So, Iceland.. One word: WOW! This country is just so dang beautiful and the people are incredibly nice. Except for the guy who hung out the window as he drove past and BAAed at me (yes, like a sheep). Still not sure what that was about. But everyone else has been nice for the most part. Went to an Angolian steakhouse for dinner and the waitress tried to teach me how to pronounce the dish I ordered (picture is unfortunately on my phone and that will have to wait until I get back). The hard part is that French is technically my second language, even though I'm not fluent..yet, its the first experience I have had with a foreign accent. So in French, you roll your R sounds at the back of the throat and most sounds are nasal. For Norse(or Icelandic as they more often call it) the R sounds are pronounced by a clicking of the tongue behind the teeth.. Its hard to explain but the point is that it is opposite of what I'm used to. So she got a kick out of trying to teach me.. I failed miserably today but tomorrow I shall try again!
Speaking of accents, no one guesses I'm American. They're not used to my Southern accent, so they assume I'm British most of the time.That totally cracks me up. Especially since theyhave a slightly different accent than any Britsih person I've ever encountered. But I do certainly stand out as different. I have noticed very little people wearing blue jeans here, and thats kinda half my wardrobe. And I may be wrong, but it seems like no one really fixes their hair.. At least not in the way we are used to. At the airport, there was a girl with the most beautiful head of thick, curly, flaming red hair I've ever seen, but you could tell those waves weren natural. Most people have hats on or their hair pulled up (lazily thrown in a ponytail), but even if its down, it looks natural. Have not noticed one person with hair that looks like its been straightened or curled with an iron. Not sure why, but that stood out to me. Also, not much makeup either. But tons of freedom with body modification, i.e. piercings, tattoos, and dreads although the last doesnt really fall into that category but theres a lot of people with them. Passed by two tattoo shops on the walk through downtown, and you know I'm itching to go get one. Most shops close around six, so I'll have to check it out more tomorrow.
Also, their food is interesting. They have many of the same things we do, just different packaging. Their skittles bags cracked me up. And I even saw Angry Birds gummies, ha. But they advertise a lot of natural and organic food, as well as food from different cultures. In a four block radius, found Pakistanian, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Meditteranen. And I wanna try it all!
The one complaint so far.. The bathroom. Oh goodness its small. And the shower is just set up in the corner, with the curtian on a rod that curves around the corner and a drain in the bottom. So when I walk in and see a squeegee propped on the wall and no molding or barriers enclosing the shower space, I'm a little suprised but I guess I assumed they would design the floor to make the water drain easier, but no... That thing flooded!!! Oh, and since the water is heated by underground geothermal springs, it comes with this lovely side effect of smelling like.. Sulfur. That's right.. The water smells like rotten eggs. Its really not strong so its not terrible, but man its an experience. And even though the sign promises the water if safe to drink, I'll buy my own, thanks. Oh and no washclothes.. Just towels. Weird.
Tomorrow though, is going to be fun. Horseback riding trip to the famous Geysir and the Gullfoss waterfall. Seeing those sights on horseback is going to make it just so much better. Icelandic horses have a fifth gait between their canter and gallop thats supposed to be incredibly smooth. We shall see!! I'm regretting not having my computer to be able to put all my pictures together to illustratewith my posts, but I'll just have to make a big one with tons of pics next week! Now, bedtime. Got an early day tomorrow! Eeeeee!
But this is the view from the room to hold you over for now :)
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