There's no such thing as bad weather in Iceland...

Only the wrong clothing. This common Icelandic saying is one we've been putting into practice every day. From sunshine and rainbows to hail and snow, we've seen it all by this point. If I ever thought we weather changed fast in Wisconsin, Iceland has definitely proved me wrong. You can literally look out the window and in the course of the day, see rainstorms come and go as many as twenty times. It's fun to be kept on my toes, and I have given up checking weather.com weeks ago.

This past weekend we traveled to a farm about 45 minutes to the southeast of us called "Austur Medalholt" (meaning East Middle-woods or something like that). The farm is run by a wonderful Icelandic couple, Honnis and Christine. They are on a "crusade" to promote, restore, and educate about the Icelandic turf house tradition. They are in the middle of building a turf house museum and have also beautifully restored a turf house (the same one Honnis was born in) on the farmland.

We arrived on Friday afternoon, just in time for coffee break. We gathered in the restored turf house, shared coffee while sitting on the beds lining the walls, and settled in to this cozy home. Honnis gave us a tour of the farm and the new museum before we feasted on an incredible, home-grown dinner of salad, pasta, beans, bread, and blueberries. After dinner we headed back to our cabin and crawled immediately into our sleeping bags to stay warm. I shared a "bunk" with one of my classmates and it was nice to have someone there for body heat! With the wind howling all night and the big moon shining through the window, I felt like I could have been in any century in Iceland's history... spending an autumn night on this ancient farm.

Looking out the window of the turf cabin we stayed in. Post coffee break

The bed I stayed in

Farm scene...

Outside of the new museum. Honnis built most of this himself with a few friends

Another view, looking the other way in the cabin. Sorry they're out of order

Honnis showing us the outside of one of the turf houses

Saturday was spent eating and working! A great combination! After morning porridge and coffee, we headed out to do some old fashioned manual labor. I jumped around between projects, helping various people out. I helped build a turf wall, rolled some big stones up a hill to make steps, shoveled some manure, and got good and dirty. After lunch (soup and more fresh bread! This place is great!) we finished up the projects we'd been working on and had a final coffee break before saying goodbye to Honnis and Christine. They are probably my favorite Icelanders we've met so far. Great people with a beautiful connection to Iceland's landscape, history, and culture.

It's back to work for us here at Solheimar. Lots of projects are due this week as we are in the "Midterm" week of our semester. On Wednesday, we'll be heading to Þingvellir National Park, an important site both historically and geologically in Iceland. Talk to you then!