One Week Later...

The week's fruit and veg: disinfected and drying

Here we are one week later, still at home and no end in sight.  Everyone is saying this mandatory quarantine (that's right, no longer voluntary--fines of up to 30,000 euros!) will last through mid-April at the least.  Some are expecting it to be early May before schools open again.  Nothing has been declared officially yet.

The death toll has broken the 1,000 mark.  Hospitals are feeling the strain.  Andalucía is still relatively low on the list of cases, but here in La Roda there are 3 confirmed cases alone.  The first case we knew of was a man whose wife died about a week before the quarentine.  Nearly the whole town was at the funeral hugging, kissing and shaking hands with this guy.  It is very likely that there are going to be many more confirmed cases here in the next few days.  Anyone who was at the funeral must stay home.

We held a virtual birthday party for a co-worker yesterday.

We are fine.  All of us are a bit sick, but I think just colds.  Lots of runny, stuffy noses and sore throats.  So far, not much coughing.  Staying at home itself hasn't been horrible, but balancing work and home has been difficult without any real physical space to separate the two.  Angelines has been acting as teacher every morning from 9-2 and I have locked myself upstairs to work making video calls to children with my co-guide and having virtual meetings with the teaching team.

It's been good to see the children's faces and make contact with my collegues, but thinking this could last through April and into May is daunting to say the least. We are lucky to live in a day and age that we have so many tools available to connect without the barrier of physical space, but getting everything up and running and figuring out how to provide quality education online without any previous infrastructure  in place is a big task.  These are unprecedented times, for sure.

The family's daily schedule...(really Emily's)

Emily seems to be doing pretty well through all of it.  We video called a friend Thursday night--her first contact with friends from school since the shutdown.  On Friday she woke up saying, "Mommy, since there is coronavirus and I can't go to school in Granada, I want to call all my friends to be sure they are okay.  I am worried about them."  She called three different friends yesterday and had a great time giving virtual tours of the house.  I think we underestimate how this situation can effect our children.  Emily has been waking up quite a lot at night wanting me, saying she's scared to be alone, and becoming tearful remembering our dog Bela.  She's happy we're all together, but this new routine will take some getting used to...and there is no getting away from the news of virus spread and rising death toll.

Hope you're all home and safe.  Wash your hands.

A (not so) sh**y excuse to get out of the house!

Quarentine: Day One

Anyone who's been watching the news probably knows by now that Spain has declared a state of emergency.  Schools have been closed in Madrid for over a week.  Here in Andalucía we were told Thursday night that Monday would be the beginning of a two-week minimum shutdown of schools from preschool and daycare through university and tradeschools.  Within 24 hours we were told all public buildings and events were to be cancelled.  Now bars, restaurants, hotels and beaches are closing.  Parks are also closed.  Semana Santa has been suspended nationwide.

Now only supermarkets, pharmacies and hospitals are open.  On Monday the total deaths in Spain were 17.  Today they've reached 197.  Supermarkets are restocking shelves constantly and even so when I went to Mercadona Thursday evening there were entire ailes empty.  Surreal to say the least.

Chalk art in the patio

I drove home Friday after the last day of school, struggling to decide how best to confront school from home... The highway signs along the way all warned: "Coronavirus: Avoid Travel.  Better stay at home".  We are being told to stay at home.

Today was day one of voluntary confinement.  We went out for a lovely bike ride in the afternoon, but other than that we were home all day.  Angelines has also closed the bar indefinitely.  So today we were all home without the presure to do anything more than organize ourselves--unpack from La Zubia--and enjoy each other.  Emily was extatic.  She was so obviously happy to be with us that it made me begin to feel sad for the way our current lifestyle lends itself to living together without BEING together; hearing without listening and looking without seeing.

We'll probably all get cabin fever at some point, especially with the expected rains this coming week; but it was beautiful to have this imposed relaxation today.  As Miriam commented via WhatsApp: "enforced peace".  Monday I'll begin working from home: catching up with materials and record keeping and doing everything that I have barely had time to do for a very long time.  Balancing will be difficult and finding time won't be easy.  It never is.  But today was a little slice of perspective for which I am very grateful.

Stay home, stay healthy.

A little art therapy this morning

Sibling love