Dingle 12: Postscript and group photo dump

 Friday August 2 Declan McCabe - Thanks

As Jarret so eloquently put it in his recent blog post: “….if I am never to return, I can gladly say that Ireland will forever hold a special place in my heart.” I feel the same way, and not just because I’m an Irish immigrant. This trip facilitated getting to better know a wonderful group of Biology, Environmental, Biochemistry, and Psychology students than can ever happen in a course on campus.

Paul and I and our Sacred Heart University collaborators in Dingle, and Peggy Imai in the St. Mike's Study Abroad office can plan a successful set of activities that accounts for safety, weather, seats on planes, boats & buses, accommodation, food, nets, waders, field guides, and even the tides (for the most part). But we can’t plan for successful group dynamics as 12 students get to know each other by living in close quarters with up to 6 roommates they barely knew the day before.

Certainly, there were minor bumps in the road as group members knocked the rough corners off each other and figured out the necessary compromises to survive with minimal friction in a youth hostel in a foreign country. The usual ailments occurred at the frequency one might expect in a group of 14 for two weeks, and every bottle and box from the “medicine bag” of over-the-counter, familiar US medicines, Band-Aids, and blister patches was opened. But this group rose to the occasion in style.

Group leaders like Paul and myself choose to run study courses….or not. And this student group, in common with the 2023 group, have cemented my very high opinion of Saint Michael’s College students. They pulled together, had each others’ backs, played hard, and worked hard in a spirit of mutual respect.

So would I do it again? Emphatically YES!

For your high energy, enthusiasm, compassion and grace in an alien culture, and work ethic, thank you:  Lydia, Maeve, Sarah, Hunter, James, Tyler, Jarret, Sawyer, Nathan, Kaylee, Rebecca, and Riley.

To all of your families for trusting us with your students overseas: a huge thank you. One parent gave us advice as we left: “Don’t lose him”.  We didn’t! Although I wonder if a small piece of his heart is still in Dingle.

Finally, an enormous thank you to Peggy Imai for getting us there, our SHU in Dingle hosts, John Liston’s team of bus drivers/local experts, and Kevin Flannery and the staff of Oceanworld Aquarium in Dingle. None of this would have been possible without your generous collaboration.

Dingle 11: Home at last and a celebration of fellowship

 Saturday July 20 Jarret Muzzy - The Journey Home after Time Well Spent

        At last, the day finally came that we had to head home. Many were excited to be going home. Getting to family and friends, going back to work, sleeping in their own beds. Some were a little more reluctant to leave the Irish countryside. At least one wanted to stay and become a sheep farmer. Nevertheless, after two exciting weeks, it was time to leave. So, following a three hour bus ride, a seven hour plane flight, another four hour bus ride, and finally a thirty minute drive crammed in the backseat of a truck, I arrived back at the place I call home.
        Having been home for a couple of days now, I’ve been asked multiple times what my favorite part of the trip was. Some easy answers to give include the planned activities we did like sea kayaking, the Sea Safari, and deep-sea fishing. Though these are the answers I typically give, and yes, they were certainly great, I wouldn’t say they are what I will remember as being the best.
        In fact, the part of the trip I think I will miss the most is just about everything else. When I look back on this trip in 10 years, what I hope to remember are the feelings I had walking down the streets of Dingle, playing guitar on the lawn (though others may have differing opinions on just how memorable that was), those late night games of cards where we had way too many people to play the games right, accidentally making a pretty good Alfredo sauce with no guidance other than “use heavy cream and Parmesan”, watching hurling, Gaelic football, and the Euros in Paul Geaney’s Pub, introducing Grace (a seven year old who’s family stayed a couple nights at the hostel with us) to the game of baseball, and just getting to spend time with the rest of my classmates.
        Hopefully someday I will have the opportunity to return to Ireland. I am certainly going to miss those beautiful views the Irish countryside has to offer, all the kind people we met, Quesa Dave’s, and that cool summer air. But if I am never to return, I can gladly say that Ireland will forever hold a special place in my heart.