SEPTEMBER 2023
UNA
Worldwide Friends Magazine
ABOUT WORLDWIDE FRIENDS
Dear reader, Veraldarvinir / Worldwide Friends (WF) was founded in 2001 as an non-profit organization promoting nature protection, peaceoriented activities, friendship, and international understanding among people. The main activities offered by WF in Iceland are Short- and Long-Term volunteering programs, summer camps for teenagers, exchange programs & educational tours. Today the endeavor of attaining world peace has become a tangible possibility and the development and strengthening of bonds of cooperation and friendship through contact with people from other countries and cultures has proven to be one of the most fruitful means of achieving understanding and unity among nations. Veraldarvinir's main aim is to increase intercultural understanding by offering international volunteers the opportunity to take part in nature and peace-related activities. In the last 21 years we hosted 20.613 International participants in our programs in Iceland and they contributed 2.34 million hours to Icelandic nature.
CONTENTS PAGE 3 MEET THE TEAM PAGE 5 ICELANDIC LANGUAGE PAGE 7 LUPINS PAGE 9 INTERVIEW: THE HERRING ERA MUSEUM PAGE 13 CIRCULAR ECONOMY PAGE 15 ENVIRONMENT AND CONSCIOUSNESS PAGE 19 RECIPE: CINNAMON ROLLS
MEET THE TEAM Hey! I’m Fine and I’m18 years old and I live in Germany. I love to spend my time traveling around the world, go skiing or climbing. Currently I’m taking a gap year and I think it’s very important to see other parts of the world and get to know other cultures. That’s a really cool part of the project: helping the local community in the forest, Ielandic people and people from around the world . I’m very grateful to be able to participate in this project.
What’s up guys!I’m a 19 year old girl from Germany. I participated in this sustainability program because I would like to do something good for others, getting to know new people and get closer top myself. I warmly recommend you to try something new like this experience that beat all my first expectations. I would say thank you to all the kind people who came into my life and turned my journey into the best.
Hi! I’m Timéo and I’m 18 years old and I study science license. I wanted to do this trip to become more independent and improve my English. I was a bit scared at my at my arrival because I’m not usually sociable but everyone here was really nice to me and I managed to integrate myself. I can be myself around everyone!
Hello guys! I’m Lénaïc, a 22 year old engin eering student. I’m here for 4 weeks as a volunteer. The experience here allows you to learn how to live in a community, help your neighbor abd being able to discover a country in rich preserved nature. I’m happy and glad to be here and getting out of my comfort zone with amazing people .
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WORLDWIDE FRIENDS HIIIIII!! My name is SASCHA, I’m 19 years old , and I’m from the east coast of Australia! I graduated HS last year and have been travelling since the beginning 2023 , I love music, puffins!, martial arts & meeting people. I’m staying In Iceland for 4 weeks and so far I’ve loved every moment (besides cooking lol)!! I’ve met so many amazing people, seen some amazing scenery, learned so much ! & I’ve even got used to the cold. Brú feels like my second home and I’d come back in a heartbeat!
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Hello, my name is Rasmus, I am 20 years old and I am from Germany. I graduated school this year and I’m staying in Iceland for 4 weeks. Since I wasn’t ready to study right away after school I decided to travel for a few months. But I wanted to do some volunteering work as well which is why I decided to come to Iceland, to meet new people, get to know the Icelandic culture and do something good for the environment. Ever since I got here, I got to know a lot of great personalities and already went above my personal boundaries and noticed self improved. Nevertheless everyone welcomes you with open arms and I connected with other volunteers on a personal level that I never experienced before. To live together and work in a team just creates a special bond between everyone and all the different nations make it even more interesting.
Grüezi! My name is Marie, I‘m 18 years old and from Zurich, Switzerland. I recently graduated and wanted to start my gap year with something meaningful. So far, I have really enjoyed my stay here in Iceland. The nature is beautiful and I have met many kind people. I love the sense of community among the volunteers and I'm looking forward to what's to come!
Hallo, My name is Lars, I’m 32 years old and I’m from downtown Frankfurt. I finished my master degree at university and now I have ni idea what to do… but I enjoyed time here so much that I don’t wanna go back to Germany, so maybe I stay to work and earn some money and then come back! :)
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ICELANDIC language Icelandic is the official language of Iceland. Is part of the Northern Germanic languages and its originated from Old Norse. Old Norse is the language that vikings used to speak. It’s mother of modern Scandinavian languages as Icelandic, Faroese, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Old West Norse started to separate into Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian during the end of the Viking era, around the year 1000, as a result of a buildup of tiny changes. Nowadays, Icelandic is the most similar language to Old Norse, with almost no changes. Because of isolation Icelandic didn’t have much influence or changes from other languages.
Icelandic alphabet and pronunciation
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Icelandic
Basics Here you go some basics in Icelandic:
Hello-Hállo Hi- Hæ
Good morningGóðan daginn
PleaseVinsamlegast
Thank youTakk fyrir or Takk Takk
Yes- Já No- Nei
Happy birthdayTil hamingju með afmælið
Tongue twisters Áki á Á á á á Á. Grandpa owns a farm that is called Á, and he owns a sheep there that is in a river.
Það fer nú að verða verra ferðaveðrið It is getting worse, the travelling weather
Rómversku riddari réðist inn í Rómaborg. Rændi þar og ruplaði, rabbabara og rófum. Hvað eru mörg R í því? (A) Roman knight attacked Rome. He robbed and rumbled in the gardens of Rome. How many R are there in that? PAGE SIX
LUPINES You probably have seen those landscapes of Lupine flowers in Iceland either in pictures or in reality. Today we’re gonna speak a bit about it: The Lupine is a flower plant that normally grows in North Africa, North America, New Zealand, the Mediterranean and Iceland. The specie that grows in Iceland is Alaskan Lupine or known also as Lupinus Nootkatensis. The height of this flower plant can round between 50 cm and 120 cm.
Lupins season is summer, lasting around 2 months, from June to August and you can specially see them in the south of the country. In Iceland they're known as Lupines but they're real name in Icelandic is Úlfabaunir, meaning literally “Wolf Beans”.
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Lupines But did you know that there’s a backup story about Lupines in Iceland? In 1945 Alaskan Lupine were brought to Iceland as a tool to restore and reactivate the vegetation in the country. This plants make their own fertilizer trapping the nitrogen in the air and sending it to the roots. They’re good for the soil but nowadays they’re invasive and they don’t let some native plants grows.
No matter how, they give the landscape a magical touch and if you land in Iceland in summer, thats probably one of the first images that's gonna remain in your memories forever, the hypnotic purple everywhere.
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INTERVIEW
The Herring Era Museum ANITA ELEFSEN EDDA BJÖRK JÒNSDÒTTIR DANÍEL PÉTUR DANÍELSSON
Introduce youselves A: I’m Anita, I’m the director of the museum and I’ve been working here for over 20 years. I started at thirteen years old, as summer staff. I studied history and my master degree is in museum studies. I’m also chairwoman of the Icelandic museum association. E: I’m Edda, I’m specialist in education and communication and I take care of the photography part. I started working here as a summer employee 8 years ago, I almost rejected the offer but luckily I said yes. D: I’m Daniel, I studied my degree on tourism and I’m specialist in preservation and collection. I started working in the museum in January 2022, almost 2 years ago. PAGE NINE
Interview What is this museum about ?
A: In short is about the Herring Industry. Siglufjörður is to be the largest herring port in Iceland, so we are not just a local museum, we aim to preserve the herring history of Iceland, in general because there were more herring towns across Iceland even though none of them was as big as Siglufjörður. This industry collapsed about half century ago and I think people more or less moved real quick because it was such a harsh crash for the Icelandic economy, for people’s lives, they were left without jobs, without incomes, so they had to search for new opportunities. The companies, the boats, the ships...things were just left empty. I think in many ways this museum has really changed the landscape in Siglufjörður in general because after the collapse of the Herring industry there was no main industry, there were no travelers, over 1/3 of the population moved away searching for new beginnings elsewhere and the local community was just struggling to find a new balance that would replace the herring industry they had been counting for 70 years so I think the museum really changed the way we see our history because we just wanted to forget, move on and find something new and not to be constantly reminded of the herring that failed us .
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Interview How this museum started ? This museum started because of volunteers, just regular local people, most of them were local teachers. Around 1989 hey started fixing the red building which was in a very bad shape and they even without permission they decided just to paint the house, because they wanted to prove to the local politicians and to the others that it could be made pretty again and it could have a new role. This group of people spent every extra hour that they had on their lives for 5 years in reconstructing the building, turningit into a museum but also going across the town and across the country to collect objects related to herring era. The museum formally opened in the red building in 1994.
What is your message ? For the locals, the tourists, the young people... E: I would say that museums are for everyone and not a place that you have to visit once and you’re done with it. We would like to say that the museum is a place were you can come, explore something new and even though we have some same exhibitions we have gatherings happening for the local community and for guests over all. Museums are for everyone, is something that you can come a feel part of. A: I an add to what Edda said that a museum is not a place just for the past. Is also a place for the present. And it is important for every community to collect and preserve their historty for future knowldge, future research and education but also museums are modern institutes. They are places top learn, they are not dark places with old stuff that get dusted. D: I’m not sure if I can add something to all of that... “Herring is life” thats what somebody said!
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What is do you enjoy most about the museum?
Interview
D: My coworkers. The days here are never the same, it’s always something new, sometimes multiple things so alsothe diversity of the job
E: I would also say the diversity, and as Dan said, we are a really good team, it’s not a joke that we really enjoy each others company, we are a really good team and that's very important in such a small work place in where we have to be willing to do whatever even if it’s cleaning or doing tours or working in the collection...but that’s what I really enjoy about this job, how is never the same and how is this a such interesting history, because people think “ow it’s just herring” but it impacted the country in so many ways, with the economy, about the woman impact in this industry. Being a Herring girl was one of the first opportunities for Icelandic woman to be independent, so it was really empowering .
A: I do agree on everything both of them said, it’s very diverse and we have been very lucky with the team and not just the 3 of us, we’ve been 14 in the summer and we’ve been very lucky with our team and that's something that you cannot take for granted. But I think, what I most enjoy about the museum, a part from the colleagues, is that is challeging always. It never becomes routine, there are always new projects, new challenges and even though I’ve been here for over 20 years, I’m always learning every single day, I’m being challenged, always trying to do my best, and I think that's the best thing. Everyday is a lesson in many ways, it just makes sure that you never stop growing in what you’re doing. PAGE TWELVE
Y OM
CIRC U
E C R O A N L
WHAT IS CIRCULAR ECONOMY?
Let’s start saying that right now we kinda have a linear economy in relation to product life. Our industry system is built under a planned obsolescence, which basically means that all products have kinda an expiry date. We could put the example of a phone: we buy it, we love it brand new, but after a time, starts to be slow or gets damaged in any way and what we do? We don't try to fix it and give it a new life, we just buy a new one because we don't want that old one, even if it can get fixed. Things are made in purpose to stop working or gettin damaged in some point after a time. That's the meaning of programmed or planned obsolescence, so we can keep buying more and more from industries and this consumerist economy and society.
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY This planned obsolescence in a linear economy started to be impulsed between the 20's and the 30's after the big crisis that shook the whole world. We talk about the times of the big crack that affected the global economy. Big industries like Philips reduced the life of their bulbs. The bulbs that used to last 2500 hours ended up lasting just 1000 hours. And that effect happened with all products in industries, so people have to buy more and they could reactivate economy again. The problem is the residue that all that make. The pollution and the residue that we are generating in the planet is just out of control. We can turn out our economy and our industry system in another way that is equally efficient but respectful with our planet and environment. It also create other job positions and we keep consuming in a more respectful and caring way.
Basically, what circular economy proposes is that after manufacturing and using any product, we can repair it if some part of it is damaged, old or affects its functioning. We don’t need to throw everything after a time just because its not new anymore or not even try to fix it and convert it into residue. We can still keep having what we need and want, but in a more respectful way to our planet and environment. PAGE FOURTEEN
CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Article by Sergi Terol It is completely impossible to separate the environmental phenomenon from human consciousness. We often confuse consciousness with the simple knowledge of what happens in our environment. However, this conception is unfinished. The acts must also be an extension of our consciousness. Being aware of something without generating responses is sort of likeknowing you're allergic to peanuts and gulping down a snickers bar. Inaction falls on oneself, in the short or long term. Inactive consciousness is another of the various fruits of comfort, whose nectar permeates the new generations. We can situate various nuclei of environmental problems in human, social and communication terms. Among these, it is necessary to talk about egocentrism. It is unquestionable that, in recent years, we have developed an exacerbated sense of self. Empathy, altruism, the value of others, etc... They dissipate in this individualistic discourse that is so badly managed and transmitted through social networks. We tend to be strictly concerned with what is ours, close or, at most, local. That is, the immediate sphere. We live submerged in filthy fabrications about our physiques, our bank accounts, our rights, our ambitions, our romances and other fantasies of the illusory order that cannot take place if there are no changes in the global sphere. There is no show without a stage! This is where the beauty and humility of volunteering for the environment lies, not so much in dedication to a cause, but in being forced to not take ourselves so seriously. The adventure of doom to unexplored lands, where you get involved for the planet at the cost of the quality of your conditions.
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My experience as a volunteer in Iceland helped me to understand that I am nothing. In that non-being, I found the beauty of simply existing. Exist fully. Now, I'm just looking for a better place where we can exist by not being. We do not come into the world to be taken care of, we come to it to take care of it.
Of course, this company is beyond my meager authority. I don't have any hope or enough ego to want to save the world, (at least alone). I only fool around with the chimerical idea of embarking together on the path to extinction from consciousness. Perhaps this slows down the process. Nor is there a conclusive theory that the extinction of humans is due to environmental causes. Some biologists, such as Henry Gee, argue that the growing phenomenon of infertility could lead to underpopulation that would start the countdown for humanity in the year 2100. I do not dismiss the possibility of saving the world at all, because pessimism also leads to inaction, and we do not want that. I only lose hope by forecasting a future without change. We need a wave of optimism, will, dedication... and the engine of all this is none other than awareness. Consciousness is the contact with the purest reality. Returning to the concept of humility in volunteering, we will see that this step down is a brutal revelation! We will stop playing god and we will incorporate more sustainable habits such as recycling, collecting garbage or the most suggestive, not doing. Doing not doing is how we do the most. Do not eat on a whim, do not buy if it is not required, do not drive if you can walk. We will understand that the range of consequences of our actions is magnified by adopting a global size.
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The second phenomenon around which we can find certain causal relationships with the drought of conscience, is the intrinsic trivialization in the immense flows of content. We consume a huge amount of diverse content whose magnitude is difficult to verify among the million inputs we receive. Three seconds after seeing a Tik Tok from an influencer mired in heartbreak, we see a post of a turtle entangled in fishing gear. Then a video of the recipe for a Quiché appears, followed by twenty-eight memes. How are we going to distinguish the importance of what we see if after watching a reality show about dating we see a documentary about pollution in the seas? Probably, we would look at it between yawns and inertial reviews of the mobile phone. Our subconscious is numbed by entertainment. We do not have the same disposition when it comes to watching a series as when reading an essay. Entertainment is an omnipresent technique of domination, whose power lies, this time, not in direct repression, but in evasion. In other words, we are dominated through pleasure. Let's think for a few seconds about what we are used to consuming through screens or Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Most likely, movies, series, video games, youtubers, TikTokers, reels,… Entertainment, constant release of cortisol and dopamine come to mind. Based on these data, we could say that, in this era of change and substitution of the physical to the digital, when it comes to working with computers or reading through screens, we do not have a real willingness to work or absorption. Subconsciously, we are in avoidance mode. No matter how much we are reading an article on quantum mechanics, our brain continues with the entertainment mode activated, since we receive through the same screen with which we saw Riverdale. This last phenomenon is one of the sources of stress for students. Wanting to finish the task to consume the drug. On the other hand, in reading, there is a willingness to learn, to process, store and absorb the information we receive, since books have always been used in schools or study environments and silence, where dispersion can mean the difference between repeating one course or move on to the next. PAGE SEVENTEEN
Perhaps, in the future, we will incorporate efficient management skills for the information frenzy into our cognition. So far, all are bad results. Why so much emphasis on the field of communication in relation to the environment? Well, for many, the environmental problem has come to their attention through the internet. Everything they know about this issue, they have received through a screen. We are used to having a reaction by video, videos of, more or less, eight seconds. That means we have a different emotional reaction every eight seconds if you watch the entire video. What is important in this? Let's imagine that someone receives a video of a dying whale on a beach with plastic waste in its mouth. The consumer will quickly connect with sadness, but, even faster, they will disconnect from it to connect with the next emotion, the next video. This separates us spatially and empathically from the problem. Social networks make us gods. Gods with the ability to slide a finger to flee from what does not interest us, what bores us or what offends us. When we are granted the power of ellipsis, the power to omit what we dislike, reality outside the screens is extremely difficult for us, because there, you cannot omit anything. For this simple reason, it is important to volunteer. Soak up reality with no chance to run away. Everything is before your eyes and there is no other possibility than to intervene. The theory is very easy, as they say. Within the framework of a onedimensional society (maximum profitability with minimum investment), it is not surprising that we have little residue of active consciousness. What we lack is not knowledge, it is action, and, as we said at the beginning, action is the arms, hands, legs, and sweat of consciousness.
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RECIPE
Cinnamon rolls By Fine in Siglufjörður
Ingredients
1 cup of warm milk 1/4 cup white sugar 1 tbsp yeast 350gr all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg 3 tbs melted butter 5 tbsp butter 1 tbsp cinnamon powder 80 gr of brown sugar
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ELABORATION First, in a little bowl, miz the warm milk, the yeast and the sugar and put that a part . In a big bowl, you mix the flower, the salt and you add the yeast mix that we made at the beginning. Add to that the melted butter, the egg and mix. After mixing well and having a dough, knead it for around 10 minutes. Then let it rest for an hour. After one hour you take the dough and with a roller you expand the dough in a thinner form kinda in a rectangle. In a little bowl, mix the 5 tbsp butter, the cinnamon and the brown sugar and mix it until you have a paste. Spread that paste on the dough and roll it. Cut rounded pieces from the sides and place them in a baking dish. Let it rest for 30 minutes. After that you can top them with heavy cream or milk, optionally. Finally bake the rolls in the oven at 190ºC for 25 minutes. Let them rest and enjoy!
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SEE YOU IN OCTOBER EDITION
