Iceland - Day 12

We headed into Reykavìk about noon to have lunch at the furniture store again. The cafeteria at Ikea has proven to be good food at the chepeast price we have found. As we drove I thought again how driving here differs from Georgia. The roads in Iceland have been good, even those that are gravel. The traffic in Reykjavìk has been brisk city driving but nothing hair-raising like Atlanta. but there are still a few oddities. Some intersections in downtown Reykavìk have traffic lights, but everywhere else the norm is traffic circles. Jimmie is used to those in Africa but I still find them strange, especially since the car in the inner lane of the circle has the right of way. You really have to watch carefully so I'm glad I am not doing the driving.

There are also the road signs in Icelandic with street names 12 syllables long and completely unpronounceable to American tongues, but we try anyway. Other signs use pictures a little easier to decipher, such as the steep hillside with rocks falling. Some signs on the busy divided highway in downtown Reykjavìk, though, have made me laugh. According to the pictures farm tractors are prohibited during morning and afternoon rush hours - but cars must always yield to pedestrians or horse-back riders so I guess they are welcome at all times. With a posted speed of 90 kph I just can't imagine any of those being able to keep up.

There is also another custom here that did not seem unusual to me since it was the practice in Samoa. Everyone takes off their shoes at the front door when entering a home. Of course, guys in snowboots have a harder time of it here. In Samoa everyone wore flip-flops.

Worship with the brethren went well this evening. We met at 4:30 for Bible class, probably the first one the children have had. We sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in Icelandic. They were not familiar with it but the tune is easy. Then the children taught Katrece and me "Jesùs Er Bestí Vinur Barnanna" (Jesus is the best friend of children). We used bread and fish for visuals as Katrece told them how Jesus fed the 5,000 then the children colored a picture of the loaves and fish. It was not a bad class, especially considering that we had to put it together hurriedly with very little at our disposal. We will be sad to leave these sweet children and brethren behind on Tuesday.

- Linda