The Sun Has Returned!!

My roommate and I saw the sun for the first time in 3.5 months. It was quite the emotional experience! Like they always say... you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone!

The sun shining on us!!

A weekend at Betty's

A few weeks ago I spent the weekend at Betty's. (She's the farmer that I helped with sheep herding last fall). The weather was beautiful on Saturday. We took an 1.5 hour walk along her beach. We had to leave early Sunday morning so as to not get stuck in the snow storm. We definately cut it a little close! All in all, it was a nice weekend away from town.

Another Icelandic Sunset

It may be hard to believe, but this was far more stunning in person...

A Welcoming Sunset

After a very eventful Christmas vacation, I safely returned home to Ísafjörður. I was welcomed by a few days of beautiful weather, lots of snow on the ground, and amazing sunsets. Enjoy :)

These pictures show just how close, but how so far away the sun is from touching the town! This is as close as I will get to seeing the sun until the end of February! How I wish I was on the top of that mountain...

America does Thanksgiving in Iceland

I was fortunate enough to share Thanksgiving with my fellow classmates this year. We held a traditional American Thanksgiving in my house. I am living with a fellow American from New York State as well as a Frenchman and a woman from the UK. My housemate (Megan) and I cooked the turkey in our miniature oven. It turned out perfectly and I was very pleased considering it was my first time preparing a Thanksgiving turkey without Mom!

All together, we had guests from France, the UK, Iran, Latvia, Finland, the US, Canada, Mauritius, Germany, and Iceland!!! It was such a wonderful experience and I truely enjoyed sharing it was so many people from all over the world.

We had one minor preparation scare when the power went out while baking the Turkey... I had a slight freak out but no worries, it came back on an hour later :)

Enjoy the photographs!!

The ceremonial cutting of the Turkey:

The three Americans in the master's program:

My housemate Megan and me:

Hanging the American flag :)

Getting ready for the feast!

Half of the food:

Early Morning Snow

One of the three oldest houses in Iceland... only a five minute walk from my house
Another one of the oldest houses in Iceland... now the maritime museum for Ísafjörður

The harbor behind my house with the fjord in the background

My humble abode

Sheep Herding

Betty is a single mother who lives and works on her family's farm that's in a remote valley in the Westfjords of Iceland. She lives there year-round, with only seasonal access to the town because the road to her farm is not maintained by Iceland. Each year she invites anyone willing to help to her farm for the fall herding of the sheep. This year, I was able to participate three times. The first weekend, when most of the herding was done, was a very unique experience. I got to spend Friday night on the farm, building fences, and getting the farm ready for herding the next day. That night, I saw the northern lights for the first time! I was jumping around in my PJs and bare feet at 1:00 in the morning on Betty's front lawn with one of my fellow students from the US. The next day, we woke up bright and early to greet the other herders and get started. Basically, as you can see from the pictures, Betty lives in a giant valley facing the wide open ocean. The valley is probably 4 miles long and we had to hike, run, and herd sheep all the way up one side and down the other. I was SOO sore the next day. All in all it was a great experience and I got to meet a lot of Icelandic people as well as some pretty cool sheep. Hope you enjoy the beautiful pictures!

The beach at Betty´s Farm

Icelandic chickens!! This one is for you Dad...

My roommate Etienne and I in the car with Betty´s sheep dog. Her name is Dríva which is Icelandic for the mist from the snow...

This is Betty with one of her baby sheep that she bottle feeds:

This is a view of the valley that we hiked up and down to gather all her sheep:

All the sheep in the barn at the end of the day. There were about 150 of them!