These last two weeks here at Vallanes have flown by. I have had so many wonderful experiences and meaningful conversations to remember for each and every day here, but I am already cherishing every moment here. It feels so normal to live here, work every day, fellowship in the evenings and go adventuring on the weekends, sometimes I forget this isn't everyday life for me. Here at the farm, we have become a tight family. As people are beginning to leave, one by one, we are sad to part ways and talk often about how unique our experiences WOOFing here is because we have lived life together and each day has been special because of the people we live it with.
I am so blown away by what an incredible experience it has been building lasting friendships with these people. I love them all dearly and am sad to have to say goodbye in a few days.
Every workday for the last two weeks, I have been pricking (planting seedlings into trays that are put in the greenhouse to grow). We filled up both greenhouses at the end of last week and were very excited about that. Our host gave us the weekend off for the second time (we usually only get Sundays off) because we did such good work during the week. Last Friday night, we celebrated two weeks of hard work and each other's company as some people were leaving last weekend. Our house (The Monster House) cooked a few side dishes and some chicken (a novelty for us at this Vegetarian farm) and we all gathered in a greenhouse called The Lemon House for a dinner together with Eymundur, his wife, and a few random guests from their guesthouses that showed up as well. Eymi shared his famous barley gin and some other interesting alcoholic drinks with us as a special treat. I've discovered I don't like gin or beer that much. We had a good time together enjoying a meal and celebrating our french friend, Margo's fake birthday (just a reason to throw a party really) with cake and lots of cheers. It was a fun night and well deserved after our week of labor.
As we begin this new week, we are planting the grown seedlings in the earth and doing some other odd jobs as well. Today I did some heavy lifting, moving treebranches from the trees they were trimmed from and piling them up to be chopped into mulch for the gardens later. We are pretty exhausted after today's work, especially as we are working in the cold, rainy weather. Our host, Eymundur, tells us this is the coldest May they've had since 1979 (the same year he began farming here at Vallanes!). I'm pretty sure I'm not the only WWOOFer here who's getting pretty sick of the cold.
We've had a few freak nice days with sun and a bit of warmth, but no warmer than in the 50 degree range.
Last weekend, the four of us rented a car from a friend of Eymundur's for just $25/day and headed to two fjord towns within a couple hours away. Our brave Tess drove us up snowy mountains and along the ring road in our little manual car we named Edna. Saturday we went to the picturesque town named Seydisfjordur here we lunched in a cute cafe called Cafe Skaftafell and met some American art sstudents, then we walked the cute town and took photos of the colorful sail boats. We also ran around at the base of the large waterfall we stumbled upon right near the town. This country is really the land of waterfalls. We love driving around here and how much the landscape can change in a matter of miles on the road. When we drove back from that town, we decided to keep going past our farm and we pulled over by a large river and walked around the black sand beach and took in the sscenery. After that, we drove in and 'went chasing waterfalls' (we found three more within a mile of each other!), singing songs and taking silly selfies. Finally, we pulled over to visit and pet some Icelandic horses before heading home. The following day, we traveled to another fjord town a bit further away called Neskaupstaður where we bought some typical hot dogs and candy at a gas station and are then staring at the stunning teal sea and stark mountains. We drove to the end of the small town and stumbled across a nature park trail that overlooked sheer cliffs on the edge of the coast next to yet another waterfall that rushed into the sea. We breathed in the gorgeous view and fresh sea air and walked around for a bit before heading back along the road through a mountain and along the coast back home.
This weekend, after our long work week, we were happy to adventure together yet again. We got our faithful Edna again and headed north to the town of Mývatn, setting out for the natural sulphur baths there. Along the way, we were delighted to stumble across a suloher geyser at the base of colorful, rhyolite moutains, just on the side of the road! We took photos of that enchanting place and headed to the baths. We were happy to get a student discount for our entrance fee (which was also surprisingly cheap!) and we spent the next two hours relaxing in the natural, milky blue waters of the spring. We drove back happy and relaxed after this fun adventure, our bellies full of pizza and ice cream that we had for dinner. Yesterday, we relaxed at home together as a house and then went on a mini adventure to the grocery store for ccheese doodles and chicken and went to a small little restaurant in town. In the evening, the four of us headed to a nearby horse farm to let them and go on a guided horse 🐎 tour! Tess, Kathryn and I got a quick horse riding lesson and went off on a guided tour. The Icelandic horses are so sweet and it was such a cool experience to survey the beautiful landscape atop their backs, trotting and galloping through the fields at the base of the mountains. Our guide was so kind and when we got back, he rushed over to a sheep to deliver her baby and we got to witness that incredible moment! It was so cool to see the baby lamb be born and, within a matter of minutes, start walking!! He explained to us that since sheep are so defenseless, their bodies are able to adapt and grow rapidly so that within a matter of days, the sheep are almost impossible to catch! He gave us a really great price for the tour and we were so thankful for getting such an awesome experience.
Now we are looking forward to what adventures lay ahead after Joanna and I part ways with Tess and Kathryn and head on to see the rest of the island for 11 days. :)
I'll keep you all updated on our future voyages and excursions in Ísland!
💕 AnaMichele
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