We Smell Like Goats

Time to update you on yet another Icelandic adventure! This past weekend (October 28-30) the group was off to Reykjavik and West Iceland.

We spent Friday in the city, first heading to the Environmental Ministry to hear about Iceland's environmental quality and wildlife management policies. They were dressing up in the office that day for Halloween, so listening to speakers dressed as pirates and soccer players was only a little distracting.

We then headed to the University of Iceland to hear a presentation on their Environment and Natural Resources master's program. On the way up to the room our meeting was in, one of my classmates, John, got lost from the group and was stuck in the cafeteria area of the student center. After about 10 min, we realized he was gone and someone went to go look for him. We found him in no time, but won't let him forget that one for a while. We also went to the Icelandic National Museum on campus and got a guided tour. We saw lots of cool artifacts, skeletons (or skelets as they call them), and even got to try on some costumes!

John and I in our costumes... reppin' Northland!

After the museum, we had a few hours to explore the city. We stopped at a coffee shop, had some croissants, and met a cute Icelandic bulldog. By the time we got back on the bus (around 6pm), the sun had already set and dusk was beautiful at the church. 

We drove north on the cost to a town called "Borganes" and stayed at a youth hostel there overnight. Saturday morning was spent at a museum covering the settlement of Iceland and "Egil's Saga", a book that we're reading in our history class. We had an amazing meal there for lunch- salad, pasta, soup, and curry bread. Unreal.

Leaving Borgarnes, we drove further north to a goat farm run by a woman named Johanna. She was great. After the obligatory coffee and cakes in the afternoon, we headed out to the barn. She is the only person still milking goats in Iceland and owns about 200 of the 350 goats left in the country. We spent several hours playing with the goats, helping out with a few chores, and milking about 25 of the goats. They were so friendly and lovable! Dogs, kittens, and chickens were also at the farm which did great things for my animal-loving soul.

 Me petting the sheepdog "Bossy"

 Jon and Christina with a barn kitty

 Johanna loving on her goats

Hank....and more goats!

The trip was finished up on Sunday with a brief tour at a large geothermal power plant outside of Reykjavik. Other recent highlights include a Halloween party and a breathtaking Northern Lights display last night. The interns and volunteers here set up a beautiful Halloween party in the coffee shop here for the whole community. It was fun to see everyone in creative costumes (Comet, Northern Lights, Volcano, Glacier, etc.) and we had fun playing Scrabble, eating, and dancing. Amidst all the merry-making, we stepped outside a few times to take a look at Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. One of my classmates was able to capture them on her camera so I'll see if I can't post those pictures later. The only words to describe them last night were: amazing, wow, GREEN, hot pink, blue, dancing, and humongous. They literally covered the majority of the sky. We are so lucky to see them here often. 

This week involves lots of homework and projects, along with a little tour of some surrounding farms tomorrow. I'm going to be involved in another concert this weekend, but to what extent, I'm not sure yet. One of my biggest lessons from Iceland: Go with the flow. They're all about that here.

Thanks for reading! It's hard to believe I have only three and a half weeks left here! Was there ever a time when I wasn't in Iceland?

-Elise