Sorry For Any Confusion and Coming To A Conclusion

29/8/15

Hey everybody! Sorry I've been on hiatus for so long.

The biggest development since my last entry is that I'm back in the States, which is...well, weird. But overall I suppose it's a good weird. Anyway, just like applying to study abroad, (re-)enrolling in school involves a lot of time and paperwork, and once we finally got that sorted out it was time for actual school, which involves even more time and paperwork. You could say blogging was not at the top of my to-do list. But now that it's the weekend and I actually have some time, I owed it to anyone who read my posts regularly, and to myself, to give this thing a proper ending, so better late than never, right?

At the first AFS camp in Iceland, one of the volunteers gave some very good advice: "This year is going to go by fast," he said. "You'll be flying home before you know it." Well, he was right, of course. Not to say that my year was perfect, or that there weren't points when time did seem to be moving slowly, but every time a new month began I asked myself where the time had gone. I find myself asking that now. 

To think I left over a year ago is strange until I see how much my "home" has changed since I left. One thing they won't tell you is how different everyone you know looks when you get back. I suppose it would be stranger if everyone looked exactly the same as when I left, but I'm still adjusting to new haircuts and people being taller than I remember. In this I find a new level of meaning to the AFS motto, "It's not good, it's not bad, it's just different."

I am not the same person I was when I left, and I am still trying to figure out how I fit in to my new surroundings now. I do know that spending a year in Iceland was only the first of many adventures I want to have, and it was being on exchange which made me realize this. So, for that and so many other things, I am forever grateful to have given that chance and proud of myself for taking it.

I hope this blog has given some inspiration and encouragement to anyone who is thinking about becoming an exchange student themselves. I'm always willing to answer any questions if you want to leave one in the comments. To those who have already applied or are currently on exchange, I wish you the best of luck! Savor every moment, kids--even the crappy ones.

P.S. I've kind of been taking a break from photography in the midst of everything going on right now, but when I do get back into it I'll be posting it on a new website. I'll post the link on here when that time comes. Takk fyrir að lesa! / Thank you for reading!

''Stingum af í spegilsléttann fjörð'' / ''Let's run away to the mirror-smooth fjord''

16/5/15

At the beginning of April, I went to Ísafjörður for the annual Aldrei music festival (the title of this post is lyrics to a song that was at the first festival). While I skipped out on most of the partying, the trip was still amazing, and I hope I'll get to return to the Westfjords in the future.

Just an hour or so outside of Reykjavík, we stopped at a beach and were pleasantly surprised by...

...seals!

After a few hours of driving, I've found you'll somehow always run into a snowstorm here.

Even though it takes longer, one nice thing about driving through the Westfjords/Vestfjörður is that there's so many twists and turns around bodies of water than you pretty much always have an awesome view.

We made it! 

(Okay, these were actually taken on, like, the second or third day, but look! So pretty!)

Now that is spegilsléttur.

Now begins the drive home, and I swear, not even half an hour out of Ísafjörður we made some more new friends:

''Please, no pictures.''

''lol''

This little pup was so cute (and photogenic)!

As a bonus, on the way back home we stopped at a hot tub in the middle of the natural landscape.

Proof:

Takk fyrir mig / Thanks for having me, Ísafjörður!

Clear Skies and WATCH YOUR EYES

2/5/15

On March 30th, it was possible to view a nearly total solar eclipse from Iceland--something which only happens about once every sixty years. Although my school had allotted ten minutes for viewing, I decided to enhance the experience by going on a hiking trip to Vífilfell instead, where we would be watching the eclipse from the summit.

Hallgrímskirkja from the rendezvous at Háskóla Íslands.

We headed out around 6 or 7 in the morning so that we'd reach the top when the solar eclipse was at its peak.

Another two from the drive:

Getting started:

There was some steam coming from somewhere nearby, which I'm finding is pretty common outside of the city.

Less than a third of the way up, the view was already stunning (one advantage of a country with basically no trees).

SÓL!!!

Once the sun was visible, our guides warned us not to look at it for our own safety, so between that and keeping my eyes on the (now very steep) mountain ahead, I only got to catch glimpses of the sunrise through my camera.

Around this time the hike started slowing down due to the difficulty of the terrain. A combination of steepness, loose soil, and melting snow that made the ground muddier and more slippery practically ground us to a halt a few times. 

I took this while leaning on a nearly-vertical part of the trail.

Made it to the first plateau!

A bit more climbing--this time with the added obstacle of ice--and we are now getting very near the top.

During the final push to the top.

We did it!

And now we wait...

As the sky got darker, you could actually feel the temperature drop. 

Unfortunately, solar eclipses don't really show up well on unequipped cameras (yes, I tried using the glasses)g, but I promise the moon is in front of it.

So, yes, I would say it was well worth missing a day of school.