After breakfast I went for a run with four other students and we ran about four miles down the road. We didn't see one car. (In fact, to get to the part of the fjord we're staying in you have to drive through a several kilometer long tunnel that was blasted through the side of a mountain. Most of it is only one lane, so people traveling towards the fjord have to pull into the periodic turn-ins on the right to let the other car pass. It's rather inconvenient and if you're driving to the fjord it can take a while since you usually meet at least a few cars.)
Anyways, we ran about four miles up the road and stopped at a boat shed along the water. We skipped some rocks and found a dead raven (that was huge) and then headed back. It was sprinkling part of the way, and there's one area we ran through that apparently is some birds' nesting grounds. There were swarms of them swooping overhead screeching very loudly. They're known to be quite aggressive and strike the top of your head. Luckily, since there were five of us they didn't attack any of us.
I took a shower when we returned to our house and then I headed to the grocery store. We are split into groups for cooking and cleaning, and my group of four just happened to have the honor of cooking Fourth of July dinner. We decided to go all American and cook burgers, hot dogs and french fries. So, Caitlin drove us to the local Bonus (on the other side of the tunnel) and we spent about an hour trying to find everything. We were cooking for twenty people and had a budget of 15,000 krona (about $120). It took us a while to find everything (especially the veggie burgers since we have some vegetarians and vegans on the trip) but we eventually purchased everything with a few hundred krona to spare.
It took us forever to drive back through the tunnel but when we got home my group got to work cooking dinner. Nina and I cooked the french fries in the ovens and prepared all of the fix-ins for the burgers and hot dogs while the other two in our group grilled the meat. Everyone enjoyed our meal and for dessert we tried a recipe that one of the host families in Akureyri used. Basically, you cut a banana down the middle (with the peel still on) and insert a few chunks of chocolate. Then, you wrap the banana in aluminum foil and grill it until the banana is mushy and the chocolate melts. You can put whipped cream or ice cream on the banana once it's cooked.
Once the kitchen was cleaned we decided to be super patriotic and play baseball. All that we could find was a tiny bat, a tennis ball, and buckets for bases. We actually played nine innings and braved the cold and the temporary drizzle. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and my team won 7-5.
Nina up at bat
Our beautiful baseball field
My view from first base
The rest of the evening we just hung out in the living room and I began a game of hearts with a few other people while we listened to a symphony from Austria playing on the TV. There was a chandelier with candles that we lit to make things even more classy.
Tomorrow we wake up early to leave at 9 am for the University Centre at the Westfjords for a few lectures and then we're going to see a micro-hydropower project at a local farm.
Happy Independence Day!
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