The days are getting longer...

Hello from the land of ice...although signs of spring are definitely here. We are starting to notice where there is actually sidewalk and grass. The mountains are even becoming less snow covered. It is also staying lighter a lot longer...it seemed like all of a sudden, but thinking back on it, when we got here less than 2 months ago, it was dark by 4 pm and the sun didn't come up til 10am or so. Now the sun isn't going down until almost 8 pm! They said something crazy like we gain 11 minutes of sunlight per day...for a while at least ;-) To give you an idea of what we are up against check this out - http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/i/IL04063.php

Well before all the snow started melting, the town square became home to a giant snow man...REALLY giant.

We also learned that Iceland doesn't really celebrate St.patricks day, so we helped them out with that last night too...

Anyways, back to the books!

Simply the RES

Hey, its Heather, thought I would contribute to this blog too...I mean it is Jake AND HEATHER'S Odyssey! So far things are going really well...school makes time move so quickly. The classes are pretty intense, last week we learned all you could possibly want to know about thermodynamics, and this week we are learning about energy production methods. Sounds thrilling huh? Clearly I don't mind it, otherwise it would have been silly to come to Iceland for Renewable Energy School huh? My daily schedule is class form 9-12, lunch, class again from 130-4. After that I need a break, but after that it is back to studying and projects. I am definitely learning a LOT.

Last weekend we went on our first "excursion" to beyond Akureyri. We went to Godafoss, a geothermal area, and Lake Myvatn. The whole trip was excellent. If you want to see pictures go to my picassa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/Heather.Sanden/IcelandMarch?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6Z7P6uvaThTQ# - that website has all of the pictures from the trip...overall it was so great! If you every get the chance, swim in one of those nature baths - I still feel relaxed!

So to end here, a couple of things I have noticed about Iceland
1. They do not have a lot of child safety laws apparently, they tend to leave their children in their strollers outside in the winter and the carseats are in the front seat, not the back.
2. Things move slower and get started later - I have only seen 2 drive through places and no one seems to go to work until 9 or 10 in the morning. Not to mention the grocery stores and shopping places close at like 6pm...but thats a whole other story!
3. Chicken is not a staple of peoples meals like it is in the good old midwest...we have resorted to fish and beef...good thing we got Paul's recipe for beer battered fish!

Well thats it for now...have to get back to my project! By the way...today is our 1 month mark for being in Iceland!

Heather