To the Island and Back

After a long day spent in Boston, we got a full night's rest, had breakfast made by Brett family, and then started the Long Road Home. Our plan was to hit to high points, but seeing as how it was dark by the time we got to the one in New Jersey, we gave up on that Conquest. We headed into town to see what Ashfield itself looked like, and although nothing was open on a lazy Saturday, it was still quite enjoyable to see the locals playing on the Frozen Ashfield Lake. We then drove past Springfield, where two other schools I've applied to reside, and went on words to Providence Rhode Island.

We stopped for lunch at Murphy's Irish Pub, a restaurant in downtown Providence that my friend has been working at since graduation from college two years prior. I had an actually seen him in two or three years since the last time he was home for winter break, so bumping into him very briefly as he was preparing sandwiches was quite a pleasure. It is always a euphoric and install Jake feeling when you run into old friends again for the first time in a while. We thanked are very Irish waiter for the delicious home-cooked meal, and then headed for Jeremoth Hill, the highest point in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island was sort of flat and unimpressive for the parts that I saw, and the state High Point was also pretty up there on the scale. This would have history be my 9th State High Point, and all we had to do was drive up a road and then park on the side of it and take a picture with the sign to say we had been to that High Point. So we did just that, and then headed for a Lewis's lunch in New Haven Connecticut. It is a restaurant that I discovered on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives when I was about 16 years old, when I still ate red meat. So of course, I wanted to go see the restaurant that was claims to be the home of the hamburger in America.

Downtown Providence!

When we finally got to the restaurant, parking was quite annoying. The restaurant itself was a very small pop up from 1895, and there were only a few items on the menu. It was my first time eating red meat and nearly three years as well, as they only had regular Burgers instead of veggie burgers. Although it was quite a good meal, it definitely wasn't worth 6:25 American dollars for a single sandwich. But now, more things have been crossed off the bucket list.

Well then drove through Staten Island and Long Island, past the Highpoint of New Jersey, drove New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpike for approximately 230 miles, eventually got home late at night. A successful trip to New England and back in a few days, and a few more states that I have been to as well. We will have to return to Connecticut and Massachusetts in the summer when the roads to the high points are open and actually accessible. New England was a fantastic destination to visit, and I will definitely return some day.

The Tea Party

Just as I was starting my semester at HACC, I was invited to an interview at MGH Institute of Health Professions. Considering as to how this was the first graduate school in America 2 give me a call back, I figured I would pretty much be an idiot if I declined to go to the interview. Plus, it was an excuse to go on another adventure, which I am always looking for. So, my best friend Brett and I set out on Thursday morning for Ashfield, Massachusetts, to rest our heads at his aunt's house.

On the way up, we decided to try and lock down two more state highpoints, the S slope of Mount frissell in Connecticut, and Mount Greylock in Western Massachusetts. As fate would have it, the roads to the top of both mountains we're closed because of snow. In New England, you can expect there to be snow closures of hiking trails from October until February at a minimum, and we found this out the hard way. So although we got close, it was no cigar.

Along the way, we decided to stop for a beer and wine for his aunt and uncle, seeing as to how them offering to put us up for two nights saved us upwards of $80 on an Airbnb. They also provided a lot of useful information regarding things to see and do in Boston, which provided to be quite the excitement for Brett while I was in my interview for grad school. We had some pizza, a couple of beers, great conversation, and hung our hats for the night.

Shortly thereafter the next morning, we set out for Riverside bus station outside of Boston, about a two-hour drive away. We paid the flat rate parking of $6 per day, bought an all day pass for subway bus and Ferry for about $12, and rode the subway to our respective destinations. He was touring Berkeley, and I was going to North Station.

After getting off at the North Station, I have to Huff it about a mile to get to the school. It contains only a few buildings, but all were state-of-the-art of prestigious. I checked in shortly after noon, noticing that I was very under dressed compared to all of my new found friends, situated into a small group of new colleagues, learned about them and where they are from, and got prepared for the day.

Needless to say, throughout the entire day, learning about their facility and teaching them about me through the plethora of questions I have asked was quite an exhilarating experience. And I'm sure level doctorate program and the first-of-its-kind in New England, they had a big emphasis on Research. I love research, and I want to do that in the future, so I was very excited to learn about this. We toured the buildings, I'm at The Faculty, got background information, and before long, it was time for our small group interview.

Of the 90 students there, we were from 25 different states Plus Israel. My interview group had three people including myself, and my comrades were from Illinois and Connecticut respectively. Are interview are actually took the time to read our resumes and ask those questions pertaining there too, which was very comforting. I earned some brownie points by talking about music and research and my interest in the field, which I hope Landon me and favorable standing for admissions. Although there is no housing on campus, I was willing to take the dive financially to get my doctorate in 3 years and a school that partners with Harvard.

The Capitol House of Boston.

After the interview, we spent some time mingling with teachers, current students, and other prospective students. That made quite a few new friends this day, and before long, the day was over, and I was hopping on a fairy across Boston to meet with my friend at a local bar. I walked 20 minutes out of the way to cheers at Beacon Hill, only to find out that he was at the cheers at Federal Hall. I had him walk to me, and then we sat down for a satisfying dinner at the set of a TV show before heading back home on the subway. Along successful day for both of us, we were quite content, and found a second home in Boston.

After this endeavor, we headed home through Rhode Island and Connecticut, stopping for lunch where my friend John has worked since graduating from school in Providence. I said hi, chatted with him, and headed back to Pennsylvania. We thenceforth stopped at Louis’s Lunch, the home of the American hamburger, in New Salem, Connecticut. Overpriced, but worth the novelty. Then, we drove until dark befell us and we eventually arrived home, one successful trip later.

On the Way Home

Before we know it, our nine day stint in Iceland had come to an end, and we were on our way home. There were a couple things that I noticed during the process of getting back to the states that I will go in death about. All in all, although we didn't get to see or do nearly half the stuff we wanted to, we still had a wonderful time being present in Iceland for 9 days. There are few things that I noticed about the country in general, all of them worth mentioning for the sake of you there future Travelers.

Having to fly home and go back to reality is always Bittersweet, so make sure you allow extra time 2 prepare for the departure. We showed up to the airport pretty much as they were starting to line up at the gates, and we had two entirely rush through our car rental return. There was also a lot of things to check out within the airport that we didn't have time for it because we had to rush.

Security check and Iceland was not near as tedious as it was in the states. As long as you were quick and efficient everything went well, but all the people or friendly, sympathetic, and easy to talk to. Amongst the people that didn't speak much English in my travels, they lied and small towns, and and most of the airport was completely fluent in conversational in more than two languages.

I also learned that in Iceland, they can pull you at random from the security line and run an extra security check on you. This happened to my friend, and I actually thought he wasn't going to make the plane home because of how long they were taking to search him and everything.

Traveling around Iceland also reminded me to really take time to slow down and enjoy the small fine parts of life. Living like the Icelandic means living happily and humbly, being happy to offer your services to anybody in any capacity whenever possible. That has a special to become handy now that tourism has taken off again since the option of a flu local in 2011. In actuality, though, Iceland is a mighty Powerhouse of an island that deserves the respect it should get. So completely isolated for most of the world for centuries, besides by boat, they've mostly been isolated since their Inception.

The last major lesson I reflected upon as we boarded the plane was the following... Always try to learn the language and culture of the Locale before you get there if you want any sort of positive learning experience. It is best to see everything through the eyes of the beholder. There are Icelandic courses online, so if you start now, you'll be an expert by the time you decide to go. :-) just be warned, because it's grammar and vocabulary is largely based on Old Norse, it is very difficult language to learn.

A week and a half in the land of the ice and snow was not enough to fulfill me. Leaving Iceland left me wanting more, excited for the next time that I can return to see the rest of the country. I will be going again sometime in the near future. Especially because I want to see Greenland from the plane again. And I want to go hoking, see the midnight sun, and bathe in the Blue Lagoon. Will you be joining me when I go?