Staying on a Family Farm By Curtis Grisdale From Calgary, AB

After our first 2 weeks in Reykjavik we all got sent of on our own journey's, I happened to be sent off to the farm where my great great great grandpa was raised, Sveinsstaðir just 20 min south from Blönduós. The farm is now run by Ólafur Magnússon and his wife Inga Sóley Jónsdóttir, they have three children, an eight year old daughter named Sunna, a 7 year old daughter named Salka and a 5 year old son named Magnús after his afi. Not only was I here at my family's old homestead I was here to help Óli, as I called him, to raise a new barn for sheep, to add and build onto the "family farm". This was a great feeling knowing that this whole place has been raised by decedent's of my family and I'm here to help keep it going. The house I'm staying in was built in 1929, and 86 years later I'm back to build the newest addition to the farm. Which made for a busy life here between pouring concrete and herding sheep up to the highlands, I've been getting pretty exhausted. But luckily my host family knows I'm not here to do all the hard work, they've taken time to show me around. After our first week of hard work,  Magnús, Oli's dad, and his wife Björg had then taken me for a road trip from Sveinsstaðir to Akureyri and everywhere in between. It was a fantastic trip and it was nice being able to see so much of Iceland. Óli, after one long hard day of prepping rebar for our next concrete pour, decided to treat me and his family with a visit to the swimming pool in Blönduós, which was exactly what I felt I needed. The next weekend (the last weekend before I leave back to Reykjavík) Magnús decided to take me for a fly in his private Cessna to give me an even greater view of Icelands beauty, which could be undoubtedly the best way to tour. All in all, I am genuinely greatful for what my host family had to offer and sadly my time here is almost come to an end, this is truly an experience I have taken to heart. I couldn't have dreamed of a better 3 weeks on a farm here in Iceland.