The
INSIDE KLOI Concert
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Great Island Grown events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 George Willis photo
A farm’s own electricity
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VOLUME 35, NUMBER 40 • october 2, 2012
Lions Club helps with an Icelandic dream By Julie Summers Special to the Weekly
All the years I dreamed of going to Iceland, I never imagined my itinerar y would include living with relatives, taking university
classes, and working in a fish factory. But I did all that and more this summer as a participant of the Snorri Program, a cultural exchange experience for North American young
LOPEZ LOBOS Home Games This Week: 10/4 Volleyball 2 pm Soccer 2 pm 10/5 Soccer 2 pm 10/6 Football 2 pm
FILM:5
in a series of 8 showing each Wednesday at 7PM
Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals Wednesday October 3rd 7PM Lopez Library
Are GMO’s safe for children? Educate yourself on how to find dangerous hidden factors in your kids foods.
adults of Icelandic descent. I arrived in Iceland in early June along with 15 other Snorris. Living together in the heart of Reykjavik, it didn’t take long for us to become one big, wacky, Iceland-loving family. Ever y morning, we walked to the University of Iceland for language lessons and lectures on history, culture, geology, and music. We learned about our genealogy, including how we’re all related to Björk, an Icelandic singer-songwriter. We visited Landsbankinn, one of Iceland’s largest banks, to learn about the nation’s 2008 economic collapse and ongoing recovery. We met the American and Canadian ambassadors, climbed 2,999-foot Mt. Esja, viewed original manuscripts of the sagas at the Culture House, and tasted Viking delicacies (including hákarl,
the infamous putrefied shark). On June 17, we celebrated Þjóðhátíðardagurinn, Iceland’s independence day. In the warm glow of Iceland’s perpetually sunlit summer, we explored all that the world’s northernmost capital city has to offer. But at the end of week two, we went our separate ways for a new adventure: the family and work period. Because of Iceland’s small population (currently around 320,000), historic isolation, and amazingly accurate records, it’s quite simple for genealogists to connect people of Icelandic descent to relatives (albeit distant ones) in Iceland. Each Snorri participant was placed with relatives and assigned a job to experience day to day life. My destination was Patreksfjörður, a fishing village located in the wild and isolated Westfjords.
Contributed photo
Julie Summers enjoyed Iceland’s perpetually sunlit summer. After a 40-minute flight, I met my relatives, Hrafnhildur and Sæmundur. They spoke
very little English, and I See ICELAND, page8