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Update from The House of Plague, Day 6 (Faroe Islands Edition)
Obligatory, 'We are here for you, you stay home for us' photo of Faroese nurses. (x)
Literally nothing new to report here. We went for a walk yesterday, which was nice. So - since I talked to my parents last night - figured I could do a Special Edition. My parents (my mother has just turned 70 and my father is 72) are self-isolating, although my mother is working from home (and rather liking it - she is going to retire in 6 months anyway).
As you may (or may not) know they live in the Faroe Islands, which is also where I grew up. The Faroes (like everywhere) is also hit by the Coronavirus, but have the advantage over pretty much everywhere else that they're naturally isolated, have a population of 50k and have excellent health care & a well-functioning society in general; free childcare, social care etc etc - Nordic country, you can fill in the blanks. Plus everyone is - quite literally - related, so there's always an aunt or a cousin who can help out.
They have a webpage in English, if you are curious:
https://corona.fo/?_l=en
They are tracking every person suspected of being ill, and have the most tests per million people In The World (scroll down, the chart is labelled in English - you can enlarge it by clicking on it). :)
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Since all schools are closed (they are taking everything v. seriously - my mother said they've even put markers on the floor in the supermarkets to make sure people stand suitably far away from each other when queuing), two young sisters have set up their own youtube channel:
The Corona Corner
I guarantee you will NOT see anything more adorable today. It's a mixture of educational ('Here is how to wash your hands properly!'/'Remember to keep DISTANCE from others') and what they get up to ('If you are bored, you could try to make what I made: Look, a flute! I made it with paper and tape.').
(Incidentally, then in this video, from 2:50 onwards, they literally go to my childhood. I climbed that cannon, I ran along those paths, and threw sticks in that brook. ♥)
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Also, because it's such a small place and they literally test everyone who is unwell, I'm sure it'll be v useful to study - to see not just the major cases, but all the small ones too. This woman, now well again, talks about being ill, and it sounds almost exactly Darcy: A temperature, all over aches, headache. Unwell for about a day and a half, then better. Of course, we will probably never know *if* he had it, but to have Confirmed Case with the same trajectory is... reassuring?
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Now, in the Faroes there is THE radio station. (There are a few extra ones, but there is THE radio station, which everyone listens to.) And they decided that a big nation-wide singalong (a la the Italians) would be nice. So they organised one (as in, asked everyone to join in) and here is a video from a random street in a random village, with all the neighbours going out to sing together (you can hear the music from the radio), observing Distancing of course. Feeling VERY homesick now, btw. The song is 'Fagra Blóma' (= 'Fair Flower', it's a love poem):
Singalong
(If you are curious about the song, then here it is performed at a festival. <3)
The Faroese are a very musical people (a very artistic people, generally), and no social gathering is complete without singing. On the National Day (28th - 29th of July) there is a huge midnight singalong in the middle of the capital (sort of sprung up accidentally by a few people singing, then more joined, and now it's a tradition, with printed song booklets and a leader). If you have ever wondered what it sounds like when 10,000 people sing, here is a short video. 10k being approximately 1/5 of the population. :)
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In slightly wider-ranging news, then The Faroes are a part of Denmark. (The Faroes have their own language, culture etc etc, think of them as a colony, which is basically what they were/are). Anyway the Danish Queen went on TV to address the nation (the Danes), asking them to come together and also basically to tell them off, like a disappointed parent. ('It is unbecoming to be selfish and to not follow the rules.') I love her.
Speech by the Queen of Denmark: Not everyone is taking the situation seriously
(Speech in Danish obvs. Linking mostly so I can find the link myself.)
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Finally, then one man disliked being stuck in the house so went for walks in the mountains (they are just THERE. Like. Jump over a fence and you're in the mountains) and took his grandson and camera. If you want casually stunning landscapes:
In These Corona Times:
Walk 15th of March, á Lambaregni
Walk 18th of March, á Hálgafell
That's all for now, but feel free to ask questions. Might do a whole post just with music tbh. There is a LOT of Faroese music, and it's very good.
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Looks like the Faroese should come out of this better than most. Especially as it's probably easier for them to test people coming into the country.
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I haven't heard about lines on the floor around here, but then I haven't been out in nearly a week...
Looks like the Faroese should come out of this better than most.
Being completely isolated is a huge bonus!
Especially as it's probably easier for them to test people coming into the country.
Oh yes. Straight to quarantine. :)
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Lovely post about the Faroes - thanks for sharing.
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This. Testing really lies at the heart of everything... *sigh*
I hope that the test they are talking about which identifies whether you've had it will be available to the general public so we can all check ourselves.
I hope so too. It would seem a logical thing, so let's cross fingers & toes.
Lovely post about the Faroes - thanks for sharing.
You're welcome! <3
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I'd love to have had (or have) a mild case, and build up antibodies. (But if I do have it, I'm lying doggo for a few weeks so I don't infect anyone.)
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It's not Utopia, but it truly is a wonderful place.
And thank you. <3 <3 <3
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Well that was quick.
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LOVE the vid of the little girls. The eldest has a world-class eyeroll.
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Technically Danish, but culturally Faroese. :)
LOVE the vid of the little girls. The eldest has a world-class eyeroll.
They are just amazing. And probably an antidote to badness in and of themselves. <3
*icon snap*
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Perhaps we're related! LOL
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Love the pictures they are breathtaking.
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And the photos is typical Faroese. Except when there's fog everywhere. Or storm. Or rain...
Glad you enjoyed the photos, figured people would like something to take their mind off things.
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Hope you all stay safe.
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Oooh, I have been educational. (They are a niche subject, should one say.)
Hope you all stay safe.
And thank you. You too! <3
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Queen Margarethe is wonderful. I'm sure you've seen the fabulous video of her making a dachshund mask (not sure why) doing the rounds on Twitter and they had examples of her Tolkien illustrations at the exhibition we went to in the Bodleian way back in the virus free past of 2018.
Many thanks for sharing the Faroe Islands :)
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To be fair it IS a lot easier with a very very small population.
Queen Margarethe is wonderful.
She really is!
I'm sure you've seen the fabulous video of her making a dachshund mask (not sure why) doing the rounds on Twitter and they had examples of her Tolkien illustrations at the exhibition we went to in the Bodleian way back in the virus free past of 2018.
... have not seen the dachshund mask, but shall hunt it down forthwith. Although I know of the illustrations. She is very talented.
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Hope you all stay safe *^^*
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Well, few people do, I suspect. :)
Hope you all stay safe *^^*
Thank you, you too! <3
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We did not do enough testing to really know for sure about possible mild cases at the beginning so we may have some people who have had it but are not included - but we are doing a lot more now; there is a drive-through testing centre set up in the pitlane of the TT Grandstand, which makes me happy for some reason :)
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It's a different way of life! :)
I might aim ysilme here - it looks as if she is going to have to cancel her trip to the Faroes... again!
Oh noes! You can certainly point her in this direction, although I won't have much of a clue either... We have tickets to go there in the summer, so we are crossing our fingers that something things will be somewhat back to normal by then.
We did not do enough testing to really know for sure about possible mild cases at the beginning so we may have some people who have had it but are not included - but we are doing a lot more now; there is a drive-through testing centre set up in the pitlane of the TT Grandstand, which makes me happy for some reason :)
Very nice! Alas for living in a medium sized city, the chances of getting tested are very small.
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I'm from Germany and we're travelling by car and ferry, and as the passage is quite a bit of money and we also didn't have any lodgings yet, we thought this would be the more reasonable decision. We figured that even if leisure travelling would be possible and safe again in June, either things might be closed we'd like to visit or go to, or restricted for safety reasons, or it'd be difficult to get affordable lodgings on short notice because June is one of the main travelling months as far as I gathered. I'd rather postpone the trip and do it at a time when things are much less complicated.
Thank you for the interesting informations about the Faroes! I've seen a few documentaries in past years which raised my interest to travel there, and have read a bit in our travel guide, too, but reading this was particularly interesting.
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We had already cancelled our ferry passage again when she pointed me here, but the trip isn't given up, just postponed for another year or two.
I'm from Germany and we're travelling by car and ferry, and as the passage is quite a bit of money and we also didn't have any lodgings yet, we thought this would be the more reasonable decision.
Yeah, that would seem the safest thing, definitely. They are taking their lockdown very seriously, so who knows when things will be opening up again for visitors again... (We hope before mid-July, as that's when we will be going - we go every other year, and can of course stay with my parents, so no worries on that front - but if we have to spend two weeks in isolation and then have three days holiday we wonder if it'd be worth it.)
I'd rather postpone the trip and do it at a time when things are much less complicated.
You are very wise. Our tickets are long since bought, so we will just have to wait & see...
Thank you for the interesting informations about the Faroes! I've seen a few documentaries in past years which raised my interest to travel there, and have read a bit in our travel guide, too, but reading this was particularly interesting.
You're very welcome. This was a snippet of a corner of one small part. Please let me know if you have any questions. :)
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