Liquid Crystal

My day began with a delicious Icelandic breakfast of skyr, and lamb/cheese on bread. Skyr was on "Bizarre Foods" as one of the important dishes to try while traveling in Iceland. It is a very creamy substance, somewhat like yogurt! With milk, blueberries, and sugar added to it, it was quite delicious!

Carina's son Benjamin had a test to take at 9:30 in Reykjavik, which was perfect since I had to meet with my diving instructor at that time as well. I arrived just in time to hop in the bus and begin the journey that I've been planning for. I've spent the past month or so getting my dive certification, specifically for this trip. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is visible above water only in Iceland. There is a crack between the two continents, named "Silfra." With the required certification, one can go diving IN this crack. You are literally between the North American and the Eurasian plates. I read of this and just knew that I had to experience it. The water was 2°C, but felt a little warmer with the dry suit on. It took a little while to get used to the suit, as the method of bouyancy control is completely different that what I had learned. Even with that, the dive was amazing. The water is the cleanest and clearest water I will ever see. It melts off a glacier 50 kilometers away, and travels through the mountains for a few hundred years before ending up in Silfra. That entire time, it is just being filtered constantly. Drinking it was pure pleasure! 

Standing in front of "the crack."

After a long, tiring day, I met back up with Carina and we went to the grocery store. Her son Benjamin wanted to have pizza for dinner, so she needed to grab a few ingredients. It was awesome being in a grocery store in a country where a different language is spoken! New Zealand and Australia's grocery stores were rather normal. I enjoyed reading (trying to, I should say) the different labels, and seeing some of the food that both Iceland and America sell. 

In Iceland, people have to buy the plastic bags they use to carry groceries to their car. What a simple way to GO GREEN!


We got back to the house, and began making pizza. Carina surprised me when she laid out a big thing of dough and said, "Here's yours!" Apparently the family each has a pizza, and all the fixings sit in the middle of the table. Then, everyone commences to creating their own masterpiece! This was a fun experience for me, as the ham, cheese, and vegetables mostly looked/tasted a bit different than what I am used to. Luckily, tomatoes will never fail me! The pizza was delicious!!

Stuffed Crust!

Dinner conversation went like this... "So you go to Auburn? How are Toomer's trees doing?" Yea... Iceland people know about our trees. BOOM. WAR EAGLE BABY!!!!

Oh and by the way, the apple pie I brought for Carina was a huge success. She LOVED it, and was so excited that I brought it. I had a small piece and it was YUMMMMY! I'm glad it held up on all the flights, and that it survived being left in the D.C. airport (A stewardess walked through the plane asking who's it was...).