Crossing the Pond

  "You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead." 

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12/29/2017: Today we toured Dharavi in Mumbai, which is famous for being “Asia’s largest slum”. We met with girls in the community center in Dharavi to discuss women’s health and to encourage them to be empowered and confident young women. We also teamed up with Days for Girls, who provided us with kits to donate to this wonderful girls, which will help them better maintain their personal hygiene during their cycles. My group and I were so happy to meet these young women, as well as all of the people in Dharavi.

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12/28/2017

Back again! This time I’m going to India on my fourth and final study abroad. We just flew 11 hours from New York City to Abu Dhabi and now we’re waiting for our next flight to Mumbai. I’d never been on a flight that long before, since I’ve only ever been to Europe, so it got pretty boring after I watched my first movie. Now I just can’t wait to go to bed once we get to our hotel in Mumbai.

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Click here to support Sam's Global Health Immersion organized by Sam Bartol

My name is Sam, I am 21 years old, and I go to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. For the first three years of college I was majoring in nursing, but when I really started clinicals during the second semester, I realized how much I didn't like it, and how in love I was with public health....

Hello loyal followers! I am so excited to say that I am in the process of working my way to India for this coming Winter for a global health immersion. I have raised about half of the funds for my low-end goal of $1000. Please take a look at my GoFundMe, and read about the program. It’s a great cause and I’d really appreciate any help with fundraising, whether it be sharing this link to family and friends, or possibly donating yourselves. Thank you so much!

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1/7/2017: had a great time in Dublin with Sibeal and her friends and family, and I’m very sad that I have to leave so soon. We ate a lot of really good food together this week, and watched some quality (and not-so-good) television. Can’t believe we met in a hostel only a few months ago and I really can’t wait to visit again!!

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1/5/2017: first night in Dublin visiting Sibeal! Finally got to meet her boyfriend, Ciarán, when we went out to the pub that night, as well as a few of her other friends!

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1 /4/2017: on Cara’s last day in Ireland, we walked around town just saying goodbye to loads of places, including my favorite, the marina.

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1/3/2017: Nollaig, Cara, and I went adventuring out to Sláidín to forage for sea glass and pretty shells. It was such a beautiful day, and the tide was really far out, so it was perfect. We really didn’t want to leave, because it was so nice, but we had to before the tide came back in. On our way back in we had to dodge some cows, but after we went to see Moana in the tiny movie theater in town with Sorcha. Later on, we went out to eat at the Diner for some quick bites, and then on to Kennedys for drinks!

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12/31/2016-1/1/2017: the New Years celebration in Dingle is crazy! We spent most of our night in Nellie's, but when the time came for the count down, everyone in town flooded Main Street and the bridge. The count down clock was projected onto a building on the bridge. When we got to zero, cups of beer were tossed in the air and everyone screamed. It was insane, and everyone was so happy. After going out, a lot of us went back to our hostel, because there was a party going on there. That was pretty fun too, and it went on til about 4 am when the owner shut it down and our friends had to go home.

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12/30/2016: Cara and I went to the aquarium and held this snake, Houdini. I was clearly terrified, but Cara was really cool about it.

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12/29/2016: gig night in Nellie's! Strange Attractor was playing and we'd never seen them live before. It was so much fun, and the music was obviously great.

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12/28/2016: reunited and it feels so good (at kennedys with literally everyone)

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12/29/16

Yesterday was crazy with traveling! I almost missed both of my connecting flights because my other flights were delayed, so I had to run across the airports. I finally met up with Cara in London, and we were on the same flight, so we got to Shannon at the same time. When we got to Shannon, we got all confused about the bus schedule and ended up just barely making the bus on time. When we made it to the connection stop, we got so excited that we were in Ireland that we nearly forgot our bags under the first bus. We arrived in Dingle around 5 pm, and checked into the hostel. It was a surprise that Cara was coming, so when Sorcha and Nollaig came to the hostel to pick me up for dinner, I asked them to come upstairs, and Cara was sitting in the room. The surprise went great! We talked a lot before going to dinner, and we then we went to Blue Zone, which was so nice, because I've missed it so much, and I've been craving a Green Street special. We saw Claire there too and she had no idea we were coming either. After dinner, we went to Kennedy's, and saw Julian and Gabi. When we went outside, we saw Cian and Gus, who were really thrown through a loop by us being there, and later Max showed up too. It was a lot of fun there and we got to meet a lot of people that we hadn't met before. After Kennedy's, went to Walker's, which beforehand had only been really a myth to me. We finally moved on to Nellie Fred's, which has changed quite a bit since it's days as the Brewery Gate. We got to see Adrian, which was great, and it was a pretty fun night all in all. Before we left we sang the Phineas and Ferb theme song, so that basically explains it all. Today, Cara and I started off going to Bean, which was great, because we got to see Justin and Luke AND we were finally back in BEAN. After that we went to Treehouse to visit Nollaig and eat lunch, and then we went on a walk around town, to see the marina and everything. For dinner we went to Marina Inn, and now we're hanging out in the hostel before tonight's festivities. The plan is to go to Kennedys and then a Strange Attractor gig! So happy to be back!

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Long time, no see

Hi, everybody! I am so very sorry for leaving you hanging with the last few days of my trip. As I got closer to the end of writing it, it got sadder for me to write, and I also got all caught up in readjusting to everyday life back home. Anyhow, I’m sorry for depriving you of those stories, but I’m going to keep them to myself until further notice.

I would like to inform you, however, that in just a few days I will be returning to the lovely country of Ireland for the rest of my winter break. I’m really excited about it, and my friend from school, Alexa, will also be studying abroad in Dingle during part of that time, so I’ll be able to show her around a bit. I’ll also be visiting my friend, Sibeal, that I met during my time in the hostel. Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with a few stories for you then, or at least pictures.

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5/25/2016

I got coffee with Nollaig and one of her friends in the morning, and they told me all about what it was like growing up in Dingle. It was really cute to hear all of their stories together. After, Nollaig and I walked around town together, and ran into Dualta playing guitar outside the Diseart. We sat down with him to listen to him play a bit, and then Nollaig had to leave to pick up Tehanu from school. I stuck around for a little bit, but Dualta had to head off, so we made plans to hang out later.

That night I visited Dualta at Nellies. There weren’t a lot of people there when I got there, seeing as it was like 5 o clock, and I didn’t plan on staying that late. There was one old man, named Kevin, who was really nice, and he kept up conversation with me. He always ended with “You’re a lovely girl, stay safe”. At one point in the night he bought me a pint, which was totally unexpected, and a big factor in making me stay later. I ended up staying until Dualta closed, and then we went to Small Bridge together. It was a fun night, and it was nice spending time with him again.

PS: Kevin also said he wanted to be my Irish grandfather, and then proceeded to give me his address, so that I could send him a post card when I get back to the United States.

EDIT: After returning home, I did send Kevin a post card.

         I just received a Christmas card from Kevin in the mail!

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A Tribute to Allen

1. When Allen got excited about something he would use the phrase “Tacos in the bank!”

2. He called Sibeal a “Gravy train with biscuits for wheels”... Even after asking him, we didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

3. I reminded him of Yoda with sunglasses (wise, but cool).

4. After I won a game of pool, everyone was cheering, and I felt awkward. I told everyone that I didn’t even mean to do it, and Allen said that I should embrace my win and “there’s a hero in every bar” and that I was the hero tonight.

5. I reminded him of Pocahontas.

6. We asked him how long he was in town for, and he said “as long as I need to be, man”.

7. He told us that a couple of years ago he did shrooms, and he reached a point where he was sure that he had discovered the meaning of life, so we asked him “what’s the meaning of life?” and he said he forgot.

8. When we were in Courthouse, he made me put on headphones and listen to a country song he has by Nelly.

9. We never saw Allen after that night.

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5/24/2016: My handsome ukulele, Louis!!!

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5/24/2016

I met up with Nollaig and Sorcha in the morning to get coffee, and then we went to pick up Tehanu from school. We brought him to the Diseart to play, which was a lot of fun. Tehanu is really smart and has a lot of energy, so we were climbing trees, playing tag, and playing hide and seek. We all went to lunch at John Benny’s, and afterwards, went back to the Diseart, where we also met up with Claire, Longy, and Morgan.

Because it was Tuesday, open mic was supposed to happen. Sibeal and I met Nollaig at Nellie Fred’s (previously known as the Brewery Gate), where she gave me my ukulele back! She told me to open the case, so I did, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Julian had drawn all of these beautiful designs on the front of it, and then on the sides, he drew the faces of the people who always went to open mic, and then on the back he drew a picture of dingle. I love it SO much.

Nollaig ended up having to leave shortly after her seeing my reaction to my outstanding gift, and nobody ended up showing up for open mic. Cole and a couple of others had come in before, though, and asked if we wanted to join them at pool, so we did. We played with Allen, Cole, Charlie, and Colm, and it was so much fun. I’d never met Allen before, but he deserves his own post, because he was just too much.

Later that night we ended up at Courthouse and the Droicead, and while we were at the Droicead we saw Daisy Ridley and Chewbacca from the Star Wars cast. They had been shooting in town for the past couple of weeks, but I didn’t think I’d actually see them out. Crazy stuff.