Day 32

It was my last full day volunteering at the Akranes folk museum and I mostly spent the time by myself.  Sigga was at a doctor’s appointment in the morning and in the afternoon her and all the other staff went to visit a maritime museum in Reykjavik and have a discussion with their staff.  Sigga didn’t get back until 4 pm, an hour before the museum closes.  So today was rather slow since there weren’t many cleaning tasks for me to do around the museum and only 12 guests came.  I mostly worked on learning more Icelandic but I was also able to chat with Sigga’s friend who used to work at the museum and stops by from time to time.  Once Sigga came at four, she told me all about her daily adventure at the maritime museum visit since our museum staff has a weird dynamic and odd characters according to Sigga.

After work when I arrived at Þorunn’s house she told me she had called some lady who works at the local Red Cross store and had made arrangements for me to go look at their Icelandic woolen sweaters for sale this evening outside of the normal business hours.  This was a very nice gesture from Þorunn and it made a huge difference in the price of the sweaters.  An Icelandic woolen sweaters costs anywhere between $150-220 USD in Reykjavik but none of the sweaters I saw at the Red Cross cost more than $70.   At the store I tried on many lepopeysan (Icelandic woolen sweaters) and eventually picked one out that fit me and that Þorunn said was the traditional sweater style.  Then, Þorunn insisted on buying the sweater for me which was very generous.  

Afterwards, we ate dinner consisting of pasta, salad, and a popular Icelandic dish that had pieces of cod mixed with potatoes and cheese on top.  The dish was delicious.  Then we watched the England-Croatia FIFA semifinal football match as Anna made Rhubarb pie.  The pie wasn’t designed exactly like a common American pie and it had a chocolate layer in between the rhubarb and top crust.  The rhubarb pie was marvelous and we ate it with vanilla ice cream.  What a nice last meal with my host family!

I also learned when I arrived at Þorunn’s after work that she had been trying very hard to track down this woman who was a friend of Margaret that owned horses and was willing to take me horseback riding.  The woman had said she would take me tonight when Þorunn contacted her earlier this week but this afternoon the woman backed out.  So Þorunn asked her for the contact of someone who owns a horse nearby that would be willing to take me horseback riding tonight then called this new person and made arrangements.  Þorunn is such a nice host who puts in a lot of effort to give me the chance to have the best experience I can in Iceland.  We drove to the stables to meet the woman around 9 pm.  She had a very friendly, open, animated personality and introduced herself at Þordís.  She had two cute yellow labs that played outside the stables as we talked.  Then she prepped one of her horses for riding and had me ride the horse a little to test how it went since she had never had anyone else ride one her horses before.  After a couple minutes she asked if I could like to go on a short ride with her to which I replied “yes!”  She prepped her other horse for riding and we rode along the road for a bit going at a slow pace most of the time and faster for short intervals.  The Icelandic horse I rode was so much more willing to go fast than most American horses I’ve ridden.  Most of my work was keeping the horse from not going too fast instead of the other way around is the usual problem.  After our ride, Þordís and Þournn talked more about their family background and where their families are from in Iceland.  

Eventually we said goodbye and drove back to Þorunn’s house.  It had been an amazing last night with my host family.  I am sad to be leaving them tomorrow.  I really enjoyed learning more about my ancestors from Þorunn, her small car tours around the town, and the way she was so excited for me to experience different aspects of Iceland.  I will also miss Anna and Linda my consistent travel companions.  Linda has really gotten used to me being around the house and wanted to play with me for a long time this evening.  She enjoys it when I pick her up by her arms and lift her in the air then set her down like she is bouncing.  Tomorrow I plan to work at the folk museum until around noon then I’ll relax at my host family's house a bit before catching a bus back to the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.  We will be staying in the same hostel on the edge of the university campus tomorrow night as we did the first two weeks of the program.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night, hearing about their homestay experiences, and starting on this week long tour of western Iceland.