After waking at approximately 8:00am and breakfasting on yogurt with granola, toast with jam, and milk and juice, our educational expedition prepared to explore the cozy little eco-village that would serve as our temporary home: Sólheimar. Sólheimar attracts volunteers and students from around the world, and is situated in the heart of verdant fields west of Selfoss, south of Iceland's glacial mountains, and north of the Atlantic Ocean. Founded by an idealistic woman named Sesselja in 1930, Sólheimar's original purpose was to provide a home for the young and the disabled. Sesselja believed that the disabled should be independent, active participants in society, and that the non-disabled should adapt to the needs of the disabled. With these ends in mind, Sólheimar is currently home to around 100 people, 45 of whom are disabled. This micro-community strives for total sustainability, as it produces many goods from recycled materials and organic produce. The village features two turf-roofed guesthouses, a temporary home to students like us: international travelers interested in sustainability. Aside from sustainability, Sólheimar is established on the principle of social inclusion. The community welcomes disabled people, volunteers, and even former prisoners with open arms, so long as they constantly strive to conform to the community's five key pillars: community, nature, social activities, work, and faith. Though Sólheimar is privately owned and operated, it is open to all who embrace these ideals. The Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL) seeks to educate visitors about all forms of renewable energy, despite the fact that Icelanders obtain 100% of their energy needs from the island's geothermal and hydroelectric capabilities. For this reason, Sólheimar is home to Iceland's largest solar panels. Windmills also spin in the breeze in Sólheimar. Like the photovoltaics, wind turbines in this eco-village are for mostly educational purposes. A leader in the community mentioned that the long-term plan for the village is to expand the population to around 150-180 people, as well as to open a farm (in addition to the greenhouses in Sólheimar) and a facility in Reykjavik. The community leader, who was also acting as our guide, went on to describe how those living in Sólheimar would come together at 9:00am each morning as the church bell rings, hold hands, and unite in the singing of a song. The governance of Sólheimar consists of a 17-member committee and a board of directors, which make financial and developmental decisions. Our guide went on to explain the spiritual nature of this village. The community holds chapel services on-site every other Sunday, which are conducted by a priest who lives in Sólheimar and also serves as a community counselor. I noticed that the architecture of the buildings here is yet another example of the village's commitment to sustainability. Our guide explained that building floors are made of Icelandic rock, while all structures are insulated with natural materials. The sod-turf roofs control rainwater dispersion, divert runoff to irrigation systems, increase surface albedo, and evoke images of earth-covered homes in the Shire. All sewage is directed to a septic system which uses worms to convert waste to fertilizer used for agriculture. Food scraps in Sólheimar are composted and buildings in the village have many large windows, in order to take advantage of natural light and thus reduce electricity demand. After observing the town's architectural style, we entered the gym/theater. Built in 1986, this building honors a mentally disabled man named Reynir Petúr Ingvarsson who walked the entirety of Iceland's ring road in just 32 days. A real-life Forrest Gump, Ingvarsson was motivated by the need to raise awareness for disabilities and financial resources for Sólheimar. The eco-village also features workshops for art, ceramics, candle-making, and woodworking, giving occupants the opportunity to engage in constructive social activities. These workshops use materials such as recycled garbage, in an effort to be more sustainable. We visited the community chapel last, as it is the central part of the village. This place of worship is simply furnished, with trapezoidal windows lining both walls. A tapestry of Christ speaking before a group of women and children beneath a soaring dove is the focal point of the sanctuary. I also noticed that the tapestry is pentagonal in shape, with a sun and emanating rays in the center. These features are shared by the symbol of the community (see my sketch below). After our exploration of Sólheimar, we returned to our guesthouse. The name given to our guesthouse, Bergheimar, literally means "home of the echo" in Icelandic. Bergheimar guesthouse is run by a nurse whose specialty is treating cancer patients. The building was originally constructed as a place of respite for those battling with cancer, and continues to serve this purpose today. We departed Sólheimar and arrived in Selfoss at 1:45pm. Our objective: lunch. (Selfoss literally means "seal falls" in Icelandic; "sel"="seal," "foss"="falls.") We enjoyed a fine dining experience at Kaffi Krús, where I consumed a delicious cheeseburger with fries and the remnants of my colleague's grilled chicken penne pasta. After lunch, we elected to walk around the city's downtown area. My Furmanized friends and I could not resist the urge to stop at a bookstore, where I purchased an English yearbook on Iceland. My prize is leather-bound and published in 1926! After exhausting all avenues for enlightenment in Selfoss, we embarked on our gold-plated tube of a luxury megabus at 5:50pm and arrived at Kerid crater at 6:04pm. Thankful to finally be at a site of geologic significance, we vigorously explored the large scoria cone. Kerid lies on the northern end of a row of craters known as Tjarnarhólar. Kerid is shaped like an ellipsis, 270 meters long, 170 meters wide, and 55 meters deep. Water fills the bottom of the crater to a depth of 7-14 meters, variable due to fluctuations in the height of the water table. Kerid is an excellent example of the repercussions of a steam-eruption event. After walking the perimeter of the scoria cone and noting the pahoehoe lava flows and highly-vesiculated rocks, we departed for Bergheimar guesthouse at 7:05pm.
Signing off,
-B
No comments:
Post a Comment