My Heart is Singing!

Ok... I am having some difficulties with the pictures, but basically, it doesn't matter when they are from, they are all in the Reykjavik area from the last 3 days or so!

I think I am going to get internet today!!!! I can't believe how excited this is making me! After anxiously waiting to see if they would have my username and password ready by today, I got it and now have access to Ugla! If all goes well, my ethernet port should be activated by this evening! Yayayayayay! Having access to Ugla is such a relief because it means that I can actually access everything that I need for my classes. I get to do homework tonight! I can't wait! I finally feel like an actual student at this university.

This weekend was out of control, to say the least. I had been warned that the party scene in Iceland is pretty wild, but I wasn't prepared for the absolute insanity. The streets are packed by 2 am and don't begin to empty until 5:30 in the morning or so. The first night, I didn't have all that much fun because I was so stressed out about the scene. We spent the majority of our time at this Irish pub called the Celtic Cross. People seemed to think I was joking when I said that I didn't want to drink, so it took a ton of insistance on my part to keep them from forcing things down my throat. It turned out to be a really good thing that there was a sober person along, however, because after the bouncer threatened to kick an EXTREMELY drunk boy in our group out of the bar, I was able to get him home safely and make sure that everything was attended to. Other people certainly helped when I managed to get them herded together and out of the bar, but no one else was noticing that there was a serious problem. Earlier in the night, I had been sitting at this table when I heard a loud thump and saw that same boy falling to the ground. He had been punched in the face by this gnarly looking, huge older man who was subsequently thrown out of the bar. He has a pretty huge lip now, but is no worse for the wear. After an EXHAUSTING walk home (the boy is like twice my size and wasn't happy about going in the direction I was taking him) I was super wound up. It was probably about 3:45 or 4 am when we got home that night, but because I was so energized from "rescue" adrenaline, I stayed awake talking to two other kids from my floor, Dom and Allie, until a bit after 6 am. After that, I tried to go to sleep but didn't manage until about noon. It sucked. When I woke up, I looked at my watch and freaked out because it was 8:30 pm!!!! I walked into the kitchen and everyone was up drinking again!!! I felt like we had just gotten home! So, about 2 hours after waking up, we were out on the town again, this time at Bar 11. We stayed there for awhile-- it was a fun, dancy scene. At around 2 am, a bunch of hotdog and sandwhich stands open up around town, selling expensive (but delicious) sandwiches to drunken revelers. On the first night, as we were hauling the drunk boy home, everyone decided that it would be a great idea to stop at the stand and get sandwiches while Alex and I continued to carry the boy home. Luckily, when the boy REALLY decided he wasn't going to go the direction we were carrying him, and I was attempting to wrestle him either home or to the ground, the sandwich group was close enough behind to see the difficulties, so Dom could come help me wrangle him the rest of the way home. What an adventure! The TKE house is NOTHING, apparently. But anyway, on the second night, while Dom and I were walking home, we decided to split a sandwich, to make the cost a bit more managable. It was pretty good, but a little saucy for my liking.

On Sunday, I went down to the Kolaportid flea market. It was quite the scene. Basically like an organized garage sale. Tons and TONS of stuff. There was also a food section that was selling a few notable items like horse meat, dried fish, that rotten shark stuff, Cetraria islandica (packaged lichens, an especially exciting species because over break, I put some of that species into new packets for Daddy!), and hotdogs.

After the flea market, we walked around town taking pictures as it was a GORGEOUS, but frigid day.



Today, there is a beautiful sunny sky, a dusting of snow on the ground, and ice on the lake! It is pretty magnificent. I think I may go do some homework! Hurray!