Talk about dedication

This has been a busy weekend for me. Big surprise ... I went home for the weekend! I left Glasgow early on the morning of October 26th, Friday and my plane landed just after 12 o'clock noon. We headed straight home, but had a short stop at a shop (try saying this five times in a row really fast) before I lugged my luggage in the front door at home. Which was as well, because as soon as we had closed the doors the weather went beserk. The closest I can come to describing it is ... it was a blizzard. Now, my dear friends Margrét and Guðbjört had had their birthday's earlier in the month, but I hadn't posted their birthday gifts because I just knew it would get lost in the post like everything else around here does, so I wasn't taking any chances and brought them home with me. But I didn't tell my friends that I was coming. So I had to cleverly engineer it so that they would come to collect their presents without giving it away that I would be there. Somehow I did manage it, but obviously they wanted to make sure someone was at home and that they would not be bothering any one, they phoned the house on Friday afternoon so I couldn't contain myself any longer and answered the phoone. It took my friend a while to figure out who it was that answered the phone, she was absolutely flabbergasted that it was me and demanded to know what I was doing on this phone. Wonderful. They dropped by for a few minutes and then headed off with their presents which I understand they are quite happy with. We decided to try to get together tomorrow evening and off they went. Because I knew I was only going to be here for a very few moments, I decided to use them as well as I could. I phoned up a friend of mine and asked if I could come visit (provided that someone would come and get me, I know, I am sooo cheeky) and then spent the remainder of the evening in good company with friends drinking mojito cockteil that my friend expertly whipped up.

On Saturday I lay in bed for as long as I could, I missed it so much. But in the end I had to get up if we were going to do anything fun today. Firstly we went shopping, not so much fun because I didn't find anything to shop so it defeted the purpose of going shopping. Then we went overe to my grandmother and I took the opportunity of getting my hands on a hamburger from a hamburgerjoint just accross from my grandmothers home. Oooh, that was lovely! After visiting with my grandmother for a moment we headed home where I crashed in my bed for a few minutes before we headed to my brothers. He had invited us over for dinner which was again very lovely. And this makes me ashamed of not having remembered to mention the wonderful dinner I got at home from mom on Friday. It was amazing, Icelandic lamb at its best ... on the table in front of me!
After dinner my friends Margrét and Guðbjört came to pick me up and we basically skidded down the hill to Guðbjört's new place, which is being made up or at least made inhabitable. So the next hour or so we spent discussing and commenting on what colour the kitchen cabinets should be in, sadly we didn't even come close to a solution. But on the other hand it will make it much more fun when I come hom for the holidays to see what has become of it. It was obvious that Saturday marked the first day of winter, because ice was forming on the roads and making driving more difficult but we managed.

On Sunday, I didn't do anything really, or nothin interesting at least. I woke up around ten, or half past and just lay there taking it easy. Around noon I got up and dressed and was just starting to pack when my brother and family came to say goodbye. Probably the worst thing of being here in Glasgow is not seeing Katrín, my niece, more often, but it is only about 6 - 7 weeks until I go home for Christmas so that's bearable. I finished packing around two and shortly thereafter we left home to drive to the airport. We arrived there two hours on the clock before my plane was scheduled to leave, so when I had checked into my flight I said my goodbyes to mom and dad and headed off home ... again.

The flight was uneventful and I managed to get my luggage very shortly after arriving in the terminal and so I reached my room shortly after 8 o'clock pm. Almost as soon as my brilliant behind hit the chair I began my Latin homework for Monday. I didn't stop until I had finished my 25 sentences. Which meant that I didn't finish until quarter past twelve in the morning ... and that is when I unpacked my suitcase. So yes, talk about dedication. My friend Catriona was very impressed that I had actually managed to do the homework at all, with me being out of the country and all. She had barely managed but that is so understandable, most of the sentences I translated were just gibberish which I twisted and turned around until they resembled a sentence, and most of the time it wasn't 100% correct but it wasn't 100% wrong either. But we found out today at Latin that most of us had difficulty with this translation because we definitely weren't prepared enough for the excercise. But I am digressing, I finished unpacking in record time and got into bed. But I knew because I was so worked up from doing my Latin I wouldn't be able to fall asleep right away so I watched some television before switching off both the television and my brain.

This was a wonderful weekend which will sustain me until I come home for Christmas. It was great to be able to see my friends even though it was for such a short and unexpected time. But it is also good to be back in Glasgow and seeing my friends today was great fun as well. I brought them Kleinur from home to introduce them to Icelandic bakkelsi and they loved it we finished the bag. I promised I would bring more treats for them in the coming days so they have in turn promised to be nice to me.

Until next, behave!

Imaginary friends ... or I am hearing voices

The disturbing news is that since starting my year at Glasgow again and this time with no Árdísi next door, I have started to have these very riveting conversations with myself. My friend Sandra, said that it was ok, the only thing I had to watch out for was when I would start answering myself as well, then I would have something to worry about. Well, I am way past that threshold, becuase not only do I talk to myself, it is almost more like having imaginary friends traipsing around my brain. Because I assign each and every voice sometimes a new voice, so that one voice sounds like Catriona, who is the more dominant voice right now, another sounds like Sharon, then there is Claire and I also have Sandra when I am feeling decidedly English. This is quite bizarre but quite entertaining and very exciting as well, and thank God no one else can overhear, that would be quite awkward. Don't worry, the voices aren't making me do anything dodgy or strange, and they never start the conversation, it depends on me. So I am hoping that is a good sign in this madness. But I truly think that my brain is distancing itself from me because that is the only other explanation I have or that I am going senile.

I have turned into the nutty professor!

Excuses, excuses

Yes, I am sooooo using the internet as an excuse of not studying. Especially right now. I am reading through Economic Archeology and if anyone else thinks this is an oxymoron phrase, welcome to the club. This is more boring and painful than going to the dentist. I have not even completed my first chapter in the exciting book of Dark Age Economics, that I have come to the conclusion that archeologist are pompus assess, too full of themselves to even want to consider other fields of studies to help their research unless it is as boring and stuffy and them and that is ... whohey, you got it economics. These two groups work well together to try to fit everything in neat little boxes of organisation and administrative bodies. The statements of you need at least this many people in a community of planned streets and A MINT (here in the context of coins or coinage) along with religious center and judicial system to make an acceptable town to be worthy of their scrutiny. I am quite tempted to use a lot of adjectives describing the text and the author and other scholars mentioned in the text in very explicit and unflattering manner but because I like to keep things from being x-rated I will refrain from it. Just know that I am pissed off and in no way wanting to continue reading. But this will hopefully be my only day reading about economic archeology because I am going away for the weekend and am not going to be spending much time on my studies except, I optimistically state, on the flight to and from my place of destination!
There the rant of October finished and now I have to get back to work.