Day 1: Fish and Lava

This was the first full day on the Icelandic adventure. Our first stop was only a few miles outside the main city. Traveling off the main road down a gravel path our eyes, and noses were overwhelmed when we saw rows and rows of dead fish. These were not just spread out on the ground, no. They were de-gutted, strung up in bunches of 6 or 7, hanging by rope drying in the sun. Since Iceland is located in the middle of the ocean fish is something they have plenty of, so why not share the plenty with those who have less? The hanging fish were being dried up to be delivered later on to south Africa. Each fish holds a hefty load of protein. I myself am a vegan, so even though seeing so many dead little creatures hurt my heart tremendously; however, knowing they were going to help feed the hungry helped heal the hurt of my heart. The many little lost lives were in good sacrifice for something bigger then they will ever know. The next thing on our adventure for the day was to hike up an inactive volcano to see the wonders it's peaks held. When I say hike I really mean like a sharp 45* uphill climb to the top where the crater was located. The entire island of Iceland is a volcano, so every ‘rock’ you encounter is really really old lava. The different shades of lava rock indicate the age and the amount of Iron within it. The older more mature lava pieces are a darker grey to almost black. While the younger bits and pieces show a coppery red color. The younger pieces have higher amounts of iron in then then the older ones. The view from the top of the volcano was AMAZING. So vast and open to the right, the left held more volcano formations, behind us were more volcanic formations, and in front of us was the ocean glimmering in the daylight.

After we clambered around back down to of bus/van we headed into the land of the sheep. Babies and mommies alike in a field nibbling away at the lawn they lay on. It was adorable the way the little lambs ran with each other. My favorite part of this was when a few mommas came right up to the fence, bringing their babies with them. We were able to take some really nice close ups. It was a good day but a LOOOONNNG day. I’m so glad I’m here. It almost doesn’t feel real still. My cousin is jealous that I am here. She also loves Photography, so for me to be here studying it with such a vast landscape exsporsure, it grinds her gears a bit. She sends love and means it in the best way of course. What she may or may not know is that I take a lot of inspiration from her. She has a wonderful eye for art. I miss her. I miss my family too. Time flies when you are having fun. Even though I miss my friends and my family I want these day to go by so slowly that a snail would beat me in a race by a mile.

That’s all I can type for this evening.

Until next time,

Byyyyyye