Árni the fisherman and aluminum smelting

I met a relative of mine a few nights ago: frændiminn (the word for a close relative, either an uncle or cousin. His family is part of my closest kin here in Iceland.) He is a journalist, and from some of the stories I heard from him his work is pretty interesting. One of the environmental stories he shared I will recount below in a fictional version because I have not fact checked the information nor am I confident that I can recall all the facts accurately. And I heard subsequent stories from others with similar details from others, so I cannot claim that all this information came from any one person. I do want to learn more facts during my stay here.

Leir took a bus to a pub in one of the suburbs. He wanted to escape the ever pressing wave of tourists that flooded the streets of downtown Reykjavík. There were still tourists in this part of town, but not so many as the centre. He took a seat along the bar. Two tv's were mounted from the ceiling, one showing world cup football, the other played the evening news. An image of long cement buildings, a factory of some sort he presumed, was on the screen. He must have been staring at the tv, because the man next to him said something in Icelandic to him. Leir shook his head, Ensku? He asked.

"Ah, English, I asked if you knew of the smelter?" The man said.
"Oh, no. What is the story?" Leir asked him.
"It's controversial. But I let you know some of the secret details." He said, flashing a sly smile. "It's an American company that built it, back in 2003; moved it from some developing country to here.  Thing is, no one will say the details of the deal they were given, and believe me, it must have been a very good detail to move it all the way up here."
"So no one knows the details? Surely something must have leaked?". Leir asked.
"Of course there are rumours, like free electricity, no taxes, and so on. A couple years before they came, a new, large hydroelectric dam was built on one of the rivers. There was opposition to that but the developers and the government built it anyway. It's all very odd because that region had no unemployment at the time. Fishing was booming, jobs in town were good. A few young people were leaving for Reykjavík but they weren't crying for jobs."
"Okay, sounds normal. Why is it on the news now?" Leir asked with interest.
"Scientists have found high levels of flouride in the soil and surrounding sheep farms. Yet the company denies any contamination and the government refuses to investigate. But a news team did a special on it once, revealing the contamination problems. Now there is a proposal in parliament to hold, something like an inquiry. It's a sore on the east coast for us."
"Sounds like a lot of problems we have back home where I am from. Do you have some sort of personal connection to this story?"
"Yes, I am a fisherman. But I had heart surgery last month, so I am staying with my daughter while I recover."
"That's a big procedure. Are you sure you are ready to be at the pub?" Leir asked him, doubtful. He was not doctor but he was certain recovery from heart surgery could take at least two months or longer.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He smiled, drinking his beer.
Leir decided to test one of the few phrases he knew in Icelandic. "Hvar heitir thu?" (what is your name?)
"Ég heiti Árni." The fisherman said, raising his glass to Leir's. "Skoll!"
"Skoll!"

Feeling Dauntless

It has been non-stop activities and learning since arrival.

There are swimming pools everywhere! It is amazing! There is a swimming pool near our guesthouse that has hot tubs on the roof. It is a popular place, the hot tubs, people gather there to have meetings, and socialize. I still feel trapped in an English bubble and am looking forward to my homestay to really learn the language.

It is still disorienting to hear birds chirping and have daylight streaming through the windows at midnight, and not recognize my body's messages that it is tired and wants to go to bed.

Other random points about what in is like here:
The hot water smells of shower or rotten eggs
The streets are really, really clean
Homelessness is very minimal and there are ample shelters available
There are no squirrels but cats roam the streets all the time and none are strays, they all have official homes
Birds are different, there are different species of ducks and gulls and song birds
The three types of Icelandic beer that I have tasted seem like pale ales, so I am definitely missing me some good Publican House beer
The rain feels lighter somehow, even getting soaked after standing in rain for 3 hours, it is not as heavy as the torrential downpours we get at home
Street art is everywhere and it is often beautiful
There are many young couples with children, especially on the streets of the National Day, there we children everywhere, it was nice to see


Today (Saturday) we went river rafting. It was on the Hvít Á ( White river)  which is fed by a glacier and runs to the ocean. It was soooo exhilarating. We even had the opportunity to jump off rocky ledges of 7m and 10m. I jumped off the 7m because it was a once in a lifetime experience, of course, but 10m was too thrilling for me! The water was freezing, but it was soooo worth it.

Tomorrow we are driving along the south coast to see one of the glaciers and volcanos. Should be fun. 

Resumen de mi viaje uno

Amigos, en este momento, se entiendo tu lucha con la lengua en Canada. Tengo sentidos muy fuerte de una extranjera, aquí en Islandia. Es extraño porque esta isla es mi tierra madre y no siento que es mi hogar. No es una sorpresa en realidad. Nació en Canada, entonces mi corazón está en Canada, no aquí. También estoy en la ciudad, y ademas esta un lugar de mucho turismo. No me gusta la industria turística. Hay tanta gente de gran ignorancia, y ahora, estoy un miembro de ese club. No me gusta este hecho. Siento frustrada con mi ignorancia.

Espero que cuando ir a visitar mi familia en el este, sentiré  más conexiones con la tierra y la historia. No quiero pasar otra semana en la ciudad, bebiendo, bailando, y gastando dinero por cosas simples/inútiles. Prefiero hablar con la gente de la isla... no con las turistas y no con los trabajadores de empresas locales que quieran dinero. Quiero escuchar los cuentos, y las memorias reales.

También quiero investigar la factoría de aluminum cerca del pueblo donde voy a vivir por tres semanas. Espero que mirar las ballenas en el mar, porque me voy a vivir cerca de una fiord de ballenas. El nombre del pueblo, es para un especie de ballena que nada en el fiord.

Update teaser

I spent over an hour today talking about the environment and the aluminum smelters here in Iceland with a local. There are three companies operating here: Alcoa, Rio Tinto, and Bechtel. If you know me, then you know how exciting that was and how I likely have TONS of information and thoughts to share on this topic but it is 11:30 pm (still daylight) and I don't have the time nor mental energy to delve into it now. Stay tuned for the full discussion tomorrow....

Dark Water

The second night here we went out to a club called B5. It was fun. We partied hard. that's all there is to be said about that. SO here is the new music video from my Dave Icelandic band:
Agent Fresco!!!!

Feeling foreign for the first time

In the past few days I finally felt like a foreigner. Having to ask everyone in shops if they speak my language is something I have never had to do before. I feel ignorant, frustrated, and ashamed at times. I wish I had more time to prepare myself in the language before arriving here, alas I have to struggle along with my lessons here.

I know I feel as many of my friends have felt in coming to Canada and having to learn English here. And it is an awkwardness that I want to feel to really understand their journeys, but that does not make it any easier in the moment.

It is not just the language, the money is different in appearance and value. About 1 Canadian dollar is worth 105 Icelandic Krona. Coffee is about $4.70 and beer is about $10. Food is fairly expensive but much of it is imported and with the krona so weak, it is easy to understand why.

Things will get better as I become immersed in the language and start my summer work a week from Friday.

Leir watches ducks

Leir spent more time than he expected to sitting on the bench, watching the ducks. He'd seen ducks before, but these ones were huge. They were at least twice the size of regular pond ducks back home. Mentally noting the differences between his familiar ducks and these foreign ones, Leir sat there for fourteen minutes comparing the different hues of beige and brown in their feathers, their larger bodies and beaks, and their larger webbed feet too. He could only compare the females because no  male specimens were available. The ducks drew him in because they appeared so familiar upon first glance, but then the differences slowly disturbed him. 

It made him think of his ex-girlfriend. They had been so in love in the beginning, but after many months and a few years, everything had changed. What he thought he knew about her turned out mostly wrong. The little things that he initially adored turned into the things that drove him crazy. And her seemingly deep love for him also turned viciously sour. When they broke it off the only thing he could think about was to get as far away from her, and as far away from all the ashen memories as possible. So he bought himself a plane ticket to a remote country, a land where the sun never sleeps in the summertime, and a place where he could be alone to regain his sense of self: Iceland.

So there he sat, thousands of miles away, watching Icelandic ducks that reminded him of Amy. He felt pathetic. Getting up, he chose to walk back to the heart of the downtown, rather than away as was his original plan. He decided he wanted to lose himself amongst strangers rather than be isolated that day. There were always tourists in the downtown, and with World Cup soccer in full swing, any of the pubs would provide him the distraction he so desperately sought. 

Vilkomin til Íslands: Waterslides and Handball

I arrived!
Left Toronto at 9pm last night : arrived at 6:20am this morning... It was a 5 hour flight and I may have slept 2 hours. I wish I could say I am wired with excitement but all I want to do is sleep. We have an orientation meeting in about an hour, then we go swimming, then go to an international handball match: Iceland vs. Bosnia. I fear napping to only wake up feeling much worse. Better to push through the day and sleep early tonight.

I am sitting in the kitchen of the Odin Guesthouse, which is like a B&B or hostel type environment. Most everyone is snoozing, so quiet alone time is welcome. I'll have lots to share tomorrow but for today, let me back track to leaving Toronto. WOW terminal 3 at the C gates, you look like a scene from the future. I approached a bar where everyone sat at the counter with iPads in front of them, stating at football on the tv, not talking to each other, not even talking with the servers. Food, drink, everything is ordered via the iPads. But it only took me 10 minutes of sitting there in confusion to figure this out. I felt like an idiot, watching everyone's motions to figure out the mystery of how certain people were being served but no conversation actually occurred. And then I saw the Italian victory over England and I knew it would be a good day!

So after a stressful day of ready goodbyes and over tiredness, I am ready for adventure! I am on GMT time and using Viber for international texting. Get the app if you want to be in touch... Or use the usual methods of internetland.

Bless bless,
Natalie.

Destination Determined

As part of my journey I will be living with distant relatives for the 3 out of the 6 weeks that I will be in Iceland. Today I received word of who those relatives are and where that will be. I will not be naming my family members on this blog, but I do have the privilege of attending sessions on genealogy while I am there. So if family members want to know what it is that I learn, you know how to reach me, although I am not sure if it can be expanded on what is already known by key members of our family already.
For the rest of you, well, all the details of my family tree are not important. I will share my experiences, my happy, funny, sad, and even terrible moments as I go along. And lots, and lots, and lots of photos!

What I do know: I will be staying in a small town on the Eastern coast of Iceland, called Reyðarfjörður (Ray-thar-fyore-thur). On the ocean! I am so delighted. As for the family (and families) that will be hosting me, I will share that we are linked via my great-great-great-grandmother's family line. It may seem a distant connection, but it is strong enough that they are willing to welcome me, a stranger, into their homes and lives for three weeks. I have a feeling we will all get along fame-ously!



 Today I was also given my work assignment for those three weeks. I get to work in a kindergarten class for three weeks. It sounds like it is school and daycare together because I was told that I get to work with kids between the ages of 2 and 6. I am thrilled about this placement because it means I will really get to immerse myself in basic Icelandic language. I am sure I will learn a lot from the kids.

12 days to go ... and now I have to start packing. I've never lived out of a suitcase for that length of time. If anyone has any tips I would be grateful!

A Little VIking Humour