Adventure Awaits

Where to begin...Probably one of the most unique experiences I was lucky enough to have was hiking to the top of a mountain (Vífilfell) and viewing a solar eclipse there. It was sort of representative of my ten months in Iceland as a whole in many ways: it was cold; things didn't go according to plan (the thawing snow had wet the gravelly surface of the mountain, causing a lot of slipping and sliding on the way up and down); the natural scenery was beautiful; people--total strangers--were more than happy to help each other; and perhaps most importantly, I had to push myself in order to keep going. This opportunity was an outlier, of course, as most of my year was spent doing regular activities like going to school or hanging out with friends, but adventures like this one are out there if you seek them out, particularly in a country as small and packed with nature as Iceland. So, in conclusion, it was an interesting--and rewarding--year that I would do again in a heartbeat.