10th of October
Good morning
Just few words at the beginning of the day
It´s summer today and the next 2 days in my little land but then the winter arrives with cold and rain. It will be strange to go from 30 degrees down to 18 during 24 hours.
Although, this is fine because the fires will slow down or even dye when the rain arrives in all its glory and the smell of winter arrives.
This wonderful special smell that is everywhere when the wood is burning in the fireplaces from morning to night. Most of the people have their fireplaces in the kitchen and they sit there when the rest of the house is often freezing cold.
Some of my friends have told me that they go into their bedroom and there is a white cloud sailing from their mouth into the air. When that happens there is just one thing to do: Escape under the thick quilt and undress there. This is how it is for many of my fellow country men in my little land during the winter.
I was going to talk about when we compare prices between countries. We have to remember that the salary plays a part in the prices. In a country where salary is higher the prices are also higher. In countries where the salary is lower the prices are also lower. This makes sense.
Of course it is cheaper to live in a country with low salary. It does not change the fact for the Icelandic senior citizens that their pension in Iceland is too low and the government cheats them and confiscates part of their savings. This is unfortunately a fact !
It is also a fact that Icelandic senior citizens can have a better life financially living in countries as for example Spain where everything is cheaper than in Iceland.
There are many who move to Spain when they are 67 or more. They don´t want to but they have to, just to make sure they have food on their plates every day and a house to live in. They do sacrifice a lot. They leave their families and friends behind. They are in a way just like refugees by choice.
It is sad that the country which is one of the richest in the world does not have ambition to make sure that all its citizens can live with dignity.
People talk about the beauty of the country, they talk about the mountains and the waterfalls and the northern lights and everything is so amazing. Those people are tourists who visit and stay for few days. Those people have no idea about the real situation that so many in this beautiful country experience every day, every month and every year after they become 67 years old.
I left the country decades ago. I am never going back. I have found a new homeland where I love my people and my little land. I have made a new life for me where I am happy and content. Some might say that I am ungrateful and should not talk about what is the reality in the land where I was born.
The truth is sometimes hard to swallow.
If I did not get my pension from Iceland I would never even think about the country. I have earned my right during my working life in Iceland to get my pension from there. I have also according to Icelandic law saved for my life after 67 and that is part of my pension.
I do fight for the poor and those in Iceland who are left behind. I do this by writing. Its my duty. I will continue fighting but to tell you the truth it is occasionally devastating. The government in Iceland is not for the ordinary ones. They are for the elite.
Then I ask myself, why do people in Iceland vote for the same again and again and again?
I don´t know why!
I just hope something will change and keeping the hope on top of everything makes the fight worth while, at least for the time being.
My thoughts for today are above. Strange how the thoughts wander.
I hope your day will be ok and send you my best wishes.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
My thoughts shared with you 