). See, after completing my family medicine specialty ten years ago I worked in a prison (mostly men, with very few women and children and no hospital work) and then worked in community health and development overseas (administrative and teaching work). I'd been away from full-spectrum family medicine much longer than I'd been in it. After starting the process back here in the US last fall it soon became clear to me that would take much more than just a few months to get back up to speed. But there was still no one with the language and cross-cultural skills available to fulfill the role I played in the continually growing ministry in Haiti, so I also wanted to stay involved there.
So here's the plan: for the next several years I intend to continue working half-time as a physician in rural Minnesota, taking one day off per week to work administratively with the Haiti team and several US partners (via phone, e-mail, and Skype), as well as spending several months per year in Haiti. After having my things scattered between several states and countries for years (I have lists of what is where), I am very excited about having one place where I'll have my home and my home office, so to speak. I will admit that last fall I had hoped to not move anywhere new again (sigh) but this situation has turned out great -- my colleagues have been very supportive about mentoring me and I've met a lot of really friendly people.
Today was my last official day at the clinic before spending a few months in Haiti. One of our hospital administrators stopped by with a card and had written, "You truly 'Bloom where you are planted' and we are grateful that your roots are growing here." I am feeling blessed tonight.
