A Great Family and a Gorgeous Country

Hallo friends and family!

It has been two days since I arrived in the Faroes, and I will tell you that I absolutely love it. I haven't seen much of the world, but if I had to choose the most beautiful place on earth, it would be the Faroe Islands. Whenever I walk outside I keep anticipating a hobbit to pop out and walk around, or some fairies to fly through the air. It feels like a fairytale.

My host family is also so incredible! I couldn't have gotten luckier. They live in a part of Tórshavn called Hoyvík - similar to a neighborhood in the states. Right in front of my house is a body of water - kind of like a pond - but it is actually an old reservoir of fresh water from the very first settlers in the Faroe Islands. When it was built, it was located a long ways away from the town, but now that Tórshavn has grown it is right outside my house! There is a nice path that goes around the reservoir and halfway around the path is Mirjam's house!

This is the reservoir! The black house is Mirjam's house. 

My host family is a lovely family of four. My host mom's name is Bergtóra, my host dad's name is Ragnar and I have two twin host sisters named Beinta and Karin - they are each 12 years old. They also have a little terrier named Sasja - such a sweetheart! I am so thankful to have such a great host family. It has only been two days and I already feel so comfortable in their home. They have already taught me so much, and I believe they will begin speaking to me in Faroese soon! 

The past two days have been packed full of activities! Yesterday was my first full day here. In the morning, Bergtóra, Beinta and I went for a walk down by the ocean with Sasja and Stina - a lively golden retriever they were babysitting. We also walked past the school I will start on Monday. The walk from the school to the ocean only takes 10 minutes! It was great to finally see the ocean. 

The view of Tórshavn on our walk.

Some sheep on our walk.

Sasja (back) and Stina (front).

After our walk, I went to visit Mirjam over at her house to say hello and discuss school next week. Her and some of her family ended up taking me to see the end of a whale killing in a village about 25 minutes away! I understand that the whale killing is a sensitive topic to some, but it is a huge part of the culture in the Faroes. One hundred years ago, the people absolutely depended on the whale catch to survive. Over the years they have reformed rules and regulations about this, so now the whales are killed extremely fast and completely painless. It is the only way it can be done. I only caught the end of a small one, but it was fascinating to watch and hear about. I have pictures, but I will not post them as they are sensitive.

Last night I got to watch reruns of what is called the "Island Games" with my host family. The Island Games happen every other year. This year they were in June, and they were held in Bermuda! The games consist of 24 different island countries competing - Faroe Islands, Greenland, Bermuda, etc - very similar to the olympics. The games in which the Faroe Islands placed in the top three were shown on the Faroese television. At the beginning, the youngest player of each country had a bottle of ocean water from their country and they each dumped theirs into a boat. Then the games started! Although they were very fun to watch, I still think the Faroes should be able to compete in the real olympics. Right now, they have to compete under Denmark. 

This morning, Ragnar, Beinta, Karin, Sasja and I packed up some sandwiches and coffee and drove up to the old radar station on a mountain - the view is what people go to see. Unfortunately, it was much too foggy to see anything in the mountains today so we just enjoyed the fresh air and our sandwiches! The radar station on the Faroe Islands was very important during the Cold War. Here is a video Ragnar showed me before we left - 

The video is by "kovboy film" - check them out on YouTube when you get the chance. They have many other great videos of the Faroes.

Too foggy to see - but still beautiful!

It became a beautiful day once we came down from the mountain! That's the thing about the Faroes - you never know when and how the weather will change. You can have absolutely no visibility and then seconds later you will be able to see the ocean for miles and miles. Downtown Tòrshavn was one of the most charming places I have ever been - and I can't wait to go back. 

A gorgeous day in downtown Tórshavn.

The old part of Tórshavn - from the 1500's!

Tórshavn

Ok. That should be enough reading for all of you. :)

Farvæl! 

Katie