ICELAND: Day 3 - Reykjavik Pride!

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

These events occurred during August 2012

Today was Pride!  I am so happy I was able to be here during this time to show my support for the queer community in another country! Lucky me. By total accident, I booked my trip during Pride. Serendipity!

But, oh, the rain.  It won’t stop.  UGH.  It has rained non-stop since I've been here and today it finally got under my skin (as well as being on it!) and I became grumpy.  And then I remembered I was in Iceland, living my dream, and quickly got over it.

Before the parade, I took a stroll down one of the main roads, Bankastraeti, to get lunch at Prikid, a hotspot in the heart of downtown.

The view from the 2nd floor of Prikid. I've spotted some parade-goers!

Parade-goers equipped with their very appropriate umbrellas

A quintessential Icelandic child with her blonde hair

The main parade route

I took a stroll down the main road, Laugevegur, and made my way to the parade route on Laekjargata.  At first there weren't a lot of people but as the hour went on it filled up to thousands!  You must remember: Reykjavik’s population is roughly 200,000 (about 300,000 reside in the whole country).  My guess is that, per capita, Reykjavik is one of the most queer-friendly places on earth.  People of all ages were present – I was happy to see so many families in attendance.  Children are taught from a young age that being different is ok.  It’s a very peaceful city and country.  The police do not carry guns.  I saw only a handful of police at the parade.  This city is just so cool.  I highly recommend you go.  My flight was $780 round trip and I paid $120 a night for a bachelor apartment with a fully equipped kitchenette!

Anyway, I digress…

Icelandic police officers. No guns! 

The parade began as it does in Toronto with the Dykes On Bikes!  It was really neat to see some of the universal themes and ideas surrounding gay pride.  I felt included when I saw the rainbow flag because that’s the very image that caused so much controversy and hate toward me at my school as I launched the very first Gay Straight Alliance.  All of the backlash, the ignorance, the misunderstanding, the confusing, the hate - it was worth it because I know I’m not alone in my fight for equality for all.

Dykes On Bikes! 

I have a new mantra: STAND IN YOUR POWER.  Historically, as a woman, I don’t have power.  Historically, as a person of colour, I don’t have power.  But I’m straight and that holds power in this world. When men stand for women’s rights, that’s powerful! When White people stand for People of Colour's rights, that’s powerful! When straight people stand for the queer community, that's powerful! Of course, all of the aforementioned oppressed groups fight first, harder, and longer than the privileged groups.

This is me trying to creep under a stranger's umbrella!

The anticipation!

The parade continued with people from all walks of life being involved. Even Jon Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavik, comes dressed in drag every year for the Pride Parade (which is much more than we can say for the mayor of Toronto). Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, were jailed for singing a song in a church that criticized Vladimir Putin. Communities all over the world implored the Russian government to release the band. Below, you'll see Jon Gnarr dressed as a member of Pussy Riot, who famously wear dresses and balaclavas during their performances. How cool is this mayor?

Jon Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavik, protesting the imprisonment of Pussy Riot

Sports team in support of gay pride

Protecting that gorgeous make-up from the rain!

A poignant reminder...

A store-front moose joining in the festivities

At the end of the parade, the crowd joins in and walks to the end!  I got to MARCH in Reykjavik’s Pride.  I am truly honoured.  The last float took us to a bandstand where a concert commenced.  I stayed for about half of it.  My favourite part was when a musical theatre-type duo sang Don’t Rain On My Parade in Icelandic! Brilliant…As it poured down on us.  It was a perfect ending to a great parade.

Parade finale: CONFETTI!

Happy parade-goers trying to catch some confetti

After the parade, the rain finally let up for a couple of hours and I was finally able to take lots of pictures of the graffiti around town!  This city is covered in super rad pieces and took about 200 photos.  It’s not something I was all that interested in back home but the graffiti here has inspired me to start hunting down street art in Toronto.  I know that’s super hipster of me and I realize I'm late to the party on this trend but Reykjavik is so inspiring in many ways and has resuscitated my love of photography.  When the school year starts everything becomes busy and the weather become cold and makes shooting more difficult.  I will speak to this in another post but this past year I did too much at the school.  Really, I've done too much since I began teaching and I need to strike a better balance so I'm nourishing my soul and filling up my cup, especially artistically.  More on that another time – I'm in freaking Iceland! Here is some wickedly rad street art:

I shopped around for a bit, picking up lovely things for my family and myself, then headed back to my accommodations and changed to go out for dinner and drinks.  This is the only challenge of solo travelling: Going out for drinks.  Now, I’m pretty independent and do a lot of things on my own. I go to movies, dinner, shopping, travelling on my own.  But back home I don’t go for drinks on my own.  However, I’m not going to stay in and miss the infamous Reykjavik nightlife just because I’m flying solo here.  So off I went to Lebowski Bar.  Yes, you guessed it: It’s a The Big Lebowski themed bar and very popular here in town.  I bought myself a pint of Gull (refer to Iceland: Day 1 to read more about that) and took a seat.  Thank goodness for free wi-fi! I was chilling out, updating Twitter and sending messages and emails to family and friends, but keeping my eye out and up and maintaining a friendly smile on my face.  I had a table to myself and the place was filling up.  I noticed two women who also looked like travellers (we’re so obvious!) and invited them to sit down.  Turns out my new friends, Tracy and Laura, are teachers from Britain!  Instantly, we had something in common and became fast friends.  We have planned to meet up for dinner tomorrow.  One of my greatest traits is that you can take me anywhere!  I will talk to anyone and everyone and find it very easy to make new friends.

We went to Den Danske Kro where I had gone the other night and had a pint and listened to live music.  The Brits wanted to go out to the club (not my scene) and I decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow: I will spend the day shopping and strolling through the streets.  Today was great.  I'm very fortunate to be me.

Thanks for reading,

Roopa

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

ICELAND: Day 2 - Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

These event occurred during August 2012. 

Ok.  This is it.  This is the day I’ve been looking forward to for years – Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir.

I booked this tour with Reykjavik Excursions and they are great! I highly recommend them! They even pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.  Very convenient.

The Reykjavik Excursions bus

We started off and spent 1.5 hours on the bus to get to Geysir (pronounced GAY-zeer).  This is one of the many areas with geothermal activity in Iceland.  The word geyser (which is an exploding spout of water) comes from this place – all other geysers are named after this place.  Cool, eh?

The rain was relentless this day but it didn’t matter; I was making my dream come true.  We pulled up to Geysir (“the Gusher”) and I saw a herd of tourists trying desperately to shield themselves from the rain.  The rain was coming from everywhere – very misty.  I followed my tour guide and approached the big geyser.  This one, the namesake, is not active now. It hasn’t erupted for about 60 years.  It’s still hot and you can smell the sulphur but it no longer spouts.  The “smaller” geyser, called Strokkur (“the Churn”) is the one that erupts every 5-7 mins.  It did not disappoint.

This is how hot the water is!

Waiting for Strokkur to explode...

The picture doesn't show just how windy and rainy it was. 

I had to protect my camera by tying a plastic bag around it. It's a good look, isn't it?

And Strokkur wows the crowd!

Next to Geysir is an electric blue pool called Blesi.  Gorgeous.  The pictures doesn't do it justice.  I’m amazed this colour exists naturally. 

Blesi

I almost missed Litli Geysir (“Little Geysir”) but was fortunate to spot it on my way back to the bus.  This little guy just boils and boils. 

Litli Geysir 
Here you can see and hear how windy it was

After Geysir we went to Gullfoss ("foss" means "waterfall"), a magnificent waterfall that gives Niagara Falls a run for its money.  This two-tiered waterfall is loud and amazing.  I took a ton of pictures but we only had 30 minutes there.  Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to see it with my own eyes for very long.  My plan is to do this tour again before I leave.  This tour is the main reason I’ve wanted to come to Iceland.  I think the weather will be improving in the next few days.  To me, it will be worth it to see it again and to enjoy the mountains along the way; they were hiding behind heavy mist.

Gullfoss 

And finally, Thingvellir.  This is the site of the oldest parliament in the world.  The Vikings started it in the year 930. More importantly (well, to me at least!) this is also the site where the North American plate and the Eurasian plate diverge!  This is only one of two places on Planet Earth where you can see this happening, the other being in East Africa.  Did you hear me? YOU CAN SEE WHERE TWO TECTONIC PLATES DIVERGE!!  I am a huge geography nerd and this was truly the highlight for me.  I was fighting back tears as we drove from the North American plate to the Eurasian plate and stopped in the middle.  I stood there and looked up at the face of the North American plate. It was pretty surreal for me – still can’t believe I was standing in the place that is featured in a geography video I show my students at the beginning of each semester. 

I feel so fortunate.  I feel so grateful. 

The face of the North American tectonic plate.

This is the moment a lifelong dream came true: 

I'm standing in between two tectonic plates!

I was so ridiculously happy.

I have a few former students who follow me on Twitter and they were saying things like, “You finally made it, Miss!” They know how much I’ve longed to be here.  The cherry on top of this awesome cake? My students get to see that dreams really do come true if you don’t give up. 

After all the geothermal awesomeness, I decided to get a hot dog at Baejarins Betzu Plysur, considered by many to be the best hot in Europe, perhaps even the world.  A man called Stefan struck up a conversation with me as he heard my accent while ordering.  I had a lovely chat with him as we ate hot dogs.

The famous hot dog in all its simple glory

My friend-for-a-few-minutes, Stefan, being silly whilst eating his hot dog!

Lastly, I met up with Jamie and Tommy (my new American friends) at Reykjavik Backpackers for a couple of pints of Gull.  I also chatted up two other Americans, one is a teacher, and we had some great conversations about education.

Great, GREAT second day.

Tomorrow: Reykjavik’s Pride Parade!!  As you know, I’m ally to the queer community and it was a happy accident that I booked my trip for this weekend.  Lucky me!  Stay tuned for Day 3!

Thanks for reading,

Roopa

ICELAND: Day 1

The following occured on Thursday, August 9th, 2012.

My last two travel adventures yielded NO written documentation of the journey and I have come to regret it.  I try not to regret things because you can’t change the past.  This time I’ve decided to stick to writing everyday, not matter how late it is or how many alcoholic beverages I’ve consumed.

I arrived at 6:20am local time, 2:20am to my jet lagged body. It was strange; not only did I have to go through security at Pearson International I had to go through it again at Keflavik Airport in Iceland.  Rules have changed since 9/11: any flight coming in from the States must be screened again. 

Straight away, the drive from the airport is GORGEOUS.  The lava fields are covered with low lying grasses and mosses and lavender-coloured flowers.  I keep forgetting I’m just below the Arctic Circle.  The roads are jet black.  They get their colour from the volcanic rock.  I’ve seen the red, iron-oxidized roads of Prince Edward Island and now the black roads of Iceland.  I was fighting back tears as my 19-year-old dream of going to Iceland was coming to fruition right before my eyes.  It was raining a lot and more was on the way…

I arrived at my “hotel”, Welcome Apartments.  I’ve spent the last two vacations in hostels and I’m done.  Hostels make me hostile.  I feel too old for that now.  I enjoy comfort and quiet so I may fully enjoy the reasons for travel – to take in the sights.  Welcome Apartments are for travels wanting more of just those two things: comfort and quiet.  I rented a bachelor apartment with my own bathroom and kitchenette.  Having a fridge and a sink and a hot plate will make eating breakfast easier and more economical.  The bathroom was quite peculiar:

 The entire bathroom is like one, giant shower.

My not-so-blackout blackout blinds.

During the summer months Iceland had nearly 24-hours of daylight.

Blackout blinds are a necessity to get much-needed sleep!

 My plan was to stay up and beat the jet lag but, alas, slumber won the game, but not before exploring a little and picking up some necessities at a place called Bonus, a local grocer.  I found myself at a place called Te + Kaffi (yes, you guessed it: Tea + Coffee) and had a bite to eat.  It was 9:00am but my body was very confused.  I spoke to a French gentlemen during my time there and it turns out he is also a high school teacher of history and geography.  We steered our conversation to nerdy geography things – half the reason we both found ourselves in Iceland!

After that, I strolled along Laugavegur (the main shopping and entertainment street in town) and walked into a record shop called Smekkleysa.  I told the sales clerk I wanted to hear anything Icelandic.  I left with a CD by Seabear.  I have yet to listen to it properly but I’m sure I will love it.  I really love music and shape my travels around it.  I went to Ireland because of all those years of listening to U2 and yearning to see the places where the music I love was created.  I think art and geography have a strong connection even though people often exclaim what a strange combination of teachables I have: dance and geography.  To me, it makes sense.

I proceeded to my accommodation and fell into a 4-hour sleep (which explains why I’m up at 3:15am local time, writing this).  Upon awaking, I went to the Backpackers Hostel on the main road to inquire about good places to eat.  The clerk directed me to Vegamot, a hip and happening place to eat in Reykjavik, on a street called Vegamotastigur.  It was very busy so I took that as a sign of its credibility.  My choice restaurant in Toronto is constantly busy and is a favourite among Torontonians.  I ordered a delicious hamburger with potato skins, complete with a cucumber and dill sauce.  I saved my skins for late night eats, post pub.

After dinner I popped into a bookstore and a young woman called Ylva said she recognized me from Vegamot (she was also having dinner there at the same time).  We struck up a conversation and realized one of her friends might very well know one of my good friends.  Both Ylva and my friend studied at the same acting school – Guildford School of Acting in the UK.  Such a small world!  We are now following each other on Twitter and are planning to meet up for a drink during my time here.  I make friends wherever I go! It is definitely one of my finest traits.  J

I went on to meet a woman named Inga I met on Twitter.  She owns a travel business called Tiny Iceland and hosts visitors to Iceland.  She brought some American travelers (Jamie and Tommy) and we all enjoyed a night out at Lebowski Bar and Den Danske Kro (Danish pub).  I tried Gull, a local beer, and let me tell you:  SO GOOD.  Delicious beer.  I am convinced it is due to the amazing water in Iceland.  The tap water is the best water I’ve ever tasted, tap or bottled.  It might be the best water in the world.  Google it! Another interesting fact about Iceland: beer was banned from 1915 to 1989!  You wouldn't know it by the nightllife!  Reykjavik is known for its nightlife; people party until all hours of the night, especially on Fridays and Saturdays.

 Jamie and Tommy from Oregon!

At Den Danske Kro, a two-man band was playing.  Apparently, this band is quite well-known in Iceland and they usually play bigger venues – I was a treat to see them in a small pub.  The one dude’s name is MagniÁsgeirsson and he is a bit of a local celebrity.  He and his band mate played a Leonard Cohen song and I freaked out (because he’s Canadian, not because I love Cohen.  Yes, it’s true.  I don’t LOVE Leonard Cohen, ok??  Get over it). I went up and requested anything else Canadian.  They played Neil Young’s Heart of Gold and it made me smile from ear to ear.  They also played Mr. Big’s To Be With You and when they did the whole bar sang at the top of their voices (little known fact about Iceland: Icelanders LOVE this song.  Like, madly.  I heard it every night out at the bar and each time every single person would sing it.  It was confusing and awesome).  And lastly, one of the other songs they played was Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song.  Before they sang it, Magni said, “Here’s our song!”  One of favourite bands of all time, Led Zeppelin, came to Iceland in the ‘70s and wrote Immigrant Song – a tune written in the perspective of the Vikings sailing from Norway and discovering Iceland.  The Viking TRULY discovered Iceland – no one was there when they arrived!  It’s not like when misinformed people say Columbus “discovered” America or when John Cabot “discovered” Newfoundland, Canada.  No, they didn’t.  People were already there.

It was a fantastic first day in Iceland.  I cannot wait to see what more will happen.

Time for sleep now.  It’s 3:30am and the sun is starting to rise. It was dusk at 11:00pm.   Fantastic.  Tomorrow: I’m off the Geysir, Gulfoss, and Thingvellir!  Stay tuned for Iceland Day 2!

Thank you for reading, lovelies. 

Sincerely,

Roopa

All photography by Roopa Cheema

ICELAND: A prologue

Let me take you back on a journey to 1993…

I was thirteen years old.  I was in the 8^th grade.  Grunge was in full swing (only two short years had gone by since the releases of Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, Nirvana’s Nevermind, and of course Pearl Jam’s iconic album, Ten). I was on the cusp of entering high school with only one year left in elementary school.  My thoughts were likely dominated by what I was going to wear to grad (even though it was months away), if the boy I liked would ask me to grad (even though it was months away), and what high school was going to be like (even though it was months away).  That’s the mind of a teenager!

 

This is a picture of me in the 8th grade.

You can see the evidence of Grunge.

And weird stuffed animals. 

 Also, back in ’93, we had this strange and wonderful thing called MuchMusic.  Yes, I know it still exists today but it is definitely not the same from my childhood and adolescence.  For all you super young folk out there, MuchMusic used to play music videos.  Like, all the time.  That was its purpose!  With the advent of YouTube in 2005, MuchMusic turned into a weird channel for strange teen-based reality shows.  I remember waiting for hours for my favourite video so I could bask in its awesomeness for the 3-5 minutes.  There was a real joy in it because of the waiting.  We don’t have to wait for anything anymore; you can watch the same video on YouTube seventy-eight times in a row.

And then, there it was: Bjork’s video for Big Time Sensuality.  Bjork had released other songs and videos before this one but it was THIS video (and how it made me feel) that would be burned in my memory to this day.  I was…Enchanted.  That is the perfect word to describe it.  Bjork was, and still is, enchanting.  I wanted to know everything about her!  Who is she??  Where is she from??  How did she get her hair like that?? I spent many hours trying to get my hair like hers in that video.  Here, let me refresh your memory:

And that’s the moment my obsession with Bjork and Iceland began.  I started reading books and encyclopaedias about Iceland (this was before the Internet, my friends).  I would wait for hours (while doing homework and chores, etc) just to push the record button on my VCR for whichever amazing video of hers would air.  I couldn’t get enough.  That was when my dream of going to Iceland was born – in 1993, nineteen years ago.  Another dream came true in 1998 when I saw Bjork live at The Warehouse (currently The Koolhaus).  I still cannot believe I saw her on the Homogenic tour.  Homogenic is actually my favourite album of all time.

Iceland is tucked away in its own little world in the North Atlantic Ocean.  Getting there was not easy nor was it financially achievable for a very long time…Not until their economy collapsed in 2008 and Iceland Air started to fly out of Toronto at very reasonable rates.  I remember seeing ads in the subway and having heart palpitations.  The dream was slowly becoming possible!  I was set to go the summer of 2010 but certain events in my personal life prevented me from going.  I’m actually very happy I didn’t go then – the whole experience would have been tainted by the bad memories of that time, and what I would later learn about that time period as well.  It wasn’t the right time for me to go and my intuition guided me to stay.

In August of 2012, my dream of nineteen years came true.  I could cry right now just thinking about it.  Sometimes I wonder if it even happened; if I only dreamt it as I had done for so long.  Well, I know for sure it happened because I have 1000 pictures to prove it!  And, for the first time, I kept a daily journal of my travels to share with you!  On previous journeys I have attempted to write daily but failed miserably, and as a result my memories have faded significantly.  I couldn’t let that happen to my dream.  This time I succeeded and I’m excited to share it with you and to relive my trip all over again!

Might I add how sad I am to be only writing about Iceland at this moment as one of the coolest music festivals is currently in session?  IcelandAirwaves is happening right now!  I'll be speaking much more about the indie music in Iceland in later posts.  I wish I were there.  But I always wish I am...

Stay tuned as I post Iceland: Day One!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Roopa

P.S.  Perhaps this will prompt you to go!

Thinking about Rick...

I’ve been thinking about my cousin Rick lately. On February 19th, 2005, he lay down in front of a train and killed himself.

He wasn’t my cousin by blood but a very close family friend. My sisters call him the brother we never had. He has an older sister, Sharon, and five of us grew up together. I would like to say that we all hung out together but that wasn’t exactly the case. They were all significantly older than me when we were kids so I was often a bored bystander to their teenage ways. (Ok, I’ll face it – I wanted to be older so badly so they would include me!) I probably watched cartoons when we went over to their house. The four of them were five, seven, nine, and ten years older than me.

Rick and his sister were like us; brown kids growing up in a white town. They were the only other brown family with kids like me and my sisters: Coconuts; brown on the outside, white on the inside. I grew up listening to the hard rock of the 80s. It’s just what brown kids growing up in smallish white towns in Ontario listened to. If you don’t believe me check out Rupinder Gill. I remember all of them listening to Platinum Blonde and Sharon’s room was always painted red or black or both. And their mother, Bakshinder Aunty (brown people call friends of the family aunty and uncle) was so beautiful! She wore glorious Indian suits and saris, glossy make-up and shiny nail polish. And she was one of the nicest women you’d ever meet.

Bakshinder died from an aneurysm when I was in the 9th Grade. She was the first person I knew to die. My parents are immigrants from India and all of our family continues to live there. I remember wanting to see the body (it was open casket) but my sisters didn’t want to. I was scared to go alone. It was after that when Rick changed. Rick was around 21-years-old and took his mother’s death very hard – it was the catalyst for his bipolarity.

Rick suffered for the next ten years and often self-medicated to soothe his pain. I didn’t know him during this time but my sisters only spoke of him in a lovely light. Whenever they saw him he was happy and glowing and having a great time. They never saw him during the dark times, although they knew he was sick. They loved him so much.

That week in February, leading up to and after his death, was a very strange one indeed. I had just turned twenty-five and was producing a dance show for my final independent project in my undergrad. I got a call one night from my family saying that my father was in the hospital for what they thought was a heart attack. I freaked out and my family reassured me he was fine (my entire family still resides in my hometown which is about a two-hour train ride from Toronto). They told me to sit tight. Finally, after about a day or two of increasingly bad news about my father being in and out of the hospital (even though my family INSISTED he was ok) I’d had enough and got on the train that Sunday February 20th to see my dad. I had to see for myself. I had to work the next day so I was only going in for the day. I went to the hospital and there was my dad, in good spirits. He had yet to get a proper room and was on a gurney in the hallway! I remember him smiling and saying, “I’m glad I’m not in India!” It was great to see a man, in pain, be appreciative of his good fortune. After spending the day with him I was ready to make my way to the train station when the nurse told me I had a call. I went to the nurses’ station and my sister, P, was on the phone. She sounded distraught and told me I couldn’t leave that night. I was with my father so I knew it wasn’t him that was upsetting her. She just kept saying to go to my parents’ house. When I arrived there, my other sister, K, and my Mom were there. We had no idea what was going on. P arrived soon after and through gasping sobs said, “Rick killed himself last night.”

I don’t remember much except the extreme pain my sisters were in. I wasn’t as close to Rick so his death didn’t hit me as hard. I do remember, though, feeling like it was the first time I could be a pillar of strength for my sisters as they had been for me my entire life. I had to go back to Toronto to finishing producing the show – opening night was in less than a week. I was back and forth a lot that week for the wake and the funeral and my show. A few days later my Mom called me and said that she’d been in the hospital all night with my uncle (her brother) because he had broken his hand. I found out later that day from my sister K that he broke it while trying to take his own life by hanging – the rope broke and he landed on his hand. This uncle had no association with Rick and his suicide attempt had nothing to do with Rick or his family.

It was a weird time of death and death-related things in my life. My father is good now and my uncle ended up in the hospital for a while. My uncle still suffers from depression to this day. And Rick is now with his mother but he left behind a sister, a dad, nieces, cousins, aunts, uncles, our family, and a loving life partner. His life partner recently found love again and is now a mother.

Our lives are about constant change and learning. That week was life-changing. It made me slow down and smell the roses. Literally, I would slow my walking pace and take in the sunshine and smell flowers. Sometimes really terrible things happen before you can become awake in your own life. I think terrible times are an opportunity to rebuild from the wreckage to be stronger than before. That’s easy for me to say about Rick’s death because we weren’t that close but my sister P had a really tough time getting through her grief. You can’t just get “over” or get “past” it – I think you need to go through the pain. It’s the only way to truly deal with the obstacle or you will find yourself tripping over it again and again.

Think of someone right now who is no longer in your life, dead or alive. Think about something you’d say to them if they appeared right in front of you. Send out that silent message to them right now. If you didn’t say I love you, say it now. If you need to say sorry, say it now.

Thanks for reading about my cousin Rick who would have been 38-years-old next month.

This is a picture of Rick as a boy. That's my Mom in the background with her eyes closed and sitting to her left is Bakshinder Aunty. This was probably the late 70s.