May 25, 2016
Today as we are leaving Solheimar and headed to Vagnstaóir, I am able to reflect on our wonderful past three days here while sitting in the bus on this rainy day.
We arrived at Solheimar on May 22 after a long drive (9am - 8pm) from the Western Fjords. It was not so bad though because I was enjoying a good book and we made several stops. One was a lunch break and two were bathroom breaks but the stop that really broke up the drive was a two hour stop at the Grábrókargígar crater off of road FS78. We were able to hike up the crater to stretch our legs. The view from the top also gave us an incredible view of our surroundings where we were able to view, identify, discuss and analyze the geologic processes of the surrounding area.
Arriving at our cottage in the Eco-village was lovely because we were welcomed by Thorleifur and his wife as well as the woman who owns the home "queen" kolla with homemade cauliflower soup. She is so wonderful. She has volunteered in this community for 23 years offering her cottage as a retreat for cancer patients. The kindness she displayed in words, actions and conversation moved me and gave me something to aspire to.
The Eco-village itself is incredible. Without getting into all the details, Solheimar is a sustainable community that grew from taking in only children in 1930 to being a fully functioning community for both the abled and disabled alike. Everyone has a job and contributes whether it is by cooking, gardening, woodwork or candle making. The list goes on and on. There are 100 people in this community, 45 of which are disabled. The community is centered around meeting the needs of these 45 individuals and creating a community around them for which they belong. In the greater society, these disabled people would be treated differently. Here, these people are included and accepted for who they are. The work here is truly wonderful. Visiting the chapel here was also wonderful. God's hand in the lives of these people is so visible. By its 100th birthday, this community looks to grow to 150 people and cover many locations, providing mobility and more access to all who want to participate in the community.
Yesterday on the 24th, we spent our time exploring this amazing village and the surrounding area around us in the town Selfoss, with a surprisingly large amount of people, numbering 5,000. We ate lunch, explored book shops, found the grocery store and ate ice cream (no matter how cold it is outside ice cream is always great). Before returning to the community to cook some homemade pasta for dinner (don't worry I don't do the cooking), we stopped at Kerió crater. While the wind was whipping, it didn't blow the novelty of this crater away. Inside this crater was a small lake. We hadn't seen anything like this yet. What really fascinated me here was how my hydrogeology class from the previous semester came into play here. The level of the water rises between 7m and 14m in the crater. This is because it mimics and changes according to the level of the ground water table. So cool!
The day before this, May 23rd, was a big day. We did so much! Our first of five stops was to Pingvellir. This was not only where the first parliament (Alpingi) of Iceland was held in 930 AD but also a rift and junction of two tectonic plates in the Mid Atlantic Ridge. I love how history and geology collide. They allow people to scuba dive between the ridge. While I wasn't able to do that on this trip, it just means I'll have to come back someday. Our second stop was at Gullfoss waterfall. It was a beautiful cascading waterfall with crystal blue water that looks like it falls into a crevasse. Sadly, it was pouring rain. It was the cold, windy, rain that I expected Iceland to be like since we got here. (Thankfully that's only happened once). I was happy to retreat to the cafe and gift shop and wait out the rain before heading to our next stop, the geysers. This stop was so fun! We walked around and looked at several small geyser pools but the largest geyser erupts about every 5-10 minutes. There was so much anticipation watching it and when it finally erupted, I almost missed it cause I got so startled. But it was so much fun. I was reminded of my trip years ago to Yellow Stone National Park. After the geysers, we made a quick 15 minute stop at Faxi Waterfall. Here we were able to see a mechanism built to allow fish to travel upstream despite the blockage of this long waterfall. After such a long day, there was no other way I wanted to spend it than by going to a local hot springs pool. Talk about relaxing. From the hot water to the stones under my feet, it was so needed. (And heck, I feel like a local now cause the naked showers don't even phase me anymore.) We had dinner in a restaurant that was also so wonderful and a dance party on the bus back to the community to finish our day. This place and group of people could not get any better.
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