extra pages

All of the Icelandic residence permits in my passport (three at latest count, plus a Danish Schengen entry visa) means that the pages were running down pretty fast. I was nearly out of room and in a couple months have to apply for another page-filling Icelandic residence permit. So I got me on down to the good ole Embassy of the United States of America. It's the only building in quiet downtown Reykjavík completely surrounded by one-ton blocks of concrete. It's also the only embassy I've seen here with a metal detector right inside the doorway.

Unlike the last time I went there (when I registered myself as a US citizen living abroad as a newly minted arrival) this time I spoke enough Icelandic to make for a smooth interaction with the friendly Icelandic door guard. I passed the passport, metal detector, bag search, and bomb-swipe tests with flying colors. This let me get as far as the next little room, where a bulletproof glass window separated me from the Consular Section receptionist. I explained that I needed a few new pages in my passport and passed in the application. While she looked it over I glanced at the rack of Xeroxed "Camp America" and "Enroll in the US Navy as a Non Citizen" flyers and the faded posters for vacationing in America. It seemed odd to be advertising these things in a room that hardly anyone can get into.

Today I went back to pick up the passport. This time thankfully I didn't have to pass any security checks. They had me wait in the vestibule while the guard fetched it inside for me. As I was checking it over to see that everything was in order, another guard came out and made me move along. But I was relieved to leave there. It's the frostiest place I've been in Iceland.