As of tonight, Christmas is officially over in Iceland. Today, January 6th, is called Þrettándinn (the 13th night). The last Jólasveinar (Yule Lad), Kertasníkir (Candle Stealer) goes home to the mountains.
Jólasveinar
Tonight the Icelanders will finish blowing up lots more fireworks to celebrate the last day of Christmas. Jeff and I arrived in Iceland the morning of December 28th. Since arriving, there have been LOTS of fireworks every single day and night. Seriously, just on the random nights, there are more fireworks shot off here than back in Detroit Lakes for the big 4th of July celebration.
On New Year’s Eve, the fireworks were amazing. I thought afterwards that every firework on the planet had been shot off ….. but it is not so …… Icelanders continue to shoot off fireworks every single night before and after New Year’s Eve. Tonight is the last night that they are allowed and some friends have told me that it will be another amazing night of watching the fireworks. It is beautiful and totally awe-inspiring (unless you are trying to sleep)!
There are cows talking, elves dancing, seals without their skins and walking around like people. Jeff says that this happens because of all the fireworks and the partying ….. but he needs to spend more time here, I think. :)
Sunrise is at 11:13 a.m. Sunset is at 3:55 p.m. Each day, it increases by a few minutes. Back in North Dakota, the sunrise/sunset is 8:13 a.m. and 4:54 p.m., so a full 4 hours more of sunlight, which is almost double. However, the weather has been brutally cold in North Dakota. Here in Iceland, it has been mild and just hovering around freezing but the short amount of daylight and the cloudy skies make a big difference, too.
Tomorrow is the day I give a presentation at the Main Building, University of Iceland (Hátíðasal Háskóli Íslands). So hopefully, I can get some sleep.
Háskóli Íslands