{"id":21,"date":"2011-01-30T14:43:59","date_gmt":"2011-01-30T14:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/borkurdotnet.com\/urbanvolcano\/?p=21"},"modified":"2025-04-19T17:44:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T17:44:04","slug":"the-neighbors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/the-neighbors\/","title":{"rendered":"The Neighbors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<aside class=\"other-formats\">Other formats: <a title=\"The neighbors (PDF)\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/ebooks\/en\/pdf\/the-neighbors.pdf\">PDF<\/a> | <a title=\"Los vecinos (espa\u00f1ol)\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/es\/los-vecinos\/\">espa\u00f1ol<\/a> | <a title=\"N\u00e1grannarnir (\u00edslenska)\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/is\/nagrannarnir\/\">\u00edslenska<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The neighbors \u2014 Illustration by Yana Volkovich\" class=\"wp-image-422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration by Yana Volkovich<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cWelcome to my new palace,\u201d I said to Katr\u00edn as she entered the apartment I had moved into a few days earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThank you, your highness,\u201d she replied, winking and bowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I grinned. That&#8217;s what I liked about Katr\u00edn. She never took life too seriously. Yet she was also someone with whom you could talk about serious things when you needed to. In my years abroad I had never made an effort to be around my Icelandic compatriots. It was not that I disliked them. In my view there were just so many amusing foreigners here abroad that I did not have any special need to fish in Icelandic waters. Katr\u00edn was however genuinely amusing and I would make an effort to maintain our friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the storage room, the living room and the dining room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I introduced her to my new apartment as we made our way from the front door to the dining room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWow, a dining room,\u201d Katr\u00edn said with a mocking look on her face. \u201cHow impressive. Just like a proper palace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIndeed. Except in proper palaces the dining table normally seats more than four people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I looked at my small Ikea dining table. Although technically one could fit four people around it, in practice one could only comfortably fit two. The dining room did however not accommodate a larger table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell, you cannot have it all. At least you have a dining room. Not all inhabitants of Barcelona can afford to waste a whole room for a dining table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would not call it a waste,\u201d I said trying to look profound. \u201cI would call it an investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d Katr\u00edn asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t really know,\u201d I answered, feeling a bit embarrassed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really did not know. It was just one of those silly spontaneous statements I made every now and then because I thought they sounded funny. I had not really thought about what it meant. Let alone whether it was at all funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat is the neighborhood like?\u201d Katr\u00edn asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSplendid. I am in the center of Gr\u00e0cia. A few steps away from Virreina square. What more can one ask for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIs it not noisy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo, the noise from Virreina square is absorbed by the church that is between me and the square. So it is actually rather quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe silencing effect of the catholic church has always been strong,\u201d Katr\u00edn said and grinned. \u201cAnd the neighbors? No noise from them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNone at all. Not any more than in any other old building in Barcelona,\u201d I said, trying to remember if I had ever noticed any abnormal noise from my neighbors. \u201cFurthermore, across the street there is an abbey of monks. They are not really the noisy type.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMonks?\u201d Katr\u00edn asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, monks,\u201d I replied, sounding a bit insecure since the idea of living next door to an abbey of monks had not fully sunk in to my mind and was still fairly alien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cInteresting,\u201d Katr\u00edn said. \u201cThey do have a nice terrace for barbecues, though. It would be a pity if they do not use it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a short silence. She was right. I looked over to the terrace of the abbey. It would be a pity if they did not use it. My mind started to imagine what it would look like with a group of monks throwing a barbecue party. In my mind it looked surreal. As I could not recall ever having seen monks in real life I imagined a group of bald men in heavy brown cloaks, drinking beer from one-liter bottles and barbecuing juicy burgers. The vision was based on an episode from The Simpsons, mixed with scenes from The Name of the Rose. It was accordingly surrealistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCoffee?\u201d I asked, trying to get the bald, beer-drinking, barbecuing monks out of my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSure,\u201d Katr\u00edn replied and made herself comfortable on the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I went into the kitchen and started preparing the coffee. I could hear Katr\u00edn get off the sofa and walk across the living room. I guessed she was taking another look at the view of my neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo monks in Spain normally wear women&#8217;s clothing?\u201d I heard Katr\u00edn shout from the living room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSorry?\u201d I shouted back since I was not sure if I had heard her correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo monks in Spain normally wear women&#8217;s clothing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I guessed I had heard her correctly the first time. I was not sure if I understood where she was going with her question but I most likely had heard her correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would not know,\u201d I said as I handed her a cup of coffee and joined her at the living room window overlooking the terrace of the abbey. \u201cI don&#8217;t think I have ever seen Spanish monks. I haven&#8217;t even seen my neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We sipped our coffee, admiring the view. The monks&#8217; terrace was partially covered by a roof made of semi-transparent plastic. In the roof-covered part of the terrace, the abbey&#8217;s inhabitants were hanging out laundry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can see why I asked you that question.\u201d Katr\u00edn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, I see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I could see why she had asked me that question. From under the roof of the terrace I could see the bottom third of my neighbors&#8217; bodies. I could see their brown slippers, their bare ankles and the lower part of their calves, the bottom part of their dark blue skirts and their light blue aprons. The outfit was rather different from the heavy brown cloaks I had imagined some minutes before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThose monks of yours seem to be in good touch with their feminine side,\u201d Katr\u00edn said after we had stood in silence for a while admiring the bottom third of my new neighbors. \u201cMaybe they belong to some sort of cult of cross-dressing monks. Strange. For monks at least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWho are we to judge them?\u201d I asked. \u201cThey report to God, but not to the superficial fashion norms set by our modern society. If they want to wear women&#8217;s clothing it is between them and God. If God approves, they can wear whatever they want to wear. Be it heavy brown cloaks, be it jeans or be it skirts and aprons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou are right,\u201d Katr\u00edn said and put on a serious face. \u201cWe should not be blinded by our backward views of gender stereotypes. If those monks want to wear skirts, it is none but their own business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We looked at each other and smiled. Content with our intelligent sounding slogans of modern moral views, we moved away from the window and made ourselves comfortable on the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOut of curiosity,\u201d Katr\u00edn continued after we had sat in silence for a while enjoying our coffee. \u201cSince you had never seen your neighbors before, how did you know they were monks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe landlord told me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t remember exactly what she said,\u201d I replied, trying to remember what the landlord had said exactly. \u201cIt sounded something like monk at least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We sat in silence for a while. Katr\u00edn looked as if there were some elaborate thoughts forming in her mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo you have a Spanish dictionary?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, of course,\u201d I replied and went to fetch a Spanish-English\/English-Spanish dictionary from the bookshelf. \u201cWhat&#8217;s on your mind?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo you know how you say nun in Spanish?\u201d Katr\u00edn asked as she browsed the dictionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell, no,\u201d I replied and grinned. \u201cFor some reason that word has not entered my vocabulary of everyday Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Katr\u00edn stopped her browsing and pointed her index finger at a page in the latter half of the dictionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell, according to this dictionary of yours, the word for nun is \u2018monja\u2019 in Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was an interesting observation. In retrospect it was not all that surprising. It might well explain some things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo, you are implying that maybe my neighbors might be nuns rather than a cult of cross-dressing monks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell, I hate to destroy your fantasy of living next door to a cult of cross-dressing monks,\u201d Katr\u00edn said with a grin, \u201cbut it is plausible that your neighbors are indeed nuns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHmm. Either way. Getting back to the original point, I do not expect the quietness of my new apartment to be disturbed by any wild parties coming from across the street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group book-ad has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#000000;background-color:#65aab1\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:33% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"765\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?resize=765%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"999 Abroad \u2014 Cover by Ana Pi\u00f1eyro\" class=\"wp-image-1212 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?resize=765%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 765w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?resize=224%2C300&amp;ssl=1 224w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?resize=768%2C1027&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?resize=1148%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1148w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/999Abroad_iPAD_FINAL_1873x1400.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 765px) 100vw, 765px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">999 Abroad<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This short story appeared in the short story collection 999 Abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you enjoyed the story, we encourage you to support the publication by buying a copy of the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>999 Abroad<\/em> is available as paperbacks from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/999-Abroad-B%C3%B6rkur-Sigurbj%C3%B6rnsson\/dp\/9935909530\">Amazon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/999-abroad-b-rkur-sigurbj-rnsson\/1112757770\">Barnes and Noble<\/a> and e-books from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/999-Abroad-ebook\/dp\/B008OXZWZI\">Amazon Kindle Store<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/999-abroad\/id1397155625\">Apple Books<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/999-abroad\">Kobo<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.storytel.com\/in\/books\/999-abroad-2028500\">Storytel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also support the author through <a href=\"https:\/\/patreon.com\/UrbanVolcano\">Patreon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/buymeacoffee.com\/borkur\">Buy Me a Coffee<\/a> or by rating the book on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/15821966-999-abroad\">Goodreads<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/999-abroad\/\" style=\"border-radius:50px;color:#ffffff;background-color:#000000\">book details<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A short story by B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson. The narrator invites a friend to his new apartment and discovers that his neighbors are not what what he had expected them to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shortstories","tag-neighbors","col-md-6 col-sm-6"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/neighbors.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2309,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/2309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}