Take me there

Photo by Daniel Bergman

When I was in 4th grade, I first started taking grown-up subjects like chemistry, biology, physics, and history. The Bulgarian education system, however, is besides the point; although it deserves a post some other time. The point is that my favorite subject was geography, all the way until the end of high school. I loved it. I loved coloring contour maps, filling in the green pastures and the brown mountains. More than anything, I loved the pictures and descriptions of lands that were so far away - geographically, culturally, politically - yet in my childhood imagination were so close. Have you ever felt that way?
The final assignment in the 6th grade geography class was to write a report on a foreign country. I chose Iceland. Why? Because my dad had a small book called "The Micro States of Europe" on one of the shelves in his study and it had articles about, well, the micro states of Europe. I swear, half my classmates copied their reports from my dad's book. But I got to pick first and I chose Iceland, because it had the longest report in the book (I was always a nerd!) and the pretties pictures. Black and white pictures, printed on some horrible second-grade paper, with yellowing corners. Yet, they were fantastic. They captured me so intensely, that right then and there I made a vow to myself to visit Iceland before I die. In my 12-year-old brain, that meant I had all of eternity to do it. Maybe I still do, but I need to hurry.

Take me to Iceland, will you? Take my breath away.