Heading to Hofsós

I went on some very nice walks during my "quarantine" between Covid tests

Second Covid-19 test was negative 5 days after the first, so now I can go do all the things.

You’d think I would have had enough rest in the five lazy days I spent in “light quarantine” at my cousin Selma’s apartment this week. But no. I overslept and would have missed my 9am bus to Hofsós if Selma hadn’t woken me at 8:30 to give me a ride to the bus station. I should have been dressed and ready by then, but instead spent the next five minutes frantically getting dressed and throwing things into my suitcase. My teeth remained unbrushed and my eyelashes un-mascarad. Sorry, fellow bus passengers. 

We made it to the station with plenty of time. Probably should have taken that extra minute to brush my teeth after all. I was even able to sit leisurely in my bus seat and watch a group of young adults from an undetermined country in Europe (Germany?) struggling to find room to stow their bicycles on the bus. As this is the only bus that heads north to this part of Iceland on a Saturday, people are motivated to make it work. It’s not like you can just catch the next bus in twenty minutes.

I tossed my bags in the large storage hubs under the bus and hugged Selma goodbye. She and her boyfriend Axel have been amazing hosts to me this past week while I waited for the all clear on my Covid tests. The ancient man in the driver’s seat who was selling tickets took a long, uncertain look at me and asked, “fullordnið eða ungmenni?” Adult or teen? “Fullordnið,” I told him. He held his hand to his ear in the universal signal for ‘speak up.’  Fullordnið.” I said a little louder. His fingers hesitated over the buttons on the credit card machine as he considered whether or not to ask me a third time. His eyes met mine and I said again, “fullordnið.” His eyes dropped away and I could tell he still didn’t understand me, though I assumed he was going to charge me the adult price. The fact that he was even asking was bizarre enough. He took his time to press a few buttons and I handed him my credit card. He handed me the receipt and I moved further into the bus to find a seat, glancing at the thin piece of paper in my hand. Wait, only 2,859 kronur charged to my card? The old man charged me the much cheaper teenager price! Now I’m not only worried about his hearing, but his sight as well. Should he be driving?  Maybe he could foresee the cookie crumbs that would soon be sprinkled on my shirt, and the Taylor Swift music I planned to listen to on the journey. Maybe my inner 16 year old was shining a little too brightly this morning. Normally I feel like each and every one of my 33 years shows up pretty clearly, especially early in the morning, sans makeup. Not today! Or at least not to a half-blind, half-deaf old bus driver in Iceland on this cloudy July morning. I guess I’ll take it.

Resigned to my scruffy, teenage bus identity today I settled in and enjoyed the view out the windows. There are countless sheep and horses grazing in fields along the route. I get a thrill seeing them and thinking of how soon I’ll be seeing my own horse, Frami, who I’m sure is waiting longingly in Hofsós for me. “Ma-hah-hah-hallory!” he will neigh when he sees me.  These are the things I think on the bus (and sometimes off). Please keep reading. It isn’t all going to be so strange.

Everything at this time of year is lush and green. None of the mountains in view here are tall enough to have any snow remaining on their tops at this time of year. Another few months and it will be a different story.  Later in the drive there are taller mountains, and patches of snow still cling in little nooks and crannies in the stone there.  We make many stops in the first hour or so of bus route 57 from Mjödd in Reykjavik to Akureyri. After that the stops are few and far between. Sauðárkrókur is my stop, about an hour and a half before the end of the line in Akureyri. Someone will pick me up there and drive me up to Hofsós. I assume. Wait, I should probably confirm that with someone up there. (Takes short writing break to text Gunna in Hofsós).

Blurry bus window picture, before the rain started.

I’m looking forward to seeing all my people in Hofsós and getting to spend several weeks there before returning to Reykjavik around the middle of August to start school and get settled in a new apartment with my roommate and friend, fellow former Snorri, Erin Johnson. In Hofsós I can chase sheep, ride horses, and spend lovely days at Vesturfarasetrið, the Icelandic Emigration Center, helping people research their Icelandic ancestry. The center overlooks the harbor in Hofsós, and is a cozy place to be regardless of the weather. I’m volunteering with Icelandic Roots again this summer, an amazing genealogy database. People coming in to Vesturfarasetrið often have questions about their ancestors, or about long lost cousins that may be living either in Iceland or abroad. We have tons of resources there to look up information. With Covid-19 ongoing, I doubt there will be many Canadian or American visitors at the center this summer, but Gunna and Valgeir have said that Vesturfarasetrið is staying very busy anyway, with more local visitors I would guess. I can’t wait to get there and see.