Messy cabin to US Embassy

Posted by at 11:14 AM, July 2, 2004

Hello from my bunk,

Yesterday Helena mentioned that our cabin is a catastrophe (she’s right) and that the extreme disorder reflects the condition of our brains (right again). To give you a better idea of the cabin, stuff is everywhere: clean clothes, dirty clothes, shoes, trash, food, pictures, pens and paper, toiletries, duct tape (why?), sand paper (don’t ask). I have no clean clothes because I haven’t done any laundry. My sheet has been bunched up at the foot of the bed for a week because I haven’t had the time to straighten it out and align it with the comforter. I can’t find my wallet or my brush or my jeans. Hey- maybe my wallet is in my jeans...

I haven’t checked my e-mail in two days. I haven’t written an update since Wednesday. I haven’t gotten more than four hours of sleep all week. Yesterday I nearly fainted at the Blue Lagoon. I can barely move a muscle, let alone stand up. I’m on the verge of tears. My hands are shaking and my throat hurts. I’ve never seen my eyes so puffy. I’m too hot then too cold. I’m exceedingly sleepy but when I close my eyes they spasm. Now my vision is blurry. I’m exhausted and totally dehydrated. Help!

It’s 10:30 and I’m still in bed. I’ve become a liability. Demet, the ship’s medic came to examine me earlier. Blood pressure: normal. Pulse: fast. Temperature: high. She brought me some orange juice and a cheese sandwich to get my electrolytes back up. Frank brought me some yogurt (high in potassium and calcium). Jari just came in to tell me that I am scheduled to go to a glacier tomorrow. Time to buck up.

I feel bad because none of this is about whales or about Greenpeace. It’s just a slice of my life and maybe you don’t care about these personal problems of chaos and health. But this is my morning, like it or not. Well, I better get going. I’ve got a cabin to clean.

Friday July 2nd End of day

I moseyed into the mess around 12:00, still in my sleep shorts and tank top, but starting to feel perkier. Guess who was there? Abbi! I couldn’t believe it. He gave me a huge hug and a kiss, and we sat down to chat. Slowly the mess filled up as the final meeting of the campaign got underway. David delivered the concluding update on the OSPAR conference- good results on CO2 dumping AND reports of constructive interactions between delegates and Greenpeacers. Abbi then spoke poignantly about attitude and opinions in Iceland regarding whaling.

Frode introduced an Icelandic man who spoke about animal rights and conservation and then discussed the history between Greenpeace and Iceland. He said that nearly 80% of the population opposed whaling in the 1970s and then after Greenpeace came in the 1980s the numbers reversed. Then we found out the results of the recently completed Gallup poll in Iceland: support for whaling has decreased from 74.6% last year to about 67% now. It’s good news that reflects the new cooperative effort launched last fall by Greenpeace when the Rainbow Warrior came to Iceland.

The meeting ended and everyone started to disperse. Abbi told me that he was going to the U.S. Embassy later for an Independence Day celebration and did I want to go as his guest. Are you kidding? That would be great! I was certainly feeling better, and this would give me an excuse to go into town for a bit of shopping ("Dress smart" he said, and we both laughed).

First I headed for the tourist office to try to find a phone. I hadn’t any luck this week finding a public phone- it turns out land lines are relatively rare since they are more expensive than mobile numbers. I found one though and used my calling card to call my mom (doesn’t accept blocked calls) and my sister (didn’t connect) so that they could help me track down my husband in Colorado. I needed to tell him that I would be coming home a few days later than expected (extra time in Reykjavik!). It was a total bust. I hope he gets my e-mail.

On to the shopping. Hey, there’s a cute skirt! Does that price tag say 45900 Kr? Isn’t that equal to 459 Euro? O.K. I’m in the wrong store. Fortunately the kind saleswoman took pity on me and directed towards some shops that might carry less pricey clothes. I lucked out and found a pair of black pants and a top on sale. I dashed back to the ship just in time to find Abbi emerging from my cabin looking dapper in a tailored suit. We greeted each other warmly and headed to the embassy in his car.

The reception was... nice. I met the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland, James Gadsden, and his charming wife Sally. Sally and I actually got along famously and I wished I could have talked to her longer. The food was tasty; the lush gardens were well tended. The weather was cooperative. I talked for a while with a guy named Raj from L.A. who has lived in Iceland for ten years as an indoor tennis instructor.

Abbi told me a little more about his life and times. He gave up a successful engineering career in Reykjavik to open the Whale Centre in Húsavik. The day we left Húsavik someone threw eggs at his car. He said his wife and daughter were justifiably upset. He didn’t like it one bit of course, but he hopes to be around when those attitudes are gone. Abbi is a very passionate person with a heart the size of a minke whale.

Abbi dropped me off at the ship at 6:50 and, after a fond farewell, I went to find Frank for our 7:00 dinner date. We walked into town and, after he tried to trick me into going to a seafood place that serves Puffin (and whale we later found out), we discovered a posh restaurant on the second floor of an old building overlooking the little lake. During dinner Frank told me about growing up in Denmark, about never wanting to be in school and how he would look out the window and envision the tree he could be climbing or the hills he could be exploring. Frank was a long-haired hippie living in a commune with friends for a few years! He’s a handsome, wise person who loves his family, hates computers, and seems happiest when he’s sailing. Did I mention how much I’ll miss him? Keep in touch Frank!

We headed back to the ship and ran into Anita and Gianluca halfway there. We turned right around and went to a coffee house to meet Pelle and two of the girls from the Greenpeace office. I only stayed long enough to say hello and then went back to the ship with the idea of catching up on my sleep.

I found Tomakint and helped him get ready for tomorrow’s adventure; then I foolishly went to the lounge. I say foolishly because I ended up staying there pretty late. I hung out chatting for a while and then Donald decided that I should not go home without learning some seamanship skills, so he taught Marta and me how to splice a rope. That was very cool! (I have the rope in my bag to take home with me.) I finally came to my cabin to go to sleep. Oh my God it’s after midnight. I have to get up at 6:00! For f----sake!

-Marnee