Date: March 7th, 2023
Location: Selfoss, Iceland
Today, waking up was a bit easier. Though I did sleep past my alarm a little bit. However, getting ready in the morning wasn't too eventful. We were going back to Reykjavik University: Iceland School of energy again so we had to grab out laptops and note-taking supplies to make sure we were ready for another couple of lectures and a work session on our Capstone project. So I grabbed breakfast, made sure all my bag was all packed and my devices all ready to go, and I headed to the bus to back into Reykjavik for our 8:00 AM classes.
Today, we had a lecture on Hydropower and one on Geothermal Energy Systems Laws/Policy. The Hydropower lecture was extremely interesting! I'd always found hydrology to be cool, though I was always more focused on the water that is used for creating storms or for our consumption. But I was pleasantly surprised with just how interesting that topic was. Now the Geothermal Energy Systems Policy Lecture? Nowhere near interesting. In fact, I felt like I was almost going to fall asleep once or twice in that class. I blame jetlag for that. Still, I felt bad because the lecturer was really good at being an engaging speaker. However, I'm trying to be a scientist, not a lawyer. Policy just does not interest me like water does apparently.
After our lecture, we had lunch delivered to our classroom. And the last thing I was expecting was pizza in Iceland. Especially pizza from DOMINOS in Iceland. But sure enough, the two girls in charge of our program walked into our classroom at noon with around 8 boxes of Dominos pizza. And it was very, very, very different than any pizza I've ever had. Almost like it a weird mix of Artisan and traditional, fast deliver style pizza. But it was good! Really good! Though it was so different, I can't say I'm interesting in trying more. IN fact, a lot of the food taste different here. I guess it make sense that it would considering I'm in an entirely different continent and country right now. But still it's a bit weird and disappointing to pop open a Pepsi or a bag of skittle just to hate the taste. At the least I have the fruit. Aside from a super, super ripe banana I had on arrival day, the fruit hasn't failed me yet!
After a little bit of lunch and sometime to work on our Capstone, we left the University and got on the bus to drive to our next location. On this drive, we listened to some more Icelandic music and heard a bunch of their Eurovision songs from the past so that was fun. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at our stop- an out of commission hydroelectric power plant called Elliðaarstoð.
This tour, I was only mildly interested. Mostly because spent about 30 minutes standing around and getting the power plant's life story in below freezing temperatures and extremely high winds right next to the river. But also because it just didn't sound like my thing. It was a little cool seeing how they build the power plant into these three little houses that had been there for a while before there was even talks of a power plant. And it was pretty nice seeing how we were standing in the same room as the old King and Queen of Iceland were standing years and years ago when the power plant first went live. But honestly? It wasn't my speed. I did get some good pictures of the inside facility after we finally our tour guide let us inside the building and away from the cold.
When we finished with that tour, we got back on the bus again and drove a while to place called Þingvellir. It's a natural park and it sits in a rift valley that is actually the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge- the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plate. And it's right next to Iceland's largest natural lake! But I think besides it's crazy amazing geological shape, it's most known for being the meeting location of Iceland's parliament from the year 930 to the late 1700s. And under normal circumstances, I would have really enjoyed hearing all about the history and symbolism the importance of this location to Icelandic history. But today wasn't normal circumstances. Today was standing outside in the freezing cold, being blown away by the strongest winds I have ever felt in my life.
Oh my god, I was so miserable. When we first got off the bus, we went to a little platform right at the top of the ridge to look out and over the whole location. Well, a good portion of the location. The thing about being located in a rift valley is that your vision is easily obstructed by all the tall rock walls that make up the valley. But either way, those couple of minutes outside were brutal! I was immediately trying to run inside at the first sight of us wrapping up. After about three minutes, we were finally able to run inside and seek refuge in gift shop. But too my surprise, they said we only had about ten minutes inside the gift shop because we'll be leaving to go back out in the cold so we could walk along the rift. I was so mad! I so didn't want to out in that cold- especially because I wasn't expecting us to be out for much longer! Though in the end, I sucked it up and forced myself to push through (after buying cheap scarf from the gift shop) so I could go outside to join the rest of the group.
Even though our time at Þingvellir was much shorter than our hike to the hot springs yesterday, I feel like today was even harder to get through because it was just so windy. I was being pushed back and knocked around almost every second. And even though we were only walking for about 15 minutes and I had my entire face covered except for my eyes (and even then, I had sunglasses on) I was still struggling to make it through. Though as you could probably already guess by the fact that I'm sitting here, writing to you today- I did make it through. But what you probably wouldn't have guessed that after we finished our walk and outdoor history talk about Þingvellir, I opted to stay outside for a little while long to make a five minute walk to a water fall.
Though was it worth it? Not really. Don't get me wrong, I'm super proud of myself for pushing through even though I was more than ready to give up the entire time. But that waterfall we saw? A lot smaller than I expected. Not very grand for all the blood, sweet, and tears I had to put into that walk. But oh well. You win some, you lose some. Here's a picture of me, miserable the waterfall by the way, haha!
After we came back from the waterfall, it was time to get home. We all hoped on the bus and drove back to the Hostel. We had a little quiz covering all the stuff we learned in the lectures these past two days so we took that after arriving back at home. Then we ate some dinner, got to talk to our guides about Icelandic culture and more about the ethical environmental concerns of energy industry for a little bit, and then we all went back to our rooms so we could pack and get ready for tomorrow!
And with that, I'll be leaving you guys here! Thank you so much for tuning into my journal and I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about my adventures so far. I'll talk to you guys later! Until next time!
- DD
Picture Sources (in order of appearance):
Retired Powerplant - My photo!
Waterfall by Þingvellir - My photo!
Me and the waterfall - My photo!
Baby girl I feel your pain but super glad you went to the waterfall gorgeous you make my day I can't wait to read about your adventures stay warm Much Love Auntie