This past week has been a good one. On Sunday we went to the community pool for my fifth time or so (entrance fee is around $4) and it was my first time going in the daylight. It was as close to a summer day as its come in Iceland so far. It was such a nice day that a couple of Icelanders at the pool were sitting on benches, tanning in the sun even though it was only a little over 40 degrees outside. We thought they were absolutely mad until we discovered their secret. After sitting in the hottest hot tub for about 5 minutes or as long as you can, it is possible to sit and bask in the sun comfortably for about 15 minutes. All the snow has finally melted, hopefully for good. I am more than ready for green grass which is still cleverly eluding me. The weather is quite rainy but not too cold any more so playing football is pleasant again. The sky doesn't turn completely black until around 9 pm which is also nice.
One of the main things I have started to look forward to every week is watching the Champions League matches at Bjarni Fel, a pub/restaurant. Playing football with the ESN kids for an hour or two and then going straight to Bjarni Fel to watch top tier football between Manchester United, Barcelona, and even FC Shalke who shocked Inter Milan 5-2 is a lot of fun. Bjarni Fel is always packed when the matches begin and whenever a goal is scored you will know it even if you aren't watching the games. It is also cool because half of the kids I play football with are from cities in Spain, France or Italy that the teams actually represent so they have been die-hard fans of that team their entire life.
I bought my fair share of Icelandic CDs and spent way too much money on them primarily because every CD in Iceland costs between 20 and 30 dollars for some reason. Taxation is the reason I'm guessing, but still it's ridiculous. But that aside, I think it will be well worth it having CDs only available in this country of music I got the chance to see live during my stay here. Speaking of live perfomances, on Thursday I got to see Amíina, the female string quartet which accompanied Sigur Rós during their tours. It was such a good show. I was 10 feet away from them in the tiny venue, Faktorý, and I just wanted to lie down on stage and have them lull me to sleep with their instruments.
In future news, in about a week, me and two (maybe three) friends plan to rent a car drive all the way around the country. Should be a good time.
UPDATE: just skyped my friend Hope. Maybe I'll get to visit her in New York if she finally gets her license before the end of May so she can pick me up at the airport when I get back to America. LOL! She is a good friend though and keeps it real, no doubt!
