Lugares de interés (POIs) del Mapa
0: March 3: Gulfoss
The group kicked off their trip with the Golden Circle Tour, a popular tourist route in South Iceland that includes a stop at Gullfoss, or the Golden Waterfall, one of Iceland’s most popular attractions.
Más sobre March 3: Gulfoss
1: March 3: The Geysir
On their tour, the students visited the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, home to Geysir. Geysir is the geyser after which all other geysers are named. It has not been active in some time, but luckily, there is another geyser named Strokkur nearby that the group got to see going off several times.
Más sobre March 3: The Geysir
2: March 3: Kerið Volcanic Crater Lake
The tour also made a stop at the Kerið Volcanic Crater Lake, which in addition to being impressive, had a curious effect on some group members’ appetites.
Más sobre March 3: Kerið Volcanic Crater Lake
3: March 3: Original Parliament Site
Iceland’s Parliament, Alþingi, was founded in 930 AD and is the world’s oldest existing national assembly. The students visit the original site of Alþingi at Thingvellir. Alþingi’s creation marked the beginning of the Icelandic nation.
Más sobre March 3: Original Parliament Site
4: March 4: Queer History Tour
Hilmar Magnússon, LGBT activist and employee for the mayor of Reykjavik, led the students on a journey through Reykjavik’s queer past. Former gay bars, houses owned by lesbians from the early part of the 20th century and diary excerpts from a 19th-century boys’ school made this tour a wonderful introduction to the city. After the tour, Hilmar took the group to Stofan Café, where they talked about the political landscape in Iceland and covered everything from economics to environmental concerns to government affairs.
Más sobre March 4: Queer History Tour
5: March 4: Samtökin ’78 Rainbow Room
After the Queer History Tour, the group spent a pleasant evening with the youngest segment of Iceland’s queer community, the under 18 youth group, at the Samtökin ’78 Rainbow Room. The students played a version of Twister and learned a lot about what it’s like to be a young queer person in Iceland today.
Más sobre March 4: Samtökin ’78 Rainbow Room
6: March 5: Presentation at Samtökin ‘78
The students listened to a presentation by Árni Grétar Jóhannsson, LGBT activist and General Manager of Samtökin ‘78, on the history of Samtökin ’78, an LBGTQI cultural and service center located in Reykjavik’s main shopping district. The group learned that every summer, one third of Iceland’s population attends the Gay Pride festivities. This turnout speaks to the nation’s cultural acceptance of being queer, and the large crowd of supporters is something that is almost unthinkable in many countries and cultures across the world.
Más sobre March 5: Presentation at Samtökin ‘78
7: March 5: Library at Samtökin ‘78
After Árni’s presentation, it was time to organize the library at Samtökin ‘78, the largest queer library in Scandinavia. As the students sorted through the many titles in the collection, they couldn’t help but wonder how many of those books, magazines and movies had helped gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people through difficult times. At the end of the day, the place was a little cleaner and the group felt accomplished having put in their first day of work at Samtökin ’78.
Más sobre March 5: Library at Samtökin ‘78
8: March 6: Pink Iceland
Pink Iceland, a new LGBT travel agency, does it all—from organizing trips for queer people to investigating whether Icelandic businesses are queer-friendly. Pink Iceland even plans same-sex weddings! The group was able to meet with Pink Iceland co-owner Eva Maria, who gave the students an overview of one of Queer Iceland’s newest businesses.
Más sobre March 6: Pink Iceland
9: March 6: Painting the Rainbow Room
From one Rainbow Room to another! Much like Lehigh University’s Rainbow Room, an on-campus LGBTQIA resource center, earlier this year, Samtökin ’78’s Rainbow Room needed a good paint job, so the group set to work. Giving the room new life, the students covered the room in purple and brown to complement the warm, inviting feel that the space already exudes.
Más sobre March 6: Painting the Rainbow Room
10: March 6: Dinner at Pisa
After a long day of painting, the students regrouped for dinner at Pisa and noted that the only thing nicer than the food was the conversation. Over a sumptuous three-course meal the group discussed issues of race in Iceland, ally identity and heteronegativity (negative attitudes and/or behaviors towards heterosexual people) within the queer community. Definitely food for thought.
Más sobre March 6: Dinner at Pisa
11: March 7: Haircuts
During their free time, some of the students decided to get their hair cut by the well-known hairdressers of Iceland.
Brandi Before / After
Aubrey Before / After
Más sobre March 7: Haircuts
12: March 7: The Laundromat Cafe
While Timothy Gardner, Director of LGBTQIA services at Lehigh, was preparing for a presentation entitled, “Queering Polyamory: An excursion into the queer and not-so-queer aspects of polyamory and non-monogamy” he was giving later in the evening, some of the students found time to catch up on their laundry in this unique café.
Más sobre March 7: The Laundromat Cafe
13: March 9: Alþingi
The group was lucky enough to secure a tour of the current Alþingi, or Icelandic parliament. The students were blown away by the building’s beauty and left well informed about how the Icelandic government works. The group also visited City Hall, Reykjavik’s Office of Human Rights and the Human Rights Center of Iceland, where they learned about efforts to better address the needs of recent immigrants, queer populations, battered women, refugees and asylum seekers.
Más sobre March 9: Alþingi
14: March 10: LGBTQI Presentations at Samtökin ’78
The group spent a portion of their time hosting or attending sessions about LGBTQI issues. Here, they are listening to a presentation by Ugla Stefanía Jónsdóttir, the leader of the college student LGBTQI group at Samtökin ’78, about her work with youth. Hilmar and Ugla also led a seminar on the future of transatlantic LGBT relations. In addition to listening to presentations, each student was asked to present to the group on a topic related to an LGBTQI subject. The meeting concluded with a general group discussion about Iceland, the United States and the sociopolitical status of queers in each country.
Más sobre March 10: LGBTQI Presentations at Samtökin ’78
15: March 11: Swimming at Vesturbæjarlaug
A particularly great part of Icelandic culture is the swimming; because Iceland has a lot of geothermal heat, the country can afford to have many heated public pools. A lot of these pools are outdoors and open year round. One day, the group went swimming at an outdoor pool, Vesturbæjarlaug, when it was only 35 degrees outside!
Más sobre March 11: Swimming at Vesturbæjarlaug
16: March 12: Blue Lagoon
On the way to the airport to catch their flight, the students stopped at the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa for some rest and rejuvenation. The lagoon holds six million liters of geothermal seawater and is known for its healing power.
Más sobre March 12: Blue Lagoon