Week 3

Still having a blast! I can't believe I will have been in Iceland for 4 weeks this Thursday, crazy! I hope the next three months don't go by too fast. Anyway, last week for classes was ok. British Literature is going well, we read some poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge. My pronunciation and speech class was pretty boring on Wednesday (that is just the lecture), but Thursday's class (when we practice speaking) was fine even though my pronunciation isn't very good. Icelandic culture was super boring on Wednesday. We often have guest lecturers come in and talk to us about different topics, but this guest was so boring. Honestly the most boring teacher I have ever heard, good thing he doesn't teach the whole class! But Thursday for that class we got to go to the national museum for free! And since our class is so big I brought my friend Vanessa along since she enjoys museums. They didn't check attendance or do a head count so it was fine that I brought her. We got an hour tour of the museum and then got to walk around afterwards. The museum is divided into different time periods from the settlement up to the 21st century. My favorite things were probably the traditional clothing from I believe the 1800's. They also had skeletons in tact of pagans from the settlement of Iceland. There was one male skeleton but that one actually wasn't as in tact because of the soil of where it was buried, but the other two--a female and baby--were completely in tact. There was also a wooden door that was carved from 1200. I enjoyed it because it told a whole story in such a small space. It was also funny because it tells the story of Knight of the Lion (a story heard from the French) but Icelanders didn't know what lions looked like so it looks more like a weird horse. Here is a link to a picture I found online and a little more about the story: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonepi/2945191002/.
Another fun thing I did in the museum was play dress up with Vanessa. They have a room of traditional clothes that you can try on and a sword, helmet, and shield you can wield. We had fun acting like kids and putting on those clothes :)

Thursday night was the start to Oktoberfest and this night had the most bands performing. I got to see two bands I really like Of Monsters and Men and Agent Fresco. They were the closers for the show. I've seen Of Monsters and Men before--they played at my school during the first week--but I've always been in the back of the crowd so hopefully I will see them again during Iceland Airwaves in October. Check out their most popular song Little Talks on youtube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dw8qdmT_aY.  Agent Fresco was also great and they are playing a couple shows at the end of September so I will probably see them again. So Thursday was fun since I got to listen to Icelandic bands and I met a lot of people. Oktoberfest is also held on campus so it was a great short walk for us! Friday night we didn't feel like going to Oktoberfest since a few of my friends were doing the sheep roundup and golden circle at 8am the next morning. We mostly sat in the kitchen talking and watched some tv. We did go out to get subway because we were hungry and on the way we saw a cat along the side of the road and it was meowing and looked lost. So Begga called its owner and he said it had been missing for 2 days! So we waited with the cat till his owner came and the cat was so friendly, he kept rubbing up against us. That night Begga also made us all these traditional drinks that they tend to have at Christmas. It is a mix of a malt drink with appelsin (an orange like soda). Overall this was a low key fun night. Saturday I didn't do too much since most people were gone, but I got to skype my parents for the first time! So if any of you have skype you should add me! Saturday night when everyone got back our friend Begga took us to a pizza place by the water. It was Begga, Jordan, Lauren, Emily, and I and we split a large vegetable pizza and a small cheese/garlic pizza. It was really delicious and I would definitely go back. The inside of the restaurant was also really cute. Then on our way back everyone wanted ice cream so we stopped at the place we went to before. We got back to the dorm around 9 and Vanessa's Icelandic buddy--Catherine was there. Catherine is actually from North Carolina but met an Icelander while he was studying abroad in NC and now they are married and she has been in Iceland 2 years. She hung out with us for a while in the dorm then we all went to Oktoberfest for its last night. There was also a few bands playing on Saturday but I didn't recognize them. Saturday was also a lot of fun except our group got separated toward the end, but luckily I was with Catherine the whole time. Oktoberfest probably went till about 4am, and then a lot of the people went downtown as bars don't close till 6 or 7 am on weekends. I went downtown for a hot dog because they are so delicious--they are known as the best hot dogs in the world!

Bæjarins beztu pylsu. The famous hot dog stand. For 300 ISK you get one with everything: that includes ketchup, sweet mustard, remoulade, raw onions, and fried onions.

Sunday I woke up to howling winds and rain against my window, but my friends still wanted to go downtown. So we bundled up and headed to the flea market. I got smoked salmon with dill and a sauce that is like honey mustard with dill. We got free samples and liked it so much I think 3 of us bought it. I also got some carrots and then stopped at a vendor who sold candy. Begga told us that this women had been selling candy since she (Begga) was a little girl. Begga got two kinds and I tried one and liked it so much I bought one. It was this fluffy light middle--similar to marshmallow--covered in coconut coated chocolate. Yumm! Then we went to Bonus, the cheap grocery store in Reykjavik that most people shop at. Then we went home and luckily the whole walk it never poured on us, only a slight mist or just wind. For dinner I cooked pasta and tried some of my salmon, then my friend Lauren taught me a card game (Golf)  and we played with a couple others. Monday, I did homework and relaxed till my friend got me to tell me Begga was making pancakes. They are more like crepes and so delicious. We had it the traditional way with rhubarb jelly and homemade wipped cream. I will definitely learn how to make these! Begga is hoping some Sunday we can cook a big meal of lamb for the whole floor, so hopefully we can start planning that. My friends and I are also looking to rent a car and do a weekend trip around Iceland soon. Well I have to go get ready for my one class of the day--British Literature. We will be talking about Lord Byron today. Bless Bless!