When the sun doesn't set in the summer, Icelanders spend a lot of time outdoors to take advantage of the sunshine and warmer weather. To help with sleeping, people use heavy curtains and/or sleep masks to block out the light.
In the winter, even though Ísafjörður doesn't get direct sunlight, the sky still gets light for a few hours. When the weather is good, people enjoy walking outside during this short window of light because it's important not to stay indoors in the dark all the time. Ísfirðingar also love to decorate their homes with lots of lights in the holiday season to make up for the darkness outside.
To avoid the health effects of too little sunlight, Icelanders traditionally would eat cod liver oil (cod is a type of fish) to get the right vitamins. It has a strong taste, though, so now some Icelanders take pills or flavored drops instead (I take vitamin pills every morning). When the sun does finally come back and touch the town again on January 25th, Ísfirðingar celebrate by eating lots of delicious pönnukökur (PU-noo-KU-kur), Icelandic pancakes, with jam or sugar. Yum!
