"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live."
Hans Christian Andersen
The experiences in this Fulbright journey continue to be phenomenal with days that are full of opportunities to learn, see, do, and one of the best parts, reconnect with these talented US Educators and the Fulbright Iceland staff. So I'm several days behind in my posting, but will continue to share experiences as I have time.
Back on June 23rd, after our days in the Westfjords, we spent a long day of travel making some remarkable stops along the way. The first stop was the Dynjandi waterfall. I have never met an Icelandic waterfall I didn't like and this one was no different. We were able to hike up the edge of the waterfall looking at the various pools and rocks. Opposite the waterfall was a beautiful vista of the coast. So here are some photos of that experience.
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Hesteyri is an abandoned village in the Hornstrandir nature preserve. This village was abandoned in 1952, but still some houses remain that are maintained as summer homes. It is a location that is now known for it's Arctic foxes. We arrived at the dock on the evening of the 22nd and took a tour from a guide that lead us around the beach, church, cemetery, and back to the old doctor's house where we were served dinner. Once again there were amazing 360 views with a waterfall. We were also fortunate to have beautiful, warm sunny weather to enjoy our visit. After dinner we hopped back on the boat for the ride back to Isafjörður.
On the 22nd we rode a boat first to Vigur Island then went from Vigur to Hesteyri before heading back to Isafjörður. In between our stops at Vigur and Hesteyri we had an unexpected whale spotting, actually several whales. In our previous Fulbright visit we went whale watching and saw some whales and it was wonderful. I couldn't have ever scripted just coming across several whales while riding the boat in this return trip. Then on the way back into Isafjörður we had a beautiful sky. I hesitate to say sunset because that only somewhat happens around 2am and this was around 9:30pm. I'll try to post some of those photos then more about the visit to Hesteyri later.
On the afternoon of the 22nd we took a boat ride to Vigur Island. This island is a wildlife sanctuary and eider colony. Once we reached the island we were greeted by the man who owns it and is the caretaker along with his family. Right off the dock you notice birds everywhere who seem remarkably comfortable with human presence. He took us to the building where they process the eider down they harvest. From there we did a hike around the island. Before we set off for the hike we each had to grab a long stick with a mini flag at the end which we held near our temples above our heads. This prevents the Arctic Terns from attacking your head as it protects it's nest. So sticks in the air we headed off and, yes, there were many terns swooping and making all sorts of sounds. In addition to the terns we saw puffins and watched them fly with fish bringing it to their burrows. The caretaker described to us that they like to show off their fish making several passes by us with fish in their beaks before entering their burrows. We saw many other types of birds along the hike. Our visit ended with delicious Icelandic Wedding Cake, which was kind of like a crumb cake filled with rhubarb topped with cream, yum.
I have so much to share from wonderful days which have been packed with activities from morning until past 10pm or like last night close to midnight. So I will attempt to share in small chunks which may take a while to get caught up. Plus I'm working with really slow WiFi at our current stop.
So working backwards let me tell you about the visit to Isafjörður Primary School which took place on June 21st. We were given a tour by the principal Kristjan Arnar Ingason. We went through several classrooms and the library, listened to a presentation, and had time for a discussion. The school building was a beautiful building which had a combination of older and newer areas. It had several sort of open areas which the principal described as "not really usable space" with views of the surrounding mountains and harbor. In the walk through we got to see general classrooms and the Living Skills(Family Consumer Science), Industrial Tech(construction), Art, Computer Lab, and Library. One of the most interesting things was the shoe rack where students and staff place their shoes right in the entryway. It was interesting to hear the strengths and challenges for the school. One of the challenges was with staffing as they have not been able to hire a science teacher in over a year drawing strong comparisons to American teacher shortages in certain areas. The principal also talked about some new curriculum a group of teachers are developing and piloting on building resilience in students. Later in this trip we will get to talk with a group of teachers again, so I am looking forward to hearing more about public education in Iceland. I have many more photos, so eventually when my tech issues are resolved I will post more. It's 11pm and we just got back to our hotel. I need to pack up as we head to a new location tomorrow.
What a day! I feel like I say this everyday and I still have not even added any photos from the school visit and told about that wonderful experience. I'm also continuing to have issues with the large file size. Anyway, I will work to resolve that somehow, but before the day ends here I wanted to at least share a few photos. Stories and information to follow, but packing and sleep first! I had forgotten how much the weather changes in Iceland. It will be cold, windy, and rainy one moment and in the next the rain stops and the sun emerges. So while I have a little time let me share some more photos from around the town of Isafjörður taken at various times yesterday(6/22) and this morning(6/23) on my run. It will begin with the photo from my hotel window at 11pm last night, the longest day of the year. I will continue adding more, but now have run into a file size issue, plus I need to get ready for today's adventures.
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