CELL Iceland Study Abroad Program

Below is a journal entry from Kelly Stewart, a CELL student from Mills College in California.

Night Walks

It has become a tradition of mine to take long walks at night here. I’m not really sure how it first began, but now it’s my favorite time of the day. Last night I walked until 2am. I’m not really sure how that happened either, but I just couldn’t pull myself away from the beauty of the night.

We (Justin, Max, Ashley and I) started out around nine pm, just to stroll to the church and catch the last glimpse of the sunset. But we couldn’t stop there—the night was drawing us in too much. So we set out along the one road that runs by Solheimar. First we walked slowly down the main road interspersing laughter into the silence of the night. Walking here is unlike anything I’ve done before: the darkness engulfs the wide-open land here so that as you walk, you can’t really tell where you’re traveling or how fast. It’s like walking in an extended dream—walking just for walking’s sake, which is the best reason to walk. After a while we turned onto a dirt road stretching towards distant lights, again, with no particular goal or care in mind. This road was a little darker with fences lining the sides. Slowly we came to notice that walking along side us, on the other side of the fence, was a herd of horses. And so it just happened: We found ourselves in Iceland feeding startlingly white horses in the light of an almost-full moon with Northern Lights dancing through the sky, keeping us company. It was one of those moments when you have to step back just to take it in. So I stood in the middle of the road and turned my head from side to side, right: shadow of friends feeding Icelandic horses in the moonlight and left: Northern Lights forming ribbons of green and pink. It was one fabulous extended day dream that none of us cared to end. It took us a long time to find our way back, mostly because we didn’t really want to leave. And once I did find my bed inside a warm house, I pulled the covers over every part of me and closed my eyes only to dream about dark skies, full moons, Northern Lights and the quietness of rural Iceland.

CELL Iceland Study Abroad Program

What's CELL been up to?

Last weekend (September 21 and 22), our group took off for a two day trip to West Iceland. On Friday we visited the Agricultural University and learned about their commitment to organic farming and the "happy cow" research they are doing. Basically, what they are finding is that when they leave baby cows in the fields with their mothers for longer periods of time (before separating them), they are seeing growth rates that are substantially more than the young cows that have been separated from the mothers and placed in feedlot pens.

The university is also located on the banks of a glacier-fed river that naturally fertilizes the grasses with rich organic minerals - which the Icelandic horses and sheep enjoy.

Sarah petting one of Iceland's unique treasures - the Icelandic Horse.

CELL group on route to the cave at Vlogelmir.

CELL group descending into an ancient cave that was used by a female Viking bandit around the year 1100.

We finished the weekend with a visit to the Viking Settlement Center at Borganes and then stopped in Reykjavik for delicious vegetarian dinner.

Below is a poem written by Sara Domek, a CELL student from Wyoming.

Silty Aurora

The silt-thick rivers,
swift from the glaciers above
swirl together at sacred river junctions
where the soft-white swans play in the shifting eddy
and two black ravens fly above.

Blue Green White
come here to wash one another in thier light,
to carry a piece of the mountains to the sea together.
Stretching out and arcing at oxbow bends,
the soft-turquois ripples marking the journey.

Reflections dance wildly and echo silently across the night sky,
Blue Green White.
Darkness is drawn out,
illuminated clouds of the night glow silty.
An oxbow riverbend of light spreads out,
slivers of White dash out to meet the Green and Blue.
Joined together, the sky settles,
darkness fades back and the colors return to the river.

CELL Iceland Study Abroad Program

On September 2nd, 2007, CELL arrived in Iceland
with a group of 14 enthusiastic students from 8 different colleges across the U.S. Students and staff were eager

to learn how Iceland is leading the world on a path toward sustainability.

We are living at Solheimar - one of the world's truly unique ecovillages located in Selfoss approximately 110 kilometers from Reykjavik. Solheimar is nestled in a small valley of rolling hills surrounded by fields with ubiquitous Icelandic sheep and horses and framed by rugged mountains and distant glaciers. It is an inspiringly beautiful area with the worlds' cleanest air and water.

Solheimar is a community of approximately 100 people who are committed to living a sustainable lifestyle: raising their own food organically in geothermal heated greenhouses, heating their homes and buildings with carbon-free geothermal hot water, using natural and renewable materials for building and living needs, etc.

This picture was taken after our first snow storm on September 15th. Although Iceland has a reputation for severe weather, the south coast is actually quite mild with summer temperatures cooler than New York and winter temperatures warmer than the Big Apple (NYC). Icelander's (like New Englander's) have a saying: "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes - it will get worse." : ) Yes, we have had some blustery, rainy weather, but we have also had a couple of beautifully warm and sunny days.

What have we been doing?

During our first two days in Iceland, we were introduced to Solheimar: its history - past, present, and future and to their commitment to living sustainably. This ecovillage is the only one like it in the world, and it is inspiring for us to be living here and learning how the "impossible" (although it may take awhile) is indeed possible. For more information on Solheimar, you can visit their website at: http://www.solheimar.is/. We are learning real-life lessons that we will take back home with us to implement in our own communities.

This picture was taken from the solarium in Brekkukot - the guest house where we are living. The sunroom is heated passively by solar energy and our home is heated by geothermal hot water - a renewable, carbon-free energy source heating 98% of all buildings in Iceland.

On our third day in Iceland, we took off for a 3 day hike from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork - one of the most popular hikes in all of Iceland - crossing through spectacularly beautiful valleys, hiking over mountains, skirting glaciers, and fording ice-cold mountain streams. Due to snow in the mountains we had to revise our first day itinerary.

This picture shows us crossing a mountin stream during our second day out.

The rainbow picture was taken near Swan Lake. We arrived in this beautiful mountain valley 3 hours before sunset, and as we set out on a hike to a nearby cave, the sun popped out and we were greated by this rainbow that faded in and out for over an hour.

This picture gives a perspective on the wide-open valleys framed on either side by the volcanic mountain ranges. The higher elevations can be snow-capped while the lower zones are vegetated with moss and grass - providing ideal habitat for the Icelandic sheep.

The 3 day hike from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork is the premier hike in Iceland rivaling the beauty of the Milford Trek and the Inca Trail as one of the great hikes of the world.

One of the highlights of this trek is that it passes through an amazing diversity of landscapes from mountains to valleys, from glaciers to rivers, from barren moon-scape-resembling-terrain to lush woodlands at Thorsmork where we completed our hike. This picture shows one of the valleys we hiked through.

In addition to introducing us to the diverse beauty of Iceland, our 3 day hike also gave us an opportunity to get to know each other, to work as a team, and to build a strong sense of community. We wrestled with the questions: “How shall we live together? What qualities will help us to build a strong community?” Through thoughtful questioning and listening, we crafted an agreement of how we will live together. This “community building” is a vital piece of a CELL program. Picture: A well deserved rest stop...

After 3 incredible days hiking in some of Iceland’s most beautiful areas, we arrived back at Solheimar around midnight on Thursday night, and we all marveled how, in a very short period of time, Solheimar now felt like HOME. It was (and remains) a wonderful feeling. Picture: Welcome sign to Solheimar.

This picture Shows the Solarium within Sesseljhus where we have most of our classes. This state-of-the-art "green" building is heated with clean, renewable geothermal hot water; utilizes natural lighting, is built with natural materials, including a sod roof, and is an aesthetically beautiful building located on the top of a knoll overlooking the Solheimar community. The building was named after Sesselja Heindis Sigmnudsd who founded Solheimar in 1930. From its inception, Solheimar was influenced by the theories and principles of Rudolph Steiner and, today, remains one of the world's unique ecovillages.

On Friday, September 7th Solheimar hosted a formal greeting for the CELL group with Iceland’s Minister of the Environment giving a keynote address and official welcome. We were all impressed and humbled by the graciousness of our Iceland hosts and by this unexpected honor. Picture: one of our classrooms in Sesseljhus.



On Sunday we took a 10 mile roundtrip hike from Solheimar to Mt. Heistur (Horse Mountain). On the way, we hiked across rolling pastures with ubiquitous Icelandic sheep and the stocky Icelandic Horse. This picture shows the variations of color of this beautiful, unique horse breed.

On our way up Mt. Heistur, we hiked up a steep moss-laden ravine and felt like we were floating with each step as we sunk into the 12 inch spongey growth. We hiked to a ridge and then traversed our way to the summit. At the top we were rewarded by 360 degree views where we could see the ocean to the south, a glacier run-off river to the east, Mt. Hekla (one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes) to the north, and rolling farmland leading up to a mountain ridge dusted with fresh snow to the west. This picture shows sheep grazing in the fields surrounding Mt. Heistur.

On Monday morning, we began a two week intensive Icelandic language, history, and culture course. In the mornings we learn about the history and culture of the country, and in the afternoon we have language instruction. This is our Monday through Thursday schedule. On Fridays we take off for field trips carefully choreographed with what we are studying that week. This picture was shows our Icelandic interpretive guide teaching us about the unique geology and history of Thingveiller - site of the world's oldest parliment.

Thingvellier is where the early Iceland Chieftans met to form Iceland's first general assembly in the year 930. This was the beginning of what might be called a "government" within Iceland, and it was at this historic stie that the first laws were established, trials conducted, and disputes settled amongst the early Viking settlers. This picture was taken at Thingveiller and shows the continental divide between the geologic North American Plate and the transition Plate in between the North American and European Plates. It is an area rich in history and geologic significance.

Later that day we went kayaking on a fresh water river meandering its way to the ocean. Picture: Justin putting on a waterproof body suit in preparation for our kayak paddle.

Picture: Grasses blowing in the wind outside Solheimar.















Another ubiquitous rainbow which we never tire of seeing...


To be continued...