I've been working my butt off this past week. We've been at this site called Medalheimur where we have been removing thufars so that we can open the a big cross across the whole site. Thufar removal is a physically intense practice! I have some pics up of whats been going on. I spent today raking grass so that Mike could take it out with the weed wacker... Iceland grass is extremely hard to get rid off... the scythe wasn't enough. So even though we are constantly raking and shoveling, I try not to stop because that's when you feel how cold it is here, around 8 degrees celsius today. We are working a 6 day week this week but I am looking forward to a day off... maybe horseback riding again! Anyway ... check out the new pics, especially the ones of Tess and Pete knife and shovel fighting.

SO today was an amazing day! Besides just bumming around the house and walking around town taking pictures I went horseback riding ... for the first time ever. It was awesome... and my ass is killing me. You can check out tess's pics to see one of me on the horse. The ride was only supposed to be an hour but we got to ride for like and hour and a half all over the countryside and past an AMAZING waterfall. I do have a pic up of the waterfall. (or will if my comp dies before i get to upload them). The weather was nice today to... I was able to sit down by the beach for over an hour and then walk up the small hill behind our house. The water here is so blue, and the sand at the beach is black since its volcanic. There is a small playground I discovered near the house with the same sand in the sand boxes... which are essentially giant kitty litter boxes.... There are cats everywhere! But they all have bells and collars and are extremely friendly. I'm thinking of smuggling one home. Thats all for now...

So today I got to dig at a sight called Stora-Seyla where we dug a huge hole, and where the pictures that I am posting on my sight are mostly from. Anyway... i have to go b/c there is lots to be done... so there was my mini update... oh also its beautiful today!

PS I posted the link to tess's pictures too ... see side menu :o)

SOOOO I can't figure out how to post pics but heres a link to a page I created so you can see them http://www.flickr.com/photos/9592880@N03/

They don't go in order but thats not important.

Anyway, today I got to stay at the house and float soil samples, which was fun with our homemade float tank, of which pictures will be posted soon. And there is this little black kitten who keeps running into our house (who goes by many names: Conrad, Ambrosious, Mitten, Flash, and Bucket) which is fine by me, but John, the director of the project, isn't so cool with it. It was 8 degrees (Celsius) the past few days and rainy, but we worked through it... needless to say the highlight of my day is the hot tub after our showers at night... and delicious soup from the restaurant we have dinner at: Kaffi Kroker.

That's all for now!

I had my first day in the field today!!! I was doing stuff with these things called thufars, which are these obnoxious mounds created from the constant thawing and freezing of the soil. I also got to play with this very expensive machine called a total station to plot points for the site. I'm so exhausted! BUT we went in the hot tub after showering today which was amazing. Also, it was a crystal clear day, which is unusual, and you could see the tops of all the mountains, some with patches of snow at the top. This weekend we are going to try and climb a mountain called Tindastoll which I am really looking forward to! I should have pictures up tomorrow of how amazing it is here!

First few days

We survived the 4.5 hour plane ride and made it to Iceland at 11:40 at night… although with how the sun was it seemed like what 8ish would be back home. After getting our luggage, buying cheap booze at the duty free stop, and going through customs we got in the cars to head out to where we are staying…a 4 hour drive. We made a couple of amazing pit stops first. 1) To a Viking ship, and 2) to the home of Valur and Gudrun, friends of John’s, who let us use their bathroom, and …. SURPRISE … fed us cream filled pancakes, pancakes rolled with sugar inside, hanging leg (awesome smoked lamb) and a jam and oatmeal cake at 2 in the morning. Their view of neighboring Icelandic farms was amazing and the experience in itself was surreal. As we ate we heard stories of the areas history, particularly the history of several churches which ended with local people stealing both the church bell and the church’s silver chalice to keep the treasured symbols in the hands of the locals. We finally got to our place at about 5:30 in the morning and to bed around 8am...
I woke up at 10 though so that I will be tired for tonight before start work tomorrow. We were able to spend the day unpacking and then taking a trip around the area to all the sites that we will work on these next few weeks. Supposedly its really cold today, but this is how I imagined it would be … its something like 43. It's beautiful here as the pictures will show and I feel like I'm in a dream. Its all not that real to me yet. Hopefully I will have more to discuss soon...

Also I will figure out how to add pictures eventually!