Upcoming Milestones

25/11/14

It's three weeks to my birthday, one month until Christmas, and less than two months until my stay is halfway over. I'm looking forward to finding out what will happen in that time.

A View of My Apartment Building On Three Different Zooms

23/11/14

...since I couldn't pick just one.

Nóvember Update

23/11/14

It appears that I lost track of how long it had been since my last entry. Well, seeing as it is Sunday, and therefore my plans are basically just to stay in my pajamas all day, I think I'll add some photos that have been stored in my camera for some time now. As for what I've been doing, I've been spending time with friends after school, went to a birthday party with the rest of my class, have continued with hoop/pole every week, did a lot of Christmas shopping for both of my families yesterday (still not completely done after browsing Kringlan for something like 4 hours, but I've got a good start), and basically waiting to get Christmas exams over with already. Oh, and I get to go to a Thanksgiving lunch at the US embassy tomorrow afternoon, which is pretty cool. 

Battle Wounds

4/11/14

So, yesterday evening were my first pole and lyra classes, and while I had an awesome time, my hands aren't exactly accustomed to aerial gymnastics (especially when one class is right after the other). Pole wasn't too rough, but I could see red lines on my palms where I was gripping the hoop after the session. The classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then there's open classes on Fridays where you can try new tricks and stuff. Super excited to improve--and hopefully get some calluses soon.

How NOT To Hike Esja

2/11/14

First of all, holy crap it's November. I remember when I was imagining how cool it would be to go to Iceland Airwaves last year, and now the festival is in 3 days! (Unfortunately, I can't go to the venues because I'm under 20, but some of the bands do off-venue concerts when they're not performing on stage, which anyone can attend, plus they're free.) 

Okay, story time: on the fifth of September my host mom, her niece, and I drove to Esja to do some hiking. In hindsight, there was no indicator that this was going to end well, and many suggesting the contrary. Particularly the weather. But what can I say? Our trio was determined.

Upon arrival:

''Well. That's not good.''

The hills were still breathtaking, though. Scenery like that reminds me that the earth is really, really old, but at the same time ever-changing.

And so, the hike began:

The woman in purple is my host mom, and the woman behind her is Elísabet, her niece (or, as an Icelander would say, ''her brother's daughter'').

 Now for some landscapes.

If this is what the views are like on a rainy day, I can't wait to go when it's sunny.

It was one of those rock statue things that people make by balancing stones on top of each other. First time I'd seen one in person.

This stream looked really familiar. I think Esja might be where my old desktop background was photographed. Cool, right?

Aaand...that's all I've got. I think we were between the second and third checkpoint out of five (we weren't going all the way to the top, just to Steinninn--''the stone'') when it started pouring, so I shut off my camera and kept it in my backpack for the rest of the hike. The real fun began when we got near the last checkpoint, where it was both the steepest and rockiest. You know what's more slippery than wet rocks? Wet, mossy rocks. And if there's anything Iceland is abundant in, other than licorice, it's rain and mossy rocks. For the last part of our ascent and the majority of our descent I was just focusing on not dying. Still, it makes for a pretty funny story.