Iceland

My experience with Iceland started the night before we arrived in the country. The sun set at 12:15am and the skies were clear. I think the entire ship was outside watching it set. There was this wonderful energy and sense of excitement and awe amongst everyone and you can see why. Check out the pictures.


The sunset at 12:15am


a student watching the sunset


The student life staff just before the sunset. It was cold and windy outside, but we were all so happy!


I went to bed after that so that I could get up a few hours later at 2:55am to see the sunrise. When my alarm went off I peeked my head out the window and decided to go back to sleep since it was 3am after all and getting up after two hours of sleep seemed a little absurd to me. However, as I rolled over to go back to sleep I moved my pillow and it knocked a glass of water off the nightstand into my bed. I leaped up to get a towel and try to dry the mess. Of course at that point I was awake so I put on my jacket and shoes, grabbed my camera and headed outside. The minute I stepped outside I was so glad I spilled that water. I was awestruck. The sun was rising over Iceland and was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen. The photos I took barely look real; they look like paintings. I was thinking I’d be the only one crazy enough to be awake at that hour but there were at least 30 students outside watching it and many that never even went to bed. They said it never got dark and had remained pink and orange all night long. Again, there was this intense energy amongst everyone that was awake – adrenaline, awe, inspiration. It was worth getting up for. I stayed outside for about 25 minutes then went back to bed and unfortunately didn’t hear my alarm a few hours later and was awoken when the Assistant Dean announced that we all had to meet with the US Embassy folks in 15 minutes. I took the fastest shower of my life and made it on time. During our briefing I learned that Iceland is the second safest country in the world (not sure which is #1) and much safer than the U.S. The entire country has about as many people as the Greater Madison area and the capitol Reykjavik has about 115,000 people.


The sunrise at 3am



The sunrise over Iceland

In the morning I wondered around Reykavik with two other resident directors. We visited Hallgrimskirkja, a 75m church that can be seen from anywhere in Reykavik and the National Museum. We went back to the boat for dinner since an average dinner in Iceland is about $40 without drinks. It is a very expensive country with a high standard of living and not the place to go shopping. Everything here is very clean and there is virtually no air pollution in the entire city. They use natural geothermal heat from steam that rises out of the ground and do not rely on coal or fossil fuels for their energy.


Hallgrimskirkja

My second day in Iceland was awesome! I joined an organized tour to travel east of Reyjkavik to see the largest glacier in Iceland called Jokalsárlón. A few years ago the tongue of the glacier traveled down about 2km to the ocean and has been breaking apart ever since. This Glacier Lagoon is where the glacier tongue was and now pieces of the glacier that are slowly breaking off and melting. Like most of the geology of Iceland it is a very active location. Iceland is such a young island (geologically speaking) that it is still forming and has many active volcanos, earthquakes, etc. Consequently, the landscape looks magical.


Our first stop on the tour



The south coast of Iceland



Glacier lagoon with the Jokalsárlón Glacier in the background

We had time to walk around for about 45 minutes. I wondered off and as I was coming back I was walking along the shore looking at the rocks and was apart from other people. Next thing I know I looked up and there was a seal who popped out of the water and was looking at me. I stopped and as I started taking pictures the seal flipped up his tail and was fluttering along as if to show off or flirt with me. It was so awesome! We were just starring at each other and then some other people walked up and he swam away. My friend Laura (who is the art history teacher) came running up and says “Oh my gosh Amy, that was so cool! That seal was checking you out!” It was a neat moment.


The curious seal

After wandering around for a bit we got to go out on a Duck boat. These are old boats from the Vietnam war that can drive on land and float on the water. Those of you in Wisconsin know exactly what I am talking about!


me on the Duck boat

On the long ride home we stopped at another beautiful water fall and a few of us walked behind it.


The beautiful waterfall from behind

On the way home Laura and I were talking about the amazing things we had seen and the energy we felt. I was commenting about the Icelandic artists she talked about in her class and how you can really understand their inspirations and why they paint the way they do after seeing the beautiful land. She agreed, but said that nature always trumps art. It’s true. Nothing can compare to seeing the real thing.

We finally got home after the 16 hour tour. It was so much fun I didn’t even feel tired. As soon as I got to my room I downloaded my photos because I was so excited. I didn’t even sit down. I just love the immediate satisfaction of digital! Later Laura and I compared photos and I finally forced myself to go to bed at 1am. I was so energized and it was still light out, but I knew I needed to sleep. I love Iceland and hope I get to come back soon and go backpacking for several days so I can really spend time in the wilderness here.