“You are not in Iceland for anyone else but you.” Right now, I’m sitting on an 8x8m slab of hardwood flooring. I just did some yoga, I’m listening to music and browsing Facebook-- essentially nothing different than I would be doing back home. Yet there are little things that remind me that I’m actually nowhere near home: I have to bring my own roll of toilet paper to the bathroom, and the water in the shower is scalding and reeking of sulfur so I know it’s authentic Icelandic geothermal water. The combination of my regular routine and the elemental stank confirmed the surreal: I’m officially moved into Reykjavik, Iceland. My geology course started right away Monday morning, and I was still winded from getting swept up in the storm of geological jargon thrown around by my
... read more
