White Coat Ceremony

Friday was the White Coat Ceremony, which is the official acceptance into the medical profession. It felt like a graduation, with keynote speakers, etc. The prime minister of Dominica came and spoke. Ryan and I were impressed with him. After a lot of people gave speeches, each of the first semester students went to the front of the room and a doctor put their white coat on them. A second doctor put a pin on their lapel and a third handed them a scroll with "The Physician's Prayer" and shook their hands. I met the president of Ross the day before. He was on my flight from San Juan to Dominica. Ryan and I talked with him and he is a very nice man. After the ceremony there was a reception. The Prime Minister left in my car! It was a Mitsubishi Montero Sport! I thought that was kind of funny.

Friday night we went to dinner at a local favorite, The Tomato, with our friends, Mike and Marissa. They are from Cleveland. It was a good American meal. Ryan had lasagna and I had coconut shrimp. We take flashlights with us at night because the island gets so dark and the street lights are not bright enough. I shined the flashlight on the sidewalk and noticed a huge crab (big enough to make crab legs from) walking in front of us! After dinner we were all walking down the beach and we came to a small creek. We jumped over it and Marissa began to scream. We shined the flashlights in front of us and saw three huge cows just hanging out on the beach. We literally could have tripped over them if we did not have flashlights. It was hilarious.

The stars are absolutely beautiful here. I never realized there were so many. I want to get a book and try to learn the constellations because you can see them so clearly. I actually know what the Milky Way is now. You just walk outside at night and it is easy to pick out.