Advent 2010 XI: Reminiscing

It is now my fourth day of the camp as I write this. On Saturday we stood on Laugavegur – the main street in RVK – giving out hot chocolate to passers by and asking them to give a donation to the Icelandic Red Cross. I was paired with a South Korean girl called Sing-Sing. Despite the fact that we had not decorations and, most of the time, no hot chocolate, we did pretty good work. Sing-Sing was very enthusiastic, and I spoke more Icelandic than I think I have in my whole time here. On Sunday I worked with James AKA Jimbo well as two other girls (Debby, a very shy New Yorker and Sony, a German living in Barcelona) in a Christmas market which was raising money for an organic village for people with mental disabilities called Solheima. I got a t-shirt which reads in Icelandic “I am a friend of Solheima”. And yesterday after much indecision on my behalf I went with others to the Blue Lagoon. It was not worth the price. 5500 kr – about £35 - just to swim in a blue pool? No, I don’t recommend it.

I am starting to realise how much Iceland means to me and how much I will miss it, and I already am planning my next trip here. Also I am planning vaguely in my mind a trip around Europe to visit all the amazing people I came to know here in Eyrarbakki in the summer.

But I’m not stupid – I won’t write it off just yet. Instead I will quietly love Iceland and when I’m lonely, reminisce. And also I will do things with these people and wait for relationships to develop.

One saving grace is that I have my guitar. When I play I feel safe and comfortable, and as there’s a bloke here who is a musical wonder, full of energy and ideas and life, playing together is really great.

Don’t think I’m having a bad time! Sometimes I feel a little lonely, but most of the time I am happy to experience it in my way, knowing Iceland a little more, observing people and of course talking to them too. I’m not shy, just coming at the camp from a different direction to the others which may be why it’s taking me a bit longer to fall in.

Here are some photos for the Advent calendar

Giving hot chocolate to reluctant Icelanders.
View from Hallgrimskirkja in the direction of our house.

Advent 2010 X: Hver er i Reykjavikur?

…ég er í Reykjavíur!
Everything went supremely smoothly of course and now I’m in Reykjavik again. SEEDS house (this is a different one to the October one) is good and five minutes after arrival I was painting signs with a bunch of other volunteers, after which we played cards and now I’m in an internet cafe updating this here blogsicle.

Mine are the blue one on the top row, the third one in the third row (mainly hidden by a bench), and the first and third in the fourth row. I’m a very productive painter :P
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Fröhliche Weihnachten & Gleðileg Jol!
xxxF

Advent 2010 IX: Ready to Say Goodbye

I’m off tomorrow, and I think that saying good-bye has never been easier… But I know that when I’m in Reykjavik, my access to the internet will be briefer and more infrequent than it is at present. So partly as a celebration of my last day, and partly to make up for all the days I expect I’ll miss, I took a photo an hour today to show you how I spent it. I hope you enjoy the photos, and the song above which is currently my earworm.

My alarm was set for 8:00, as it has been for over a month. And for over a month I have not been out of bed before 9:20.

Last Adventbreakfast of this style, and I ate a roll with Nutella. The world outside has been eaten by fog.

Writing letters and birthday cards to friends and family. ‘Shanastasia Olavale’ is of course not a real name; it’s a mixture of two of my friends who are so close they’re practically one person!

Setting my earphones in their rightful place, ready to listen to outpourings from the world of British comedy as I go one a walking mission to Selfoss.

Stopping off at Lóa’s shop to have a cup of coffee.

After trying to buy Euros at the bank (and being rudely repulsed as I have no flight ticket to a Eurozone country!) I posted the letters I had written earlier.

The fog has really eaten planet Iceland! You should be able to see a mountain! Walking through the fog in utter silence and solitude, I pretended first that I was a deity and I had just created the world and I was the only person and the birds flying through the air were only there because I had just invented  them with a thought a moment before and that this small foggy patch of land was all there was in the whole of existence. When that got boring I pretended I was playing Myst or Riven, because it felt like one of those hyper-realistic RPG games. I love Myst and Riven.

Then my brain went WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH PACKING. I was shaking the whole time… but that might be because I’d had three cups of coffee an hour or so before.

All packed! it only took one and a half hours. The reason is I didn’t have to spend ages deciding what to take or what to leave. It just all went in. And I made it fit.

Fini! Fertig! Búin! Done.

So, wish me luck and see you soon.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Fröhliche Weihnachten & Gleðileg Jol!
xxxF