Its 8:30 a.m. and the sun
has yet to rise.
A groggy crew gathers
together in the living room to “become present” and discuss any household
issues and plans for the day.
As the
meeting draws to a close I get my coat, hat, and gloves and head to put my
shoes on.
It’s approximately 8:45.
I am usually the first one out the door, so I
put my shoes on and head outside to go to morning meeting thinking of what
phrases I should have written out to ask people and guessing who the first
person to greet me will be.
As I walk
down the hill towards Solheimahus I consider how cold it is and how I should
have worn another layer of clothing, or how icy the path is trying not to fall,
completely oblivious to the joy that is about to ensue.
As I turn the corner I start to see those who
have been waiting, sometimes as early as 8:15, and watch as their faces start
to light up.
I say “
góðan daginn” to Eyþór
as I walk by heading for the rest of the group.
I am greeted first by a hug and a stroke of the cheek from Kristján
which always brings a smile to my face.
After Kristján I am greeted by a hug and smile
from Hanný and Disa.
I go to my normal
place across the circle and greet Gísli in hopes for a response and listen as
he
says
“Frost á
morgun. Ekki í dag.” (“Frost this morning, none today”).
As I stand there I watch as my fellow
classmates and teachers start walking in.
First come Steph and Alicia who are greeted with many “
góðan daginn”’s and the
occasional hug from Hanný and Disa.
Then Shelby, Karin, and Noga walk up and are immediately swarmed.
I watch as Noga also gets a hug and a cheek
stroke from Kristján and goes on talking to Guðlaug, Erla and Ólafur.
Shelby is greeted by Guðlaug and talks to her
about her sparkly hat and gloves. Karin is greeted by a big hug from Hanný and
continues by asking her and others questions in Icelandic.
Reynir walks in and flies around the inside
the circle like an airplane and Valgeir enters and follows him before taking
his place in the circle.
Birgir enters
and helps Helga stand since she can’t sit because the bench is covered in
frost. The circle takes its form, I take Gísli’s hand as well as the hand of the
person to my right, and we all wait in silence as we wait for the church bells
to ring.
Seeing the community together
is a very special moment, and seeing the silent interactions among others is
quite fun.
Finally the bells ring. Einn.
Tveir.
Þrír. Fjórir.
I watch as Reynir nods to each chime.
Fimm. Sex. Sjö. Átta. Níu. “
Góðan daginn.” The meeting then starts with Guðmundur
asking Ólafur
Benediktsson for the date and continues on with the normal business of who is
attending school, people going to town, and more.
Helga chimes in telling Guðmundur about her
comments on the days’ events.
Shelby
then raises her hand and in Icelandic mentions that we are showing a movie in
Sesseljuhus tonight.
Guðmundur nods and
the group is impressed with the perfect Icelandic.
Disa, very excited about the movie, exclaims “YES!
YES!” jumping up and down, and everyone laughs.
The meeting comes to a close with Sandra
telling us what is for lunch: “
Fiskur og grænmeti.”(fish and
vegetables).
Joining hands again, we
stand
as
Laurus starts and leads the community in the morning song:
Lof sé
Guði ljómar dagur,
Lífgar
sólargeislinn fagur
Allt
um heim sem hefur líf.
Gef
oss Drottinn gott að iðja
Gef
oss náð að vaka og biðja,
Vertu
styrkur vor og hlíf.
We
raise our hands and I stand and watch as everyone goes in their respectable
directions. The day has begun. Because the whole meeting was in Icelandic I
walk over to meet with the rest of my classmates and the volunteers to talk
with Herdis and Axel about what was discussed.
By now I understand most of what is mentioned, but there are still some
topics that I know less about. Finally
we start to make our way up the hill to class.
We meet up with Siggi who had been waiting for us and talk about our
days and what we are going to learn.
There is nothing like the interactions and laughter of a morning meeting
to start your day.
 |
| "G" |
-Margie
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