Sept. 27-28

Hm, things are so much less exciting when you are paying for a room. On the 27th, woke up, chatted with some people at the hostel over breakfast, did some reading, and asked the woman at the front desk where I could acquire some propane. She went in back, returned with a full cannister that someone had left. Free? Fantastic. Headed to the library. Only the university library open on Sunday. Went there, tried to pay for a couple hours of internet, their system was messed up, but they referred me to a couple of computers that have free access for 15 minutes at a time. So spent a while writing emails, looking for possible places to stay or work, and waiting for the computer to automatically restart every 15. Rode around town, resupplied, ate dinner, and fell asleep really early.
Woke up next morning, showered, packed up my stuff, headed to the library for more clerical duties. Got an email back from the people I contacted about volunteering at a music festival called Iceland Airwaves. Said that all spots were full, but they'd see what they could do. A beautiful cloudless, windless day, so I made sure to roam around aimlessly for a while. Gave the music festival people a call, and scheduled an interview downtown. Through an organization called Worldwide Friends, and they organize work camps all around; Iceland Airwaves was just one of the events they participated in. Met with the organizers, Toti and Iris, and after knowing my age, name, and experience with Habitat for Humanity, told me I had a spot and that I could grab a bed upstairs. This seems too easy... Cult? Nah, they just recognize great talent when they see it. Met some people in the house that had just finished up working for the film festival, and were leaving in a day or so. People from Scottland, Serbia, Greece, Germany, Boston, and so on. All had a positive experience in volunteering. I find out my job is as one of the 4 volunteer leaders for the festival, with 33 total. This means free stay at the house. Well, some cleaning duties until the festival begins, but this great. Hang out at the house, which is right downtown, go and purchase myself a celebratory sketchbook and some pens. Go out to eat with a group of the people here. Have seafood on a skewer. We ordered cod, monkfish, scallop, and Mink whale. Whelp, the first three were delicious. Go on to the whale, and it tastes like steak from a cow thats been swimming around in the ocean, seasoned with a pinch of guilt. Its not endangered or anything, but whaling is such a taboo act that I can't help but feel like I am doing something inherently evil. It was pretty good, though.