April 26, 2011 4th Tues. Slice Iceland
It has been many years since I arrived on the island of Iceland. However, I still harbor wonderful memories from my time there. I was only seventeen when I first stepped off the prop plane in Keflavik, Iceland. It was scary at first.
The bus I was riding on drove over a gravel road through fields of lava. The land was black and barren. A cold blue sky was clear as crystal lakes I had seen in pictures.
At seventeen, life is so exciting. I was ready for adventure and it never occurred to me that I wasn’t going to see my family, pets, and friends for over a year. I just went with a vision of seeing the world. All I had to go on was a picture of an older couple, who turned out to be 14 years older than my own parents, that I was going to live with. I had found out the last week of my senior year of high school that I was accepted into the exchange program to go to Iceland. My plans originally were to go to Switzerland, but there were no openings. In fact, I flew to New York City for my Senior Class Trip two weeks before I left for Iceland. There was no time to think, buy clothes, pack, or fill out papers. I even had to get certain shots to leave the country and barely had time to get them. They had to rush my passport. I have to stop because it is getting late and I have to teach tomorrow.
I will continue at another time. "Gotha nott!" That’s as close as I can get without using Icelandic letters to "Good night" in Icelandic! Happy Slicing! J
"I was ready for adventure and it never occurred to me that I wasn’t going to see my family, pets, and friends for over a year." Funny how at that age you can do those things without a thought for family who might be aching as you leave, too!
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to see the blue sky and black earth of Iceland. I've been to Newfoundland, and love the bleakness, ruggedness and crystal purity of sky and water there. So I think Iceland would be similarly impressive, if not more so.
Oh, I've never been to Newfoundland! Sounds like I'd like to go there! :)
ReplyDeleteWow...what an adventure. I'd like to hear more about it.
ReplyDeleteI'd like a request a follow-up post to continue what you were saying in this post. :)
ReplyDelete