Since we had a late night at Kex we were given a break from the early morning lectures at the university.  Instead, we would be having some interactive lessons throughout our journey of the day.  This was a welcome break for me, and much closer to my style of learning.  I had already been feeling at home because of our pseudo-guide, Kría – she is Bjarni’s Border Collie – so this was just icing on the cake! Our first stop of the morning was Ljósifoss Power Station, where they have an interactive exhibit on renewable energy sources attached to a hydropower station.  Not only was the exhibit informative and fun (plus they had free coffee!), but the station itself was beautiful in my opinion.  I know that hydropower is a quite controversial topic in Iceland, which is why one of the more recent plants was hidden inside of a mountain.  I can understand the local concern for wildlife, but as far as an eye-sore, I’m having trouble being objective.

After a nice morning at the power station exhibit, we were off to Friðheimar, a sustainable tomato greenhouse.  Not only did I have the best tomato soup that I’ve ever tasted, but sitting at our table in the middle of the greenhouse sparked some new ideas concerning geothermal resources and their full potential.  From utilizing steam as the brewery did to heating greenhouses, there are a lot of options other than just energy generation.  Seeing the full range of potential has me questioning why we aren’t utilizing the lower temperature heat sources in the United States.  I’ve been able to shape the focus of my upcoming capstone paper to the non-physical barriers of geothermal use in the US due to the exposure that I’ve been getting.

Following lunch we went to Þorvaldseyri visitor center, which is located on a family farm right beneath the famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano that erupted most recently in 2010, disrupting air traffic across much of Europe for days.  There we got a lesson and demonstration about biofuel. While I don’t have much interest in biofuel, it was still a very exciting and engaging experience!  Following the lesson, we watched a documentary about the family that lives on the farm, which really highlighted how cultural differences influence decision-making and widening my multicultural awareness.  After the eruption, the farm owner and his family didn’t have anyone else to rely on and needed to get his farm back up and running.  It was very impressive to see him and his family cleaning up all of the ash and getting into heavy equipment to move boulders that were interfering with his power station.  The resilience and self-sufficiency of their farming culture were impressive and humbling. We are about to unload our gear to prepare for two nights of camping on the back side of the volcano, in Thorsmork, the Valley of Thor!  I’m looking forward to a few days of hiking, enjoying the natural setting, and unplugging.

So long for a few days!

Kelli