Good Times

Ok had an excellent weekend. It began on friday.
We went to a cafe/bar deal downtown. The Best Party (a local political party that is actually called that.. .and sound awesome) were throwing a party there so we got free beer, free food, and a free concert. It was great.

Saturday Beth and I walked around the small town (thats connected to Reykjavik) and hung out all day. We found another mall, and it was quite expensive. Afterwards we got some pizza and icecream while we hung out with our awesome hosts parents and watched Eurovision. Hilarious by the way.
After some excellent Eurovision competition... just kidding... we went to a party at a couple of their friends house. Drank some beers there and had some good talks with more local people. Everyone was super cool so it was sweet. After the party we headed out to the excellent Icelandic night life. Beginning at around 2 am, we went to a place that is coffee bar by day, bar by night. They played REAL music which was a great change from the bars I have been to. We left around 4, and the bars weren´t even closed yet. They dont close until 5-6 am. Oh and it was bright out the whole time, since the sun doesnt really set around this time of year.

Today we woke up and headed out to the Blue Lagoon, It was pretty cool, and my skin is pretty silky smooth. A nice peaceful day to end a most excellent weekend.

Naked

So basically the main culture shock of being here in Iceland is the whole naked thing. If you go to a pool, in the change room you MUST change in front of everyone, and shower naked. If you don't shower naked, people yell at you. For real.

Coming from my, apparently, incredibly modest upbringing, this took some getting used to. After some initial weird feelings, I was actually feeling comfortable with being naked in a room with a whole bunch of other naked ladies. It was quite a liberating feeling. This first barrier that I crossed was however at the health center, where most of the ladies were older, saggier, and heavier.

The other day was my first foray into a *drumroll* normal swimming pool. Everyone looked like a model - the high majority were thin, muscular, hairless (apparently) and flawlessly tanned. THIS became my new culture shock.
I now entered a weird second puberty, where I felt awkward about the whole naked thing. I assume that it we were to go swimming 10 more times, my odd feelings would once again change.

All of these swimming experiences really got me to wonder, why the shame? Why does our western society promote shame of your body? Why do we feel awkward in public places, when really, we just don't have the small pieces of fabric that make up a bathing suit on yet? And why was my confidence suddenly depleted by the introduction of a new standard of beauty than I am used to?

I guess that is my thoughts on naked. And I guess I will have to ponder them all myself.

End of work

Today was our last day working in the greenhouse. So no more effort filled days for Beth and I, which is a relief, although it was quite good while it lasted. In the next couple of days we are going to head to Reyjavik and try out our couchsurfing skills. Hopefully all will go well and people will be sane and welcoming!

The other day I was out for a walk and ran into some local teenagers. They were 15, hilarious, and really reminded me of the highschool crew. Vulgar, raw, bold and hilarious, they were super good to talk to. We learned a bit about Iceland and how there is literally nothing to do in this small town I am in here.

Anyways, I am off for now as someone needs the computer.
Ciao for now :)

Not what I expected... but then, what did I expect?

So since I got here has definitely been... a bit different then I thought. I have been relaxing, taking it easy, and working hard. I dont really know what I thought would be different, but perhaps it will be what I expected once we are in the city.

Whatever this experience is, it is really great. I have been working out, eating incredible, vegetable full meals every meal, and swimming all of the time. We also just discovered the awesome sauna that smells amazing... so thats a plus.
Basically, Im working at a rehabilitation and health spa... high note on the health. Its been good for the body mind and spirit.
Minus the scratchy-rash thing that I got from tending to the cucumbers... oh well.

The people here are... well, old. But that is because of my location. I like just people watching here and wondering about everyones lives. Each person I have met had had such a different story with them and I like that a lot.

P.S. I definitly saw the oh-so-famous cloud of ash that everyone fears yesterday. It was distant, therefore not that crazy. Hopefully we can fly out when the time comes... fingers crossed?

Anyways, I do miss people, but I am definitely looking forward to my next adventures. Coolest thing on the upcoming schedual - hitchhiking to the next town over on the weekend. Horrah :)

Typing on a Swiss keyboard

Hello. Definatly have to be breif!

Right now I am super tired as I spent 6 hours of today walking to and then climbing a mountain, sitting in a hot river (naturally hot from the geothermal activity from the mountain) and then walking all the way back.
Good time, but exausting.

It is absolutly beautiful here. Doing the greenhouse work my thumbs literally have turned green, but I have learnt a lot.
SO MANY MOUNTAINS.
So much swimming. (6 times so far and I got here on Sunday!)
And so much... good? strange? .... food.

cheers for now.
bye

First Entry

Alright, so this will be my lovely travel blog, as I am quite terrible at talking to EVERYONE all of the time. Aka, if you are interested in my travels, this will be the place to look.
I don't know how often I will update this or anything like this, but it's worth a shot.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Iceland! I will be gone for juuust over a month, so, a good chunk of time, but not too long. To kick off the trip we (we being myself and my friend Beth) will be volenteering for two weeks. The project is called "gardening and forestry activities" and I am pretty excited about actually learning something about gardening.

Mmk. Some "fun facts" about Iceland (that I haven't experienced or proven... but have read aha)
- The literacy rate of Iceland is 99.9%.
- Strippers are illegal in Iceland
- Most Icelanders do not have a family name so children have a given name and then father’s-name-son or father’s-name-daughter.
- Because they don’t have surnames, Icelanders are listed in the telephone directory alphabetically by first name.
- Iceland has no army, navy, or air force. It does have a Coast Guard.


Ok. So I promise I will have better/more interesting posts once I actually go there.
For now, farewell!