Today began as a normal day... We had breakfast at 8:00, packed our gear for the day, and set off for our adventure around 10:00. However, what made this day stand out to all the other ones in the past was the intense wind that almost carried me away several times. In fact, this wind even woke me up this morning from the loud sound that I could hear rolling over the roof of our hostel. Absolutely crazy! The only other time I have experienced such a powerful force was when I was on the very front of a cruise ship. So, as we all tied up our hair and tried to walk down the path to explore the village we are currently living in, we were stopped by a woman who seemed a bit confused as to what we were doing here. Dr. Suresh explained that we are here studying the sustainable lifestyle of the village and living in the "Queen's" cancer-patient home. The woman seemed shocked that we were not staying in her hostel instead, but immediately invited us into the main building of the village to teach us the ways of the Eco-village called Solheimar.
We began by watching a video made by a study abroad student who spent 3 months living and interacting with this community. The village was established in 1930 as a home for disabled children. However, as time has continued, the disabled children grew up and now are much, much older. This means that the community is no longer for disabled children, but rather a home for disabled adults and the elderly. In fact, in order to apply to live in this village, one must be at least 20 years of age. There are currently 100 people who live and work together in the village (43 who are disabled). The purpose of the community is to provide a sustainable home for these people where they can live a "normal life" by working in the greenhouse, bakery, wood workshop, or other areas that keep the villagers engaged. Each morning, everyone in the community meets together to hold hands, sing songs, and discuss the activities for the day while bonding over the company that they have with each other. It reminds me a little bit of college (except for the holding hands part), where everyone lives together in the same, little bubble and is somewhat oblivious to the outside world.
Solheimar is not just famous for its purpose of serving as a home for the disabled, but it is also famous for its Eco-friendly atmosphere. The building where we watched the video of the village has the largest solar panels in all of Iceland! But the funny part about that is the fact that they weren't even that large! Since Iceland is able to run so efficiently on geothermal power, solar panels are not used or needed. They are actually only really used for educational purposes. Haha. Wouldn't that be nice for the entire world? The community is also planning on harnessing more of the crazy wind that I mentioned earlier (which is a very smart move in my opinion)! Most of the buildings in the village have turf roofs that come in handy for insulation and irrigation needs (when it comes to the collection of rainwater). The village is also equipped with a composting machine, a septic tank that separates the different kinds of waste, and most of the houses contain floors made from Icelandic wood. This type of living is very similar to Earthaven, which I was able to experience earlier this year with my sustainability class. However, I would also say that they are not quite as "hippie" as the Earthaven group and I actually find the Solheimar village more attractive in this way.
After we finished exploring the village, we went to a much larger city next door known as, Selfoss. As we were driving through the city, I felt like I was in Reykjavik again. We haven't seen so many buildings in 2 weeks! The restaurant we went to was a cozy, little place on one of the corners of the street. We were given the upstairs area to basically ourselves, which is always nice to be alone. Everything on the menu looked delicious! There was pasta Alfredo, fish of the day, different kinds of burgers, and pizza! I ended up get a Parmesan, ham, and arugula pizza. It was so good and definitely the best pizza I've had in Iceland! I ended up eating the entire thing all by myself because I just could not put it down! After gaining about 5 pounds, we were given the next 2 hours or so to explore the city on our own terms. I went with Harmony to several different shops, all of which were unique in their own way. There was a craftsman store, a second-hand store, a cute, little ice cream place, and a library that sold a few books and CD's. I really enjoyed just looking at the different things that Icelanders buy (such as the wool sweaters that are expensive and itchy). It's always a fun time when learning about different cultures. It's also funny how everyone that saw us in stores assumed that I was Icelandic. I bought a pack of Oreos in a supermarket and the lady at the register was talking to me in complete, Icelandic sentences. However, when Harmony checked out, the lady began speaking in English.... Maybe she realized that we had no idea what she was saying.
At 5:30, we all met on the bus to make one last stop before heading back to the hostel to make dinner. We travelled to a volcanic crater, which we were actually able to go all the way inside of! This is the first time we have been able to look from the bottom-up instead always looking down into the crater. The crater was called Kerio and it is believed to be the remains of a collapse due to the emptying of a magma chamber after the last eruption. At one point, the crater was thought to be the result of a explosion crater, but since there was no evidence of ash deposits, this theory was rejected. There was a large, pool of water at the bottom of the crater, which was formed due to cavities and fissures filling with groundwater. Since this pool is at the water table, the water never drains, but rather rises and falls due to the amount of input. My favorite part of the crater would definitely be the various amount of different colors of rocks that were seen! These basaltic rocks have all gone through different stages of oxidation giving them each a different color and texture. There were purples, reds, blues, blacks, and combinations of all of the colors together. I definitely got some good pictures of the rocks and took a few back with me to put in my suitcase.
We arrived back at our hostel around 8:00 where I was able to shower, pack some clothes for our departure tomorrow, and even wash some of my dirty clothes in an actual washing machine! It's going to feel amazing when I put on clean clothes for the first time! We had pasta and salad for our dinner and some sort of blueberry (or blackberry), pie for dessert. I'm not usually a big pie eater, but since these pies were mainly just the crust, I gave it a shot and liked it enough to finish a piece. I will be sad to leave this hostel tomorrow, especially since it's been my favorite out of all the ones we have stayed in so far (even without the wifi). Hopefully I will enjoy the next one just as much or maybe even more!
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