I was completely ignorant about Iceland prior to our little trip. I had expected Iceland to be frigid and over populated. However, contrary to my preconceptions, it did not snow frequently. In fact, it did not snow at all. Moreover, Iceland - next to areas of New Mexico and South Africa- is probably the most sparsely populated and developed place I have ever visited.
I had imagined eating fresh food, like the picture bellow, every day. However, most of our meals were hardily comprised of fried fish and french fries... I also could not have even comprehended how expensive food would be in Iceland.
Halibut at Heimsendi restaurant
I had failed to even imagine that there would be a difference in the densities and diverisities of wild life. Pretty much all we saw were: ALOT of birds and a mouse and domesticated cats, dogs, sheep, and horses.
I addition to knowing nothing about Iceland, I knew nothing about geology, so every bit of information I gleaned about rocks was new information. Initially, my geologic ignorance was terrifying. However, it quickly became a refreshing feat of knowledge acquisition and turning to professors, wikipedia, and peers for explanation.
columnar basalt, featuring Nate
Geodes- field notebook for scale
After participating in a semester long field studies program and generally being a fairly calm person, I thought that I could deal with any social situation or field situation; I was wrong. Weighing mostly on my expectations of success, the short and intensive days took their toll along with having to adapt to a less cohesive group- in comparison with my previous group. High expectations led to great personal challenges and the need for even greater patience.
Regardless, I met 17 very intriguing, dynamic, and amazing people.
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