Day 45: Last day in Iceland :(

I'm still having trouble uploading the pictures :/

Despite staying up late last night to finish my take home test, I decided to wake up early to run so that I could make the most of my last day in Iceland. I left the hostel around 7:30 am and headed down Laugavegur towards the downtown area to run along the pond. It started to drizzle and the rain was really cold. Even though I was a little chilly I didn't mind since I knew I'd be melting in the Texas heat when I got home. After running around the pond I turned onto one of the main streets and ran towards the water. At one point I came across Reykjavik's city cemetery. The cemetery wasn't like any other cemetery so I decided to stop and take a look. There aren't many trees in Iceland, but the cemetery was almost completely covered by trees. Each grave had a little plot that was growing bright green vegetation. Most of the graves had little flower gardens. The cemetery rather large, and with the mist from the rain and the quiet from the early morning it was very relaxing. I walked up and down the aisles reading the headstones for a bit and then continued on my way.

Reaching the water, I ran along the coast and eventually happened upon the fishing district. There were large boats as well as small privately owned boats docked in the water, and several big buildings which I suspected to be for processing fish. I had been running along the water for about ten minutes when I realized that I couldn't cross back to the city so I had to turn around and retrace my steps. About 35 minutes after I had started, I found myself back in front of the hostel. My morning run was really peaceful, and I got to see certain parts of Reykjavik that we hadn't been to yet.

After breakfast at Sandholt, I wondered around Laugavegur going in and out of shops exploring until Caitlin came to pick us up from the hostel at noon. Shortly after noon we all walked to the bus stop and caught a bus to take us to the geothermal beach. When we arrived we changed in the locker rooms and then tested the "geothermal" waters. Basically, part of the ocean had been sequestered by a manmade barrier, and that body of water was geothermally heated from pipes. It was actually kind of cold, so we ended up just spending most of our time in the geothermal hot tub. We talked for a couple of hours reminiscing about our trip, and before we left I played a game of beach volleyball with a few other students.

At about 3 pm we left the beach and took the bus to a beautiful scenic point. It was located along the coast, and there was a great view of the ocean, and a nearby lighthouse. A week earlier I had jokingly suggested that we make a sweater calendar, with all of us in our Icelandic sweaters we had purchased, but Caitlin thought it was a great idea so we actually did it. We played around for a while taking pictures and one of the students planned on compiling them into a calendar when we go back to the states.

When we finished taking pictures some of us took the bus to Caitlin's house, while I walked to her house with her husband Maik, and a couple of other students. It was a rather long walk along the coast, but I thought that since this was my last night here, I should absorb as much of Iceland as I could. Reaching Caitlin's house, we all ate pizza she had picked up, and we sat in her living room chatting and looking over our sweater pictures on her computer. We must've hung out for hours because we didn't get back to the hostel until about 11 pm.

Since it was Thursday, all of the bars closed at 1 am, so we decided that we should at least go out while we still could. Almost all of us headed downtown, and we ordered a few beers at a casual bar and continued our conversations from Caitlin's place. Much to our dislike, soon 1 am arrived and we had to head home to pack. We all hugged Caitlin goodbye and thanked her for being such an exceptional academic director. She said we're always welcome to crash on her couch if we ever come back to Iceland, so when I do I'll have to take her up on that offer.

Back at the hostel I managed to pack rather quickly, so then I exchanged music with some of the other students and we stayed up talking. I actually only slept 30 minutes until I had to leave for the bus which took us to the airport. Saying goodbye to all of my friends was really hard because we had grown so close during our seven weeks together. It's hard to believe that we've only known each other for less than 50 days. We plan on staying in touch once we're home, and hopefully we'll be able to meet up again sometime in the future.

As for Iceland, I could not have had a more enjoyable summer. I've learned so much about renewable energy and Iceland's culture. My first international experience was definitely beyond anything I could have expected. I cannot wait to return to Iceland in the future. Until then, bless bless!