$12 for a pint of weak beer? Well, okay...

Greetings from the land of the midnight sun,

Apparently ´twinkle´ must be a dirty word in the lexicon of Icelandic public libraries. The Internet filter last week filtered me out - but I´m back in Reykjavik now a things are much more liberal here.

MUCH more. I think I mentioned the nightlife in my last message, but I am now well-versed in the cultural rites of the Icelandic club scene, rumored to be among the best in Europe. I think ´best´ is a relative term. Then again, I am American and I scare easily.

Basically, things don´t get started here until about 2 a.m., when we made out way into the mayhem. I could go into details about the debauchery I witnessed, but some of it is kind of x-rated and my mother is reading this, so I shall give some simple highlights:

Complete and utter inebriation is pretty standard. People in Iceland aren´t drinking because they like the taste of beer with 2.5 % alcohol that costs $12 per pint. They want to get drunk.

And after that task has been achieved, they want to throw their pint glasses in the streets and then pee on it. Makes perfect sense, yes?

There aren´t really any cops around to keep things on the up and up. One guy memorably jumped on the back of the police van´s bumper, out of view from the rear window and proceeded to flip everyone off, until the van stopped a block later, the cop opened the van door, shoved the guy into the back, then sped off. Apparently there is no such thing as Miranda rights in Iceland.

Things degenerated from there, and we came home at about 6,30. My friends told me this is completely normal. Viva Europa!





It is my last day in Reykjavik before I make my way home. We are going to the Blue Lagoon today, a legendary hot pool that I am told is actually green at the moment because of algae. Yum. After two nights of living like a rock star, sitting in a steaming pool of green fuzz actually sounds pretty good.

Two weeks is a perfect amount of time to be here - I am desperately missing the moon and stars.

Where shall I report from next? Maybe Tanzania...

Puritanical Icelandic library systems

Greetings all,

Thanks for all the e-mails from home, I really appreciate everybody writing to me! I am blogging/emailing to you from my friend Shivani´s email account, as mine
is considered obscene for the Akureyri public library, and it won´t let me
send. Sorry.

Iceland is treating me well. Sort of.

Since we last spoke, I think I told you about how I was going to climb
(okay, walk) on the largest glacier in Europe. Of course, I jinxed myself
when I had this conversation with Leif, our guide:



Me: So, has anybody ever been hurt on these glacier walks, as in they´ve
died Þ

Leif: Well, no. We have had some cuts and bruises, though, but in my 14
years leading this tour, nothing bad has happened.

Me: Yes, but I´m talking about death, Leif. Has there been any death Þ

Leif: (chuckle. uncomfortable silence. worried glances exchanged).

Greeeat. So we didn´t have to sign any waiver, nobody asked us if we had
high blood pressure or if we were pregnant, and Leif was the only guide for
about 15 people on the trip. No matter.

We trekked for about 3 hours round-trip and everything was amazing - mounds
of ice towering above us, crevasses plunging below, all of us precariously
balancing on ridges... everything was going great until I stopped doing my
John Wayne walk as directed and caught my cramp-on on the strap of my other
boot. Then splat. I fell on a rock-hard glacier. On my knees, no less.

Leif, my knight in shining armor, didn´t even notice. Nothing broke (I
don´t think) and I continued down the trek until I crumbled in the bus - no
crying, thank you very much. Just a few agonizing gasps here and there. I
couldn´t walk the rest of the night and my knees swelled up like
grapefruits. Of course, that was like four days ago and I´m very resilient
- all that´s left are some huge purple bruises and a lovely splattering of
yellow, which is making me look like I have jaundice.




Luckily, we moved on to Lake Myvatn, which is a serious attraction for the
locals, as well as swarms of tiny flies who live in the grass. Myvatn has a
lot of cool stuff around it - bubbling pools of mud, lava sculptures, an
imploded volcano, craggy fissures... but the best part of all was the hot
spring lagoon.

Perhaps you have seen such things on television. The water, which stinks
like rotten eggs thanks to the sulphur, has so-called healing powers that
sure did a number on me. The sun was setting, as much as it can in this
country of 24-hour light, the mist was rolling in and I was sitting in a
pool of milky moonstone-colored water for hours. Lagoons are as to
Icelanders as bowling alleys are to Americans. They are everywhere, the
locals hang out there, and I want to be a local! It was the most beautiful
night we´ve had here, and despite the $18 entrance fee, we went back the
next night for more. Hey, its got healing powers...

Other notes of interest: we saw 2 humpback whales on a whalewatching tour
in Husavik, a bay in the north where the whales frequent. We only glimpsed a
fin and some tail, but it was pretty majestic.

Much more majestic, however, was the trip to the Phallological Museum
beforehand, where we saw penises encased in formaldahyde from nearly every
mammal in Iceland (except for a human. luckily a guy in Colorado who has
named his penis Elmo has agreed to donate his specimen upon his death.
apparently Elmo was a model for the adult industry for many years. how
charming). Naturally, this was a very educational experience for all of us
and we acted like complete adults the entire time. Did you know the Sperm
whale has a much larger penis than a Blue whale, despite being smaller in
stature Þ Fascinating.



The smallest specimen was from a hampster, we had to look at it through a
microscope. Poor guy.

We only have 2 more days of camping before we head back to Reykjavik for
some TLC in an actual bed. The nightlife in Reykjavik is rumored to be of
the best in Europe, although things don´t really get started until 1 a.m.
We are moving further west through the fjords today, and we´re on the hunt for
more hot springs. So far, we´ve found a new one every other day, and we
even managed to do some sunbathing in Akureyri, Iceland´s second-largest city
with 15,000 people. A big city is a relative term.

Hope all is well for you!

p.s. I do apologize for not using the question mark in this e-mail - I
can´t find it on the keyboard.

From the most expensive place on Earth - Iceland

Hi all,

I´m writing you from the lovely capital of Iceland - Reykjavik. In all of it´s excessively expensive, racially homogeneous, and high rise condominium glory, we´ve exhausted the sights of the city within two days. What am I doing in Iceland? Good question.



When I was traveling in Europe four years ago, I met some really fun British med students who I traveled with for about two weeks to Germany and Switzerland. We´ve stayed in touch all these years, and they finally graduated and are now on their way to being *real* doctors. So this is sort of a senior trip I´ve been invited on.

We´re leaving the city today to go camping around the perimeter of the island. I´m writing this from a travel info center, so I must be quick. But here are a few observations:

Icelanders are beautiful, as evidenced by our trip to the hot springs last night. Everyone looks like Claudia Schiffer (from 10 years ago, maybe) and I don´t think it´s going to be good for my self esteem to spend too much time in the Blue Lagoon in the future.

I´m not lying about it being the most expensive place in the world. Last night I paid $32 for a 12-inch pizza with a few bits of eggplant scattered on the top.

The sun doesn´t set. At midnight it sort of drifted around the horizon, but never actually dipped below. Officially, the sun sets at 12:09 a.m., and rises at about 3 a.m., but I´m pretty convinced the Icelandic concept of sunrise and sunset is off.

We´re off to see the biggest waterfall in Europe, and the divide between the European and North American ridges today. Will write more from the interior!

p.s. We were trying to find a fireworks stand to celebrate the Fourth of July, but I think I´m going to have to celebrate with a $12 beer and some really annoying John Phillip Sousa humming.