Everyone here is good-looking

Posted by Anne , Sunday, June 6, 2010 5:55 AM


(first view of Reykjavik)

So to finish off the week, the whole group heading to the capital city for one night, two days and explore the wonders that were there. Reykjavik was a lot different then what I expected it to be because it was very much so like Amsterdam (or what I think Amsterdam looks like) and NYC but very different still. It's hard to describe but the entire time I kept thinking,"i'm in another country" hahaha Anyways, we got there around 10, met up with Maria Sol who Dr. Novak has known for a while (got invited to a party), and went to the Alþingi (pronounced All-thing-gee) which is parliament/government for them and got an exclusive tour of the inside and learned a lot about the history behind the building,etc. and the addition of the more modern half that helps with security,etc...


(inside the althingi)

Afterwards we headed out to explore more of the downtown area and eat some lunch, which we got Icelandic Hotdogs in Reykjavik that are supposedly the best hotdogs around so we haaaad to get some and I got mine with fried onions and mustard instead of all the fixins'. The mustard was kind of like a cross between dijon mustard and honey mustard so it was super tasty.

(look at the Icelandic elderly behind me!)

After that we went to the City Hostel which was really the only way we were able to spend an evening in Reykjavik because it's so expensive. Luckily it was around 6 to a room so we split up pretty easily and didn't have to worry about our things getting stolen etc haha It was weird staying in the hostel because it was kiiind of like dorm life but with a lot more kids and asian ladies. The whole room pretty much conked out after we got settled in before heading back out to travel the city in groups and seeing sites amongst ourselves.

(a taste of downtown)

We walked around alot and I got several trinkets for different folks but there's always a bit of sticker shock because things are in the 1,000s instead of 10.00s haha so it takes a bit getting used to. We also stopped by a Christian Bookstore that Michelle heard about from Dr.G and we had a snack there. We also found out that the guy running the shop is from CHARLOTTE! how cool is that? He came up and talked with us about how he came to Iceland,etc...turns out he's next door neighbors with Jonsi, who apparently walks around in Sherlock Holmes clothing and is painfully shy. We walked around a bit more and got a little more acquainted with the downtown area and then we to a pizza place for dinner where there was a SUPER CUTE pizza guy...like he could have been a model he was soooo good-looking. The food was super tasty and we ended up heading back to the hostel before heading back out for Maria Sol's party at her place near downtown Reykjavik. The party was fun and there were some cool people there that we got to talk to and see how their lives were in Iceland. Though that evening when we got back everyone all but passed out from going for so long.


i'll continue this to day two in Reykjavik after class but i've got to go!
much love
-Anne.

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Selfoss and Eyglo

Posted by Anne , Thursday, June 3, 2010 1:16 PM


(this is skyr and granoooola, an awesome breakfast @:)

So basically, the days kind of go the same, there's class in the morning and then occasionally we go out in the afternoon or we take time in the afternoon to take a walk,etc but it really just depends on what people are feeling for the day. This past tuesday we went to Selfoss which is the closest 'bigger city' compared to Skalholt and there's a college there so there's a bit more going on. We went to a grocery store and a Bonus which is kiiiind of like a grocery store but kiiiinda not. But anyway, a view of selfoss = look at the semi suvs yaaaaaaaaaaay hahahaha


Anyways, one day we went out to feed the horses only to find that there are no horses. But we had a looooooot of apple slice and stolen sugar cubes from the cafeteria so if they come 'round again i'll be there...waiting. well not really because i'll have to walk there but anyways. you get the point. In selfoss we got some things for smores and a couple of groceries for the everyday, we also tried to go to a cafe but that didn't really work out either. Buuuuut Julbecca got some 'Cool American' Doritos which was baaasically cool ranch but I guess American makes more sense?


Regardless the next day we had class again but we started learning about the Norse myths and they are AWESOME. It's kind of like when I had Irish Literature and the myths/stories passed on orally that valued the ideas of Honor and Family. Which isn't surprisingly because apparently when Norse youth went viking (it's actually a verb and NOT a people, people went viking to gain wealth for themselves to start a family...not always for the hell of it) they would take a lot of Irish ladies back to Iceland/Norway with them. Long story short, I'm learning looots about Icelandic history and mythology and the more I learn the more I connect similar motifs and story ideas with all different religions of the world.



For instance the Yggdrasil of the Norse (it's basically a world system connected by various planes including a "heavenly" field and an underworld of sorts) is very similar to the Yaxche of the Mayan and both trees represent a world structure with an eagle/heaven at the top and a underworld at the bottom. Also, there are some similarities to the Norse myths and some of the Russian Fairytales i've read in the past. In other words, if anyone would like to compare and contrast mythology/religious literature i'll be more than willing hahaha Also, THOR IS AWESOME.

(Eyglo is sooo goodlooking)

Also, we got a visit from Eyglo who is soooo naturally attractive it's kiiiind of amazing. Eyglo is the head editor for Iceland Review Online and it's one of the most widely read websites for Icelandic news to the outside world. It was pretty awesome that we got to meet her and she was so nice! She was very patient and sweet and open to questions. Previously we had met Balwin (pronounced baldvin) who was a grandchild of one of the employees at Skalholt and he came over and we played with kites and ate smores and he ended up staying over that night and provided us all with good entertainment.

In conclusion, Iceland is still awesome and though it's a bit of a challenge co-ordinating everything it's still worth it aaaaaand I've never slept so hard in my life. it's refreshing :)

hope everything's going well there!
-Anne.

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