All Things Iceland

This week I chatted with Icelandic Geology expert Helga Kristín Torfadóttir. She is currently pursuing her PhD in volcanology and petrology, with a focus on structures of magma chambers. Additionally, she is a glacier guide, a model and drives really big cars. What an awesome combination! 

I came across Helga on Instagram, where her handle is @geology_with_helga and I was instantly stunned by her awesome photos, especially the one of her in a space suit, and her informative posts. I think she uses the platform well to make geology fun. I’ve learned a lot about geology in Iceland.

There have been times when I have also just watched her videos even when I wasn’t necessarily understanding everything but her passion for the topic made it interesting to watch. Plus, she is out in nature often, so you are getting to tag along with an expert as she is explaining how certain landscapes have been formed. I’m excited for the time  when a volcano erupts here because she’ll be onsite giving us all the details. If you are on Instagram, I highly recommend following her. 

Before I jump into the interview, I would like to give a shout out to Melton and Mark. They recently became members of the Ásgarður tier in the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. Each month, members in that tier get a shout-out on the podcast. They also get to take part in Live Group Chats with me and so much more. 

Additionally, I have started doing Folklore Friday on Patreon, which means that I share a fascinating Icelandic folklore story each week. That content is available to all patrons in the community. If you want to join, check out patreon.com/allthingsiceland

I hope you enjoyed this episode of All Things Iceland. Make sure to share this interview if you found it interesting and leave a 5-star review.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

This week I had the pleasure of chatting with James McDaniel about Horticulture in Iceland. For anyone that is not familiar with that word, horticulture is the art or practice of garden cultivation and management. Ever since learning about greenhouses in Iceland and just about different plants growing here in general, I have been looking forward to the day when I can talk to someone about this on the show. 

James is a horticulturist that is focused on geothermal horticulture, sustainable production in extreme climates, and emerging technologies for food production. Currently, he is at the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) working with fertilizer experiments for an Icelandic startup named Atmonia.

The goal is to develop new environmentally friendly methods for fertilizer production. Just as a side note, the Agricultural University of Iceland is where we recorded the interview.

Some of James’ past work includes organic agriculture consumer trends research in Beijing, sustainable gardening for small markets in the United States, seed germination techniques using Martian regolith simulants, test trials of geothermal runoff from residential apartments for local food production in Iceland, as well as LED grow-light trials for the Innovation Center of Iceland.

Another fascinating fact about James is that he studied Mandarin Chinese for many years and worked as translator/interpreter for the language. During the interview we get into how he ended up in Iceland, the work he has been doing and more.

Additionally, James showed me the space that he uses to grow plants for his research projects. With his permission, I captured a short video of that space and some of the plants there. I recently shared a short clip of the space with the members of the All Things community on Patreon. 

You can connect with James via Instagram.

I learned a lot talking to James and I hope you enjoy this interview. Before we jump into it, I want to give a shout-out to Danielle, she is in the Ásgarður tier in the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. Patrons in that tier get a shout out once a month on the podcast. That is just one of many benefits.

If you’re not familiar with Patreon, in short it is a membership platform that allows creators like me to provide exclusive content to listeners like you. Such as the behind the scenes video I shot of the work James is currently doing. To learn more and join the community, check it out here.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

June 2020  marked the 4th year of me living in Iceland and the 2nd year anniversary of the podcast. I think that with all that is going on in the world right now, I found myself reflecting on how much has changed for the podcast and in my personal life since moving to Iceland in 2016. During this episode, I plan to share some of my favorite moments during interviews this year, some of the places in Iceland that have a special place in my heart, an update about the podcast and a big announcement.

Starting out with some of my favorite moments while out on interviews, one of the most memorable is when I met Kári Stefánsson, which is episode 50. Kári is the CEO and founder of deCode genetics, which is, in their words “  a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome. Using our unique expertise and population resources, deCODE has discovered key genetic risk factors for dozens of common diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer.” 

Kári is known for being very direct and can come off as abrasive. I wouldn’t be surprised if people consider him to be a curmudgeon. I knew before meeting him that he is very opinionated and could potentially not be very nice. Regardless, I was willing to take that chance because he is a fascinating person who has accomplished some extraordinary things in his life. After arriving to deCode for the interview, I was given a pass to enter the parts of the building that are locked off to the general public. When I arrived at his office, he was in the middle of a meeting with one of his colleagues. They stopped talking when I entered and I immediately thought, “holy crap”, I just walked in on a meeting and he is going to think I am so rude. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. 

However, a moment or so after he introduced me to his colleague, he said something to me that totally caught me off guard. Before our meeting, I had offered to send him  the questions I intended to ask him. This has been requested by people in the past, so I thought it would be fine to offer that to be going forward in the event that they want to think a little bit about what they want to say beforehand. 

Well, he flat out told me that it is a stupid idea to send questions to people before the interview because they will rehearse their answers and it would mess up the interview. I immediately said to him that it has worked out just fine so far. He quickly replied that I think it has been working out so far but I don’t really know. My rebuttal was that “Well, people keep listening to the podcast, so I must be doing something right.” At that he just stopped talking about it and said we should just get started. All of this was before I hit record. My first thought was damn, this is going to be a difficult interview and I might have to scrap it. While he did start out a bit stiff, I was able to crack a few jokes and he loosened up.

It ended up being a great interview and I was so grateful that it turned out well. After recording, we continued to talk about when he was living and working in Chicago. I was incredibly sweaty when I left that interview because I was constantly on guard. It might be strange that I find this to be one of my favorite moments but I think I find this one interesting because it was a challenge I had to overcome. Most of the people I interview are very different from Kári. I don’t often encounter personalities like him. It kind of felt like he was testing my boundaries and I held my own. I was proud of that. I was also happy to be able to connect with him and understand that he isn’t that difficult but he has some personality traits that can make it hard to connect with him.

Another memorable episode for me was #61 with Mike Dell. He served on the NATO Base in Iceland during the 90s. Gaining insight into that time was so cool. I had been wondering about what it was like to be in Iceland on the base as an American during that time. This interview kind of just fell in my lap. I talk about how I met Mike virtually during the episode.

I was literally just trying to get help with making sure my podcast was set up correctly for the change I made from having the website fromforeigntofamiliar.com to now having allthingiceland.com. When I mentioned that I live in Iceland and that is what my show is about, his voice changed immediately. He was so excited to tell me that he lived here for a year and how much he loved it.

It surprises me that he hasn’t been back since then. I hope he makes it back in the near future. Hearing the joy in his tone as he spoke about Iceland before and during the interview is what makes this so memorable for me. When he lived here, it was way before most knew about how awesome this country is and I was glad to hear how much being here impacted his life. It is true that Iceland has a beautiful effect on many people. 

The final memorable interview that I will share is the episode I did right before this one, which is episode 66. It was with Dr. Kristín Loftsdóttir. It was not easy for me to talk about or come to terms with Iceland having issues with racism. At the same time, it is an important topic and I am glad to have gotten insight from an expert on the topic here. Kristín and I talked for a while after I stopped recording. Some of the conversation revolved around our personal feelings about how things are shifting here. Iceland is becoming more diverse. There are people from many different countries that have moved here. That diversity is adding to why this place is unique. We both look forward to seeing how the country continues to change and adapt.

Over the last four years, I’ve been fortunate to visit many parts of the country. I’ve not been to every place in Iceland but I am working on that. Just last month, Gunnar and I did a 13-day adventure around the country. We went off the ring road plenty of times and I always recommend that to people.

However, if I have to pick three places that stick out in my mind immediately, I would say the first is the Westfjords. Most people don’t venture off to go there and that is unfortunate to me. I have been there a few times, always in the summer because some roads can be impassable or very icy in the winter, and I’ve always enjoyed it. It also helps that I’ve had good weather when there. LOL Later this summer, I plan to spend several weeks there but I will fill you in on why at another time. There is just so much beauty and raw nature there. The winding roads and stunning views make this part of the country stunning.

Next up is Landmannalaugar. This part of the highlands is actually quite popular. During the high season of summer, it can feel overrun with hikers and campers, which is not fun. However, the first time I went there, I was at the end of a 9-day trekking tour through the more remote part of the highlands. I was in a group of people but it was nice to arrive there and see other people than the lovely ones in the group. Plus I was blown away by the color of the rhyolite mountains. At times, I was just speechless. It started raining and was overcast when we arrived, so I vowed to come back. The next year, I took a one day trip with my sister-in-law. I watched the weather carefully before booking our trip. It ended up being in September and we totally lucked out with the weather. 

It was sunny, warm and not windy. Because this was an off-season time, there was hardly anyone there. The place was almost unrecognizable from my first visit, which happened in July the previous year. The hilarious thing is that after we did some hiking and decided to dip in the natural hot spring there, the weather changed quickly. For about 10 minutes, we had snow showers. After that, the weather returned to being sunny and relatively warm for the season. The potential of the weather changing like that in Iceland can happen anytime but as you get closer to winter, the potential for snow in the highlands increases by a lot. It’s common to see and walk through snow in the highlands during the height of summer. Just something for you to keep in mind. 

The third place is a recent addition to the list of my favorite places. Gunnar and I visited Ásbyrgi on our 13-day trip. I was blown away at how beautiful it is there. Like, holy crap it is gorgeous. It has been named the “Capital of the Elves”. I can’t say if Elves actually live there but if they do, they picked a great place. While driving into Ásbyrgi, it felt as if we were transported to another part of the country. Most of the environment around Ásbrygi doesn’t have lush trees and is not a canyon. It’s like it came out of nowhere.

While there is a scientific reason for the horseshoe shape of the canyon, I like the folklore version best. According to the legend, Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse, placed one of its hooves on the ground in the area. This left a deep imprint on the earth, and that is how Ásbyrgi gots its shape. There is a lake there that feels like it was taken out of a fairytale and the energy of the place is tranquil. I feel like there is magical energy there.

I could go on and on about these places and many others but that would make this episode quite long. If you are in Iceland or plan to be, I recommend checking out these places, if you have the time. In  the very near future, I will publish an episode that breakdowns our 13-day adventure around the country. It will include pictures and our itinerary. 

Now I’m going to share a little insight about what it has been like to live here and my Icelandic language journey for the last four years. While there are ups and downs in every journey, I have to say that adjusting to life here has not been rocky for me. I am incredibly fortunate to have a very supportive and loving family. Having a job that I was excited about and that exposed me to the joy of Icelandic nature when I first moved, was amazing. Granted, there have been plenty of times when I was stressed and needed time off to recharge, but I have always felt at home here. It surprises people when I say that I have not once felt homesick. A big part of the reason why I haven’t is because I was so ready to leave NYC. 

Also, I have always viewed my time in Iceland as an adventure. Every year has brought new and exciting challenges. Yes, the long, dark winters start to weigh on you especially in March when you just want the snow and cold to go away. To deal with that, I have developed some coping mechanisms, such as taking a vacation to a warm and sunny place or trying a winter sport. Everyone needs to find their thing that gets them through winter. For those that are still searching, I always recommend being active. Releasing endorphins due to exercise is awesome.

I’m separating my experience with adjusting to life here from learning Icelandic because the language part is a whole other beast. One can live and work in Iceland without knowing the language. There are many foreigners that do and I have no judgement about that. I have always felt compelled to learn and it has been an uphill battle. It is true that I know a decent amount and understand what is being said most of the time. I also pride myself on my pronunciation. However, I don’t have a full command of the language and that has irked me to no end. 

When I moved to Iceland, I made a promise to myself that I would learn the language in 3 years. Why 3 years? I have no idea. In my mind that sounded like a decent amount of time. During those 3 years, there are many times when I have broken down and cried because I felt like a failure. In fact, when the 3rd year arrived, I pretended like it hadn’t happened. However, I was forced to deal with it when I had a conversation with my current boss. He was being very supportive and saying that I can practice with people in the office and take classes during work time, if I need to. This conversation reminded me that I hadn’t met my made up deadline and later that night I broke down at home. 

It is probably helpful to mention that I have taken classes and I do have a private tutor now but I often feel like I am not making enough progress. To feel sane again I needed to shed this timeline that I set up and just dedicate time to learning every day. That means making time for it after work, making a ton of mistakes and forcing myself to speak. All of this month Gunnar and I have been only speaking in Icelandic to each other. It has been challenging but worth it. I’m doing my best to not let my ego get in the way of my progress. 

While I know that Gunnar supports me and we always have treated each other as equals, it can be hard to not feel like an equal when I speak Icelandic. It creates a perceived imbalance in the relationship that was messing with my confidence. Once I started to shed that feeling, it freed up my brain to focus on speaking. I have to share that at one point I felt so defeated that I considered quitting my job and going back to school to focus solely on learning Icelandic. I’ve decided not to take that path now, for several reasons, but I’ve learned to “never say never.”

I’m sharing this because I think it is important to touch on the different aspects of expat life in Iceland. Of course, this is just my experience but my hope is that in hearing this, you feel like you are getting some insight into how life can be here. I’m excited about continuing my language learning journey, even though it is one of the biggest challenges I have encountered in a while. If you are interested in resources to learn the language, I will have links to them in the show notes. I also have a big announcement coming about my Icelandic language journey that I will share towards the end of August.

Next up is the podcast update. I had a bit of an epiphany this year.  If you had the chance to listen to the 1st year anniversary episode that I did last year, you would have heard why I started this podcast. I won’t go into that again here but feel free to check out that episode if you are curious about that story. It’s episode # 48 and the link to it is in the show notes of this episode. When I re-listened to it, I was surprised to hear that after publishing 47 episodes that I had 47,000 downloads.

This year, I have published 20 episodes and, at the moment, have 167,000 downloads. I’m blown away by this jump in downloads in just a year. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone that listens, shares the show,  sends me messages or leaves comments about different episodes. When I started a new  job in April of 2019 it pained me that I had to slow down the amount of episodes I was publishing. 

My job has been quite demanding of my time. I realized that being a digital content creator gives me so much joy. Sharing fascinating stories and information with all of you, made me realize that I need to find a way to get back to doing this more regularly. As many of you know, I am a one woman show. Meaning, I do all of the writing, recording, editing, publishing and promoting. 

This is not necessarily unique, but it is a labor of love. I’m always looking to find ways to improve the show, whether it is upgrading equipment, learning some editing tricks or changing up the topics. It has been a fascinating journey so far and I now feel confident that this is just the beginning. Well, barring that nothing life threatening happens. In an effort to allow more space and time in my life for creating, this includes videos, podcast episodes and social media content, I have decreased my time at my current place of work. 

That was an incredibly tough choice to make. Financially it impacts me, but it is also a change up in my life that is exciting and frightening. It feels like a leap into the unknown. Well, it feels like that even though I have been doing this for over two years. One of the main reasons I am sharing this is because the feedback from listeners like you have made all of the hard work worth it. In fact it encourages me to do even more.

I have considered many options regarding how to take podcasting and digital creation, in general, from a passion project to a profession. Sponsorship is something I am still rattling in my brain but one of the most intriguing options has been creating a space for me to interact on a more personal level with all of my awesome listeners. With that, I am excited to announce that I have started a Patreon page. 

For those who have not heard of Patreon, it is a platform that has been around since 2013. It gives fans of your work a way to support you through a monthly membership. In exchange for the support, you will gain access to exclusive content from me, be part of a community that has similar interests, and be an active participant in the work I am doing. For instance, I plan to have polls so you can vote on content ideas, give you early access to content, some content will only be available there, and you’ll  be able to suggest future topics for episodes and videos.

I’ve created four tiers of support and the lowest tier starts at just $2.99 a month. And believe me, every bit counts. This support will allow me to reinvest back into the creative process. I can upgrade equipment, pay for fuel to get to interviews in different parts of the country, create helpful resources, and so on.

One free resource I recently created is my Ultimate packing checklist for Iceland. To get that, just check out the link in the show notes of this episode.  If you decide to support in a higher tier, you get more benefits. In one tier you will receive a gift once a year  from me that was made in Iceland. I will ship it to anywhere in the world.

I will, of course, continue to make podcast episodes and videos. Many of them will be available to the public. However, you now have the opportunity to access a lot more than that. I’m incredibly grateful that a platform like Patreon exists. I love the fact that it allows me to develop a deeper connection with all of you. To read all the benefits in each tier and support the growth of All Things Iceland, please check out this link. Loads of thanks in advance to everyone that supports. I look forward to having you join me in the All Things Iceland community on Patreon.

The month of June is a very significant month in my life because a lot happens then. I was born on June 16th,1986; I moved to Iceland on June 22nd, 2016; Gunnar and I had our big wedding celebration on June 17, 2017; June 17th is also Iceland’s Republic Day; and June 13th, 2018 is when I started the All Things Iceland podcast. My birthday and when I moved are probably just coincidences but all the others were planned. Something about June resonates with me.

Ég er þakklát – I am grateful. 

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

 I had the pleasure to speak with Kristín Loftsdóttir, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland. Her research has focused on migration, whiteness, gender, racism, Nordic exceptionalism, postcolonialism and crisis, basing on work in Iceland, Niger and Belgium.

Loftsdóttir is currently leading the project Creating Europe through Racialized Mobility (CERM) that received a grant from the Icelandic Center of Research and has actively participated in various other international collaborations and projects.  Loftsdóttir’s most recent publication is the monograph Crisis and Coloniality at Europe’s Margins: Creating Exotic Iceland (Routledge, 2019).

Her co-edited books include Messy Europe: Crisis, Race and Nation State in a Postcolonial World (Berhahn, 2018) and Whiteness and Postcolonialism in the Nordic Region (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012). Loftsdóttir’s research has also been published in journals such as Ethnos, European Journal for Women’s Studies, Social Anthropology, and Identities and Social Identities.

As I had mentioned in my last episode, I found one of Kristín’s publications via a Google search when I was trying to find out more about white supremacy in Iceland. After reaching out to Kristín about setting up an interview, she sent me some more of her published articles for me to read before we met.

I gobbled up these articles because I was learning so much about history in Iceland that I was completely unaware of. I wouldn’t be surprised if many Icelanders feel the same after listening to Kristín. During our talk we hit on a lot of different aspects of the concept of whiteness, Nordic Exceptionalism, and racism in Iceland. I learned a lot during this interview and I hope you do too. 

Before you listen to our talk, I encourage you to go into this with an open mind and heart. Racism is a sensitive topic and it does make people uncomfortable. If you find that you are uncomfortable, let yourself sit with that and ask yourself why. It is not easy to explore those feelings but you might gain more insight about yourself if you do.

Crisis & Coloniality at Europe’s Margins: Creating Exotic Iceland

Whiteness & Postcolonialism in the Nordic Region

As always, I appreciate those that have taken the time to listen to this. I am especially grateful those that are taking action to fight for an equal and just society for all. 

I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of the All Things Iceland podcast. If you think someone else will find this episode interesting and/useful please share it. My newsletter is dedicated to sharing even more fascinating information about Iceland. 

For your convenience and listening pleasure, this podcast is available on many platforms. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and pretty much any platform that plays podcasts. 

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

This week’s episode is focused on giving you some insight into my experience as a Black American female expat in Iceland. Along with that, I share how Iceland has responded to the gruesome killing of George Floyd by a police officer in the United States. As one might expect, everything that is happening right now in the United States is deeply personal for me.

Whether I like it or not, how I am perceived in the world, starts off with my skin color. I have encountered various types of discrimination. Being the descendant of people that were first kidnapped and enslaved, then systematically oppressed is a burden that is hard to explain. 

I often tell people that one of the unexpected positives of moving to Iceland is not feeling that weight of systemic racism. Yes, people in Iceland see my darker skin and sometimes stare a little longer than what is comfortable. However, the history of systemic racism toward Black people doesn’t exist in this country. It is not to say that there isn’t racism or white supremacy here. But it is vastly different from the overt, menacing racism in the United States. I don’t feel like having darker skin is automatically a strike against me here. I’ve been to many parts of the country and have met countless Icelanders who have been friendly, helpful and quite curious about my background.

Is everyone’s experience with darker skin the same as mine here? Absolutely not. However, so many of the Black Americans who have moved to Iceland have one thing in common – we feel safe. We. Feel. Safe. Knowing this has allowed for me to blossom in ways that I can’t fully articulate. This podcast was started not just because I like this culture, history, language and nature, but also because of my interactions with Icelandic people. 

My husband’s family, who are of course my family, welcomed me with open arms. Before coming to Iceland for my first visit, my mother and grandmother were afraid for me. In the United States, you can meet a White person that is kind to you, but their family might not be welcoming. In fact, they might even be downright racist. Both my mom and grandmother grew up in the Rochester, New York area. They learned the hard way that no matter how nice, well spoken and well dressed you are, some White people will hate you and let you know it. They didn’t want that for me. 

My mother and grandmother assumed that in Iceland, a land full of White people, I would for sure experience racism overtly. While they were happy that this didn’t happen to me, they were still a bit skeptical until they experienced the country for themselves. My grandmother, who is now 90 years old, still talks about how amazing it was to come to our wedding in 2017 and meet Gunnar’s family and friends. 

Feeling safe and allowing myself to blossom after moving here in 2016 has been a blessing and a curse for me.

When I’d see videos online of another Black person brutalized,  I felt guilt for having the opportunity to live in a country where I am treated like a human being. Black and other People of Color in the United States are not afforded that basic right.

It is not unusual for me to feel scared for my family, friends and people I may never meet who live in the U.S., because they are constantly on guard. They are afraid of being the victim of police brutality, attacked by White supremacists or being treated differently when they are just trying to go about their lives.

I feel sadness knowing that for hundreds of years we have been fighting to have the right to be treated equally. Instead, we have constantly been met with hate and violence purely because our skin is darker.

I’ve cried more times than I can count throughout my life because of the cruelty that Black People have faced. I constantly have to suppress feelings like this just so I can get through the day. It’s exhausting. Yet, my feelings pale in comparison to the families that have directly lost people to murder or mass incarcerations.

For me, George Floyd’s murder was not a surprise. I grew up learning about slavery, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, mass incarceration of Black men, and seeing videos of unarmed Black people being killed by police officers or White vigilantes. For many people around the world, especially in Iceland, George Floyd’s murder was the first time they were seeing such horrific treatment of a human being. Later they would also learn that this was not a one off event.  

Along with feeling like it was absolutely disgraceful and inhumane, there was also a lot of confusion at first for people here. Questions like, “How is it possible that the U.S. society functions this way?”, “Why are Black men specifically targeted?” or people admitting that they knew there had been slavery but they thought all of that, including racial discrimination, was over. 

Don’t get me wrong, not all Icelanders were ignorant of the fact that the United States oppresses Black people. However, so many were not understanding the magnitude of the situation. They were also unaware of their own bias. That is something I would like to discuss more in another episode because I believe there is a lot to unpack. I feel it is best to do that with natives in the country that have experienced it first hand.

Like other cities around the world, a gathering was organized in Reykjavík to stand in solidarity with the Black Americans fighting against systemic racism and to denounce the horrific murder of George Floyd. It was held on June 3rd, 2020. The speakers, a mix of Black Americans and Black Icelanders, shared about the history of oppression in the United States, and their personal stories. Many of the over 3,000 people that attended that day learned the hurtful truth. George Floyd is not an isolated event.  

Racism is not just a problem in the United States. It is a global issue. While Iceland is not like the United States, it has its own issues regarding race that need to be addressed and dealt with.

One of the amazing parts of the event for me was seeing so many People of Color in attendance. I had no idea that so many Black people  and People of Color lived here. Afterwards, some of us went out to eat together. It felt so good to socialize and meet new people who are also navigating this complicated world with melanated skin.  

Right before the event took place, an Icelandic MP Logi Einarsson gave a passionate speech calling for the government of Iceland to condemn inequality in the United States. In part of his speech, he said, 

“We simply must have the spine to speak directly with Americans. This is why I implore the government to criticise the systemic injustice that has pervaded the United States over the past 400 years and not least of all criticise the response of the current president, who is fanning the flames of chaos and is making matters worse.”

I agree with him and am happy that he made the speech. In addition to that, it’s important for Iceland to do some self reflection about their own bias and covert racism. The killing of George Floyd and the uprisings that are happening in response to it, are forcing many nations to do self reflection. Yes, you can condemn another nation of being unjust towards Black people. However, it begs the question, “Are you also guilty of this?”  If so, what are you going to do about it?

People of color in Iceland have started to speak out more about their experiences. There have been news articles, social media posts and private conversations. Last year I interviewed Aldís Amah, a mixed race Icelander. She shared that her experience here has been fine. As of recently, I had lunch with her. She said that she has been reflecting on things that have happened to her and others that look like her in Iceland. These reflections have been sparked by seeing others voice issues that resonate with her. 

Many instances of microaggressions or overt racism started to pop up. I have no idea what it is like to be mixed race. I can only imagine that it adds a layer of complexity to your life, especially because most societies are trying to force an identity on you. Like I mentioned earlier, I plan to discuss this subject with people that are living that experience so you can hear directly from them what all of this is like.

The Guide to Allyship

How to be Antiracist

Resources for Being Antiracist

Many of us that want the change to come are no longer hoping that it will happen. We are taking action for it to become a reality. Change means a safer and more harmonious society for all of us. 

I can’t stress enough how important it is for there to be collective action. The antiracism fight is beneficial to us all.

 I found an academic paper from 2009 by an Icelander named Krístin Loftsdóttir. It is titled “Negotiating white Icelandic identity: multiculturalism and colonial identity formations” and in the abstract she writes that:

“This article explores the construction of ‘white’ Icelandic identity in historical and contemporary discourses. The article shows that even though Iceland did not participate directly in the nineteenth century colonial project, the interwoven racial, gendered and nationalistic ideologies associated with the colonial project were very much a part of Icelandic identity in the nineteenth and early twentieth century as shaped by parallel discourses in Europe. Analysis of contemporary blog sites reflects the increasingly complex manifestations of racism in contemporary Iceland. Whiteness continues to be invisible as a position of power to many contemporary Icelanders. Interestingly, despite being few in numbers in Iceland, Muslims are increasingly constructed in the media as a threat in a similar way as in the rest of Europe.”

I have reached out to Kristín about interviewing her for the podcast. She is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland. While I did touch on this with Gísli Pálsson in my interview with him, I think it would be interesting to dive deeper about racism Iceland.

Við erum öll í þessu saman  – We are all in this together

As always, I appreciate those that have taken the time to listen to this. I am especially grateful those that are taking action to fight for an equal and just society for all. 

I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of the All Things Iceland podcast. If you think someone else will find this episode interesting and/useful please share it. My newsletter is dedicated to sharing even more fascinating information about Iceland. 

For your convenience and listening pleasure, this podcast is available on many platforms. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and pretty much any platform that plays podcasts. 

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Lydia and Jonas  are fellow U.S. expats in Iceland that host their own podcast called “The Raisin at the Hot Dog’s End”. Lydia is a writer and artist, and Jonas is a writer and translator. As you listen to the chat we had in my living room, you’ll get to hear the stories of how each of them ended up in Iceland. While we did talk about a variety of topics, I feel like the exchange we had about racism within the Icelandic society, which is more covert, is important and insightful.

It is amazing to me how much is bubbling to the surface here and all around the world after the murder of George Floyd. I plan to share my personal experience and thoughts about what is happening here in the next episode, but what Lydia and Jonas share shines a light on issues that deserve more attention in this country. If you are interested in listening to their podcast, check it out here and connect with them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

If you are enjoying this podcast, you can show your support by leaving a 5-star review of it on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, or any platform you listen to it on that allows reviews. Also, please share this episode with anyone that you think will find it helpful and/or interesting.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

This week’s episode is an update that details how Iceland has successfully flattened the COVID-19 curve. On April 1st, I published a podcast episode that detailed the steps Iceland took after authorities found out about the virus in late December. I walked you through all of the restrictions put in place, but the timeline for those updates ended in mid-March. If you haven’t already,  I recommend checking that out.

This episode is a continuation of that timeline and will provide insight on what has been happening in the country up until present day. I am recording this on May 27th, so keep in mind that any major news regarding the virus that happened after that date will be shared on my Instagram account @allthingsiceland. In fact, I do a weekly round-up of the news each Sunday in my stories, so join me there to keep up on interesting news happening within the country. If you prefer Facebook, you can follow along there as well. Just look for All Things Iceland or click the link in my show notes to be taken directly to my page. 

Not surprisingly, a lot has happened in Iceland from mid-March to May regarding COVID-19. I find it interesting to look back on it and share it with you. Hopefully, you find it interesting too. 

I’ve set this up in chronological order, and will provide an overview starting from where I left off in my previous Coronavirus podcast episode. If you want to read any of the articles that I referenced as I did research for this episode, check out the show notes below.

Ok, let’s jump into it. 

It was obvious that the cases of COVID-19 in Iceland were continuing to rise. Up until mid-March, travelers from all over were allowed to enter the country without going into quarantine. However, residents of Iceland coming from high risk countries, like China or Italy, were mandated to be in quarantine for 14-days. The argument behind this is that travelers don’t normally come into close contact with locals, so the risk of infection is low. I found that to be bizarre and didn’t agree with it because visitors would need to go to the same markets as residents, especially since restaurants had been shut down due to the ban on gatherings. Also, if a visitor were to fall ill, they would definitely come in contact with residents. 

Well, on March 17th, an Australian man in his 30s (36 years old) died while visiting North Iceland. Even though his symptoms were not typical of a person with COVD-19, he tested positive for the virus and so did his wife. It was sad and unfortunate that this happened. One consequence was that twenty two people who worked at the Húsavík health clinic that came in contact with him, had to be put in quarantine. The clinic had to scale back its operations after this because of being short staffed. This was the first Coronavirus related death in the country. I think it is worth mentioning that the response from Icelanders was really sweet. A Facebook group was started to send condolences from Iceland to the widow of the Australian man.

Within a day or so, it was announced that the European Union (EU) was imposing a 30-day travel ban on non-essential travel on countries outside of its union and certain partner countries. This was done to control the spread of the virus. Even though Iceland is not a part of the EU, it is an EFTA country. EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association. EFTA citizens and residents of the UK were exempt from the non-essential travel ban. Initially, Iceland did not seem interested in taking part in the travel ban but they eventually took part in it.

What made the travel ban different in Iceland, as opposed to the EU’s ban, is that it included countries that were not part of EEA (European Economic Area) & EFTA. Basically, Iceland was still open to travelers from certain countries in Europe. On a personal note, I wasn’t a fan of this because those travelers did not have to go into quarantine. However, there had been an announcement that residents of Iceland entering the country, regardless if they had been in a high risk country or not, would have to go into quarantine for 14 days. It is worth mentioning that at this point in time Iceland had up to 250 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus and more than 2,000 people were in quarantine.

One fact that sent shockwaves through the country is that mid-March is when we started to see sharp increases in confirmed cases. From March 17th until the 31st, the average amount of confirmed cases a day was about 67. The highest number of confirmed cases was 106 on March 24th. It still stands as the highest number for one day. For a country of about 360,000 people, those are quite high numbers of COVID-19.

There are two main reasons for these numbers. One is that testing was being done vigorously at Landspitali National hospital and deCode Genetics was doing its best to help with testing too. 9,189 samples had been analyzed by March 20, 2020.  The second is that according to an Iceland Monitor article is that,  “A team of 16 health care workers and 22 police officers works every day on tracing the origin of new infections, so that people who need to be quarantined can be contacted.”

Being proactive with tracking down those that had been in contact with an infected person was a great strategy. On March 22nd, authorities stated that “Fifty percent of the new cases are people who already were quarantined.” One snag that the country ran into was shortage in testing swabs. They were awaiting a shipment due to come in the following week.

Also, more than 500 healthcare workers (nurses, doctors, and so on) signed up to work at Landspitali hospital to help with the fast growing amount of patients.  The amount of people that stepped up to help is incredible and awe-inspiring.

Later that evening, an announcement of a stricter ban on gatherings was announced. In my first update about a gathering ban, it was prohibited for more than 100 people to meet. That was now reduced to 20 people or less. Grocery stores and drug stores were still allowed to have 100 people or less. However, swimming pools, fitness centers, bars, museums and so on had to close. Of course, the 2 meter (6 foot) social distancing rule applied wherever you were. 

I worked from home during this time but my work place didn’t close. Instead, it split the company up into three groups. Two groups would alternate coming into the office and one group would work from home the whole time. It was quite strange to do this. Anyone that wanted to work from home the whole time was allowed to. It surprised me the amount of people that wanted to come into the office. I know everyone’s circumstances are different but I preferred working at home because it is quiet and I don’t have to commute. However, I’m sure I would feel different about that if I had children.

Even though high schools and colleges were closed and kids were doing social distancing, pre-schools and elementary schools didn’t fully close. Kids would go to school for several hours a day. This was a reprieve for many parents that had to work from home. 

There was no question that everyone in Iceland, and dare I say the world, has been pondering how much the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the economy for individual nations and on a global scale. I had mentioned in the previous episode that Parliament had pledged to help businesses and those in quarantine. However, not a ton of details were shared about how they exactly planned to do that until a week or two later. During the same weekend as the stricter bans on gathering were announced, a sweeping economic plan was rolled out to help soften the blow of the virus’ impact on the economy. 

Parliament allocated ISK 230 billion (USD 1.6 billion; EUR 1.5 billion), which is about 8% of the country’s GDP, to stimulate the economy. They have three goals. The first is to protect the livelihoods of residents and businesses. The second is to protect the foundations of society and the third is to fuel a major investment initiative. 

The government will do that by:

One thing that caused me and others anxiety in Iceland, was not being sure when we will reach the height of the curve and eventually flatten it. 

According to an article on Iceland Monitor,“The latest statistical forecast, available on covid.hi.is, now predicts that the disease will reach a peak in Iceland in mid-April. The model predicts that by the end of April, the total number of confirmed cases could be anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000. The number of people requiring hospitalization during the pandemic could total anywhere from 170 to 400. People hospitalized in mid-April could number 90-200.”

2,500 to 6,000 is a very large range. I was shocked to see it. Frankly, It made me feel a little worried that the virus was spreading like a wildfire. Was it inevitable that that many people I know would get it and that I would too?

Fortunately, this prediction changed dramatically within the same week. During a press conference, Thor Aspelund, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Iceland, presented data that showed lower numbers. He explained that due to health officials’ measures  to contain the COVID-19 virus, they have managed to keep the amount of confirmed cases from growing exponentially. It was now predicted that about 1,200 infections could be expected at the peak of the virus. A range of 1,500 to 2,300 is the total number of infections that was forecasted in Iceland. While this is still a decent amount, it is way better than possibly 6,000!

The major stories in late March were about the immediate impact of the COVID-19 virus on travel and tourism companies. Granted, every industry slowed down because of the pandemic but not like the two I just mentioned. For instance, Icelandair stopped operating at 14% capacity and stopped all flight services. At that time, they laid off 240 employees. Any remaining employees had taken a pay cut and were on a reduced employment ratio.

One prediction is that the Icelandic travel industry will lose as much as ISK 260 Billion (USD 1.8 billion; EUR 1.7 billion). The calculations are based on this industry bringing in no income from foreign tourists from mid-March to the end of August. One thing I found fascinating, is that even though domestic travel in other Nordic countries accounts for about 50% of the travel industry, it is only about 10% in Iceland. Icelanders are always looking for a great deal, so they often travel to less expensive destinations throughout the year. 

On March 31st, the total number of confirmed infections was 1,086. 9,236 were in quarantine, 927 were in isolation, and 157 had recovered from the virus. Overall, 16,484 samples had been analyzed, which accounts for about 4.5% of the country. There were two confirmed deaths this month from the virus.

One positive piece of news is that 6,000 swabs were found at the medical microbiology and virology department of the Landspitali hospital. This was a huge relief because the shortage of swabs meant that testing was slowing down. It was expressed that Iceland had been expecting 10,000 swabs from the U.S. However, those swabs ended up going to the highest bidder, who is said to have paid in cash. We had at least 9,000 swabs available for testing. The hope is that those were enough until more swabs were received.

April was kicked off with the sad realization that the unemployment rate was going to soar. In March, the rate was between 7.5 to 8%. However, the prediction for April was a whopping 12 to 13%. This amounts to about 50,000 people being unemployed.

According to a news article, “The Directorate of Labor had received 25,000 applications yesterday for unemployment benefits as a result of a reduced employment ratio – a program offered by the government as an incentive to employers to not lay off their workers during the economic shutdown, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. About half of the applications come from people who work in the travel industry and related operations, 17 percent come from people who work in retail and the shipping of goods, and 11 percent come from those who work in the industrial sector, construction, fisheries, or farming.”

The hardest hit region is the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the unemployment rate was predicted to reach 23.7%. 

One of the worst fears that many had came to fruition when news broke that the COVID-19 virus was spreading in a nursing home in the Westfjords. One of the residents was found to have the virus. Unfortunately, he died and many of the staff and residents had to be put into quarantine or isolation. That status was based on whether they had tested positive for the virus.  A reserve force of nurses were flown in to help take care of the residents.  Bolungarvík, the small town of 931, where this happened in the Westfjords, banned gatherings of more than 5 people after this happened. This ban was stricter that the rest of the country, which banned more than 20 people gathering at any one time. 

The troubles in Iceland were not just isolated to those living in the country. Many passengers with Icelandair were worried about getting refunded or at least credit for flights that had to be cancelled.  Iceland monitor received a lot of complaints about the airline during this trying time. Here are some of the things people wrote:

“Icelandair has been absent in helping us cancel or rebook our travel. Especially those with economy light tickets are asked to call their customer support number which has been unreachable for more than two weeks.”

Another of our readers writes, “Suspending their toll-free support line so that no customers can get through (I had to dial local Iceland office number to get through and incurred $125 phone bill), not allowing customers to cancel their flights online, via desktop or mobile app, only offering waived change fees … and simply not returning fares for trips people cannot take, regardless of what citizenship they have, or crediting customer accounts for future travel which, in many cases, equates to thousands and thousands of dollars lost.”

In response to complaints and requests on their Facebook page, Icelandair wrote the following:

“We’re sorry. The sheer number of messages requires us to refocus our efforts in order to reach you all. Until further notice, we will not be replying to social media messages or mentions. 

They then provided links for where people can change their bookings on the website and their app. 

Later on, I found out that Icelandair’s system couldn’t handle cancelling flights more than 48 hours in advance. They worked on updating the system to be able to do this. However, some people who had flights scheduled to leave less than 24 hours in April complained of not receiving cancellation notifications. I’m sure the airline was overwhelmed with all that was happening, but it seems that they dropped the ball in April. 
As mentioned in March, it was expected that the travel industry wouldn’t make money for the next three months. However, Jóhannes Þór Skúlasson, managing director of SAF, the Icelandic Travel Industry Association, said that tourism companies might not make any income until 2021!

In early April, 50,000 packages of Chloroquine from India arrived in Iceland. These packages were a gift to the nation and were purchased by the pharmaceutical company Alvogen. I’m not sure if the drug was used to treat patients but Landspítali did say that they will decide to use it when necessary. The drug was developed to help fight malaria and has serious side effects, including death. For my listeners from the United States, you have probably heard this drug or at least Hydroxychloroquine being mentioned in the news. This drug should only be used when absolutely necessary and under the close supervision of a medical professional. 

News also broke that Japan has gifted Iceland 12,200 tablets of Favipiravir (aka Avigan), an antiviral medication. The drug has been shown to inhibit the replication of the viral genome. There are clinical trials happening around the world and this drug is being used to treat seriously ill patients. When it arrives, it will be able to treat about 100 patients.

While it is great to have these drugs to help those with the COVID-19 virus, it still seems that a vaccine is possibly the only hope for eradicating this virus. 

In the midst of so much turmoil and uncertainty, there was a special anniversary that occurred. This month marked the 10 year anniversary of Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupting and changing Iceland into a major tourist destination. Because the eruption caused major disruption to flights around the world, about 400 foreign reporters flocked to the country to tell the story.

Their footage showed the awe-inspiring landscapes and just how fantastic it is to visit a country so deeply connected to nature. 488,000 foreign visitors ended up coming to the country by the end of 2010. The visitor numbers kept exploding for many years after that. As I talked about in my episode about the collapse of Wow Air, this volcanic eruption kicked off the boom of the tourism industry here. Many of the companies that made money hand over fist for the last decade might not make it through this current economic downturn. 

Most of the information shared in Iceland about the virus was available in Icelandic and English. However, there are people that live here who don’t understand or speak either of those languages well. Not having access to important information regarding their safety or the safety of their families can cause distrust. Thankfully, a few things were done to tackle this problem.

The Covid.is website that shows all of the statistics about the virus and important announcements was translated into Icelandic, English, Polish, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi and a few more languages. C-19, the app that was developed to track people with the COVID-19 virus and alert those that had been in the same vicinity as an infected person, was also translated. The app was launched this month. It is amazing how quickly all of this was implemented. 

The daily briefings by the Chief Epidemiologist, Director of Health, and Chief Superintendent, were only in Icelandic. However, awesome people in Facebook groups would translate those press briefings into English. It is amazing how much people came together to help each other to stay informed here. 

One thing that happened in April that surprised and confused me was when an announcement was made about any tourists to the country needing to go into quarantine for 14 days. My first thought was, “Why now?” It is not like tourists were flooding or even trickling into the country. Regardless, the mandatory quarantine was in effect from April 22nd until May 14th, 2020. The Chief Epidemiologist said in a press conference that, “Whether Iceland’s borders will be opened is not what makes or breaks the Icelandic tourism industry, since there is next to no tourism in the world now anyway”.

A few people on Instagram reached out to me because they were scheduled to arrive in Iceland during that time period and were sad to hear the news. I don’t think they would’ve made it anyway because flights were being cancelled right and left. However, I do think that any hope they had of visiting was now gone. Most visitors to Iceland can’t afford to spend two weeks in quarantine. Well, I think visitors to the majority of places can’t. It certainly doesn’t help that Iceland is so expensive. 

To further their efforts with reducing the impact of the virus on the economy here, the Icelandic government rolled out phase two and three of their stimulus plan. 

In addition to the first economic stimulus plan, these phases will pump even more money into helping companies and residents, as well as funding innovation. Phase two is estimated to be ISK 60 Billion ($411 million and €378 million). 

Here are some of the measures the second phase will support:

On April 28th, Parliament announced the third phase of the economic stimulus plan. This time it was specifically aimed at helping companies to keep their employees and to help companies that must resort to layoffs. The partial employment benefits that I mentioned earlier in this episode were set to end on May 31st. Part of this package included extending those benefits until the end of August. Until June 30th, the government will cover up to 75% of salaries for employees at companies that are struggling. Starting on July 1st, that will only cover 50% until the end of August. 

The partial employment benefits do not apply to employees who received a notice of termination. However, there is now funding to help those companies to cover severance pay, which is three months of salary in Iceland. The overall goal is to help companies to avoid going bankrupt. 

This should help travel & tourism companies, including Icelandair. It is my belief that since Icelandair is the country’s only airline  that it is potentially too big to fail. However, it is a privately owned company. So, it is possible that it gets to a point where the government can not help it unless it becomes the property of the country. This is all speculation on my part, so just take it with a big grain of salt. 

Sadly, April is when the most deaths happened in the country. Eight people lost their lives because of COVID-19. All of them were over the age of 70 and the majority had been in  the hospital.

Some good news is that on April 23rd, Iceland had its first day with no new confirmed cases of the virus since the first one was announced in late February. On April 28th, the last patient in intensive care was discharged.

Also, less than 15% of the patients admitted to intensive care in the country died. This is much lower than what has been reported in other countries. For instance, Italy, China, and England have reported death rates of 50-90% of those that were admitted to intensive care. The number of those in intensive care in Iceland reached 13 at its peak. Close monitoring and providing appropriate care in a timely manner have been the main reasons why Iceland has been able to help about 90% of those infected to recover. 

At the peak of the curve, which happened in early April, we had 1,096 active infections. On the last day of the month, we had 86 active infections. It is incredible to see the sharp drop in the number of active infections. You can see it for yourself because I have a photo of the curve in the show notes of this episode. We reached an overall number of 1,795 infections by the end of April.

April was a tough month for the country. Because of the rapid decrease in active infections, May has brought many positive changes. On May 4th, the gathering ban was relaxed a bit. 50 people instead of just 20 were allowed to gather.  

Most nonessential places started to open, just as long as they abided by the 50 people or less rule.

Swimming pools were still closed to the public in early May but school kids were allowed to have swimming lessons. Restaurants that serve alcohol had to close by 11:00 PM. Things were slowly getting back to some resemblance of normal before the pandemic. 

Along with testing a lot of people for the virus, it was announced that blood samples would be collected for antibody tests of the virus. The tests will be done on blood samples of people that came in to have their blood tested for other reasons. It was stressed that the blood samples are not part of scientific research. Rather, they are being used to get an idea of how many people in the population have been infected with the virus. 

In early May, the managing director of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association, alluded to the fact that Iceland might see tourists in late August or fall. Because the cases of infections have been declining in many European countries, it is possible that an agreement among these countries will be made so people can travel. Of course, that all depends on if people want to travel. You will hear that a sharp turn regarding when tourists can come to Iceland happens later in the month. 

A big issue that has arisen for travel companies is the need to refund travelers because of cancelled services. Well, a controversial bill was brought up in Parliament about this. If passed, it would allow travel agencies to refund cancelled tours by issuing a credit voucher instead of cash. Not surprisingly, this has caused a major debate. First off, is it even legal to do this? That is the big question that Althingi, Icelandic parliament, is trying to get answered.

The other issue is that Icelanders would be affected by this too. If they bought a tour package that could not happen because of the pandemic, their money, like other travelers, would be unavailable to them because it has been turned into a voucher. Yes, this change would possibly save tourism companies from going bankrupt but what other effects would it have on the economy?

One line in an article put it well by saying, “The Consumer Association of Iceland, the Icelandic Confederation of Labor, and BSRB – the Federation of State and Municipal Employees have all harshly criticized the bill, claiming that its goal is to shift the burden of travel company’s liquidity crisis to the shoulders of consumers.”

Even though things have been looking up for Iceland, regarding fighting off the virus, the country is still stockpiling drugs just in case they need to deal with seriously ill people. The drug Remdesivir was shipped to the country. It is said to shorten the recovery time of patients with COVID-19.

An article about the drug wrote, 

“A study of 1,063 patients, some of whom received a placebo, in hospitals around the world showed that the drug shortened the recovery time by 31 percent – from 15 to 11 days, the BBC reports. 

The experimental drug was originally developed by Gilead Sciences to treat Ebola, which it did not cure.

The Gilead website cautions that “Remdesivir is an experimental medicine that does not have established safety or efficacy for the treatment of any condition.” 

Along with having a decent amount of drugs to help those infected with the virus, Iceland was rejoicing at hitting a 5-day streak of no new confirmed COVID-19 cases in mid-May. On a personal note, this news resulted in people starting to act as if the virus was not a serious threat any longer. At the grocery store, most people weren’t wearing gloves or practicing social distancing consistently. It kept popping up in the back of my mind that we could see a spike in infections because of this.

At the same time, it was really nice to feel kind of normal again. It was as if the country was taking a collective sigh of relief. I am not saying that this feeling should come before keeping safe. On the other hand, I do understand everyone wanting to just go on about their lives without always thinking about COVID-19. 

Another awesome piece of news around this time is that a woman that was 102 years old at the time, recovered from COVID-19. Her name is Helga Guðmundsdóttir and she lives in the Westfjords. Incredibly, this woman lived through the Spanish flu and beat tuberculosis twice. She lives in the nursing home that I mentioned earlier in the Westfjords where the virus spread to the staff and other residents. Helga turned 103 on May 17th.

In the midst of celebrating a fast reduction of confirmed cases, less people being hospitalized and getting used to the fact that Iceland will not have tourists this summer, we were hit with an unexpected announcement. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland, held a press conference and said that the country will open its border to tourists starting on June 15th. 

Katrín stated that visitors and Icelanders have three choices when they arrive to the country:

In addition to choosing one of those three options, everyone will be asked to download the Rakning C-19 app. It helps authorities to track the trace of transmission of COVID-19.

I’m pretty sure that my jaw dropped when I heard this. Even though Iceland has handled the crisis well and is being touted as a safe haven from the virus, people are still holding off from traveling this summer. The reasons range from being fearful, to the fact that their home country is still grappling with the virus, so it isn’t even possible for them to come. 

While I think it is great and necessary for Iceland to have tourists, I think we need to be very careful about how we open up the country. If the virus spikes again because of visitors, it can backfire on Iceland. Questions about this decision started to pop up. What happens if a person arrives that tested positive for the virus? Will everyone on the plane be put into quarantine just as a precaution? 

Also, if you get screened at the airport, you go to your accommodations to await the results. We are hoping that these people don’t violate rules and go out to the grocery store or a restaurant before they get their test results back. Lastly, it isn’t clear who will pay for the COVID-19 tests. It has been said that the government will do it for the first two weeks of this experiment. It is not clear if the visitors will pay and how much they will be expected to shell out.

Birna Ósk Einarsdóttir, chief sales and customer experience officer at Icelandair, said that “Icelandair would like to fly daily to destinations such as Copenhagen, Oslo, Frankfurt and Berlin after June 15, and to Amsterdam soon thereafter. There is more uncertainty regarding Stockholm and London… Several groups of people are ready to travel as soon as their borders open, while other groups are expected not to be able to afford traveling, as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic…In such a situation, planning is difficult,” she states. We can respond quickly and will do so when we sense there is a will to travel and interest from both directions in flying.”

I guess we just have to wait and see what happens.

Before I jump into the rest of the episode, I want to mention something travel related that is useful to anyone that is planning to visit Iceland in the future. If you are planning to travel to Iceland anytime in the future, make sure to get the FREE Ultimate Packing Checklist. It has all the essentials you need, and more, for any season in the country. I have also included some tips for what to pack if you plan to go to a restaurant or have a night out on the town. 

Two of the biggest positive changes happened this month. One was that the pools in Iceland would be allowed to open on May 18th. The second is the gathering ban will now allow 200 people to get together starting on May 25th.

Many of you might not be aware of this but public swimming pools and hot tubs are a very important part of modern Icelandic society. Hanging out and chatting in a hot tub is like a national pastime here. A fun fact is that there are about 200 swimming pools in Iceland. Almost every town has one. When the pools opened back up on May 18th at midnight, there were lines to get in. The largest pool, Laugardalslaug, had a line of 300 people waiting to get in. To be fair, it was mostly younger people that went at that time of day. It was said to have felt like the opening of a new night club, which I find to be hilarious and sweet. The pools are normally not open at midnight, but this was a special occasion.

As a way to manage expectations, the Icelandic banks Landsbankinn and Íslandsbanki put out their economic forecasts. Íslandsbanki’s forecast was optimistic. They predict a deep but hopefully brief recession. Overall, they expect the GDP to contract by 9.2% in 2020. In 2021, the growth of the GDP is thought to be 4.7% and 4.5% in 2022. According to Íslandsbanki, unemployment will average 9.6% in 2020 but will fall to 5.8% in 2021 and 3.8% in 2022.

At first glance, the forecast from Landsbankinn was a bit more grim. They even named it “The Setback of the Century”. However, that predicted a similar contraction in the GDP this year, which is -8.7%. They also think that the GDP growth will be lower than what Íslandsbanki said for 2021 and 2022. The bank predicted a growth of 4.7% in 2021 and just 2.7% in 2022. Lastly, they think unemployment will be around 9% on average this year, 7% in 2021 and 6% in 2022.

As many of us anxiously await the country opening to tourists, it seems that the rules keep relaxing every day. On May 25th, the two meter social distancing rule became optional. On a personal note, my mother-in-law celebrated her 70th birthday on May 26th and it was the first time I have been able to hug her in months. We were all nervous to do it but it felt amazing to give her love. She lives alone and has been isolated in her apartment since March. 

Now that you have an overview of how Iceland has been tackling the coronavirus, I am going to move onto the random fact of the episode. 

I plan to share two facts with you because it was hard to pick between the two. First, is during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the police in Suðurnes kindly asked people to cancel their criminal plans. It was pretty funny to hear and it seemed to have worked. Well, either that or people were just too afraid to go out.

The other fun fact is that Icelandic pop stars wrote and recorded a song called “Let’s travel indoors”. It was very sweet and I have the video embedded in the show notes of this episode. I highly recommend watching it because it will fill your heart with so much joy. Plus, the ending of the video is adorable! 

Sóttkví – quarantine

Sótt – illness

Kví – pen, like an enclosed area for animals 

Kind of funny to use the word “pen” but I bet a lot of people that were in quarantine felt like they were caged in. 

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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

I know this seems like a really random topic but I have been fascinated by this story ever since I learned about Björn Pétursson (Axlar-Björn) some months ago. The Iceland we know of today has been ranked as one the most peaceful countries in the world since the Global Peace Index was launched 13 years ago. However, this country definitely has had some gruesome murders in its past. Many of those murders were linked to disputes, such as those in some of the Sagas. Björn was an exception.

It is important to point out that even though Björn Pétursson was a real person that was a convicted serial killer, the many sources that recount his life and murders sometimes conflict. They are also considered to have some elements of folklore weaved in, so just keep that in mind as I go through this episode. 

Warning about the content – not suitable for young children or those who feel uneasy hearing about the details of a gruesome murder.

While there are many reasons why a person might become a serial killer, it seems that Björn was destined to be so before he was even born. Björn’s parents, Pétur and Sigríður, lived on the stunning Snæfellnes peninsula back in the 16th century. His father worked as a ploughman for a Ormur, a man who owned the farm Knörr. Pétur and Sigríður already had two children before  Sigríður became pregnant with Björn. During her pregnancy, she had nightmares and craved the test of human blood.

I’ve never been pregnant but I think it is safe to assume that craving human blood is not normal. What is even more interesting about this story is that her husband Pétur wanted to appease his wife so he offered her to drink his blood to satisfy her craving. While that did do the trick, Sigríður was getting a very uneasy feeling. At some point she confessed to a female farmhand that she believes that the child she is carrying will be some kind of monster. 

Björn was born in 1555 and he seemed like a pretty normal kid. At the age of four, his parents sent him to live with Ormur. Pétur and Ormur were good friends and because Ormur had a lot of money and influence, it seemed like a good opportunity for Björn to live with him. During those times it was common practice to have your child fostered by wealthier people because it can be difficult for a less fortunate family to feed and take care of all of their children. Björn adjusted to his new home and even became buddies with Guðmundur, Ormur’s son.

It wasn’t until Björn was a teenager that the monster inside of him started to bubble to the surface. Like some teens, he developed a bad temper and was quite closed off. However, a turning point for him is when he missed mass one Sunday and fell asleep. During his dream, a man offered him a plate with pieces of raw meat. Without hesitation, he scarfed down the meat pieces. He only became nauseous after the eighteenth bite! This mysterious man in his dream then told him to go Mount Axlarhyrna because there Björn will find an instrument waiting for him. The man added that this instrument will serve him well in the years to come.

At his first opportunity, Björn went to the top of the mountain and there he found an ax. Not long after this, a young boy who worked as a farmhand at Knörr, the same farm in which Björn was born, disappeared. Years later, Björn confessed to killing the boy with the axe and burying him in a big pile of manure.  Björn would go on to use the ax to kill many of his victims, who were mostly travellers or farmhands looking for work.

Ormur, the wealthy farmer, eventually passed away and left everything to his son Guðmundur. Guðmundur became even wealthier than his father and he decided to build Björn, who was pretty much his brother, a farm in an area called Öxl. Because the Icelandic language has four cases to decline words, the place Öxl, when in the genitive form, turns into Axlar. When Icelanders talk about Björn, they normally say Axlar-Björn and I will continue to use that throughout the episode. 

Axlar-Björn ended up marrying Þórdís and they settled into living on the farm, which had a stunning view. The beauty of the farm’s placement on Snæfellsnes Peninsula is probably what attracted travelers and farmhands to it. 

There was suspicion from locals that lived in the area that Axlar-Björn might be responsible for the disappearances of travelers. It was believed that in addition to killing people, Axlar-Björn and his wife were stealing the belongings of those they murdered. Horses and other valuables that they couldn’t afford kept popping up in their possession. The only thing keeping people from taking the allegations further is that Axlar-Björn was being protected by his wealthy friend Guðmundur. 

While the sources vary on the number, it seems safe to say that he brutally murdered between 9 and 18 people before being brought to justice. It is said that he chopped up the bodies and buried them on the farm. What led to Axlar-Björn’s arrest is still a bit of a mystery because the sources do not agree.

Some claim that his lavish lifestyle and the disappearance of travelers in the region didn’t add up. His neighbors finally decided to contact authorities. Another source claims that a much more gruesome tale brought him down. In 1596, a woman and her three children arrived at the farm because they needed shelter. Axlar-Björn is said to have lured the children away one by one and killed them. The frightened mother hid and was able to run away to let authorities know about what happened to her kids.

After being arrested, Axlar-Björn confessed to killing nine people. However, authorities found more bodies than that when they searched his property. In a twisted lie, Axlar-Björn claimed that he had found the bodies there. Instead of contacting authorities, he decided to bury them in a certain spot. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t believed. I guess he didn’t want to face the charges alone, so he named his wife Þórdís as an accessory to the crimes. In an interesting twist to the story, she happened to be pregnant with their child at the time they were caught. 

The both of them were found guilty and were sentenced to death in 1596 at Laugarbrekka. Just as Axlar-Björn’s murders were horrible, so was his execution. One account says that the executioner used a sledgehammer to shatter his limbs while he was still alive. Following that, his limbs and head were cut off and strung to poles. His wife had a front row seat to his death. At one point, his privates were cut off and tossed into his wife’s lap. 

People were so afraid that his ghost might come back to hunt them. So, they took the pieces of his body and buried them under three different cairns. Ordinarily, a cairn is a pile of rocks used to mark a path for travelers as they journeyed around the country and not for burying bodies. 

Þórdís was supposed to be executed too, but it seems that she was allowed to live because she was pregnant. She ended up giving birth to their son later that year and named him Sveinn skotti Björnsson. I don’t know if it is nature, nurture or both that resulted in their son being a criminal later in life. Regardless, he was hanged to death in 1648 after being found guilty of rape. Before Sveinn died he had a son named Gísli hrókur Sveinsson, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Gísli was also hanged for his crimes in Dyrhólaey. Sounds like quite the family.

One surprising thing I found out is that there is still a farm called Öxl on Snæfellsnes Peninsula . It is on the same spot where the murders took place so many centuries ago. I don’t know if it is open to the public to visit but you can drive by there during a visit. One place you can definitely go is the last remaining cairn where pieces of Axlar-Björn were buried. If you park by Hellnavegur road, you will see  the cairn nearby. Kind of creepy but also quite fascinating.

Axlar Björn = Shoulder bear

I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of the All Things Iceland podcast. If so, please make sure to leave a review on whichever platform you are listening to this show on, and share it with someone who you think will find this episode interesting.

My newsletter is dedicated to sharing even more fascinating information about Iceland. 

For your convenience and listening pleasure, this podcast is available on many platforms. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and pretty much any platform that plays podcasts.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

This week I am sharing the lovely chat I had with Mike Dell. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer that was stationed in Iceland during the 1990s. We talked about what it was like for him to live in Iceland as a military officer, how he was treated by Icelanders, what he enjoyed about the country and more. Similar to my last episode, I was connected with Mike in a rather unusual way. 

I use the service Blubrry to host my podcast and when I made the switch from the url fromforeigntofamiliar.com to allthingsiceland.com, I had to reset up my podcast rss feed so that Apple Podcast, Google podcasts and all the rest of the places that play my show will get the new episodes that are being published on allthingsiceland.com.

Well, I ran into some issues doing it myself and I reached out to Blubrry for help. Dave and Mike, both work for Blubrry in their customer service department, were extremely helpful. While I was talking to Mike Dell via Zoom he asked me about my podcast. When I told him that I talked about Iceland he was delighted to share that he had lived in Iceland while he served in the Air Force. Of course, this totally piqued my interest. It was fascinating to hear what it was like for him to be in the country as a military officer and what he thought of Iceland. 

For the record, I am not sponsored by Blubrry and I happily pay fully for their services because they do a great job. If the show is ever sponsored by a company in the future, I will make that crystal clear. Lastly, the cool thing is that Mike is one of the hosts of Podcast Insider, which is Blubrry’s podcast and he interviewed me for their last episode. We talk about why I started the podcast, why I moved to Iceland, what equipment I use, which to be honest, I am a minimalist, but that is what works for me, and which of my own interviews I like the most. Here is a link to the Podcast Insider interview where I am featured.

I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of the All Things Iceland podcast. If so, please make sure to leave a review on whichever platform you are listening to this show on, and share it with someone who you think will find this episode interesting.

My newsletter is dedicated to sharing even more fascinating information about Iceland. 

For your convenience and listening pleasure, this podcast is available on many platforms. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and pretty much any platform that plays podcasts.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

I had the pleasure of sitting down with the awesome and very knowledgeable Icelandic herbalist Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir. 

She specializes in the use of Icelandic medicinal herbs and has been providing her services to people in Iceland for several decades. Before jumping into her interview, I have to mention the funny way in which Anna Rósa and I ended up becoming connected. 

One day, I walked into an apótek in Iceland, called Jurtaapótek to buy some rosebud tea. As I was checking out, I saw a book about Icelandic herbs on the counter. The immediate thought that came into my head was, “Oh, I would love to interview the person that wrote this book for the podcast, because I find the topic of Icelandic herbs to be quite interesting.” So, I snapped a picture of the book, bought my tea and went about my day. 

I think it was about a week or so later that Anna Rósa and I linked up. Maybe it was sheer coincidence or fate, but we both happen to have signed up for the same digital course and started messaging each other. Eventually, it dawned on me that she is the same person that wrote the book that I had snapped a picture of about a week prior. We both laughed at this and eventually we were able to set up an interview in her office. Anna Rósa was a delight to chat with and I love that her new skincare line was created to help empower refugees.

During the interview, Anna Rósa and I talk about a salad dressing recipe that changed her life. She wrote a blog post about it. You can check it out here.

Connect with Anna Rósa on Social Media

I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of the All Things Iceland podcast. If you think someone else will find this episode interesting and/useful please share it. My newsletter is dedicated to sharing even more fascinating information about Iceland. 

For your convenience and listening pleasure, this podcast is available on many platforms. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and pretty much any platform that plays podcasts. 

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!