It has been quite a while since my last blog entry here; nevertheless I believe my excuse to be reasonable and acceptable enough. The story this time leads me quite far away from everything I know and am used to. I am in Iceland and once again all this have started with my tourism studies. In short, my study program requires its students to have not only theoretical but also practical work experience and most of the students chose summer to be the right time to deal with this part of study process. As I had yet at least 11 weeks to do and there was a wonderful chance for us to receive scholarship for internships abroad, I, yet again, made the decision (was not so easy as I had only one week home in-between) to go for someplace outside my beloved Latvia as it is very uncertain when and if ever this kind of opportunity will come on my ways again.
I had several ideas but most of them were now related with heading to North after 8 month living near Balkans which, must say, was great and saturated experience making me fall in love with Central Eastern part of Europe, however with a great feeling it is time to move on at the same time being very sure of returning one day. Great amount (which to me felt something like a million but actually might have been 30-40) of e-mails were then sent to different guesthouses and farmstays around Iceland and Faroe Islands. Somehow I felt I have to go as far and as remote as possible and I guess there is no better option than going for small Scandinavian islands inhabited by few numbers of people. After several week struggle and nail-biting (I NEED to go there!) I received first and only positive response – „Sure, we are waiting you to join our team!”. So, there was not much of a point even unpacking my bag (OK, extra pair of woolen socks and raincoat is a great additional things not to forget if coming here) and off I went.
Everything felt very normal and casual until I was waiting for 15 hours in Oslo. Around 10 minutes before my plane was about to arrive I suddenly realized what this moment is about and what I am about to do – goddamit, I am about to reach the land I have been extremely curious about for many, many years! The plane ride was nice and cozy, as there were not too many people going to Iceland but as the pilot announced that this green-gray-white brown spot we can see below us is Iceland, my heart, I swear, start having a bit more rushed tempo and I felt a small stream of adrenaline rushing through every bit of my body– this time I am going to someplece completely different. Although I have been here thus far for only 1.5 month, I could still collect some small insights and flashbacks of my time and experiences here.
(NOTE: All the pictures below are not my property as I arrived here without any cool gadgets besides my old phone and laptop. Most of the pictures are made by another helper here- Fabio M. who was kind enough to share them with me)
Three words for me to describe Iceland: rough, windy & woooooow.
Work in Iceland. „Keep in mind, that you’re going to internship, not travel adventure and hence it means to work. Do your best and work responsibly” was said somewhere in ERASMUS presentation or something like that. Actually, it has been a very good reminder as sometimes I was more thrilled about all the places and people I am about to see and meet rather than new job experiences I am about to engage with. Anyhow, things were put in places quite straightforwardly. As I arrived in the country lodge (total middle of nowhere, nearest village – 50km away by a gravel road, no public transport, no shops, just sheep, hills, fjords, waterfalls etc. – w o n d e r f u l! ), three other helpers greeted me – „Thank god, we could use some extra working hands here!” and I started with my chores immediately. The first month was not too easy as we were only few kids helping out with everything imaginable around hotel – breakfast, check-in, check-out, housekeeping, cooking, cleaning, washing, serving etc. – and at the end of the day I very rarely had strength to go for a hike or bicycle trip. Also, as this is my first job experience in hospitality sector, it took me some days to learn how everything functions and works around lodge. However, as more helpers have arrived we get more days off (the reason I can write this now) and I have even managed to go on some decent trips!
My place of work and living for this summer – Vogur Country Lodge (the red-white spot far behind the sign & in fron of the hills).
Food of Iceland. As, while being in Hungary, I very obviously gained some extra weight on my belly, I started to become worried. „Chill, no one has ever got fat from eating fish!” my sister, who lived in Iceland during her studies in Akureyri, very convincingly calmed me down. However, now I know that Icelanders are not exactly fish eating nation as it may seem. Reykjavik, for instance, is famous for its hot-dogs and there are fast food restaurants such as Domino Pizza and Subway on lots of its colorful corners. Also here, the food we get or make ourselves is more or less something you could expect to be served in lots of European countries. If speaking about battle „meat vs. veggies”, meat surely is all-time winner and our vegetarian helpers faced a little bit of trouble with diversing their meals. But from the bright side – fish and lamb surely are locally produced and tastes really good, more if prepared by the great chef of our lodge.
Icelanders. As I have hitch-hiked several European countries, in my 2-year travel experience I have met people of all kinds of types and nationalities. If I have to describe Icelanders I would surely call them funny, kind, simple and smart. I hope I will never forget the lovely fisherman/farmer who picked me, my travel mate and 2 other hitch-hikers up on a rainy and foggy day as we were on our way back from Akureyri. „If you want, you can join me, I am taking small circle around this remote road, it will be extra 2 hours on your way, though”. A little bit worried about time limits yet open for whatever comes, we decided to join him and ended up picking rocks by the coast and watching group of seals swimming towards us as we stood on a rocky, green cliff by the very coast up in the north. He and other Icelanders prove me the real meaning of word „hard-working” because here (well, at least in countryside) most of the people are farmers – they know how to make living in surroundings where land is not suitable for growing any kind of food and it means growing sheep, cows, horses, doing fishing etc. As I asked how many people there usually are working at a farm, he replied that only „a couple”, a number which surprised me quite a bit, as sometimes me and my family, being 4 of us, can barely deal with our small gardens, but here a family of few manages to maintain a whole farm. More than that, Icelanders also have very nice and enjoyable sense of humor and once it comes to telling about their land, they will talk A LOT – most of the drivers start to show and explain how this or that mountain has formed, which saga (ancient nordic tales) is related to which place, who was the first person to arrive on Iceland etc. Seems that the history of Iceland is not only preserved by some institutions, but mainly by its own people who by word of mouth and literature are transferring and cherishing this incredibly interesting and valuable legacy. Compared to other European countries, I would not call Icelanders religious. They talk more about ancient gods and relates to Christianity as something that was brought here for a good reason but does not influence their lives too much. Many churches can be found everywhere but, outside of Akureyri and Reikjavik, they still are just simple and small structures once in a while serving their purposes.
Dagverðaneschurch. Built in the 30-ies. As I was told, there used to be community of around 90 people who visited the church back then. Nowadays, the number of people living in this area is very little and hence an event in this church is being held only once a year.
The land. The land itself is very rocky, rough and wild. The weather actually changes within minutes, mostly being gray, rainy and windy. Very little forests, lots of sheep and horses on the way. Incredibly beautiful. Iceland is one of the first lands where I feel how nature is, in fact, a lot stronger and more powerful than human. The land seems so wild and unpredictable that it is very understandable why here are just few main high-ways and towns, rest of the island being pretty much one huge countryside, and how come that there are only about 300 000 inhabitants living here (except for summer-time when there are waaay more tourists than locals). The nature is the one who dictates how people are going to live and work, and I hope there won’t ever be the times of human taming the nature their own ways – a great mistake lots of countries are making in the „developed” Western. But as for the tourists coming here, one has to constantly keep in mind that you should not be just wandering on your own without any previous knowledge and information about the places – quite large number of tourists who have not been careful and prepared enough, needs to be rescued and saved each year.
Me and other helper Shelley, by one of the gazzzilion waterfalls you can find here.
View from our work-place on a sunny day! One does not get these too often.
Ruins of abandoned farm. As traveling around views of farming relics can be seen all around the country.
The day when we thought we could hike but the wind decided to mess up with our plans.
One example of hot spring. Actually not exactly hot but still warm enough on a cold, rainy day.
The culture. Icelandic culture is one of the reasons so many people are praising this land as it has created the music of Bjork and Sigur Ros. Actually, I had no idea about the cultural movement of Iceland until I visited All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Keflavik. Although, estimating by the number of visitors, it was rather small festival, everything was in super-high quality. The line-up was amazing (Interpol, Mogwai, Devendra Banhart and others) and movies curated by Portishead, who gave just stunning performance, were great as well. I think it got as Icelandic it could be, the moment when Bjork casually was eating her sandwich next to me. As reading the newest edition of Reikjavik Grapveine, probably the most independent magazine I have ever hold in my hands, I realized that music, movies and even fashion is something that becomes a great thing in the capital. On the contrary, people of countryside still are staying very simple yet intelligent about the history, tales and traditions of Iceland so thus far everything here seems more or less in balance – Icelanders are producing amazing new stuff at the same time always including some bits and pieces of traditional and particular elements characteristic to this place only. As Western ideas of cultural movements have come in since WWII when British and American military basis were formed in Iceland, the influence can be undoubtedly felt yet seems that Icelanders are doing quite well in terms of staying unusual for rest of the world to admire.