Trying Not To Call It A Countdown

This was Day 10 by my count, which I cannot believe. I feel like I have been here for ages and yet no time at all. I have 2 more full days in Reykjavik before I'll be flying across the country to the East Fjords where I'll stay with my family for three weeks. I'm looking forward to this a lot, but in part am already dreading leaving my fellow Snorris for 3 weeks. There might be some tears. Maybe not from me, but I think Stefan and George might get a little emotional. I think I would be perfectly happy to stay here at Guesthouse Odinn with my friends for the rest of my time here, and then some. Amazing how fast ties can bind.
I had a great weekend doing all sorts of different things. You've all heard about the Golden Circle tour so I won't go any further into that. Sunday we all got to sleep in a little and then at 1 pm we met a fill-in-coordinator in front of the office and she walked us to the beach at Nautholsvik. We were supposed to take a bus, but there was a mix up with the schedule or some such thing. Most of the girls wore beach shoes, which were not practical for hiking around. This might not sound so interesting now, but keep it in mind for later. I'll get back to it.
It was a beautiful, sunny and warm-ish day in Reykjavik and we were all ready to see the beach and do some swimming in the heated pools we had been hearing about. It turned out that there was a heated pool, and another sort of heated pool...and then there was a lot of ocean where some of the warm water dripped into the bay to "warm" up the water. A few brave souls jumped into the ocean and did a full body freeze swim. I spent a healthy amount of time in the hot pool and then got in knee deep to the cold stuff. That was plenty. We got to lay in the sunshine and soak up the lovely Icelandic summer day. I actually got a sunburn on an Icelandic beach. Not something I would have predicted.
We wanted to stop at The Perlan on our way back from the beach, so we hoofed it in that direction. The Perlan is located at the top of a wooded hill overlooking Reykjavik. To get to it we were going to take one of the paths up the hill through the trees. Seemed simple enough to begin with, but fellow Snorri, George, who was leading the group up the hill promptly turned Mountain Man and abandoned us in the deepest, darkest part of the Icelandic forest. To put this into perspective for you, forest are not common in Iceland. Trees are few and very small, as a rule. There is a popular joke here that goes, "What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic Forest?...... Stand up." Har har har. This, forest was not in standing with that joke and was actually pretty well grown, so standing up wasn't an option. So we trekked. And trekked. And twisted and turned to stay on the "paths" that led up hill, all the while tripping and slipping in our sandals and flats. Poor footwear choice for a spontaneous hiking trip. There was a fair share of complaining from the ladies in the group, though all in fairly good humor. George's name was not said in kind terms during that little jaunt. Long story short, we made it to the Perlan and climbed up to the top where there are breathtaking views of the city and mountains below and around. Worth the climb if you ask me, sore feet or not.
More walking on the way back to the ranch. I made mashed potatoes, gravy and pork loins for the group when we got home and two of the other girls made a glorious salad with feta cheese. Stefan stepped in as gravy stirrer and was top notch at the task. Nice home cooked meal with the family.
Monday we had class until noon, then went to Landsbanki (the largest bank in the country) and had lunch and were given a lecture on Iceland's current economic status and banking system. After the crash in 2008 there were a lot of changes made, so this was actually really interesting. Lunch was delicious as well, so that helped. After lunch we opened up accounts with the bank for use during our trip and in future trips as we so desire. That's right folks, I have an Icelandic bank account and an Icelandic ID number (sort of like a social security number in the US). Be as impressed as you want.
Monday evening we were broken up into four groups and picked up for dinner with the various chairpersons of the Snorri Foundation. George, Alison and I went to dinner with Johan and his wife Anna Sophia at their house in Hafnarfjordur. They had a beautiful home and prepared a wonderful meal of salmon, salad, potatoes, and a strawberry skyr tort that was to die for. It was a really fun evening and very cool to get to spend time that much time with a family that are interested in the Western Icelanders (North Americans of Icelandic descent) and so willing to be part of a program that fosters ties between Icelanders and Western Icelanders.
Today we had class until noon, at at the cafeteria on campus and then went to the Althingi, which is the current location of the Icelandic Parliament in Reykjavik. We got to talk to one of the Parliament members, a woman who is in the social democrat party, and then we got a tour of the building. After all that learning it was time for a small cocktail break at a patio bar in the main square. A person has to take a break sometime, right? A bunch of us shared a couple of pitchers and then headed back to the ranch to prepare for a trip to the mall, Kringlan. It took longer than it should have to figure out the bus schedule, but we made it to the mall. I forgot to get the one thing that I had wanted to go there to look at: a hair straightener. I fried mine the first time I plugged mine in on the first day here. Not so smart. So...I might be making another trip to Kringlan before I leave Reykjavik. Wonderful.
By the time we got back to the ranch, dinner prep was in full swing and the house was about 2 million degrees. Sarah rocked the lasagna making and Alison made a wickedly good chocolate cake with skyr frosting. We have not been suffering from lack of great things to eat on this trip, that's for certain. However, tomorrow is Icelandic food night and I'm strongly considering eating before I go. Sheep's head, rotten shark and ram testicles don't really seem like my kind of ideal dinner. I'm holding out hope that there will be plenty of hangikjöt and Icelandic brown bread to help me keep up my strength. Can't let yourself get too weak and hungry in a foreign land, you know. Never know when you'll have to hike through a forest or push together a couple of tables on the patio for happy hour. Takes a lot out of a person.