I just noticed that it has been a month since my last blog post, and I haven't shared anything with you about my Christmas break. It went way beyond what I had imagined, in the best way possible.
Being away from home over Christmas for the first time in my life, I thought for sure I would be homesick. To my surprise, I wasn't homesick at all. Or at least the minimal level of my homesickness didn't measure up to what I was warned about. I have been struggling to figure out why this is, and the only conclusion I can come up with is that the Faroes have become a home to me. I missed my traditions and family members back in Minnesota, but now I know that I can call two places in opposite parts of the world my home.
You might remember me saying that Christmas is three days long in the Faroe Islands. Wow, is that ever true. There is "Jólaaftan" (Christmas Eve), "Jóladagur" (Christmas Day), and "Annanjóladagur" (Another? Christmas Day). Every day was packed full of family, friends, traditions, and great, but also different, meals.
On Jólaaftan, we stayed here at our house in Argir. We spent most of the day relaxing, admiring presents under the tree that were to be opened that evening, and preparing for dinner that night. Dinner... now that's something to tell you about the Faroese culture. The most loved and traditional Faroese food is at it's prime right around Christmastime, and we ate it for many, many days. It is called "ræstkjøt". In short, it's fermented sheep meat. The sheep hunting season is in October, so these sheep have been in the shed for about two and a half months just hanging there and fermenting. At Christmas they take the sheep out, cut it, put it in a pot with some water, and let it cook all day. It gives the house a very welcoming smell... Then you throw some salt on it, add some potatoes, and it doesn't taste half bad. I can say from the bottom of my heart that I enjoyed it. The smell is revolting, but I give the taste four stars.
Another food that is typical in the Faroes around Christmas is "rísalamande". They usually eat it after dinner as a type of desert. It's basically just rice boiled with milk and some other ingredients, and then you can put caramel or berry sauce on it if you choose. The tradition with rísalamande is that an almond is hidden inside, and the person who finds the almond in their serving wins a gift. I don't know how, but I found the almond on all three days of Christmas when we had rísalamande!
In the evening on jólaaftan, we opened presents and relaxed by the Christmas tree. Opening presents on Christmas Eve night instead of Christmas morning was a different tradition for me, but all in all it was very "hugnaligt", and a fantastic jólaaftan.
On jóladagur, we went out to my host dad's parents house in Vestmanna and ate just about the same thing as the previous day. On annanjóladagur, we went back to Vestmanna to my host dad's brothers house and ate ræstkjøt... again. A lot of laundry had to be done after these three days, because the smell of ræstkjøt stays in the clothes for quite some time.
The night of annanjóladagur is the night that all the young people go to town after all the Christmas festivities are over. So, you guessed it, 13e had a class party! It was a lot of fun and great to see all of them after the Christmas holiday.
Our Christmas tree on jólaaftan - "jólatræ"
Ræstkjøt - mmmm
Rísalamande - I found the almond in here
After Christmas comes the new year! New Years in the Faroe Islands was loud. The Faroese people LOVE fireworks. I don't think I have ever seen/heard so many fireworks in my life. They went for about three days in a row surrounding NYE. Holy cow. At one point during the day on the 31st, there were some people standing in the grass on the hill next to my house. I asked my host dad what they were doing, and he said they were getting ready to light "2014" on fire in the grass so that everyone in Tórshavn could see it. It was actually really cool, because I could see it from where I was later that evening. It was a fun NYE spent with family first, and friends later. A great way to bring in the new year.
One of the many fireworks on NYE in the Faroe Islands
My friend, Rakul Maria and I on NYE
After New Years, I came to the realization that my exchange is almost half over. I had the dream one night that I was back in America, sitting in class, and everyone around me was speaking english. Terrified thinking that my exchange had already ended, I got up from class and ran down the hallway crying. I woke up and was much more thankful for how much time I have left here, and the amazing things yet to come. The members I have added to my "extended" family, the friends I have gotten to know, the stores and restaurants I go to regularly, and even the same five bums that sit at the city center bus stop all day have become a huge part of my life. An exchange year splits your life into two vastly different parts of the world forever, and it's absolutely terrible and absolutely wonderful. There is nothing like it.
To my family and friends in the Faroe Islands - I can't thank you enough for making my Christmas and New Year's in the Faroe Islands as incredible as it was. Here's to 2014 and a great second half of a Faroese exchange year.
Until next time,
Katie
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