Day 6: Arrival farm

Today I went to the farm. In the morning, I got breakfast from the bakery and checked out at quarter to eleven. The annoying thing was that my bus didn't leave until over an hour after checking out. So I passed the time by making phone calls and reading.

Bus rides in Iceland are really strange. At least if no one explains it to you. In Reykjavik, you have to buy the ticket in an app (Klappid) or pay cash, but in no case will you get change. Outside the city, you have to say where you want to go and then pay by card depending on how far you're going. Very strange, especially if no one tells you.

After almost three hours of bus ride and two transfers, I arrived in Hvolsvöllur, where Ingveldur (the woman I had been communicating with on Facebook) and her husband picked me up.

The farm itself is not very big. A few cows, a few sheep, and currently three horses, with the daughter adding her horses on the weekends.

Another woman (29 years old) who is on vacation here, but also did a year abroad (I am not sure anymore if it was a whole year or less) when she was 19, showed me around and said that we could go horseback riding together in the next few days.

Otherwise, not much happened today. After unpacking, I said that I might lay down because I hadn't had much sleep in the last few nights. Ingveldur didn't want to wake me up for dinner, even though she had said that she would. Eventually, I went to the kitchen because I hadn't slept and had gotten hungry. In the end, I had a delicious hot dog.

When you read all of this, it sounds like it was almost a perfect day. But it wasn't. Or at least, it doesn't feel that way. When I saw Ingveldur sitting on the couch with her grandchildren watching a movie and cuddling with them, I felt homesick and had to hold back a few tears. I feel lost because the woman from Germany knew exactly where to find things and just made food without asking, while I had to ask about every little thing. Even though I know that in a few weeks, once I have settled in, I won't feel any different, I still feel somehow out of place. Maybe it's just because I'm tired. Either way, I'm going to bed early tonight so that I feel better tomorrow.

See you later,

Julia