It’s been a few days since I’ve written and it’s not because I’ve been lazy, my last few days living in an empty apartment (that I thought for sure would be lonely and boring) have been some of the busiest I’ve had!
On Thursday, we ran a few last-minute errands for Casey so she got to do everything she needed to before I dropped her off at the airport that afternoon. I was sad to see her go, it kinda sucked having to drop off both of my roommates and then go back home a friend less than I started with…at the same time it was a good reminder that I only had a few days left in this beautiful place and I better make the most of it!
Practice was strange…going by myself, being the only American, etc. The translations weren’t as frequent but luckily I’ve picked up enough vocab to at least get through practice knowing what we were doing. It was a light practice, as was the rest of the week, in preparation for the FINALS on Sunday. We would be playing FH, our hometown rivals, so we anticipated an intense game. We also knew for sure that Dufa wouldn’t be able to play in goal for us (since she’d been casted for the next three weeks with a partially torn Achilles’ tendon).
That night, Anna invited me over to have dinner with her so I wouldn’t be alone. 
She made a faaaantastic Mexican chicken dish layered with cheese and tortilla shells. Amazing. And for dessert she made a heart-shaped (it’s the only cake pan she has! haha) Bounty cake, which tasted like a giant Almond Joy. Also while I was there, I copied the recipe for her chocolate cake that she made for Lee’s birthday. It is honestly the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had and I can’t waaait to try it out at home!
We had Friday off so I tested my driving/navigation skills and drove to Akranes, a town about an hour away. Orri, Thordis’ sister’s boyfriend–also referred to by Thordis as “the tattoo guy”–lives there and I went to have him touch up my tattoo before I left. It was actually a really nice drive by myself, giving me some time to just think and enjoy the unbelievable country. It gave me a chance to get one last good look at the amazing water, the mountainsides, the horses, just overall beautiful landscapes. On the way home I took advantage of my alone time by running a few errands for myself to prepare for my last weekend here.
VIP! Recliner, popcorn, drinks...perfect.
That night, Lena and I decided to go see a movie…some of their theaters here have a “VIP” option, which costs a little more than a regular ticket but you supposedly got unlimited popcorn, drinks and a recliner. We had tried to see a few movies in VIP but it hadn’t worked out and I was determined to experience this before I left to see what it was all about. WOW. Andy’s words say it best, “VIP is the only way to go.” We walked in to first pass the popcorn ‘bin’ and drink machine, then into the private theater with five or six rows of La-Z-Boy style recliners. We found seats first, rather than dealing with the crowd getting drinks and popcorn, and immediately got comfortable. There were two sets of buttons on the chairs: an up and down for the back rest and the same for the foot rest. OMG, whyyyyyyy do we not have this in the states?? Or DO we and I just haven’t discovered it? It was like watching a movie in the comfort of your own home but on a giant screen, in better chairs and with endless movie popcorn and fountain drinks!
As soon as the crowd died down we got some popcorn and a few drinks and settled in for the movie. We were watching Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre…a new movie here about tourists on a whale watching boat just outside the Reykjavik harbor. (I thought it would be fitting to see a movie about Iceland as my last movie in Iceland!) Hahaha the movie was…”awesome” in the worst ways! Very entertaining, I don’t regret seeing it at all–and being in VIP definitely made it more enjoyable! I think we read that they’re trying to sell the movie internationally so I’m interested to see if it ends up in the states! It was for sure a “massacre” movie and had its cheesy parts…it also makes me never want to go whale watching on a run-down boat with a company whose “hours of operation” are unimpressively handwritten and posted in a small shack of an office…oh wait, DUH.
Anyway, VIP did NOT disappoint and I had a wonderful time!
Saturday morning we had practice, but it would be short so Lena and I planned to do some shopping in the afternoon. It turned out to be quite the day! We started by going to her dad’s bike shop and the soccer shop in the Hafnarfjordur mall (to use my “player of the game” gift certificates!) I’d say I did pretty well with my purchases. We continued our shopping adventure with an ice coffee to go (best ice coffee ever) and headed to Kringlan (the big mall in Reykjavik). I managed to finish my gift-shopping and Lena made a few finds, including all red hi-top Converse! I love that everyone wears hi-tops here…
After spending hours at the mall, we went back to Lena’s house for dinner. Her mom had asked if we would like chicken or fish and since I haven’t really had the chance to have fish too often here, we chose that. When we got in, the house smelled delicious and I couldn’t wait to eat. She had made two different kinds of salmon: one with garlic and ginger and the other with peppers and spices, plus we had salad and potatoes… A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. You’d think I’d never eaten fish before, the way I reacted, but it was sooo good! (Dear mom and dad: when I get home, please have some salmon ready for me to season, flavor and grill…)
While we watched the end of the Iceland vs. Norway men’s national game on TV, we topped off our dinner with ice cream filled with Daim candy (bits of toffee covered with chocolate). Lena’s mom MUST want me to come back to Iceland because when Katrin came over to hang out for a bit, she came out with bowls of popcorn!! And I’m talking the good kind…the real popcorn, not microwaved, buttered and seasoned to perfection. Mmm…I told her that if I played well in the game the next day, I was blaming her for her wonderful meal!
Then it was off to bed to dream about beating FH…
Photo album: Random Iceland 2
