Reflection Time:)

So long farewell Land of Fire and Ice. You sure do know how to put on a show. As we fly back home, I still can't quiet believe these past couple of weeks actually happened. The wide variety of landscapes blew me away (literally and figuratively!) This trip made a meaningful impact because it wasn't just a trip to see some sights, but a trip to really learn about how these landscapes form, grow closer as a group, and experience a taste of a different way of life and culture. This is the longest I've ever traveled, so I was not sure what to expect. I am a person who likes a schedule and a plan, but I enjoyed the exploration and "go with the flow" aspect of this trip. Things do not always go as planned or have to be planned, and most of the time that is for the best. Iceland helped me rediscover my love for art. I enjoyed sketching the landscapes of rocks we saw right in the field. It is a calming and peaceful experience to observe the tiny details of the landscape. Learning about geology made me appreciate the landscape so much more because I now have a better understanding of why the land looks a certain way. The beauty of Iceland comes with a dark side though. The Eldheimar Museum put in perspective the destructive power of volcanoes, and the reality that the landscape we have been seeing formed through extreme processes. Nature is powerful. However, nature is also fragile. Seeing the glaciers helped me concretely grasp how the warming of the earth has dramatic effects on the landscape. Hearing and seeing where Langjökull glacier had been only 76 years ago, and learning the ice cave we stood in would most likely be gone in 100 years is extremely sad. Something so magnificent that has thousands of years of history preserved in its ice will melt away, and be gone forever. This how's how important sustainable living and practices are for our world. Lastly, this trip would not be as meaningful without the people. Being with the same people for 21 days gave me the chance to spend time and get to know some people I do not normally see around campus. The past few weeks gave us time to bond whether from communal pool showering, conversations on hikes, or playing Bananagrams. I think it is so important to learn about others interest, likes, dislikes, and how they think about the world to understand a person. We all have different perspectives on life, but we can come together and be in total awe of all that Iceland has to offer. 

Day 19 Monday May 30, 2016

Last Day: Exploring Reykjavik 

Adams Family Pin Ball anyone?

The Pearl. Hot water from the geothermal plant travels here. 360 degrees view of city up top.

Ship statue 

Day 18 Sunday May 29, 2016

Yesterday was our last field day to hike. We took a ferry over to Vestmannaeyjar Island for a packed day of hiking. The ferry ride over was short, and  started off the day with the treacherous hike up Heimklettur Cliff. The strong smell of fish lingered in the air, but as we hiked higher and higher it was replaced by the smell of sheep poop. Steep slopes, wooden ladders, stairs, and narrow sheep trail made up our path to the top. The climb upwards was slow and steady for good reason. The view as we climbed just got better. At the grassy top we saw a 360 degrees view of the island, small islands, ocean, Iceland, and the Eldfell volcano which erupted in 1973. We had a picnic on top while Dr. Ranson gave a short lecture about the volcanoes history. After the slow decent down, we made a pit stop at a gas station for a celebratory snack. Dr. Suresh got an entire bag filled with French fries, so we had a fries break every few feet on our way to the volcano. Such Americans:)

Eldfell loomed in front of us, and we started our vertical climb to the top. The climb had less obstacles  than the cliff, so we arrived at the to in pretty good time. The volcanic rocks were a variety of colors, but the orange/red ones were my favorite. I took off my gloves and put my hand in some sand. Heat. My hands grew warm and then got hot. Wow! I wandered over to some rock formations where I found a whole with heat waves coming out of it. The volcano is hot hot hot! We sat by the various vents keeping warm. Dr. Suresh even  geothermal lay heated up the french fries! We then headed to the Eldheimar Museum which was built over an excavated house buried by black pumice from the volcanic eruption. The audio tour was eye opening, and revealed the horrors of such a destructive eruption. However, Icelanders are resilient, and fought for their town. 417 houses burned, but everyone was evacuated either by fishing boats or helicopter. The eruption lasts 5 months, and is considered "the Pompeii of the North." During the clean up process, one man died from falling asleep when toxic fumes were still prevalent. The island grew 20 percent in size, which Dr. Ranson got to see he island before (1968) the eruption and now. I think it is amazing that a few thousands of people made it off the island because fishing boats were in the harbor since there had been a bad storm earlier. The reality that we were literally on an island with a volcano set in. Despite the danger, 2/3 of the people moved back, and dug their town out of pumice. They live in beautiful homes right next to a volcano. Wow. We ate dinner at Gott in the town which was a great end to a great day. This was the perfect way to end the exploration of nature in Iceland. Onward to Reykjavik for one last day.

Hike up Heimklettur Cliff

View from the top: Eldfell Volcano on the right

Chilling (more like heating up) on top of Eldfell Volcano

Day 17 Saturday May 28, 2016

The past two days have been filled fill adventure. We moved to Skógar for two nights which is a little town situated near a huge cascading waterfall called Skógafoss. Huge green pastures with tons of sheep and lambs lie right behind the hostel. On Saturday we visited Reynirsrjara Hálsandefshellir pebble beach and cliffs. The columnar basalt was textbook perfect, and the crashing waves beautiful. Our big adventure for the day was hiking to the top of Skógafoss Waterfall, and on the the trail next to the rushing river far below. Just when I thought I had seen the most beautiful part of Iceland, I have to think again. Every turn there was a new view below. The cliffs were steep and covered with vibrant green moss and grass. Birds soared by gliding with the wind. We saw many many giant waterfalls which took my breath away. The hike was a difficult climb, but I loved moving forward to catch a glimpse of the next view. I felt like I was in a fantasy land where I should see fairies at any moment peaking out from the moss. A mound of dirt topped with grass looked like the Stone Table from Narnia. Around 5:30pm, we headed back to catch our 8:00pm dinner reservation of Icelandic cod.

Day 15 Thursday May 26, 2016

 Yesterday we drove all day from Sólheimer to Vagnstadir which is a tiny tiny place in southeast Iceland. The girls are in the three little cabins, and everyone else is staying in the main cabin. We definitely switched from roomy accommodations to rustic living. Despite the chill, I love the cottage. Almost as if we were living in the prairie with Laura Ingalls. The hostel is situated in a grassy plain with dramatic mountains and a view of crashing waves in the distance. Quite a combination. The rain from yesterday let up, and today had pretty blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and sun. Our sleeping area was quite toasty, but the entrance was quite chilly. I pulled out my wool sweater, and warmed up quickly. I now know what sheep feel like! We spent the majority of the day at Brejöamerkurjökull which is an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull. This glacier is the largest in Iceland. The glacier and mountains were in the distance and a wide lagoon flowed out into the ocean. The wind was the most intense wind I have ever experienced (possibly 35 miles per hour). We were all layered up. I had three pairs of pants on (those rain/wind pants are key), snow gloves, two pairs of socks, sweaters, my dad's fleece hat, and my rain jacket on. The layers worked well. The temperature was not bad, but the wind chill definitely was prevalent.

Icebergs were floating in the lagoon. Some of the ice was extremely clear, while other were such a deep aqua blue. The blue color comes from the interplay between light and ice crystals. In the 18th century some people walked across this glacier by foot because crossing the river was too dangerous. By the 1870's, there was a glacial path for people to use. Loose sediment mounds or terminal moraine were near the lagoon which acted as a dam to create the lake when the glacier melts. I sat on the volcanic basaltic rock and sketched the icebergs floating in the choppy water.  About ten seals swam close to shore and did little flips in the water for us. We then walked by the water almost all the way to the glacier. The wind pushed us along as we shuffled to our destination. The blue ice constantly captivated me during the journey because I had no idea that ice could have such a vibrant color. The way back took about an hour, as the wind was against us. I warmed up quickly though, and we pressed onward. It was a difficult hike back over the moraines, but definitely worth it. We were all wind blown in the face and had crazy tangled hair. Lunch on the bus was a nice break before we went to the coast to see the icebergs quickly (due to the wind) float into the ocean. We headed back to the hostel for a relaxing few hours before a delicious home cooked vegetable pasta dinner. The adventure today was exciting, and I am looking forward to our hike tomorrow deeper into the glacier.

The girls' cabins

Brejöamerkurjökull outlet glacier

Day 13 Tuesday May 24, 2016

After a rainy day yesterday, it was nice to see the sun shining. Around 10:30am we walked next door to sesselijuhús center for sustainable development. Though it was sunny, the wind was very intense! A lady working there spotted us, so she and a man talked to us about Sólheimer community.  It was started in 1930 by Sesseja Hreindís Sigmundsdóttir as an intentional living community home for children with disabilities. She went to Germany to study, and she was the first Icelander to study academically about disabilities. Since at that time most children were put in institutions, this was a new idea. Today there are 100 people living in the community, and 43 of the people have disabilities. They are older now, so some people no longer work. Those who are younger have jobs at the organic bakery, greenhouse, candle making shop, or woodworking shop. The products are then sold, and the money is put back into the community. Their main goal is to include people, so there are people from other countries and families that live here too. The community has a sustainable mindset with agricultural practices such as composting, but it is not an off the grid eco village striving to be completely sustainable.

I asked about school in Iceland for those with disabilities, and the lady said that there are programs (like the US) in the school systems for children with special needs. This community is now for adults with disabilities, so it is a place we're they can work and live in the same place. I think the idea of an intentional sustainable community including everyone despite their differences is a really fascinating idea. It is not perfect though, and I would be interested to learn more about the people who live here and how the community works. The man took us around the community where we saw the shops and an exhibit about Reynir Pétur Ingvavsson. He walked around the entirety of Iceland (32 days) in 1985 to raise money for Sólheimer and awareness about disabilities in Iceland. The exhibit had huge wall murals with his picture and a map of where he walked. We then headed to the beautiful modern chapel before heading to the nearby town of Selfoss for lunch.

After lunch we split up to explore the town for a few hours. I wandered into a wool shop called Handverksskúrinn with a few people to look around. A cohort of eight ladies run the shop hand making all the wool products. After almost buying a sweater last night, I decided to invest. It will be a sweater that will serve me well in the coming months and in the future. The lady in the shop , Liney Tómasa, told me she made my sweater. After wandering around and sitting in a cute used bookstore for a little bit, the group headed to Lerid Crater which had water pooling in the bottom because the chamber collapsed. We walked around examining the basaltic rocks which formed 6,500 years ago from a possible steam eruption. They were red, purple, and blue in color due to oxidation. We then headed back to cook pasta for dinner. Today was really interesting to learn about the unique community of Sólheimer since my sister Carolyn has Down Syndrome. I wonder if there are other communities like this that also focus on sustainability in other parts of the world.

The original children's home

Reynir Pétur Ingvavsson

Wood working shop

The greenhouse

Day 11 Sunday May 22, 2016

I woke up from a pretty good sleep, and took a quick shower before everyone got up. The sun and blue sky finally came out! I did not need my hat, scarf, or gloves. I had a lot of energy today, so I explored the harbor while waiting to head out. There were beautiful red steel ships in the harbor just waiting for a journey out to sea. Around 9:00 am we started our long drive to Bergheimar. I could 't really sleep at all, so I listened to music and watched the incredible landscape pass by. There were patches of green grass, clear blue water, and even circling eagles over a mountain. We had a lunch stop in a gas station, and then continued onward to Grábrókargígur crater for about an hour. Wow, the wind was quite strong! We stood on top of the crater and looked out into the distance. This crater is part of the Ljósufjöll volcanic system in the Snaefellsnes volcanic zone. It is less than 3,600 years old which is quite young in geologic terms. The rocks we stood on were alkali olivine basalt where olivine was likely the first mineral to crystallize. We attempted to reconstruct the geologic history of the area by ordering different geological features we observed. Most likely basaltic, sedimentary, and more basaltic layers formed first. Then a glacier most likely came through which explains the valley we were standing in. Then a fault and intrusions in the basaltic layers formed. Lastly, the volcanic rocks we were standing on formed. The picture below shows the landscape with the features were observed.

Around 8:00pm we pulled into Sólheimar eco village community situated in a grassy plain with snow capped mountains in the distance. An older lady waved us over to our next temporary home. As soon as I put my foot through the door, I felt at home. The building was beautifully made with simple but interesting artwork and furniture. Everyone was re-energized and excited for our stay. Our host, Queen Kolla as she likes to be called, has such a big heart. She started this center twenty three years ago as a vacation spot for cancer patients and their families. Everyone who works there when patients stay are volunteers. Her dear friend passed away from bone cancer, so she promised over his coffin that she would devote herself to helping those with cancer. She only had 10,000 Krónur (~$83) to build this facilities, but with lots of donations and teaching china painting classes she pulled through despite her brother's doubt. The logo for the center is a sick dove held in human hands. The wings are free so it can fly away if the dove gets well. She taught us that the sweetest phrase you can say in Icelandic is "elskar min" which means "I love you my dearest." Kolla served as a great reminder for me to be constantly thankful for the people in my life. No matter what, there is something positive in each day to be thankful for. Even if there isn't any sun, you can make your own sunshine and "always look on the bright side of life."

View from on top of crater. Reconstructing geologic history.

Entrance to the eco-village

Logo for the cancer center designed by Queen Kolla.