My expectations have been shattered. Upon arrival, the landscape was so baffling and barren, I was astounded. I feel as if I´ve been transported to another planet. Here in Egilsstðir, hrossagaukur literally means horse cukooæ it´s a bird that sound like a neighing horse. Surrounding this valley where Vallanes is located, we see tsunami wave high walls of mountains joined by snow capped pyramidal mountains that stretch as far as the eye can see. At midnight, the sun looks as if it has paused mid-sunset, but it actually just dances aloug the horizon to the other side to begin it´s rise high into the sky. The forest that Eymundur, our farmer host, has planted is the first forest planted since the Vikings hulled down all the trees when they came and it is now thick and dense with brush, grasses, and mosses. The weather changes in an instant from icy cold to warm and breezy with the passing of the clouds overhead.
I had been completely mislead about this place because it is so much more stunning and stark than anything I imagined.
I am in love with this place.
Our daily duty is to dig our fingers into soil and laugh when we find big clumps of the horse shit. We joke about shit alot. ;)
We are planting baby vegetables, preparing them to thrive and mature into hearty, organic, and nutritient-rich sustainence in the greenhouses. We treat them with much care, as we bury their roots into the earth.
What I am treasuring most about this experience is the close community we WWOOFers have; we talk about culture, world issues, our different worldviews and societal norms each day as we plant. We serve each other by cooking and cleaning. We laugh hysterically together at dinner. Svavar, our fellow Icelandic WWOOFer tells us about Iceland´s history, plant species, and culture and we are fascinated by his tales and interesting tid bits. We are all learning so much about our world from each other. Among us are 5 Americans, 2 Germans, an Italian man, a basque woman, a french girl, two Norwegians, a South Korean girl, a british lady, and 2 Icelanders. I am so enriched by learning about each one of these friends´ lives, their backgrounds, their different perspectives on life and enjoying their wonderful, unique personalities.
These last three days here have felt like a year. I already don´t want to have to say goodbye to these people and this land. This feels like home and the place where I´m meant to be.
I praise God for giving me this opportunity and for being able to live life alongside these beautiful people.
Right now, people are buzzing in conversations of different languages and music is humming in the background. Our bellies are full of couscous, spanish olive bread, tzatziki sauce, and chickpea salad. The vegetarian diet is treating me well.
I am planning on renting a car with Joanna to drive to a fishing village on the ocean only 30 minutes away this weekend. I also hope to walk to the base of a nearby mountain and start scaling it once of these days. This property is so enormous, it must be thousands of acres large. There is so much space to explore and it is so safe as there are no insects, no animals or even people. ;)
I will let you all know what´s going on sometime soon. We are glad Eymundur has brought us an air card for the communal laptop so we can check in with our loved ones occasionally.
Much love and well wishes for you all.
AnaMichele
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