Back in the United States
(This post was written on April 6th)
Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! I miss you all very much and I hope you are staying healthy and safe during this time. I will be making a post every couple of days from now on to keep you updated on life over in this part of the world!
3 weeks after leaving Madrid
Today marks 3 weeks and a day since I have been back in my hometown of Livermore California! However, before I talk about my time spent here, I will explain what happened the night of March 11th that led to my decision to leave Madrid.
March 11th was a big day for all of us. It was the first day when this pandemic felt real in Madrid. We were told that school would be canceled indefinitely. This made me a little worried about what this meant for my future as an English teacher, as well as the future of Spain and the rest of the world. However, despite this reality I was trying to be positive and take it one moment at a time.
Shortly after falling asleep that night I was abruptly woken up by my roommate in a panic, she said to me, “Zoë wake up! We need to book a flight home, Trump just made a travel ban that starts Friday at midnight. We can’t be stuck here!” While still half asleep we spent some time on the phone with our parents planning our return home for that weekend. This was a quick change of events and I couldn’t believe that I was leaving Madrid. Madrid had become my home! Without much time to process all of it, I packed most of my stuff, said as many goodbyes as I could and was on my way.
Upon arrival back to California, I felt very nervous about potentially spreading the corona virus to my loved ones (but to assure you, I never had the virus). To prevent this, I spent my first two weeks in the back of my house. I self quarantined very strictly and only left to take a walk outside. It was difficult, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way!
Now that I am able to be near my parents we have spent much time doing puzzles, watching movies and making delicious meals. This time has taught me to slow down, and be grateful for my family and for my health.
Here in the United States, we have four or five metropolitan areas that have been affected seriously by the CoronaVirus. This week in the USA, we are unfortunately expected to have a surge in deaths from the disease. However, a positive is that the rate of new cases has been slowing down. We have been ordered to “shelter in place” until May 3rd. The term “shelter in place” is similar to your lockdown in Spain and we are highly advised to stay at home.
Right now the businesses that remain are the ones that are deemed “essential businesses”. These include grocery stores, food supply businesses, farming companies, banks, pharmacies, doctors offices/hospitals, and postal services. Fortunately for my family, both my father and my brother work in the food industry, selling chocolate!
We are looking forward to the possibility that businesses will reopen in about a month from now and for life to become somewhat normal again for us in the USA as well as for the rest of the world. I am also very hopeful that I will return to Madrid eventually as I miss it and all of you so much!
Much love :)
Zoe