Oh, wow, been a bit...

Sorry about the delay, ladies and gentlebeings.  Things have been hectic as of the last few days and I'll elaborate for you as to how.

First, and most importantly, I'm mostly no longer an illegal!  I say mostly because I still need to go and get my photo taken for my Residence Permit, but once that hurdle is cleared (in a single manly and mighty bound, no less) I'm good.  Of course, this being the byzantine and arcane bureaucracy of Iceland, it wasn't an easy, nor inexpensive, thing to do.

Allow me to explain.  No no, is too much to explain.  Let me sum up.  So, in order to get my kennitala (which is important, as I'm sure you'll recall from previous posts) I needed to hand in a bunch of information to UTL, in person.  This, of course, necessitated that I was in the country when handing over said information.  Once they received that, they could issue me my Residence Permit and kennitala.  But there was one hitch.  A minor, insignificant, tiny detail.

That detail?

They wouldn't issue the kennitala or Residence Permit while I was in the country.  And they need proof that I've left.  What sort of proof?  Oh, a faxed copy of my boarding pass.  Well, that shouldn't be an issue, should it?

Let me tell you, O Gentle Readers, what sort of a debacle the whole thing was (and, I'd imagine, still is.)

First off, everything got submitted to UTL.  Statements of Support, my OSAP documents, letters of acceptance, etc.  Easy part.

Then I got a Ticket to London for this past Friday, returning on Saturday.  I left the flat at oh-dark-hundred and caught the bus to Keflavik airport.  Got there around 7am, got checked in and headed to Customs to have them fax in my boarding pass - something which I know they do, as they did it for Andrew the week previous.

Well.

I get to customs, ask them to fax it and, I kid you not, Most Noble Reader, the officer says "Nope.  You don't need to do that."
To which I reply "Uh, yeah, I do.  I've been told specifically by Georgia at UTL that I need this faxed to her."
"Well, you don't."
"Look.  I'm a student at HÍ.  If I don't get this faxed to UTL, I can't get a kennitala and I can't get registered.  Could you please humour me?"
"Fine."  He 'faxes' the boarding pass and hands me the copy, then closes the door to the office.

This struck me as odd, so I went to find a different fax machine, which I did, at the Hertz Rent-A-Car location, no less.*  I explained the situation to the woman behind the counter, she agreed with me that it's insane and she agreed to fax it for me.

She faxed it and she checked the status sheet.  Fax not delivered.  Odd.

We tried again.

Fax not delivered.

She then offered to continue trying to fax the thing for me until it went through.  I thanked her profusely and headed to my plane.

I then landed at Gatwick, called UTL and asked if they'd received my boarding pass.  They had.  20 minutes earlier.  Thank you Hertz Rent-A-Car lady!

The following 25 hours were a montage of coffee, food and chat with Ren, then back to Gatwick and home to Reykjavik!**

Now, all I needs must do is get my photo taken (on Thursday) and in 3 weeks or so, I get my card!

Additionally, on Thursday, we finally went on our Þingvellir/Reykholt trip.  And I took pictures!

They are, of course, under a jump

Þingvellir

A Majestic Lonelyman sighting!

Look, a beautiful waterfall.  I wonder what the pond it drains to is called...

Oh.  The Drowning Pool.  I see.

Oh, this is a nice little island.  Wonder what it's...

Oh.  This is the island where people went to for hólmganga.  That's duelling.  This is the duelling island.

After Þingvellir, we went to Reykholt. But to get to Reykholt, we had to traverse a barren, blasted landscape.

I'm not kidding about that, either. It honestly looked like the aftermath of a battle between two warring wizards. Rocks, loose dirt and only the hardiest of mosses and lichens could be found there. And fast moving, silty rivers pouring from glacial caps on mountains.

Observe!

After travelling the Deadlands (or the Interior of Iceland), we reached Reykholt, our final destination.  Scenic and beautiful.  And the exact opposite of everything we drove through to get there.

And there you go, folks. Photos and an actual substantial update.

Aren't you lucky?


*Paul expressed surprise that I was grateful for a soulless mega-corp for helping me out of a bind.  As I pointed out, though, it wasn't the mega-corp.  It was the person who broke their rules who helped me.  So my anti-corporatism is still intact.
**It's odd.  I'm starting to think of Reykjavik as home now.  Which is good.  But odd.