Blogs are frustrating

Man oh man. So I had a great entry written for the first day in Iceland, but either the blog isnt working properly or I haven’t paid for a blog good enough to work properly. Anyway, I am going to try to write again about the first day here in hopes that some people may then read it!

 

The first day in Iceland felt like at least three days. The first of three was the travel, which went rather smoothly (thankfully) with everyone getting there before the worker strike. (On the 17th, which is also Iceland’s independence day, the workers in the Keflavik international airport striked, so no one could come in or out of Iceland). The second day was the Geothermal plant. For the day’s education, we went to a geothermal plant and got a tour from a guy that could understand English well, I’m sure, but speaking was a different story. Every now and then he had a mumbled or slurred word and it really prevented us from understanding how the hell the plant worked. Anyway – he was funny and kind and we enjoyed listening to him around the facility. After that, we got to go see the waste products of the plant. Luckily, the waste of the plant consists of steam and hot water which is rich in natural nutrients like sulfur. This is the Blue Lagoon and it is a spa place for tourists and native Icelanders alike and oh my golly is it wonderful. At this point, I had been awake and not-showered for 36 hours. Getting in this immense, steamy pool with my friends with volcanic mountains surrounding us was pure serenity. Then we found the beer. And it became even better. We only bought a few because they were so expensive, but it wasn’t about being drunk or spending money, it was just about bliss. It truly hit the spot. I even learned some Icelandic from the bartender, Helga, and the woman who was handing out exfoliating volcanic ash scrubs in the lagoon. Yup. tough day.

 

The third part of this long day was back at the hostel where we tried (and failed) to stay awake before our gracious program director and her assistants made dinner for us. Then we ate, played three rousing games of Euchre (which someone misheard for “quack.” Somehow. He’s a smart guy. Not sure how it happened). and took a walk outside whence we realized that we wanted to walk towards the water which made us realize that we would end up at the bar which made us realize we can also watch the World Cup. So we haphazardly zig-zaged down to an Irish pub, in Iceland mind you, to watch the US play Ghana in the tournament. We had a few beers and cheered as the US scored, and went to bed. It was wonderful sleep