Iceland is green, and Greenland is...

As of this morning we have an email confirming that in addition to the Germany AFE tour we will also be doing a 9 day tour of Greenland. We will be heading out on July 3 and returning 11 days later, only a week before we depart for Germany. Now, there are many questions that I along with our other bandmates are wondering, and so I thought I would enlighten you all as to what I have discovered, as I have become a Greenland scholar over the last 24 hours or so.

Q: What language do they speak in Greenland?
A: Lots of different ones. I think it will be hopeless for me to learn Danish, Greenlandic, and Innuit by the time the beginning of July comes around.

Q: What's the weather like?
A: Cold.

Q: What is the Greenland time zone?
A: No such thing. It's too cold.
*EDIT: I just checked, and I think it's 2 hours ahead of us.

Q: What can you do in Greenland?
A: snowshoe and dog sled. And wrangle sharks (...this is true.)

Q: Where will we be playing?
A: Thule Air Base in Greenland... I think it's the only US military base in that country. It is however pretty cool, as it was at one point and time invaluable to the US during the Cold War to intercept messages involving the possibility of nuclear attack.

Q: Where is it located?
A: Not quite sure yet. On the Thule Air Base website it states the base is "695 miles North of the Arctic Circle, and 947 miles south of the North Pole on the Northwest side of the island of Greenland. The base is approximately 550 miles east of the North Magnetic Pole." It also says that "The closest Inuit (native Eskimo) village, Qaanaaq, is 65 miles away." Oh, and that "There is no "off-base" except for the bay, the ice cap, and miles and miles of rock." And "Thule is locked in by ice 9 months out of the year."


All joking aside though, I'm super pumped about this trip. Never having truly been out of the country, the opportunity to go ANYWHERE is incredible for me, but being able to visit somewhere I never ever thought I would seems unbelievable. And maybe I'll see a polar bear. Either way, I still have a lot of research to do on this place.


On one other note, Bently has been doing much better and is back to normal. We opted not to go with the surgery unless we find that this 'problem' he has acts up again, as it very well could have been a freak accident. And he's a very happy dog without having a procedure to alter his life.

Other than that... not much going on. Just practicing, German-ing, and hanging out. Working the Greek Fest tonight with my friend Megan and Kaleena, hoping to check out the Taste of Syracuse this weekend, and spending time with Michael, and Brian (who is coming to all our AFE tours with us as our manager). Tons more other stuff going on that I will fill you in with at a later date.