After (Ice)landing

21/9/14

Okay, so I believe we left off right...

about...

...here.

After the flight, an AFS volunteer (hi, Ásgeir, on the off-chance that you're reading this) drove me and the other American exchange student from Keflavík to Reykjavík.

From the drive:

Please note: Reykjanesbær and Reykjavík are NOT the same. 

Not my best work, but I was in a moving vehicle.

So, after arriving at the AFS office downtown, we met up with the students going to the Netherlands, who had a connecting flight in Iceland and a layover that left them with a few hours to kill. Together, we wandered around the city, and after taking a few pictures, I noticed something.

It was sunny. In Iceland. We got ridiculously lucky.

As you'll see in future pictures, you can see Hallgrímskirkja from just about everywhere in Reykjavík. 

Incidentally, you can also see just about all of Reykjavík from the top of Hallgrímskirkja.

The inside's not bad either.

Oh, and as tourists, of course we had to take at least one picture of Harpa.

We separated from the Netherlands group once the French students arrived, and after walking around a little more, we unanimously decided to go back to the office and nap on whatever furniture they had available. (Seriously. I won't name names, but one of us may or may not have pushed 3 chairs together into a makeshift sleeping surface. Jet-lag is a powerful force.)

Alright, at this point I think I'm over halfway through the pictures I've taken here. Huzzah!

New York Part 3 At Long Last and Geez Things Have Been Happening Fast

15/9/14

Okay, so I've decided to finish sifting through the last of the NY pictures regardless of how much of my youth that will suck away, and then see if I can get caught up with everything that's happened in Iceland so far before I go on a trip with my class this weekend. Sound like a plan? Gott.
So on our final (full) day in NY we went to High Line park, which was crazy awesome. But rather than writing about it, I'll just show you:

This one seems like a simulation for something to be built in the future.

You have no idea what a pain in the ass it was to get the focus right on this one, but I dare say it was worth it.

Is it just me, or can you see how hot it was?

Probably some of the best street art I've seen.

...And the city framed it superbly.

Though I could have done with less sun, you have to appreciate the way it filters through leaves.

Hey, what's that on the left?

Only the meanest, greenest elevator I've ever seen-est, to the point where I took a video.

Tell me this doesn't resemble an iPhone default lock screen.

Something about the park makes NY look a lot more friendly.

Don't you agree?

Ah, the light at the end of the tunnel. Ironically, for me it was the shade provided by the tunnel.

Can you hear the honking? Because I can.

Ah, finally the clouds rolled in.

I'll leave you with a preview of things to come:

In A Land Far, Far Away and My Sincerest Apologies for the Delay

14/9/2014

Okay, so my bad for kind of leaving you guys hanging, but things did not go according to plan. I thought I'd finish my final installment of the New York trip (which I'm still working on, but hopefully will be up in the near future) after the departure orientation, but it went on for several hours, and we were expected to be up early the next morning, so I decided to catch some sleep instead. LAZY!, I hear you shout at your monitor. When did you think you'd get another chance?! Well, worst case scenario, a day later. As you can see from the date, that did not happen. For whatever reason, the internet at my host family's house didn't work for my computer, and since that's where all of my pictures are...yeah, I had a bit of a dilemma. Not to worry though, all is well. Now I am both online and dozens of pictures richer, though most of those I'll save for a later entry, or this is going to turn into a novel. So, below, a brief FAQ:

• Laura, what was your first thought when you got to Iceland?

My first thought when I got to Iceland was from the plane, so technically I wasn't even there yet. Nevertheless, I remember looking out of the window, feeling grubby and exhausted from the 6-hour flight, and thinking that it looked like a different planet. You can see why:

This...

...is quite different from...

...this (which is somewhere around JFK Airport, by the way).

• Laura, how is the food?

As I told my biological parents, anyone who says Icelandic food is disgusting has never been to Iceland. It's different, for sure (see: harðfiskur), but delicious.

• Laura, how is school?

Well, I go to Menntaskólin í Reykjavík (MR), which is pretty highly ranked--basically, it's the snob school. This also means that we get a lot of homework. Other than that, though, it's about as good as school gets; my classmates are all friendly (and girls! I think we're the only all-girls class), the math is easier than last year, class periods are only 40 minutes long, and we're in the middle of the city, so on breaks we can roam free, much like the sheep.

• Laura, what's your host family like?

Fun. I've mentioned in an earlier entry who all it consists of, but to give you a better picture, my first night here we played Yatzee around the kitchen table very competitively after a lamb dinner, and then I watched them all poke fun at each other in Icelandic, which I quite enjoyed. My Icelandic mom is really spontaneous, which I like, and has been an excellent teacher...which is probably because she's a teacher. 

• Laura, are you going to go to bed?

Yeah. I have school tomorrow. I'm going to try and upload the rest of the pictures I have throughout the week, but, like the weather, I make no guarantees.