The Group

It's come to my attention that I haven't introduced the other members of my CELL group very well yet! These are the people who I spent nearly every hour with, the ones who make this experience what it is, and the ones who always make me smile.

Here is a group picture of us at the Turf House we were working at last weekend, along with the couple who owns the farm, Honnis and Christine.

Top row, left to right: John, Elise, Tracy, Dusty, Jordan, Christina, Lily, Honnis
Bottom row, left to right: Karin, Sarah, Tracey, Laura, Hank, Christine

John is from Northland too, and is a Sustainable Community Development major as well!
Tracy is from Cornell and is studying Environmental Engineering.
Dusty is from Prescott College in Colorado and is an Adventure Education/Environmental Studies major.
Jordan goes to Miami University in Ohio and studies Architecture.
Christina goes to University of Redlands and is studying International Relations and Environmental Policy.
Lily is from Skidmore and is an Environmental Studies major.
Honnis is Icelandic, enough said.
Karin is from Maine. She's amazing.
Sarah goes to Paul Smith's in Upstate NY and is an Environmental Studies major.
Tracey goes to Rhode Island School of Design and is a Graphic Design major.
Laura is a bit of a self-proclaimed vagabond, but she most recently was at Hendrix College in Arkansas. She studies botany, agriculture, and knitting! :)
Hank is also from Maine. He has a sweet Boston accent.
Christine is Icelandic and reminds me a lot of my Aunt Patty, if any of you know her.

I don't know what I'll do without these people in my face and in my lives everyday. It's going to be strange...

Golden Circle

This past Wednesday (Oct. 19), I fell in love with Iceland.

We left at the dark hour of 8:30am to embark on a day of sightseeing, adventuring, and learning. On our way to the "Golden Circle" (three famous Icelandic sites that can be visited in one day), we stopped at a crater close to Solheimar. We've driven past it a few times, but had never stopped to look down. It was so deep! After spending about 20 minutes climbing around and skipping stones in the water, we hopped back in the bus.

Our next stop was Þingvellir National Park (pronounced Thingvellir). This is an important site in Icelandic history: both culturally and geologically. From 930 AD to the 1700s, the Icelandic parliament and thousands of Icelanders met at this site once a year in the summers to create new laws, solve legal disputes, and catch up with one another. This is also the place where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is clearly visible, the place where the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate are moving apart. Very cool! It made me miss North America, but just a little bit. Flurries fell as we walked around and the sun was shining, making the visit even more... "magical".

 Church at Thingvellir and to the right, the Prime Minister's Summer House!

 Iceland has mountains. Have I mentioned that yet? :)

Tectonic plates splitting apart... On the left, the Eurasian plate. On the right, the North America Plate.

 

 Saving each other, playing around

After Thingvellir was a stop at the Gulfoss waterfall. The sound of this waterfall was incredibly loud and powerful. The mist from the waterfall had frozen on all the grass, rocks, and paths nearby and made for some beautiful pictures and treacherous walking.

 Gulfoss from above

 Still alive! 

Frozen grass, so cool!

The next stop was Geysir, an area of geothermal geysers and pools. Here we watched two "eruptions" of a geyser and found a geothermal pool that was glowing bright blue- no lights or anything! It was the craziest thing I've ever seen! We also had a bit of fun in the parking lot before getting back on the bus...

 Geyser.. I wasn't patient enough to catch an eruption on camera

 Glowing blue pool. No lights, I swear!

 Me standing next to a "Super-Jeep", a very common site in Iceland

Jordan and Dusty doing what they do best

Ok, by this time it's about 4 in the afternoon. But we're not done yet! We drove to a mountain, hiked to the top, I got scared, we played on the frozen pond on top, ran back down the mountain, and drove to our final destination: Skaholt church. This church has been the Bishop seat in Iceland since about the year 1030 AD! We got a tour from a very strangely sarcastic priest, heard some "ghost" stories about the church, went through a secret passageway, and finally ate dinner! The dinner was amazing and we all ate way too much! Icelandic trout, sweet potatoes, salad, apple cake, and coffee were on the menu. 

Skaholt Church at night

I'm not sure what it was about this day that made me really fall in love with Iceland. It could have been the flurries and sunshine in the morning or the ridiculous amounts of fun I had with my group, but something hit me that day. I realized how truly special this place is and that I need to appreciate every moment of my last month here. It's going by too fast...

There's no such thing as bad weather in Iceland...

Only the wrong clothing. This common Icelandic saying is one we've been putting into practice every day. From sunshine and rainbows to hail and snow, we've seen it all by this point. If I ever thought we weather changed fast in Wisconsin, Iceland has definitely proved me wrong. You can literally look out the window and in the course of the day, see rainstorms come and go as many as twenty times. It's fun to be kept on my toes, and I have given up checking weather.com weeks ago.

This past weekend we traveled to a farm about 45 minutes to the southeast of us called "Austur Medalholt" (meaning East Middle-woods or something like that). The farm is run by a wonderful Icelandic couple, Honnis and Christine. They are on a "crusade" to promote, restore, and educate about the Icelandic turf house tradition. They are in the middle of building a turf house museum and have also beautifully restored a turf house (the same one Honnis was born in) on the farmland.

We arrived on Friday afternoon, just in time for coffee break. We gathered in the restored turf house, shared coffee while sitting on the beds lining the walls, and settled in to this cozy home. Honnis gave us a tour of the farm and the new museum before we feasted on an incredible, home-grown dinner of salad, pasta, beans, bread, and blueberries. After dinner we headed back to our cabin and crawled immediately into our sleeping bags to stay warm. I shared a "bunk" with one of my classmates and it was nice to have someone there for body heat! With the wind howling all night and the big moon shining through the window, I felt like I could have been in any century in Iceland's history... spending an autumn night on this ancient farm.

Looking out the window of the turf cabin we stayed in. Post coffee break

The bed I stayed in

Farm scene...

Outside of the new museum. Honnis built most of this himself with a few friends

Another view, looking the other way in the cabin. Sorry they're out of order

Honnis showing us the outside of one of the turf houses

Saturday was spent eating and working! A great combination! After morning porridge and coffee, we headed out to do some old fashioned manual labor. I jumped around between projects, helping various people out. I helped build a turf wall, rolled some big stones up a hill to make steps, shoveled some manure, and got good and dirty. After lunch (soup and more fresh bread! This place is great!) we finished up the projects we'd been working on and had a final coffee break before saying goodbye to Honnis and Christine. They are probably my favorite Icelanders we've met so far. Great people with a beautiful connection to Iceland's landscape, history, and culture.

It's back to work for us here at Solheimar. Lots of projects are due this week as we are in the "Midterm" week of our semester. On Wednesday, we'll be heading to Þingvellir National Park, an important site both historically and geologically in Iceland. Talk to you then!

The Songs We Sing

Regardless of what others might say, I feel like Iceland is a place full of music, though it comes in many forms. It comes in the humming of tunes in the workshops. It comes in the songs we dance to around the kitchen. It comes in the sound of the windows rattling against the wind.

This past week has been one filled with music. I'll share three different occasions with you here. The first is a piece that I played on the organ at the church here in Solheimar on Sunday. Also playing with me were my classmates Christina (on piano) and Tracy (on guitar). We accompanied the choir and soloist (who happens to be our Icelandic Language teacher and a great friend) to a song written for one of the home people who passed away about two weeks ago. It was a very moving experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to be part of it. It's taking a long time to upload, so I'll post it later.

The second is of my friend and classmate Laura singing part of the National Anthem. We found a long tube (maybe for cables?) laying on the ground behind the soccer field here. We were thrilled to find out that talking down the tube made an incredible and spooky echoing sound. It is especially fun to yodel down said tube. Regardless, here's Laura.

Finally, I was able to grab a bit of this morning's "Morning Song" on video. Sorry I don't have a longer clip. Every morning at 9am, the church bells toll and we meet as a community in one of the open areas. We stand in a circle, hold hands, and say "Góðan daginn" (Good morning/ Good day). Then it's time for announcements (who's going where, what activities are being offered, the date, and of course: what's for lunch). To end out the morning meeting, we wing the "Morning Song". It took us all a few weeks to memorize it, but I've got it down pat now. It's really a beautiful hymn... singing about the glory of the sun and a new day, asking God to give us good work to do, and so on. Here you are...

We're off to a farm for Friday night and Saturday, where we'll be working on building/repairing a traditional Icelandic turf house (in addition to sleeping in one!). 


We're also about to start Week 7 of the 12-week semester! It's hard to believe we're already halfway done. I'm trying to make the most of it but also can't wait to get home and see everyone! Sending my love from the North Atlantic!

Ég elska Reykjavík!

I love Reykjavik! This Wednesday we all headed to the "big city" to have a few presentations, eat some crazy Icelandic food, and just explore the city.

Our first stop was at Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic National Energy Authority. We were served wonderful and catered food at 9 in the morning, and learned a lot about the environmental goals and practices of this powerful (pun!) company. We then headed down to the waterfront to meet with a marine biologist from the Marine Institute of Iceland. He was a little disorganized, but he really knew his stuff. We learned a lot about the fisheries management of the Icelandic waters (they have exclusive rights to the 200 mile radius all the way around the island), including whaling and shark fishing.

Speaking of... for lunch we headed to a seafront restuarant called the "Sea Baron". Here we consumed big mugs of lobster soup and had the opportunity to try fermented shark meat and grilled mink whale. A few in the group tried the shark and whale, and I thought about it, but once it came to actually eating the meat, I couldn't bring myself to try it. I think I'll be able to more or less live a full life without trying them.

 Shark

 Mink Whale

Our lunch stop!

After lunch we spent about an hour at an archaeological museum that included the ruins of an ancient farmhouse that was likely the first building built in Reykjavik (built around 870 AD). Learning all of this history about Iceland makes me realize how young the United States really is!

Most of the afternoon was spent as free time. We wandered into lots of stores (including one with a slide inside!), saw the famous Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Cathedral, and met some Icelandic city-slickers. My favorite was a man who had a small dog (about Chihuahua sized). He wanted to go into a store, but didn't have a leash for the dog. Instead, he looked around to make sure no one was really looking (except for us, silly Americans. I guess we didn't count) and stuffed the dog into his shirt, then entered the store!

 The slide inside a sporting goods store. Of course we went down it!

 Typical storefront

 Meeting a Caribou in the Geyser store

 Our guys looking fierce in their Icelandic sweaters

 Just a normal Reykjavik home

 The cathedral

 Up close.. the church was designed to imitate the basalt pillars found in Iceland

Inside the cathedral

We finished out the day with a beautiful meal at Restaurant Reykjavik: mushroom soup, lamb fillets, potatoes, veggies, and ice cream with berries for dessert! Overall, it was a really awesome day. I look forward to returning to the city next month for another trip.

In other news, I've learned to play the organ, knit a scarf, and dance the rumba all in the past two days! I'll be playing in the Solheimar church, along with my friends Christina and Tracy (on piano and guitar) on Sunday. I'll try to record the piece so everyone can see the church and hear the song!

Bless bless!

"If you get lost in an Icelandic forest..."

"Stand up!" This joke among Icelanders bears witness to their modern struggles to create substantial (and tall) forests across the island. Before vikings settled here in the 9th and 10th centuries, nearly half the land was covered in dense birch forests. The vikings used this wood for construction, heat, and allowed their sheep to graze on the fertile land- which in turn caused all the seedlings of trees to be munched up.

Ok, history lesson over. Fast forward to this weekend, when our group headed east to the base of Mt. Hekla, a volcano that is actually due to erupt any day. Beneath its shadow lies a very humble little farm and some cozy guesthouses. This was our home from Wednesday until Saturday, where we worked on the Hekla Reforestation Project to restore birch trees to the area and reduce erosion of the soil.

Before we arrived at Hekla though, we made a stop at a reconstructed viking longhouse and a nearby hydropower plant. The longhouse was interesting- the early Icelanders lived such a simple life in these houses. Often up to 25 people lived in them along with the animals in the winter!

Outside of longhouse, covered in turf

The hydropower plant, called Búrfellsstöð, was also very interesting. I don't think hydropower is the most "green" option for power (especially since Iceland already produces far more energy than they could ever use). The river that it sits on, Þjórsá (pronounced Thie-or-sow) is harnessed by four other power plants. This river is vital for the salmon that swim in its waters, and each dam severely limits the areas in which these salmon can spawn and grow. Nevertheless, the employees at the plant were very courteous and we did learn a lot. We also got a behind-the-scenes-tour and saw one of the turbines that create the electricty up-close. The best part was getting to wear a neon vest and hard hat! 

 My classmates Lily, Christina, and I

As you can see, getting to Hekla was half the adventure. You can't go on any sort of road trip in Iceland without stopping at several waterfalls. The rock formations here are incredible and since I don't fully understand them, I'll just show you some pictures of what we saw. 

So, by Wednesday afternoon, we're finally at Hekla. The farmwife there (Sigurdhunn or something like that... sorry if you're out there!) fed us SO well. We were all pretty sure that she was trying to fatten us up to eat us, Hansel and Gretel style. The majority of the time at Hekla was spent eating, collecting birch seeds from trees around the property, having coffee break, taking naps, going for rops to the river, having another coffee break, playing cards with friends, and doing a bit of homework here and there. It was fun to have some time with the group away from our computers and the internet- we spent much more time just talking and playing games together than we normally take time to do.

  The farm. See, the sun shines in Iceland!

Yesterday, on the way back from Hekla, we stopped at the Hekla Volcano museum and learned a bit more about the volcano itself. They even had a current seismograph of the rumblings inside the mountain. We stopped at Selfoss, the nearest legitimate town here, and wandered into a few stores. We stocked up on mjolk and several of us bought yarn and needles. Our good friend Rosie, a resident here, is having us over for waffles and a knitting lesson at some point this week. Also coming up on Wednesday is an all-day trip to the capitol city: Reykjavik. Sjáumst! (See you!)