Reykjavík Grapevine - Nov 2021, Page 6

Apparently, the ongoing volcanic eruption
at Geldingadalur has turned people’s minds
to the past. According to a recent Morgun-
bla$i$ headline, the eruption is reminiscent
of old times.
As a reader of the news, you prepare
yourself for interviews with the elderly, who
have seen one eruption a#er another during
their time on the earth. You’re intrigued by
their experiences: out of all the past erup-
tions they have witnessed, of which one
does the current lava flow remind them?
You doubt it’s the infamous eruption at
Eyja&allajökull, since that only just occurred
in 2010—not old times. Besides, the eruption
at Eyja&allajökull made things di"cult for
the people wanting to visit Iceland by dis-
rupting air travel across Europe. The erup-
tion at Geldingadalur has been nowhere
as troublesome. If anything, the number of
tourists has grown due to interest in the
eruption.
Perhaps they are referring to the Eldfell
eruption of 1973, which happened without
warning? Thousands of people needed to
be evacuated from the Westman Islands
within a few hours a#er the eruption. But
how would that be similar to the current
one?
Reading beyond the headline, it turns out
there’s been another misunderstanding by
our trusty friend, Google Translate. The news
has nothing to do with eruptions, although
the mistake is understandable. In Icelandic,
the word ‘gos’ means both eruption and
soda. The article is in fact about the latter
option: a new so# drink called Kremula$i. RH

When a person who goes to the emer-
gency room after a sexual assault, a
blood test for potential drugging is not
conducted unless a criminal investiga-
tion has been launched, Hrönn Stefáns-
dóttir, the project manager for sexual
assault emergency services, told RÚV.
Upon closer examination of the issue, it
was also discovered that the police are
not aware of a single conviction being
made for drugging someone, and that
systemic changes are clearly needed to
tackle the problem.
No known convictions
Hrönn says that part of the problem
is that the symptoms of having been
drugged unknowingly are often similar
to the effects of alcohol. “So we can’t say
at the emergency room—you have been
drugged. We can’t take a blood test for
this unless an investigation has been
launched.”
Article 194 of the General Penal Code,
which concerns sexual assault, does
state in part that depriving of someone
of consent can include drugging some-
one.
On that subject, Ævar Pálmi Pálma-
son, the assistant chief of police for the
sexual assault department, told report-
ers, “I do not know of any conviction,
at least at first glance, where someone
has been convicted of having drugged
someone. But it has come up and been
mentioned in the processing of a case
that this is suspected and such.”
Systemic changes are
needed
The subject of those who have been
drugged for the purposes of sexual
assault has been prominent amongst
Icelanders on social media lately, with
Öfgar, a feminist activist group, active
in the discussion. Ninna Karla Katrí-
nardóttir, one member of Öfgar, told
reporters that systemic changes are
needed.
“We need to tackle the police, the
health care system, mainly the emer-
gency services, to change their work
practices in this area,” she told report-
ers. “There are no laws concerning this,
but in order for the law to work, other
areas must first be sorted.”
ASK AN
Expert
Q: Why is natural wine so
popular in Iceland?
Words: Desirai Thompson
Photo: Art Bicnick
The popularity of natural wine—the
product of farming organic grapes
and allowing for the natural fermen-
tation process to proceed without
additives or unnecessary interven-
tion—has been sweeping across Eu-
rope and the world in recent years.
The word on the street is that natu-
ral wine gives you less of a hangover
due to the lack of sulphates—but is
that true? The Grapevine had a con-
versation with bartenders from two
of Reykjavík’s favourite natural wine
bars–Anna Weronika Zdrojewska from
Vínstúkan Tíu Sopar and Natalia Gro-
ciak from Bodega–to find out.
Anna believes that the popularity
of natural wine in Iceland is due not
only to the influence of international
trends, but also a natural extension
of a growing focus on what people
eat and how they eat. She explains,
"People are thinking more and more
'I don’t want to drink things that
make me feel bad, that are packed
with a whole bunch of chemicals
and preservatives.' People are also
more aware of the impact on the en-
vironment. That's why a lot of people
choose to not eat meat."
It’s likely this lack of additives that
leaves natural wine drinkers feel-
ing slightly less hungover than their
commercial-wine-consuming coun-
terparts, however there’s no definitive
answer to this question yet.
Regardless, it’s clear that natural
wine is making its mark in Iceland–
and for good reason. "There’s a way
to find something for everyone," Anna
muses. "It makes wine much less posh
and much more approachable. With
natural wines, it's much easier to in-
troduce people to new things."
"My favourite thing about natural
wine is the unpredictability of it," Na-
talia shares. "When you open a bottle
of commercial wine, you know exactly
what you’re going to get, but with nat-
ural wine it’s always an adventure. It’s
always di"erent." °
Dru!!in! For Sexual Assault
Growin! Concern
The problem never went away, but attention is increasin'
Words:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine

Photo:
Adobe Stock
First 6 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11— 2021
LOST IN GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Don't be this guy
Reminiscing Past
Eruptions
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