Volcanic Iceland

My life long quest to climb to the crater of volcano has been fulfilled. It only took 26 years and a hop and skip over to the lovely island of Iceland, and it was definitely worth the wait. The name Grabrok will be imprinted in my memory as the name of the volcano that forever changed my life. Joke, I will probably have forgotten that name by the time I go to sleep tonight, but that's only because I have a terrible memory.

Iceland was really great fun. I stayed with my friend Jade and a lovely Icelandic family with an adorable 5 year old son name Greta.. You can hear him proudly singing about the different colours of the rainbow in Icelandic on the Language Landscape website. In addition, below is a different kind of map, inspired by the use of Greta's crayola crayons. It shows the various exploratory routes taken during our stay, starting from the midnight journey from Keflavik to Borgarnes.

If you know anything about Iceland, you can see that I have not included any of the main tourist attractions which are located in the southern part of Iceland, otherwise known as the "Golden Triangle". That is because I did not go to this part, *GASP* rather spent most of my time hanging about Borgarnes, indulging in wonderful hospitality, rich culture and cosy (huggulegt) atmosphere. I throroughly recommend visiting Borgarnes and spending a couple days getting to know the area and the lovely people. Think farmer's markets, meeting the lovely mothers and grannies who make those wonderful Icelandic sweaters, and spectacular mountain views. I have to admit that after spending a week basking in the views of Borgarnes, I was slightly let down by Reykjavik. Although it is a quirky, vibrant city overflowing with creativity and light-hearted banter, it offers very little compared to the energy and magnetism you acquire from spending time in the mountains. Then again, I do love my landscapes.

Other than the trip to Grabrok, we also explored the Snaefells Penninsula which has its own mini glacier, hot springs as well as volcanic fields and beaches. Part of the magic of exploring the landscapes of Iceland are the stories which accompany each rock formation (the troll who had a tantrum and threw a bunch of rocks into the fjord) haunted farm-house (Iceland's last serial killer lived in Budir in the 1800s), and fjord (the man who was turned into a whale by a fairy as a form of punishment for being greedy and not helping his fellow countrymen in times of need).  I only wish I had had my audio recorder on me at all times to document all the stories I heard.

Guatemala City

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Home sweet home.

Back in the family pod, the tunes of a melancholy piano echoing through the house, clutter of ethnic knick knacks and pillows, cat hair, and an assortment of unconventional objects making up pieces of furniture. Wheels, doors and windows used as tables, an ox yolk as a shelf, a camel saddle bag doubling as a kitty bed and a scratching post. It became official as soon as I finished moving furniture in my room around, rearranging, assimilating, hiding – managed to hide a whole bed in the closet. Then came the overwhelming urge to sweep, dust and hoover, and before I knew it the whole house was clean. Then I ate a mango. A juicy, sweet, bright orange mango.

Hadn't been been back an hour and had already been coaxed into the candle pose, spinal cord realigned (never heard so much cracking in my life) and informed that we'd be making a trip to El Salvador in a couple days. That never happened though since the next day both parents fell ill to a particularly nasty strain of the flu and were rendered immovable for a week.

Life in Guatemala City is strangely domestic after exploring the cultural wonders of the world. Family dinners, cat hair, early morning rush to get to work/school/indigenous tribes, packed lunches varying in size depending on who packs them, weekend trips to see the grandparents, dealing with teenage emotional dilemmas. Everyone here is so emotional. A certain knowledge of etique is definitely lacking on my part.

You can´t say life isn´t rich and exciting though. This morning´s drive to work down that horribly congested Carretera El Salvador into the valley was made less tedious by occasional glimpses of the  Agua, Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes, the morning´s cool temperatures keeping visibility clear. Just like the view of the Himalayas, I can´t get enough of the volcanoes here.