"We're famous is Iceland! Take Picture!"

GREAT day in Reykjavik!
At a statue in front of parliament, which is called Althingi, several kids were climbing as we took pictures. They felt like celebrities and yelled for everyone to "take picture!" After our tour of Althingi, where we learned the "word of the day" djok (joke-it's pronounced and used the same) we got our 15 min of Icelandic fame as well. A news crew was filming an interview with a local in front of Althingi, and several hours later as we ate dinner in a pizza parlor we saw the news cast, and guess what? We were in the reflection on the building behind the man being interviewed. We were on Icelandic tv! Sort of. All the workers in the restaurant were curious when we started cheering at the news in a language we clearly didn't speak or understand.

In between the interview and the broadcast we explored Reykjavik, the capitol city, in small groups. Disappointing news for any shoppers: event the second hand stores are unaffordable, despite the value of the American dollar in Iceland. I did buy a t-shirt, though, because it just wouldn't be right to leave my first foreign country without one;)

We stopped at a Christian coffee shop that Michelle had heard of, and the man who owns and runs it is from Charlotte! He knew where Richfield was, and jokingly apologized when I told him I was from there. He and his wife live in Reykjavik now, and when they're not working the coffee shop (which had AMAZING cookies, btw) they do missions work with drug addicts and alcoholics in the city. He was really interesting to talk to, and it was nice to speak to an American who wasn't from the north (the others we have met were from Indiana and New Jersey).

For lunch, we ate at "the most famous hot dog stand in the world," which has pictures of Bill Clinton inside from when he visited and ordered a pylsa (hot dog) with only mustard, which is apparently weird (mine had only mustard, which isn't at all like American mustard, and crunchy fried onions. yum!) His face was in multiple places around the city, because he visited during his presidency and his quotes about various restaurants and other things are used as advertising by the businesses. Funny, because in America, his stamp would generally deter people.

One more thing: people in Iceland are all ridiculously good looking, and all the men smell amazing. Just throwing that out there. We were lost on the street downtown today, and men that I swear had to be models stopped to help us and talk for a minute. I'm pretty sure we were shaking. And the cashier at the pizza parlor- mercy. Us Meredith girls are DEFINITELY enjoying our time in the city:)

Speaking of which, we got to go to a real Icelandic party tonight. An acquaintance of Dr. Novak and Grathwohl's invited us to her apartment to hang out with her and her friends. We are now Facebook friends with an Icelandic rugby player/masseuse, and more familiar with what it's like to actually be a teenager in Iceland. It's amazing how much our cultures overlap, mostly thanks to the internet. On a side note, even though sites like hulu don't work here because they are "an American service," youtube and facebook are universal. And hey, those are the most important ones anyways, right?

Before I forget to blog about it, yesterday evening our guest speaker was Thorir, the education expert/consultant to the ministry, which is a big deal in Iceland because of how their government is set up. He was so nice, and we got to ask him as many questions as we wanted about the education system in Iceland. For those of us who are Teaching Fellows, we were all geared up from Discovery a few weeks ago, and so we were full of questions and comparisons. It was a really interesting and relevant presentation for our group. I took a LOT of notes.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Reykjavik for a while, and we plan to explore the flea market on the harbor and the mall. It's also the fisherman's festival and (but don't worry) the tattoo festival. There's sure to be some interesting people watching tomorrow; you'll probably find us in an upstairs cafe staring down at the street like we did today- for an hour. Also, tomorrow I will try rotten shark flesh, blood and liver pudding, and whatever else comes with the "Braveheart" meal at the Loki cafe. Our plan is to order the meal, and pass it around so everyone who dares can try each wild food. Good thing I have an iron stomach and an entire roll of tums!

We'll also see some museums and things like that before we head back to Skalholt. Since the main exhibits at the museum we were supposed to visit today are closed, we will be back in Reykjavik (which means "smoky harbor") before the month is over to tour when they reopen, and also to experience the famous Blue Lagoon Spa:) The activities budget is paying for it since all the horses in Iceland have colds and we can't ride them. This, readers, is why I go to a women's college.

It's 1am now (but the birds are still singing, mind you) and I'm exhausted and in need of sleep before another busy day. I hope everything's good at home. Miss y'all!

Bless Bless!