Reis terug

laatste blik op IJsland en de gletsjers












en toen steeg ik op uit Keflavík ...

Last Week

The last days are passing by.

The few remaining volunteers leave today and tomorrow. I will be the very last one leaving Reykjavík, going on Wednesday ... Those are, for sure, the saddest days of the entire year: outside it's raining, windy and cold, the streets - where we volunteers used to walk and meet - lost their shine. The same amount of people crowds the street as in the old days, but the number of familiar faces grew thin, and no volunteers are among them anymore. It's the bitter end of a temporary stay: in the end, one has to leave.
Even my guest parents will not be there to say goodbye: they left for Norway. It is sad that I will leave, almost like a thief in the night, after having been at so many goodbye parties. Strange also how this psychological process goes ... if you see so many people leaving, you start thinking about leaving as well.

Iceland is one of the coolest countries in the world. I just love it, like I love Icelanders and their way of doing. Nature is awesome, this country still has good air to breath and space to live. Freedom is unequalled, just like safety. Icelanders are nice, never stressed; completely honest and open; and always extremely kind if you only take the effort to learn their language, of which I love the sound, the structure and the expressions.

I am happy about this entire year. It was probably one of the best periods in my life, and I got to know a lot of great and nice people, many of whom became friends. And though I feel regret to leave this island, I will go back with a warm and happy heart to Flanders, where many other friends await me.