Pros and Cons

I am now past a week in, and it is time for some pros and cons about life in Iceland.

CON:  Everything smells like eggs and farts.
Okay, that's an extreme exaggeration.  Anytime hot water is involved, it smells like eggs and farts.  Mostly eggs (which I guess is the preferred balance), which is why I haven't had a single egg while I've been here.  The smell is because...

PRO: Iceland heats all its houses and water via natural hot springs!  Well done, Iceland!

CON:  So far the food that I have tried is...not great.  For example, during our Saturday excursion, we stopped for sandwiches...which were swimming in weird pickly mayonnaise sauces.  Not pleasant. There are exceptions, however, such as...

PRO: SKYR.  Skyr is amazing.  It's yoghurt, but better than yoghurt.  It's technically a cheese, I think.  It's also like Lembas bread - I have a little espresso cup-full and I'm stuffed.  The honey is also really nice here.  To be fair, I haven't tried too many things.  I'm really excited to try pylsur, the lamb-based hotdogs.  I also haven't gone to a restaurant, yet, because...

CON:  Things are expensive in Iceland!!! I thought, coming from New York, that things would be less expensive.  Nope.  They are about the same price.  Looking at the menus for local restaurants, many of them don't offer main courses under $25 or so.  It's crazy.  But hopefully I'll try a few restaurants when ZOE COMES THIS WEEKEND!

PRO: At least, despite the price, the currency makes you feel like a king.  100 Icelandic krona is the equivalent of about $0.75, so I regularly walk around with 10,000 krona in my pocket.

CON:  The internet in my flat is atrocious.  It doesn't reach my room, so I have to either work at the kitchen table or in Alicia's room, which she very graciously allows me to do (Study party!).  Even then, it doesn't work very well.  I can't really watch videos, and it cuts in and out.

PRO: I have awesome roommates to amuse me!  And there is internet at the school.

PRO:  Unlike in snooty cities like Paris, people in Reykjavik seem perfectly happy to let you struggle through their language without interrupting in English, despite the fact that they all speak English.  It's very supportive.

PRO: Um, it's gorgeous here.

I think I shall continuously edit this post as the month goes on.  But this gives you a taste of daily life!