Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 44 - A glimpse of freedom

There was more activity outside today than the last 6 quarantine Sundays combined! Why's that? Today was the first big loosening of the lockdown, and as promised children up to 14 (with a parent) were allowed outside to play in the streets or the parks for the first time in 6 weeks! My friends and colleagues with kids have been celebrating all day. 🥳

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 39 - Cacerolada

Whoops! The government really put their foot in it this time! 😒

Since it was first discussed on Saturday, families have been looking forward to hearing the government's proposal on allowing children outside to walk, run, get fresh air! And today was the big day, time to celebrate! Children up to the age of 14 would be allowed to go out with a parent.. when they went to the bank, the pharmacy or the supermarket, but not out on the street for just a walk. The thing is, in many regions of the country that was already allowed (if there was no one else in the house to leave the child with). 

Uyyyyyy... 

Yeah. People were NOT happy about that. Kids allowed to go indoors to a place with a higher chance of catching the virus instead of being outdoors?!?!

And they let their displeasure known. WhatsApp messages flew around calling for a "cacerolada" (banging of pots and pans) at 7pm as a protest.

ALL other political parties (even those who have been supporting Sánchez's PSOE) disagreed with the decision.

And so the government has quickly walked that back, and announcing this evening that they will allow children outdoors starting on Sunday, as one of the measures to be approved in Congress tomorrow when they vote on extending the State of Alarm (and lockdown) another two weeks.

#stayhome #quedateencasa #restecheztoi

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 32 - Slowly opening up?

Two weeks ago, to slow down the virus spread even more, the Spanish government froze all non-essential jobs for 8 (working) days, putting anyone who was still going to work (as opposed to working from home) in non-essential services (so not in the food supply chain, health, public sanitation or transport) on a "recuperable holiday", the idea being that they would still be paid, but they'd have to work out with their employers how to recuperate those non-worked hours. Honestly I don't know how much of the labour force that represents, as most businesses that depend on customers have all had to shut down putting their employees on Covid-furlough (they should be receiving 70% of their salary from the government, but I don't know anyone who's gotten it yet). I guess some industry, plus construction, and domestic helpers (unless they were going to care for sick or elderly)?

Anyhow, between yesterday and today (because yesterday was a holiday, Easter Monday, in a third of the country) all those people were allowed to go back to work, following strict social distancing measures. It was even announced that there would be a distribution of face masks at the entrance to public transportation for people who used it. We'll see how this goes... hope the numbers don't start increasing again! There were some vocal protests by certain professional groups (I saw one from nutritionists?) saying it was too soon. I hope not! If it goes well, hopefully they'll start relaxing the measures for more of us.

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 20 - Canceled festivities

If there's one thing you need to know about Spaniards, it's that they LOVE their traditional holidays! Particularly in small towns, and in certain city neighborhoods that feel like towns. They're bright, colorful, festive... and very noisy! 😂 Marching bands galore, music late into the night, and in this part of Spain (Valencia region) lots of firecrackers and related noise-makers. The big ones around here (Alicante province) are the Hogueras (big ones in Alicante city for June 24th, smaller ones in other towns on different dates) and the Moros y Cristianos (main ones in Alcoi and Villajoyosa, but getting bigger in many other towns like neighboring San Vicente where the university is located).

The thing is... these events bring out massive crowds. Social distancing? Impossible! So one after the other cities and towns have been announcing the postponement of their big holiday. The Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante? Shipped off to the first weekend in September to wrap up the summer instead of launch it. Fallas in Valencia scheduled for mid-March? Just 10 days before (with some of the monuments already half set up!) finally shifted to 2nd half of July. Moros y Cristianos in Alcoi (end of April)? They're considering the first weekend in October. And so on, and so forth. 😥 

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 17 - Police cheers

Well this was new! I'd heard from friends and colleagues about the Police going around to some neighborhoods to cheer on the people for staying home, but hadn't happened around here yet! But last night I heard music out the back windows, went to check... and a couple of police cars were playing a birthday song for someone in the building behind mine! 🥳

After that they drove down the street playing the national anthem and saying "muchas gracias". 😊

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 14 - Life goes on... online! (cont)

I honestly can't imagine this lockdown going this well, if it weren't for high-speed internet, social media channels, and video-conferencing options! (and I shudder to think what would happen should the internet collapse)

Ok, true that there are quite a few people out there who either don't have internet (don't want / can't afford) or are familiar enough with the options to make the most out of it, but I'd say a majority of the locked-in populations in Europe DO have a decent broadband connection, 4G on their smartphones (for when the wifi doesn't work), and know how to use them (or have someone to explain it) well enough to do video calls using FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber or whatever else is out there. Some of these can also be used for group calls, or people can set up online meeting rooms in Zoom, AdobeConnect, Google Hangout or Meet etc. We've also got text and video messages flying at us from all directions (to the point we've all received a forward that recommends reducing the sending of video messages to not collapse or dramatically slow down the service with heavy files).

Feeling a bit lonely or isolated? Just pull out your device and video call a friend. Video, not voice! Nothing really substitutes the face to face, but "virtual" face to face can help. Since this lockdown started 2 weeks ago I've had a video chat with my mom (who lives 15' away) almost every day (interspersed with regular voice calls), several video calls with my sisters overseas, video calls with individual friends and several group hangouts. In fact in these two weeks I have probably spent more time hanging out and chatting with friends than in the past two months! Were we really all too busy before? Or did we just not make it a priority? Now we are each other's lifelines... Company for when we're feeling lonely, an audience to crack jokes with, therapists when we need to complain or commiserate about whatever... Our second day locked in I had a 5-way Skype call with close friends in Spain, Belgium, France and Austria. Last Sunday I had a 90' FaceTime call with a friend in San Diego.

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 13 - Life goes on... online!

So nothing for days 11 & 12 simply because I was angry and in a foul mood on Tuesday, and yesterday just so, so tired...

Much better today! I guess we're all going to have our ups and downs while being locked up, more than normal. To be expected.

I wanted something cheerful today... to celebrate that tomorrow's Friday so it's almost the weekend! Need to find ways to mark the different days of the week other than work yes/no. So I'm planning a "movie night" with the friends I usually go to the cinema with. If it works out I'll report back.

We've all be finding ways to do things with other people online. The simplest is work related. I'm spending the mornings all this week (and half of next) in lengthy Skype meetings with my colleagues in Vietnam to see what the situation is like in their universities, and to talk about how our project is going and how we can continue moving forward (within the Covid19 limitations).

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 10 - A shopping spree

Freeedoooom!!!

Well, not quite. Walked about 3' to the trash containers to deposit my paper/cardboard, glass and reclyclables. Then walked around the block to the pharmacy, 5' tops, to pick up FOUR pair of disposable gloves (I put in an order last week, but since stocks are almost non-existent and the big numbers reserved for health care professionals and people working with the public - as they should be - they're only handing out a few pair at a time to individuals, at €0.50/pair), then another 1' to the grocery store, spent maybe half an hour in there, and then 5' walk home. So less than an hour out of the apartment, but still felt good to stretch my legs! Wind and rain be damned! 😜 (we've had foul weather since Saturday afternoon)

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 9 - Let's extend this shall we?

So President Sánchez announced today that he's going to ask Congress to extend the State of Alarm an additional two weeks, until April 11th.

No surprise there. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was later extended one or two weeks past that! One of the reasons he mentioned for the two week time frame, is to make sure the country is still locked down for Holy Week, one of the key holiday weeks in Spain with millions of people on the road to holiday homes, hotels, grandparents' etc. The last thing they want is to have paralyzed the country for several weeks, let people out and then have a new spike in infections and have it all been for nothing. And by Easter there will still be contagious people. And sadly enough people have proven they can't even follow the rules when it's the law and they're at risk of paying a hefty fine, so there's no reason to believe they would follow simple "recommendations" to stay home, especially after having been locked up for so long. 😔 One of the reasons I think it might go on past the announced extra two weeks (at least one more) is that about a third of the country (including us in Alicante and the rest of the Valencian Community) has its Easter break the week after Easter Sunday... so the same reasoning applies. 

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 8 - seriously people?!

Yesterday I talked about the mostly empty streets... today I want to rant about that "mostly".

Seriously people! How hard is it to STAY HOME!!! 😡

The police officer I talked to yesterday mentioned stopping and fining people out in the streets on Thursday with bogus excuses (bogus because all the grocery stores, pharmacies etc were closed because of the holiday). I keep seeing people sharing on Facebook articles from our local paper, or national newspapers, about the police in Alicante and elsewhere having to hand out fines for people disobeying the quarantine and not following the instructions of the State of Alarm. In Alicante alone the local police in one week have handed out over 100 fines to people and vehicles. Police yesterday also broke up 3 different house parties and in Barcelona the police apparently had to interrupt an orgy! In Madrid the local government has decided to take a page out of France's playbook and ask people for an sworn written justification of where they live, where they're going and why. The idea is to check the information later when they have time, because the police have been stopping so many people they don't have time to check people's data in the moment and decide whether a fin is required or not.

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 7 - empty streets?

Hard to believe it's been a week already. We seem to have lost all sense of time. There's before. And there's after. How long? No idea... I was talking to a colleague this evening, asking about her 2 week vacation in Mexico. She landed back in Spain just as all this craziness was starting. She said she could barely remember her trip, seemed like another life.

Although most people are starting to take the "not going out" more seriously, many others are still looking for ways to game the system. The police were more flexible last weekend and earlier in the week (another day I'll write about the dinosaur incident), but as of a few days ago they're starting to crack down on rule breakers, by for example asking "shoppers" to show the receipt for their purchases, or asking dog walkers for their ID and legal residence to check they aren't more than 2km away from their homes.

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 5 - still clapping

We're slowly developing new routines (well some of us... I haven't figured that part of the quarantine yet). Get up. Work (if you can). Plan /cook /eat meals. Some R&R. Some kind of physical activity. Maybe go out if you need something from the pharmacy, or the grocery store, or to take out the trash, or to take the dog for a short walk (just you alone, not other family members, no meeting up with other dog walkers). And at 8pm go out to the window or balcony and make some noise. 🔊

The evening applauses are still going on. No longer any need for chains of WhatsApp messages telling people, it's now part of the daily routine. It's just there are mixed sounds going out! There have been several message chains over the days, but none as clear or followed as the first (go out and clap for our health services and staff). There have been suggestions to go out and bang on pots and pans to thank the people who are working every day in the supermarkets. Or clap for the truckers who are keeping the supermarkets stocked. Suggestions to turn off the lights and use your cell phone's flash light as a way to commemorate the victims of the coronavirus (I noticed those for the first time last night)... So in the end it's a little bit of everything. And that's all right. It's just about coming together while staying separate.

#stayhome #quedateencasa #yomequedoencasa #restecheztoi

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 3 - "back" to work

3rd day... let's see how long I can keep this up, shall we? 😉

First day working from home. Set up the home office (take over half the dining room table), start making a list of all the work pending from the various projects and priorities. Contact partners in other countries and see what the situation is over there. Compare notes (and exchange photos of working conditions) with colleagues and with other friends who are working from home. Commiserate or be jealous of the few friends who still "have to" or "get to" physically go in to work. Continue with coronavirus-related memes on WhatsApp, but at a much lower rate than over the weekend - you can tell we're all at least trying to work. 😜

Happy I brought the big screen and keyboard from the office and not stuck working on a 13'' laptop for 2+ weeks!

Not setting a foot outdoors. Haven't followed any of the "shut in" recommendations to set up some kind of daily routine (getting up, meals, work, physical activity of some kind, housework, R&R), must put that on my "to do list". Maybe. I'm not very good establishing routines...

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 2

2nd day, first full day "locked in". 

I've lost count of the number of times I had to plug my phone in to recharge!!! WhatsApp is on fire. Memes and messages being passed around back and forth. The really good ones you end up seeing half a dozen times in various groups. People commenting that they're already starting to have cabin fever. Parents wondering how they're going to survive 2 weeks (ha! good luck, will definitely be longer) locked in with their kids. Parents sharing tips on just how to do that... Websites with educational or cultural resources. Ideas for games indoors at home (most Spaniards live in apartments, and we're all extremely jealous right now of anyone who has a garden, Or a dog. My kingdom for a dog!!!).

For me? Well I decided to just pretend that it was a "lazy day Sunday" and do NOTHING. I mean really. Zero productivity. One of those Sundays that it feels really good to have once in a blue moon. Get up when I feel like it (11am). Spend the day in PJs. Have a big breakfast. Eat lunch/dinner when the stomach rumbles. Catch up on a show. On some reading. Watch a movie. Talk with my mom, my sisters. Gossip with friends.

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 1 - and so it begins

So... it's here. The bloody virus that's had the world on edge since January has finally beaten Spain down, and forced our government to declare a "State of Alert" for the next 2 weeks... for now.

We had the situation under control. Or at least we thought we did (like most countries). 😔 The first case was a German tourist in the Canary Islands (who brought it with him) on January 31st. No cases among the people who were repatriated from Wuhan itself. The third case was another import to the Canaries, an Italian tourist, resulting in the quarantine of 1000 people in a hospital in Tenerife for 12 days from February 24th. The next day the first cases on the Peninsula, one each in Madrid, Barcelona, Castellón (just north of Valencia).  February 26th was the first "local" case in Seville, as in someone who got infected here in Spain. Then we find out that we'd already had a coronavirus death but just didn't know it! Autopsy of someone who did from "unknown" pneumonia on February 13th in Valencia... March 7th we learn that 60 people in the Basque Country caught the virus at a funeral...

Rally to Restore Sanity in D.C. (for those in the USA: GET OUT AND VOTE!!!)

If you're currently in the U.S. I'm sure you heard about the "Rally to Restore Sanity" that was held at the National Mall in Washington D.C. this past Saturday. Two political satirists hosted the event (Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert) for (as they state on the official website):

Ours is a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) — not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence… we couldn’t. That’s sort of the point.

You can read a review of the rally on the N.Y.Times (and other papers), but I'd like to share a more personal view with you. My dad's brother and his family flew up from Florida to D.C. to participate in this event, and I asked my aunt if she could tell me something about the experience and let me share it with you here: