Andrew – thanks for the update. I don’t think Landsbanki customers would have to worry – I’m sure the Icelandic state can keep its commitments.

Joey – hi and welcome and thanks for the kind words. I must say I was a bit taken aback by your ‘written by a man’ comment. I wasn’t aware there was a ‘male’ or ‘female’ writing style, or that women didn’t write with strength behind the words. Something to chew on, I guess.

Runa – oh no! You thought I was a man too?

Sigga – who needs cheerios when you have slátur?

Thanks for your blog! I read something worrying about Iceland in the dailies today, googled it, found the schadenfreudic entry that links to this blog, then started reading.

I must say that most of what has been written about Iceland’s current crisis has been confirmed by what you’ve written (plus juicy details about the CB and Baugur which haven’t made their way out to the international news yet). At the same time, I can sense that whatever happens, Icelanders will just take it in stride.

In fact, before reading your biographical post, I thought the blog was written by a man. I don’t know why. Maybe some feeling of strength behind the words.

I like the tone of your blog and the fine writing. I’ll keep reading.

Even if the toxic assets are bought by the government, you can’t force a bank to make a loan. Banks are now hoarding cash and not loaning to other banks, as no bank wants to loan to a bank that might go under. This whole thing looks like a house of cards that has started to implode, and no one really knows when it will stop. But nothing will change until banks are willing to loan to other banks, and a certain level of trust is restored. I hope that happens quickly.

In mentioning what life could become like,
Alda (and others) you might enjoy this link to a book from 1853. It is from a German woman who traveled on her own to Iceland and describes what she did and saw during her 3 month stay there, what living conditions were like, and what was “normal” for meals and such. She said this about the food:
**************************
I did not at all relish the diet at dinner; this meal consisted of two
dishes, namely, boiled fish, with vinegar and melted butter instead of
oil, and boiled potatoes. Unfortunately I am no admirer of fish, and now
this was my daily food. Ah, how I longed for beef-soup, a piece of meat,
and vegetables, in vain! As long as I remained in Iceland, I was
compelled quite to give up my German system of diet.

After a time I got on well enough with the boiled fish and potatoes, but
I could not manage the delicacies of the island. Worthy Madame Bernhoft,
it was so kindly meant on her part; and it was surely not her fault that
the system of cookery in Iceland is different from ours; but I could not
bring myself to like the Icelandic delicacies. They were of different
kinds, consisting sometimes of fishes, hard-boiled eggs, and potatoes
chopped up together, covered with a thick brown sauce, and seasoned with
pepper, sugar, and vinegar; at others, of potatoes baked in butter and
sugar. Another delicacy was cabbage chopped very small, rendered very
thin by the addition of water, and sweetened with sugar; the accompanying
dish was a piece of cured lamb, which had a very unpleasant “pickled”
flavour.

On Sundays we sometimes had “Prothe Grutze,” properly a Scandinavian
dish, composed of fine sago boiled to a jelly, with currant-juice or red
wine, and eaten with cream or sugar. Tapfen, a kind of soft cheese, is
also sometimes eaten with cream and sugar.

In the months of June and July the diet improved materially. We could
often procure splendid salmon, sometimes roast lamb, and now and then
birds, among which latter dainties the snipes were particularly good. In
the evening came butter, cheese, cold fish, smoked lamb, and eggs of
eider-ducks, which are coarser than hen’s eggs. In time I became so
accustomed to this kind of food, that I no longer missed either soup or
beef, and felt uncommonly well.

My drink was always clear fresh water; the gentlemen began their dinner
with a small glass of brandy, and during the meal all drank beer of Herr
Bernhoft’s own brewing, which was very good. On Sundays, a bottle of
port or Bordeaux sometimes made its appearance at our table; and as we
fared at Herr Bernhoft’s, so it was the custom in the houses of all the
merchants and officials.
***************
Somehow life always seems to survive in Iceland, and in 1852, pickeled testicles were not on the menu. These are bad times, but Icelanders always survive.

Fascinating read, but I love the history of Iceland.
The book can be downloaded for free:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1894

Don