Icelandic Culture

With just one week left here in Sólheimar, I've been thinking-what am I taking away; what have I learned about the Icelandic culture overall?  Well first off, I've learned that there is scientific evidence that backs up the claim that all Icelandic women are beautiful and all English women are ugly.  This of course is a personal matter of taste, but it is true that the genes of the majority of Icelandic women originate in the British Isles.  There is no Icelandic army.  There is no word for "please" or "you're welcome" in the language.  Everyone takes their parent's first name as their last.  With a population of just 30,000 people, most everyone knows everyone or is related in some way; one can always check the online Íslendingabók to see how exactly people are related.  Sheep have been vital to the survival of Icelanders yet they have degraded the environment to a great extent.  Farming seems to be a dying art, but even so, each year at round-up time everyone in each community helps to bring all the sheep in.  The Icelandic people really do seem to be independent, at least since the split from Norway during World War II anyhow.  However, with other countries cutting deals to use Icelandic resources, notably hydro power to run aluminum smelters, I wonder how long this independence will last.  Surely there are ways for the country to continue to grow and prosper without destroying either the culture or environment.  What would that be exactly?  Frankly I haven't a clue, as it seems no country has done it yet.  I  certainly don't feel as though I've become Icelandic in this short span of time, but I've learned a lot and it's inspired me to take a closer look at my own country and culture once I return home.
-Sarah McKenney

Our Community

Sólheimar

I didn't realize how involved we would be in the Sólheimar community before I arrived here. I knew we were doing a sustainability project for the village but i thought that was all. Once I realized we were hands on involved in the people of Sólheimar's everyday lives, I was intrigued but didn't think much of how that would affect me. When it comes to assimilating into small groups I usually do well and quickly get a sense of my place in things. But larger communities is usually a much slower process for me. That's why I'm really proud of myself for these past couple of weeks.
I don't usually assert myself in unfamiliar territory but I have felt very comfortable with it recently. I know Katrín has encouraged us getting involved but I never really realized what that would mean. Deciding to talk to Lárus about wanting to perform the piano in church was a big thing for me. I love piano but am very very apprehensive when it comes to performances especially in front of the whole community. However, once I started practicing and playing I was so happy and excited to continue. The first day with the home people choir was very powerful. First, we all introduced ourselves as their musical accompaniment and then started playing only soon to notice all the smiles I was getting from all of them. Later, even the most quiet home people came up to me and thanked me for playing. It was amazing to feel a part of them as well as understanding their Icelandic when one of them asked me to keep "spila" while I was playing a random jingle.
During the chapel service, the first one I've been to so far, I felt such a different dynamic. I didnt' feel like an outsider. I felt a belonging there as I watched people I recognized from the community with the rest of their families. I watched Karen (from the weavery) playing with the hands of her baby son while he slept through the service. For some reason that struck me, I think it's because I realized that I'm not just a visitor in some eco-village. It's people's home, their livelihoods. Their lives are here in Sólheimar, their passions and their love. I get to live amongst these people on an intimate level, not just scraping the surface and feeling that is something great and new for me.

Christina Donovan

We Smell Like Goats

Time to update you on yet another Icelandic adventure! This past weekend (October 28-30) the group was off to Reykjavik and West Iceland.

We spent Friday in the city, first heading to the Environmental Ministry to hear about Iceland's environmental quality and wildlife management policies. They were dressing up in the office that day for Halloween, so listening to speakers dressed as pirates and soccer players was only a little distracting.

We then headed to the University of Iceland to hear a presentation on their Environment and Natural Resources master's program. On the way up to the room our meeting was in, one of my classmates, John, got lost from the group and was stuck in the cafeteria area of the student center. After about 10 min, we realized he was gone and someone went to go look for him. We found him in no time, but won't let him forget that one for a while. We also went to the Icelandic National Museum on campus and got a guided tour. We saw lots of cool artifacts, skeletons (or skelets as they call them), and even got to try on some costumes!

John and I in our costumes... reppin' Northland!

After the museum, we had a few hours to explore the city. We stopped at a coffee shop, had some croissants, and met a cute Icelandic bulldog. By the time we got back on the bus (around 6pm), the sun had already set and dusk was beautiful at the church. 

We drove north on the cost to a town called "Borganes" and stayed at a youth hostel there overnight. Saturday morning was spent at a museum covering the settlement of Iceland and "Egil's Saga", a book that we're reading in our history class. We had an amazing meal there for lunch- salad, pasta, soup, and curry bread. Unreal.

Leaving Borgarnes, we drove further north to a goat farm run by a woman named Johanna. She was great. After the obligatory coffee and cakes in the afternoon, we headed out to the barn. She is the only person still milking goats in Iceland and owns about 200 of the 350 goats left in the country. We spent several hours playing with the goats, helping out with a few chores, and milking about 25 of the goats. They were so friendly and lovable! Dogs, kittens, and chickens were also at the farm which did great things for my animal-loving soul.

 Me petting the sheepdog "Bossy"

 Jon and Christina with a barn kitty

 Johanna loving on her goats

Hank....and more goats!

The trip was finished up on Sunday with a brief tour at a large geothermal power plant outside of Reykjavik. Other recent highlights include a Halloween party and a breathtaking Northern Lights display last night. The interns and volunteers here set up a beautiful Halloween party in the coffee shop here for the whole community. It was fun to see everyone in creative costumes (Comet, Northern Lights, Volcano, Glacier, etc.) and we had fun playing Scrabble, eating, and dancing. Amidst all the merry-making, we stepped outside a few times to take a look at Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. One of my classmates was able to capture them on her camera so I'll see if I can't post those pictures later. The only words to describe them last night were: amazing, wow, GREEN, hot pink, blue, dancing, and humongous. They literally covered the majority of the sky. We are so lucky to see them here often. 

This week involves lots of homework and projects, along with a little tour of some surrounding farms tomorrow. I'm going to be involved in another concert this weekend, but to what extent, I'm not sure yet. One of my biggest lessons from Iceland: Go with the flow. They're all about that here.

Thanks for reading! It's hard to believe I have only three and a half weeks left here! Was there ever a time when I wasn't in Iceland?

-Elise 

Hekla Poem

Autumn Harvest-A group effort

The rhythm of my plucking fingers comes in line with the heartbeat of the earth

Eyes scanning the fragile branches as the cold bites at my hands

My sight turns inward, contemplating this lace and our purpose here today

I wonder at my relevance in this space—if I am noticed by the silent birch and tiny seeds, a visitor in quiet harvest

While I try to help the birch to grow and thrive, it seems that it doesn’t really need me and will stoically survive

Oh thy sheep please lessen your numbers on the land if your human counterparts won’t do it for you

The precious little moments found in the forest transports myself and hopefully others to a world unknown and mysterious

The sense of solitude brings one self closer to the meaning of nature and to what it means to connect with nature

The peeling, sloughing birch bark could take the place of my own skin

With fingers speckled in brown, my movements become second nature and I find my bag filling without realizing it

I felt each nob of the branch, each slowly dying leaf, each catkin softly crumbling between my fingers—I was part of nature

Bringing forests to barren landscape in the land of fire and ice

Reconnecting with Nature

The time spent outdoors here in a month is probably more than I have in the past year. And even in the times that I spend outdoors back at home is not as much for enjoyment as it is to get from point A to point B. My excuse is having to work in studio all the time. Yet after being constantly immersed in nature here, I find myself thinking I was silly for even avoiding it because some of my fond, but rare, memories back home are spent outdoors. And here in Iceland, that part of me is emerging again and cannot wait to share experiences and make new memories with those back home.

One of our first activities was this: Find a place in the field. Sit there for thirty minutes. Think and do whatever you would like. At first, I did not know what I was going to do with my time. But I realized that my breathing suddenly became in sync with the sporadic gusts of wind, focusing on that for a while. And then I stuck my face in the high grass and looked down into a gap, creating an imaginary world. Began thinking about how to be able to do this in New York City. And about how it would be cool to find some secret getaways. 

The Hekla forest seed picking was a more active use of time in nature. Collecting the seeds off birch trees was both meditative and focused; It was a laid back activity but my mind was telling me to get every single seed I could find. Maybe that brought out the OCD tendencies in me. When we gathered all the seeds into one large bag that weighed 10 kilos after just one day, it was rather rewarding to see what a group can do in a short amount of time. 

During one of our free blocks during the day, I went and sat by myself outside by a pile of rocks and began to draw my surroundings. It was the first time that I had drawn since being in Solheimar and could have sat out there for hours. It reminded me to take time out of my day to do things for myself, and not for the sake of the classroom. Since then, I have been doing a lot of blind contours and was able to share it with some of my peers here. 

Seeing the northern lights for the first time took my breath away. It must have been the first week we were here. I do not know exactly how the phenomenon works, except that it involves the magnetic fields and the bouncing of particles. But it is a rare sighting that became a reality for me, rather than watching a time lapse youtube video before coming here. Just goes to say that nature can amaze in unexpected ways and wherever you go, there will be something waiting to be discovered.

-tracey

Simplicity

Simplicity is a word I have always tried to live up to and I see it as a key defining factor of how I picture my life to be in the future.  I fully believe in the importance of buying fewer quality items rather than continually accruing new items, growing what food you can when possible, being mindful, and caring for the individuals and places you surround yourself with.  However, this seems to be common sense to me-actions that naturally make for a more fulfilling life.  We watched a brief video from some "news" program ( I quote "news" because I see most programs of that nature as well as many news programs as utter garbage-changes to Facebook and celebrities lives is not news) where someone interviewed an urban farmer, and it made me angry to see the angle of this program and how this family was portrayed.  The word "frugal" was used a nearly obscene number of times and the innovative ways this family has chosen to live was treated as something novel, something quirky and nearly anti-social, something done only as a way of saving money.  I disliked the angle, but was inspired by this family who has been able to create an almost rural way of life in a suburban/urban setting.  Now how does this relate to simplicity?  Providing for oneself, one´s family, and if possible, community is one of the most simplistic actions that can be undertaken.  This doesn´t mean easy necessarily, but simple in that it´s common sense to learn, understand, act on, and teach others how to care for oneself.

Part of this (sometimes) inner struggle towards simplicity is this feeling that things "should" be a certain way, a feeling summed up quite well by Shannon Hayes in the article Homemade Prosperity.  I had heard of Shannon through some blurb on the Yes! magazine website so it was good to have the opportunity read some of her work for class.  She talked of this inner war where she knew she wouldn´t be happy with a job she had worked towards for years-she even knew what she wanted to do but felt she needed to earn a paycheck to survive.  I´ve had this same thought many times and it´s tough because the idea of earning a paycheck-working for someone else, and worst of all having a job I won´t enjoy goes against my ideal of simplicity.  I strongly feel life doesn´t have to be that way regardless of who or what says otherwise-no one can tell me what I can or cannot do-especially to be happy.  I believe the first step is financial independence, and from there, there´s no limit.  Now I don´t mean being rich, I mean not owing any business anything-from there it´s totally possible to live as richly, as simply as you choose-even if it´s not in the traditional sense. 

-Sarah McKenney 

A Tuesday Workshop

Another Tuesday workshop today, this time in the ceramics studio working alongside Dusty. Amid a cloud of clay dust, we sanded down fist to melon sized figurines. Most were the white birds that are sold in Vala, varying sizes, and a few other animal or creature figures as well. After sanding down about 15 or so, till they were soft and smooth, we got to paint a few. White glaze for the body, adding black lines and dots for the tail feathers and eyes. We did not however get to do the final step, which is the orange glaze for the beak. Two even coats of white, careful to leave the beak glaze free, then scrape the excess white from the divots on the tail and carefully apply narrow lines of black. Voila! an almost completed bird figurine.

            I have appreciated each of my workshop experiences so far, in that I have the opportunity to get to know another member from the group on an individual level, and also that we can integrate into the Sólheimar community in a different way. Often times it is still from somewhat of an observer perspective, for me this feels more like being the child at dinner with your parents and their friends. I am able to sit and be a part of what is going on, though I may not understand it, and learn by simply being there watching listening and feeling. However, the opportunity to actively engage with the home people and other Sólheimar community members during workshop has been hugely exciting and fun for me as well. I enjoy laughing with people when they try to say something to me and laugh because I don't understand (though I suspect there is a joke there perhaps at my expense, I still think it's funny), and when people have wanted to share with me, pointing at things and telling me what they are called, or showing me a better way to do something.

            To return to today's experience, in the ceramics studio Dusty and I were apart from the rest of the people in the workshop – at our own table we sanded. Others were across the room, carefully glazing sculptures with what will become bright colors. This definitely elicited a feeling of being outside, and perhaps that glazing looked more fun, but I still enjoyed it. Our quiet private table allowed for the ebb and flow of silent reflection and conversation. I could listen to conversation in Icelandic, and smile as those painting on glaze silently worked in heavy concentration. I appreciated too my small part. I felt productive sanding little birds, knowing my small act was a necessary step in the process. In that way I felt a part of the community, all producing these pieces or artwork together, each task requiring someone's attention.

Laura