Life in the Time of Corona Part 3
We have forged our way through the first week of lock-down here in Spain.
Today, Saturday 21st March, the number of Coronavirus-related deaths reached 1,350, 25,000 people are believed to be infected and the Spanish Health Minister has warned that the worst days are still to come. Steps to restrict movements have been tightened, police are stopping and checking the validity of journeys and arrests are being made.
This is not intended to scaremonger, but it is a factual summary of where we currently stand.
We are in the strangest of times. Locked down at home, we keep up to date via the internet and the radio, yet it is totally surreal to be in our home while the ravages of this insidious disease rage around us trailing tragedy in its wake.
We try to go about our everyday business with optimism and positivity. I am cooking everything in sight, and we have so much bread, cake and biscuits to work our way through, but then if you can’t have treats, what is the point? Andrew still has work, but as with almost every other business sector, the publishing world is slowly grinding to a halt and projects are being put on hold. Any income streams we had are gradually drying up.
We find it very hard being so far away, physically and mentally, from family and friends. Last night, we got Andrew’s father on WhatsApp and set up a Watson family group. The Rutters are already well connected, and Houseparty provided some light relief the other evening, as well as an opportunity for us all to convene online. It is distressing to know that my daughter is both scared and sad, and it is hard to provide the reassurance that I long to give without physically being by her side. How do you convince someone not to worry or panic, and that everything will be alright? How do you persuade someone to remain positive and fill their day with lots of good things to occupy their time and their mind? Over a protracted period of enforced separation, everyone will suffer to some degree from anxiety, depression, worry and concern, and it is vital to remain busy. That’s why the Kitchenaid has never worked so hard. Yesterday evening, tired at the end of a busy day, a wave of yuck descended and I had an hour or two of grump. I can’t explain why it should descend or when, but it did and I just needed to go to sleep. This morning, I woke with ideas, the sun was shining and I did my second brief trip for essentials to our local Coviran supermarket. We have vegetables, meat, wine (very important!), snacks and we will make delicious things to eat.
We are here at home for the time being, and we now need to think about the future. This is hard, as we have no idea how long this quarantine will last. Originally, 15 days of lock down were imposed but it is widely expected that this will be extended and we may be locked down for a couple more weeks into April. There are obviously no events, no opportunities to go and meet friends, no immediate plans of any sort to make and little to look forward to except a slice of chocolate cake and our individual constitutionals with Alfie. We are locked in the present but that doesn’t mean we can’t think ahead and plan for the time when this does abate. It will abate and life will return to some new normal; gradually, we will climb back on the horse and continue on our way. If one good thing were to come out of this ghastly episode it would be that the new way we do end up following is imbued with a little more empathy, more kindness and consideration and much less greed and selfishness.
At this stage, I want to talk about a friend from our village (I have changed his name).
David and his wife bought a property here with the intention that it would be their forever home; it was their dream home.
David suffered from an inter-cranial aneurysm and had to undergo several surgical procedures to save his life. His wife told us that their new life in Spain contributed to David’s recovery because he was removed from the stress of everyday life and had time to recuperate properly. However, as it would have been almost impossible to get the health insurance needed to allow David to become resident here in Spain, following Brexit, the couple have had to take the very sad decision to sell their home here.
I tell this tale as David, despite his own recent serious health issues, has elected to return to work with the NHS; before his illness, he was a paramedic. He will be one of the 65,000 people who have been asked to help to relieve the pressure on the health service and his example really hit home.
We can’t see our immediate way out of our own business black hole here, but compared to what hospital staff around the world are having to deal with right now our plight seems insignificant. Doctors are dying trying to keep us alive, so it has been particularly galling to see people in pubs in the UK clinging onto those last waning opportunities to sink a pint while someone like David is having to risk his own life to return to help others when he has had his own serious medical battles to fight.
So, it has dawned on us that we want to help if we can and we have decided to pledge a number of short breaks in our Bed & Breakfast home to NHS hospital staff when travel restrictions are eventually lifted. Clearly, we want business to return, and we want visitors to come back to Spain but we also want to do something that has a benefit to someone who is helping us now. We can’t wave any magic wand, but we all need something to look forward to. When we are locked down at home, it is too easy to sink into a well of gloom. We none of us really knows how long this will continue, but we have to trust the information around us. That is why it is so vital for information to be clear and convincing; this is not the time for vagueness and contradiction. You can’t, for example, as happened last week, send messages appealing to people to stay at home while still allowing pubs and other venues to remain open. It is a relief to see that steps have now been taken to restrict movement and social interaction. Staying at home makes sense and has to be done if we are to minimise the pressure on health services.
If other providers were also to offer something to people who will need it, we can collectively help. Let us all look forward to the day when we can travel again, go out for a drink, enjoy a romantic meal and help everyone in the process - the businesses that are suffering and the people looking after us right now.
The sun is shining here, so we should be able to have lunch outside, take in the stunning scenery and forget, for a moment, that real life is a bit pants right now. However, our neighbours here are facing our present restrictions with typical fortitude. We don’t hear complaints, we don’t try to find ways to bend the rules.
We will continue to bake, we will make silly videos. We will chat to our friends and family more, and share our notes of locked-down life. We all need to reassure those people, like my darling daughter, that we need to keep our worries to a minimum and to keep busy with lovely things. Hopefully, we can also still manage to look forward to the near future, and make plans to have fun, and physically meet up with our friends and family and (as I suggested to our chums only yesterday) immerse our heads in a trough of cava and stuff our faces with tapas.
Eat well
Be silly
Chat and video call
Think of something that you can pledge to give that will help someone and your own business; we all need a future
Keep busy
STOP PANIC BUYING
STOP STOCKPILING
STAY AT HOME
If you are an NHS hospital worker, and want to have something to look forward to when this crisis abates, we will offer you a free short break at our lovely Bed & Breakfast when travel restrictions are lifted (subject to availability). Just stay in touch with us - https://www.casa-higueras.com/
If you are interested in the house that David is selling, the details can be seen here: https://www.gcpropertyconsultants.com/alandalus-19. He and his wife need to sell this house so they can buy a new home in the UK.
Do read our earlier ‘Life in the Time of Corona’ posts for our take on the lock-down here in Spain:
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 1’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 2’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 4’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 5’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 6’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 7’
‘Life in the Time of Corona Part 8’
