Conquer Fear and Let Love Rule - Sigra Ótti og Let Ást Regla

Things gettin cray cray....

So let's start where I left off.... Oh the tales I have to tell you!

So I close my computer after soaking up every minute of internet access that I possibly could. My rationale was as follows - I would prepare myself to go to a rural sheep farm under the assumption that there is no internet access.  That way, I would either be neutral (as opposed to disappointed) if my hunch was correct. Or, I could be pleasantly surprised. It would either be a win or a draw. I digress....

So Theo, Thorin, and I are on the same flight that takes us into Akureryi (second largest city/town in Iceland) where we will all be picked up by our relatives. I must have been really nervous while I was packing and had a sneaking suspicion that my suitcase was overweight. I asked a couple of the guys to pick it up and give it to me straight. The consensus was that it SHOULD be a slam dunk. Much to my astonishment/embarrassment, it was 8Kg over weight. This marks the first time in my life that I've been accused of being high maintenance that I have not had a rebuttal for. Fortunately, my male travel partners were much more practical and so all together we evened out (ish). Now the only problem is how I'm going to get it back. Fingers crossed everyone.

The funny thing about the Reykjavik airport (not to be confused with the Keflavik airport - which is the main one), is that it's super small and probably the most laid back airport on earth. We arrived 30 minutes prior to departure, which was probably considered to be 'over-doing' it. They did not require to see identification and allowed my monstrosity of a suitcase squeeze through even though it was 15lbs overweight. So after checking our bags, we stopped for a little taste of Canada before the flight...

But while we're enjoying these Mooseheads (which I've not encountered anywhere else in this country), we suddenly realize that our flight leaves in 10 minutes and we're not totally positive which gate we're supposed to be at. Thorin goes to double check with the gal at the counter and she tells him that "they're not sure yet" but will let us know ten minutes before hand. Like now? So they follow through as promised and we're assigned to gate one. Could you imagine the blood bath that would happen if the Pearson airport functioned like that? Crazy.

Up, up, and away....

Arrival. I was so nervous getting off the plane. Here was the moment of truth. The point of no return. I walk into the airport and search nervously for my new family. I couldn't find them at first and so I was not sure if they were there. A nice looking woman approaches me and quietly says "Sarah?" I walk over to her and I give her a hug. Her name is Sigrun. Behind her is her husband, Gudmunder. I was already aware that Sigrun speaks some english and obviously Icelandic. Her husband speaks no english at all. We nervously exchange a few words without ease, I collect my baggage, and I give a couple of big bear hugs to my brothers that I'm about leave for three weeks. Sigrun and Gudmunder take me to a cafe so that we can talk. Over a cup of coffee, we awkwardly converse. Me and Sigrun anyway. I can see that she's embarrassed by her english. I can understand most of what she says, but words are not coming easily. My Icelandic language skills are totally pathetic and so I'm not even able to meet her in the middle. We get back into the truck and I feel like I might begin to cry. What have I done? Now I'm going to go to a farm with people that I have never met. I feel so lonely. I'm fighting every urge to ask them for their cell phone so that I can call the program coordinator to tell her that this is not going to work. But what can I do?

So we drive about 40 minutes out of town and I am taken their farm - vast land bordered on all sides by incredibly large mountains. I know that I'm a prairie girl, so when people are reading this, they're going to assume that I'm confused and I mean hills. Nope. These bad boys are the real deal. Big time.

I had embarrassingly enough fallen asleep in the truck like a child, and so I wake up and am groggy and weepy (also like a child). I'm feeling very apprehensive at this point and all I want to do is crawl into bed. Gudmunder carries my incredibly heavy suitcase upstairs. He can't speak english, but he chuckled a little once he finally maneuvered it into my room. I'm sure he was thinking, "high maintenance" or whatever that would translate to in Icelandic.  Once again - no rebuttal. Especially because I can't argue in Icelandic. Sigrun tells me to make myself at home and that she wants to me feel happy. Their cat, Grimur, has decided that she likes the cut of my jibb and so I have a new friend. 

I take a few minutes to unpack but gravitate to my computer. I open 'er up and am relieved to find not one, but two wireless signals. Ahhhhh. I'm not feeling completely at ease, but a little comforted by my ability to communicate with the outside world. I get logged in and do some frantic facebooking. I look up to find Sigrun at my door. She is inviting me to eat a little, if I want. I still feel tired and depressed, but have got some sort of second wind from my contact with the interweb and so I decide to throw my horns up and give it a go. Before I can get up from my seat, Gudmunder takes a few photos of me. I am perplexed but allow it to happen. I look like a pile of garbage, but figure I should be polite. Also, he did carry my 'high maintenance' bag upstairs. I would be confirming his suspicions if I stopped him because I "don't look right". So after my photo shoot, I head downstairs and find a little desert party waiting for me....

I sit down with Sigrun and Gudmunder and enjoy a piece of Skyr cake with cream and fresh blueberries. Can you say blueberry sundae? Uncanny... Anyway, we spend some time talking and then Gudmundur gets up from his seat and rummages through a drawer. He pulls out a deck of cards and gives them to me. Sigrun tells me they are a gift...

I open the deck and they explain that it's a ram playing cards game. The deck can actually be used for normal cards, but they have different 'high quality' or prize sheep on them with statistics about how good they are. For example (sideways - sorry):

The interesting thing about this game is that there are two sheep from this farm (stradarbakka)...

Check out those stats baby! I was very humbled by this offering and it gave us something to try to converse over. I was surprised when Gudmunder suddenly rose from his seat and said something to Sigrun. "He wants you to come see the homepage", she said to me. Homepage? This farm has a home page? I followed him to the computer room and he invited me to take a seat. He had put the webpage through google translate so I could see it. There were my pictures in the news section. I read the text about me. In it, they say that I am a 'lively and energetic' gal and they are very excited to have me. I am so touched by this. I look at the webpage for a while and then I go to help Sigrun do the dishes. While we're cleaning, we have a few laughs over broken conversation. I can feel myself becoming more at ease. She tells me that she knew what I looked like before she got to the airport because the program coordinator had sent her my passport picture (perhaps not my finest piece of work). But then something really special happened. She told me that she could tell by the sparkle in my eye in that picture that she would love me and we would spend the next three weeks laughing together....

and suddenly everything stopped.

I had gotten so wound up in my own anxiety that I failed to see what was right in front of me. A beautiful soul who had opened her home and was excited to have me there. A woman who wanted to show me everything about the farm and learn all about me. Someone who had been looking forward to all of the fun that was to come in the next weeks. She had not been so wrapped up in the stress of leaving her comfort zone and having to speak english or have stranger living in her house. She was happy that I was there. In the moment, I discovered my happiness too. I gave her a hug and told her that I was excited to work hard, laugh loudly, and love her too. And I meant it. I really did.

I went to bed feeling content that night. Nervous for the next day. But happy. Hope. I had found it.

So what did I learn today, you might ask. I think that life gave me a pretty good smack in the face. You should never allow yourself to get so self-absorbed in your own feelings (especially anxiety or misery) that you blind yourself to potential happiness. Give life a chance. That's what I learned. I will give every brand new day here a chance. No matter what. Because it is right and I have much learning to do; and ONLY three weeks to do it ;)

With all of my love,
     Sarah

Sarah's Additional Viking Rules:
-Give life a chance
-Open your heart, especially if you are frightened