I never published again after Reykjavik but a looot of things happened and they were really awesome and maybe one day i'll go into detail about them but at this point in time i'm trying to make it through my last semester of college.
however, if you aren't friends with me on facebook and haven't seen my photos from the trip, i've uploaded them to a picasa web album : http://picasaweb.google.com/ACushRhodes feel free to check them out!
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.
(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 :)
So Sunday started out pretty exciting. I didn't end up going to breakfast because I woke up later then I thought but I did get ready for church. We went just up over the hill to the white church and we were some of the few people that were there for the service. For Iceland, the summer months are harvest/farming months and many people don't go to church so that they can spend more time getting things ready for the winter months ahead. So...it was the group of 10 Meredith Maulers, our two Professors, an older Icelandic couple, the priest's wife and son, and two other American tourists. It was pretty low-key they sang a couple songs in Icelandic and even said some of the service in English and sang a song in English so that we would feel included. Afterwards as we were ushering out we found out that the two women were from Indiana and it was a daughter and her 86 year-old mother, Laurita. Laurita was a hoot and a half and she even said that her daughter wanted her to visit Iceland "before she died". After church there was lunch which was lamb, salad, pepper soup, and homemade bread (a staple here). See below!
After that we went on an adventure to see Gulfoss (Goal-foss)(One of Iceland's massive waterfalls, kind of like Niagra Falls but bigger...ish) and after that they Geysir (Gay-sir) which is a pretty regular geyser that occurs every three minutes. Gulfoss was beautiful and so massive that it was hard to take it all in because everything that kept happening was new and different.
(me and amanda at gulfoss)
((the falls (gulfoss) itself))
The geysir was also really really amazing and i'll have to put up some moving picture videos that I made of it once I figure out how to do that because I don't have any of those individual pictures edited i'll have to do it later. BUT we did see the 'eye of iceland' which is a BEAUTIFUL color of blue,piping hot hot spring. See beloooow!
And that image was pretty much unedited and it was THAT BLUE. Which was awesome. After that we headed back to Skalholt and ate dinner which consisted of a mango/pineapple/coconut soup with whipped cream, a salad with chicken and coconut dressing, and THE MOST DELICIOUS chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate mousse with cherry sauce and whipped cream. Which our friend Steinunn made and she's awesome and so sweet and speaks surprisingly good English! see below.
(jealous? 'cause you should be)
After that we pretty much spent the night in and discussed what was going on this week and planning a trip to Reykjavik this weekend which should be really really exciting and we'll get a real chance to see Icelanders in their environment/capital city.
Not much else has happened though we did have class today (monday) and most of this stuff happened yesterday (sunday) but anyways, i'll update again soon!
hope you guys are having an awesome time at home :) -Anne.
So I'm now totally and officially in Iceland and I'd have to say it's pretty fantastic. What's interesting is the whole place smells kind of like the faire because there's pretty much a constant promenade of wild icelandic horses moseying about, it also smells strongly of sulfur because of the everpresent geothermal water sources that pop up everywhere.
I suppose I should begin with how the day started,etc and give the leading up to "Officially Considered to be in Iceland". I left friday morning probably around 7:45 and I was pretty much spazzing that I was going to be late and that I wouldn't make the plan and then i'd never go to Iceland and then the world would end and it would be a disaster. Obviously that didn't happen. I got there with plenty of time to spare with a twinge of apprehension realizing that i'm going to be stuck with ten other girls that I barely know their names, let alone their personalities. Luck of the draw I later learned that these girls are great and hilarious and soooooo much fun. Anyways, back to the diatribe, in case some of you didn't know, I've never been on a plane and i've never been out of the country. So realistically I was nervous but not in the i'm-going-to-barf kind of way but more the I-have-no-idea-what-to-expect kind of way.
Anyways, we get everything straight and head through security (or for some suh-curr-ity) and proceeded to drop my college ring into my bag and go about my business relatively unscathed. However, things were to change as when I finally got seated near my boarding section I realized that my ring was no where to be found and if I didn't find it it'd be my head and around $600 dollars (which I did not have). I start mildly panicking but went back with Reagan (another girl on the trip) to check security and see if maybe i'd missed it or what have you. After rummaging through some bins they come up with nothing and hand me a note with the number for lost and found. I had a sinking feeling but...I had a warranty on the ring so if something really went wrong, I could fix it...kind of. Luck changed once again as about an hour before boarding my name was called over the intercom for me to go to security (I was kind of nervous because previously they had called an Anne Road so I didn't know if they were confused,etc) regardless a trip back to the security section proved fortuitous as I got my beloved onyx back, safe and sound on my hand. A surprisingly good omen for the trip seeing as I lost something and then found it again.
We boarded the plane and I know that it wasn't a long flight and that there wouldn't be a huge amount of people but the small size of the plane really took me off guard. There was one row of two person seats and another of one person seats. In other words, it was a dinky plane. I was sitting next to Julia Sasser who has now been renamed Julbecca, seeing as it is her cage fighting name. Ah, the cage fighting. When we arrived at the Boston airport from Raleigh an airport guard asked us if we were "football,soccer,baseball?" (as if a group of girls would be football?) to which we replied that yes we were a team...called the Meredith Maulers. and from there the idea of cage-fighters sprung from Dr.Novak's noggin. Julia 2 was renamed Gunter, the Iron Grip. Other's names have yet to be determined. Regardless, we took a bus over to the international terminal and lo-and-behold THE COOLEST AIRPORT EVER. (at the time)
Logan airport is one of the nicest looking airports i've been in, obviously that hasn't been a lot, buuuut it was so streamline and lovely. We arrived there around 1:30-2:00 and had to wait until about 5:00 before we were even allowed to enter the main part of the airport. We sat around and talked and B and I played Bananagrams and Rummy (good times) and soon enough it was 5:00 and we were being ushered through to the next security point (where I DID NOT take off my ring). That lead to another 3-4 hours of waiting around til our plane for Iceland boarded at 9:30 pm. Me and a couple girls got chinese and went into the airport Border's to find some reading material for the flight. I got Sgt. Malarky's novel/biography of his point of view during WWII (which so far has been a worthwhile purchase) and pretty much waited out the lulling crowds until it was time to board.
If Logan airport is the coolest airport then Icelandair is the coolest plane ever. It was suuuuper big (compared to the dink plane) and had cool headrests that told you Icelandic phrases,etc. Only down side is that while everyone around me had monitors on the back of their seats...I had one, that was defected and no matter how many times it was reset it proceeded to do nothing. So my idle dreams of spending the next 4.75 hours watching a film were nixed and so sleep was the only other option. Cramped and crooked I slept on and off four the next couple hours until I noticed it starting to get light outside the window again which meant us getting to Iceland was closer than ever. Watching through the window for any glimpse of Icelandic land was exciting and I kept mistaking ocean sand bars for potential shores.
Regardless, we made it to the airport safe and sound and checked through with little to no difficulty. Btw, Iceland's airport in Reykajvik is baaaaalllaaaaaa and super modern with a lot of eco-friendly touches and good looking folks abound. We sat down at a cafeteria near by and went in groups to get and/or exchange money for kronur. With the money we got, nearly everyone got skyr (pronounced skee-er) which is suuuper creamy and delicious yogurt/type stuff. I got mango and raspberry and it was super taaasty. When then left after breakfast and go in our totally awesome Mercedes Benz driving van, which had several Icelandic Caddies coming over to hypothesize whether or not we could fit all our luggage in and wonder about the going rate of such a vehicle. Everything got squished in and we set out (after getting some air) to Skalholt, our destination and home of the Church of Iceland. We got a little lost along the way and found out that Icelanders LOVE ROUNDABOUTS, pretty much every five minutes there was another roundabout to somewhere. During this time Michelle also acquired a new ghetto name which is Zuh-shell, shortened to Zizi. Great fun was had by all even though on the way to skalholt pretty much all of us passed out with our mouths open :D sexy tiiiiiimes.
In the community center by the Church we had lunch (this was to be where we take most of our meals) which was a DELICIOUS califlower soup that was hardy and good, with a side salad of local mixed greens. I was super stoked because if this was a signifier as to what was to come nutritionally I WAS READY. After lunch we headed to the dormitory/hostel to choose rooms and unpack a bit before heading out on a hike around the area. Our rooms are kinda small for two but a good size for one and we all get one room to ourselves so everyone has plenty of space. My room has a blue theme and a drawing/etching of early settlers coming to Iceland.
After everyone had pretty much stowed away their things for the evening and gotten changed, we headed out to experience the Icelandic horses and hopefully get pretty close! which we diiiiiiiiiiid!!! There was one stallion in the whole bunch and about 5 pregnant mares who were fat with babies and their bodies were so swollen with their tiny legs = SO CUTE. Example below.
Following the horses we went down to some of the geothermal springs where we proceeded to stand in boiling water and be pleasantly heated through our waterproof shoes and really get the full smell of sulfur straight up our noses. example of steaming water below.
After the hike we headed back for a bit of down-time before heading back over to the community center for dinner (pictures will come later) which consisted of delicious lasagna, mushroom pasta, a mixed green salad and fresh bread (baked that day!!!). Though I was pretty stuffed I managed to also eat the desert which was homemade spice cake with a caramel glaze (yes katie, caramel.) and whipped cream which was PRETTY TASTY. Also forgot to mention that we had a 'tea' which consisted of doddlehoppers(not their real name) which are very similar to fresh nonglazed donuts and sweet raisin bread and some kind of cracker assortment with a vegetable/cheese spread. I'm pretty happy with the knowledge that whatever food i'm eating is going to be sweated off with the various adventures that the Doctors have planned for us.
On the way out from dinner we stopped by the church which we will be attending Sunday morning and were greeted by two Icelandic shepherds which are like... a cross between a chow and a Pomeranian. They're super fiesty and LOVED herding us and they were so cute! ( i'll have to upload their photos later also)
all in all it was a very successful first day that seemed incredibly long. Over the course of the day I took 455 photographs which I have no widdled down and will eventually put on facebook for further viewing.
anyways, i'll update tomorrow with whatever shenanigans we're up to. thanks for reading! -Anne.
So it's finally started to seep in, I'm going to be in a foreign country this time tomorrow. Am I nervous? yes. Am I excited? Hell to the yaaa! It's weird, I suppose the feeling would be kind of like the night before Christmas, you know something awesome is waiting in the morning but you're not quite sure what it is but you know it should be good. I have a combination of mixed apprehension and anxiousness. Mostly I'm concerned with not being late to the airport and meeting up with my group without getting too stressed about plane things. Seeing as I haven't been on an airplane before, I don't know certain protocols on the whole checking in process but the actual plane ride doesn't make me as nervous as checking in. I feel good that I packed everything I could think of and I'm around 41.5 lbs for the checked luggage and around 25 lbs for carry-on luggage.
In total I have packed : 12 short sleeve shirts, 5 long sleeved shirts, two thermals, one zip-up sweatshirt, one pull-over sweatshirt, one rain slicker, one pair of black flats, three pairs of jeans, one black pair of jeans, two sets of yoga pants (one long and one short), jogging shorts, two sweaters, two scarves, 12 pairs of underwear (not that you needed to know), 4 bras, 8 pairs of socks (6 cotton, 2 woolen), one pair of hiking shoes, and other sundry items. I now consider myself a master-packer :D
Anyways, this blog will be pretty short mostly because I still have a bit left to do in preparation. In short, I will be waking up tomorrow at 7:00 and double checking everything before leaving the house around 8:00 arriving at the airport before 9:30 so that I have plenty of time to check-in and meet up with the group before 9:30 when everyone needs to have met up by.
so wish me luck and keep me in your prayers (if you pray) and thoughts
So, the trip is coming up swift and sure and whether or not I like it I feel vaguely unprepared. I'm ready and excited but I keep running through a couple of checklists I've made in my mind and making sure I have everything. I have a fear that I'll get there and then be missing all my underwear or something...I almost forgot to pack soap, though I'm sure I could get some Icelandic soup no worries. Good news is that my main bag is underweight so far so I only have a few more things to do tomorrow like triple check my lists, make copies of important documents, call the bank and let them know I'm leaving the country, eat brunch with erin terry and clean my mess of room(s).
I've started daydreaming a bit about Iceland and all I can ever think about is clean air and how good it will smell. Not that Raleigh is overwrought with smog or anything but there's something about cool, clean air that makes me miss fall and rosy cheeks. I've made sure I have my faux moleskins so that I may document anything that comes to mind on the way over and during my stay.
Oh! and call battery plus. that's another thing I need to do. Just remembered that. I need to get an extra camera battery for my cannon so that if my first one tuckers out the other can pick up the slack.
I'm looking forward to cooler weather also, even though my heart resides in the south I can't help but love cold temperatures. Jonsi's voice reminds me of sweet birds, like the kinds in old cartoons that would help tell stories like each song is a narrative.
I want to take pigment photographs.
that's all tonight. 2 days left...though closer to 1 day. -Anne.
Sharks Abroad
