Hi all! Sabine here!

Today (July, 11th, 2022), our group of intrepid researchers made it safely to Iceland. We landed at 8:30 in the morning at the Keflavik Airport. It takes a 9 seater van and hybrid car to carry 8 cases of equipment, personal luggage and ourselves. We made our way to the Igloo Hostel, taking over an entire floor and then some.

View from the plane as we landed in Keflavik Airport and car ride photos. (I was lucky enough to have a window seat though I slept through my chance to see Greenland. Any mountains or hills are volcanoes and rocky formations of long cooled lava.)

The next need was lunch. Icelandic airports are small in their food court selection so off to Bonus we went. If you’ve never been in an Icelandic grocery store before and are very used to American stores, it’s shocking how small the store is. The entire store could probably fit inside the produce section of a Mejir or Walmart. There are only a few choices, instead of endless rows of brands and to get anything refrigerated you go into a walk-in fridge. We collected groceries for the next few days, and managed to only need help at the self check out 3 or 4 times and with only one incorrectly labeled produce.

Emmett and Seth in front of the hostel.
(Pictured a brief moment of insanity in front of the hostel before a visit to the museum)

After settling in and eating lunch, our first tourist destination we visited was The National Museum of Iceland. This museum is a walk through history of Iceland from the first Nordic settlers to the country’s adoption of Christianity, all the way to modern day. (www.thjodminjasafn.is/english/)

Each student had their own focuses and interests and I in particular enjoy anything to do with fiber. I am a fiber artist (as well as a scientist) and so I loved seeing the carefully preserved tapestries and embroidery. Below will be some photos of my favorite pieces.

Image of the museum banner and fiber art photos. (I also enjoy slightly absurd faces and creatures in art as well lol).

Finally, we all gathered for our first big group meal. Our fearless leaders cooked first and with every chair from every room and a desk, all 12 of us shared our day’s highs and lows (including a maple syrup explosion in the crate of toiletries).

Image of everyone at the table.

– Sabine