THE PARENTS MADE IT TO ICELANDIA!!
Although I have so many responsibilities today, I find myself childishly excited they’ve arrived to my new home. They got into town around 8am as I was driving to Reykjavik for the day, and I had immediately booked them to go and relax in the Blue Lagoon. I think the BL is just touristy enough that you need to do it when you’re not all super aware so that it feels a bit more magical and mystical than it might be, but also tell me its not THE perfect start to an Iceland trip fresh off a long flight. It’s a spa for crying out loud! One minute you’re navigating Keflavik customs, unsure where tf you actually are, and the next you’re soaking in silica rich geothermal warmth, face mask on, and champagne or cider in hand. It does feel quite like you’ve ‘arrived’ in a main character sense. But that’s just my two cents, and I daresay from what I’ve heard so far from the parents…they absolutely agreed.
While they lived out that very main character moment, I had a relatively normal work day for the most part. And I called it (if you read 6/19), the manager had a very *formal* sit down with me and informed me I would be moving to Reykjavik. I knew it was coming, but sometimes he does out of ballpark things and didn't want to jump to any conclusions. I'm half really bummed, but half really relieved. Let me talk you through it:
I fear I upset the Rvk girls by my extensive emotional pros and cons list, as I wanted to decide where I stood on the spectrum of moving to Rvk happily or calling it quits (spoiler: I didn't call it quits, nor do I think I seriously would have at that point). On the one hand, Rvk has amazingly structured days! They only have 2 tours, sometimes I don't even have to do both, they always have their horses at home, they have more free time, the boss is never around much so you feel more independent, the girls are wicked fun and the energy between the three (well I guess two now, but Iti is literally moving next door so really, the three of them) is so contagious and fun, and at this point in time I like their tour and horses better. Seems glorious right? The cons however included the current energy between the guides and managerial (for which Iti quit due to), the overall consideration for the horses (not long enough breaks for them/overworked?), tour size (up to 18 people per tour?! I understand the Disney tours but a normal 2+ hour tour? I have so much to learn.), and the apartment is a bit stuffy. Not to say the apartment isn't cute, I actually love the vibes and home that its become, and with a little love and cleaning it'll be such a cool spot, but I can't deny the windows and air of Ölfus are addictive. Iti was super patient while listening to me ramble about my list, when honestly I'm sure she couldn't give two f*cks. I have to remember to thank her for that because I know we're pals, but I'm still not 100% if we're as close as Axelle and I (for example) and I don't want to seem uncool. (NOTE FROM FUTURE MARTIN EDITING THIS: that was incredibly cringey and I'm sure I didn't mean uncool in an immature way, I was just very intimidated by Iti in a she's-the-cool-got-her-shit-together-one ok cut me a break. I mean she did singlehandedly tell the manager that she had no problem backing out the night before). I know its the right thing to jump feet first into Rvk, so that's what I imagine I'll be doing in two days.
The rest of my afternoon I cleaned boxes and thought about my list. I had done my last tour with Iti in the morning before my chat with the manger and tried to memorize every part of her customer speech, as I knew it'd be my responsibility now that she's gone as the token *highest level English speaker*. Truthfully her English is prettier than mine, I would never know it wasn't her first language. I wish my other languages were that good lol. She's also really fun to listen to talk, because her accent is almost as fun to hear as Axelle's.
After it was all said and done, we still finished early enough to have time to play with Rikke’s foal before I had to leave to meet up with my parents. At one point Iti chased Lisa with a spider (hehe) and then tried to feed the foal dandelions…WHICH ARE EDIBLE? Iti actually ate a lot of random plants from the ground today that I had no clue you could, or anyone would want to, eat. It was like her personal snack bar, one after the other picked and plucked. Half of me thinks maybe her good mood at finally being free from the company that had her eating the agriculture, but alas I now feel it's just Iti. I will have to try a Dandelion at some point though--how fascinating.
I drove the truck to meet Mary and Ethan, and we went for dinner at The Rvk Fish Restaurant (v cheesy I know, but I was so hungry and it was RIGHT THERE and they wanted fish and chips so there we went). They both really enjoyed it, and after I got them back to their Airbnb and formed our plan for tomorrow I sped home (safely) to Ölfus to tell Elisa and Judith the events of the day, and the fate it would hold for our summer.
They both saw it coming as well, and as a token to the days we'd shared so far we took a midnight ride together. It was my first time riding on Grape (I honestly don't know how to spell his real name plus I'd like to call him Grape because I think its cute), and we ventured to ride alongside the breeding farms, and I got to experience my first flying pace on Grape :). On our way home (an hour later) we herded Mola and Jordan so that Judith wouldn't be left to do it with Sabira as I am going with my parents on my day off tomorrow to do the Golden Circle and Elisa will be working in Rvk. As we were ending our ride the manger called me, and gifted me an extra day off to spend with my parents...a very kind thing of him to do, that I admit feeling a bit guilty about considering it will mean another girl will have to cover the extra day for me :(, but I also think it was to maybeeee make me happier about moving to Rvk, and to make sure I didn't follow Iti. Either way, who am I to try to figure out his thought process.
Comments