the cure for Sunday Sadness

I have much less than the normal dollop of Icelandic Sunday Sadness (it's like normal Sunday Sadness, but with an extra helping of foggy gloom) today, mainly cause I'm getting all fired up to come to Boston. I did some Xmas shopping today and ran into Þorgeir and Magga in Smáralind (the big mall of Iceland). They were happy to see me, and I may be pack muling some stuff for them back to the USA. I just got back from downtown, where I have discovered another great place to hang out. The 3rd floor café at Mál og Menning bookstore on Laugavegi... they made me one fine cup of cappuccino and I sat there and read the Sunday papers in Icelandic (well, "read" might be too strong of a word) and listened to people's humming conversations around me. That is a great bookstore and I ended up spending a long time in there looking at the Xmas releases.

I am feeling like a new wave of comfort is settling in for me here, and maybe some of the unhappiness of the last month is fading away. I guess this culture shock is a funny thing. It happens in waves. But for some reason being able to stumble through 3 words of a 10-word sentence in a newspaper article gives me great comfort and the feeling of being in control of my surroundings.