A place quite northwards

Good morning from Iceland! It’s 10 a.m. and the sun is just starting to make a pink glow on the horizon. The almost-full moon is still very much in evidence.

We girls are all settled at Gunnar and Þóra’s house, where we are enjoying some tremendous hospitality. Their daughter, Anna, gave up her space so we could share the bedrooms and bathroom downstairs. Thanks, Anna!! In addition to two great breakfasts yesterday (I am tempted to call them “continental,” but that’s clearly impossible) and the totally unique hot dog, yesterday we were treated to a wonderful feast of Þóra’s making. I told Anna that the ham brought tears to my eyes (which it did), then had to explain that this was a good thing. The sheep headcheese wasn’t bad either.

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Well, that was this morning. You’d think I could produce a blog post before breakfast, but I didn’t make it. We rushed upstairs, ate, and dashed off to Sunday School, where we were treated to an excellent puppet show, some children’s songs that we recognized (Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes can not only be sung in Icelandic, but it can also end with “Jesus loves all of me!”) and most of all, some really cute kids having a great time. The pastor showed us the sanctuary, which is still in mid-construction. It was begun a few years ago before the economic trouble, and they were unfortunately unable to complete it per the original timing. However, this difficulty has brought the community together in a unique way, solidifying their connection to the congregation and creating a shared sense of purpose. They were able to celebrate their Christmas service in the sanctuary, which is full of chairs in neat rows (all loaned from the giving community) and have even painted the walls, a significant step for a sense of progress.

After Sunday School we were off to the “pool”, where instead of the dreaded high-speed waterslides mentioned in Rob’s post, we spent three blissful hours floating in hot tubs of varying temperatures (you have to walk quickly across the frosted tiles to change pools!) and enjoying the afternoon twilight of blue and pink. The sunlight’s angle is always very low, but it’s not really dark. In fact, later on we were even able to enjoy a long, brisk walk with Þóra and the dog Skunti down the hill, along a stream, all the way to the harbor, and then back up through Kopavogur. The narrow end of the harbor’s shores were covered in stacks of ice plates maybe a foot thick, formed as the fresh water comes into the harbor, freezes, and then the tide lifts it all and piles it on shore. Along the stream I noticed all the steam rising from where the ducks and swans were at play. There were also some convenient stairs down to the water, so I decided to stick my hand in. The water was more cool than cold. The amount of geothermal activity here is just incredible.

Fun fact: there is likely to be a volcanic eruption visible from Skálholt, our destination tomorrow. More on that if it happens.

Lord, thank you for this beautiful day, our wonderful hosts, and the sense we already have of home and friends. Bless them and us as our journey continues. Amen.