COVID-19 Quarantine Updates (Week 4)

And here we are, another week down... It seemed to go by fast but the days also dragged on and on.  They all blur together to be honest as we pretty much now do the same thing day in and day out.  We get a little variance if the weather is nice and we can get out in our little concrete yard.

If you need a refresher on our past weeks -- week one here and week two here and week three here.

April 4, 2020 (Day 22)
Trevor and I stayed up way too late last night chatting and playing online games with friends.  It was exactly what we all needed, but this morning was a little rough -- oh well!  So we had a lazy day, plus the weather was crap (so windy and rainy).  Perfect day to just lay around and watch movies all day.  Serafina at least was a big help in the kitchen washing dishes :)

And sadly (but was expected), we learned that our state of alarm will most likely be extended another 15 days bringing us to April 26th.  But there is finally (FINALLY) talk of slowly releasing us during that 15 day period and if not during that time, then most likely starting May 1st and throughout the month of May.  There was even an article that specifically stated parents could take children on a short walk as one of the restrictions to be lifted -- whenever it all happens.  I legit almost cried tears of joy.  I would do just about anything to go for a walk right now.

And in even bigger news our curve is most likely flattening!  Our numbers finally seem to be dropping, slowly but they are dropping.  When I started writing this entry, I looked back at week one and remember being shocked when our case numbers went up by 2,000 in one day.  Now I am happy they were only a little over 7,000 new cases today.  And hopefully our numbers keep going down.

April 5, 2020 (Day 23)
Palm Sunday.  One of the most amazing days of the year to be living in southern Spain.  Except this year.  Normally, the entire town of Rota (and well every other town in Andalucía) would be dressing up in their best clothes and taking to the streets to see the first procession of Semana Santa or Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter.  I have written about Easter here, here, and here.  Semana Santa is one of the most wonderful times to be in our province of Andalucía.  But this year, it is all cancelled because of COVID (and because well, we are all locked inside our houses).  Today's procession is one of my favorites and I will admit that I purposefully kept myself busy so I didn't have to think about what we were missing today....

So today instead of being outside with the entire town, Trevor and I cleaned the kitchen -- going through ALL the cabinets and rearranging things.  It was needed and actually quite fun.  We need a few things for organizational purposes so I am attempting to order from IKEA (cross your fingers for me).  AND I even found a FULL bottle of Lysol spray under the sink -- I hit the jackpot :)

Sadly no pictures today since most of it was spent cleaning and organizing.  But in other good news, Spain's numbers continue to go down -- slowly but they are going down.  So even though we will be extended in our lock down another three weeks (it has to be approved later this week, but it will be) -- staying home is working!

April 6, 2020 (Day 24)
Well, this might be a slightly tipsy update :)  We finally caved and ordered take out from a local restaurant (after cooking dinner (and lunch and breakfast) for 23 days straight, it was needed).  And thanks to living in Spain, you can order alcohol with your take out meals -- so we ordered a harra de margarita (or a pitcher of margarita) and it turned out to be A VERY LARGE pitcher :)

Trevor had to go into the office today (it seems like this will be the norm for him, one a day week at the office with the rest working from home) so it was just Serafina and I all day and we actually had a really good and productive day.  We did mom school and while it is technically her spring break (because of Semana Santa), I know that the routine is good for all of us so it won't hurt to keep doing school related activities this week.  I should note that we are doing no more than an hour of mom school a day -- it is very relaxed and very unstructured so don't feel like I am planning full days of school/learning related activities each day.  We also had a visit from our favorite neighborhood cat (Serafina has named her (him/it) Kia).

After mom school Serafina and I cleaned part of the house, her favorite part is vacuuming and she was actually a big help.  We cleaned out her closet as well and have quite the pile of things to donate once this is all over....

Overall, it was a really good day -- and our numbers went down by almost 2,000 cases which was SO uplifting to read this afternoon.  Except my order with IKEA last night did not work.  And Amazon (USA) has officially stopped shipping things to us, even essential items.  But good thing my panic buying shipment of toys arrived (but not the needed subscribe and save items from March).

April 7, 2020 (Day 25)
Another day.  This week seems to be tough on everyone or at least among my friends here.  As I've mentioned this week is spring break for the kiddos so many of our friends had some pretty awesome trips planned for this week and yet we are all staying safe at home.  And my parents were supposed to be arriving tomorrow and to say we are all bummed their trip got cancelled is an understatement.  So hopefully everyone in the whole starts following social distancing expectations and stay at home orders so this is all over soon so my parents can come visit :)

And nothing new to report on our day, same thing day in and day out.  Breakfast + waking up, mom school, I workout while Serafina plays, lunch, hanging out, art project or baking or play outside, dinner, hang out, clapping, bed time... Lots of play-doh dress making for Barbies and I straightened Serafina's hair today (it is quite long when it isn't so curly)!  Case numbers rose again today :( But there is still talk of how our gradual release will look, so hopefully we are getting closer to the end of this whole thing...

April 8, 2020 (Day 26)
Nothing new really to report.  Another day that looked a lot like the other 25 days of this lock down.  The windy finally let up in the early evening so we were able to get outside for a little bit which helped everyone.  We now have to wear cloth face coverings on base (since it was recommended by the CDC), so now we have to wear masks anytime we step outside our front gate (and even Serafina is used to seeing us in masks whenever we leave to take the trash or Trevor goes to work).  A large shipment of mail did arrive late yesterday so I will go pick up packages tomorrow.  And also go to the grocery store on base -- with Spanish holidays tomorrow and Friday, we are adjusting our grocery shopping a little this week.  Numbers still aren't great, they stayed basically the same as yesterday.  Which I guess isn't bad but also isn't going down.  We had a friend stop by and toss a little something for Serafina over the fence and Serafina was SO sad she couldn't stay for lunch.  I still fully believe we are doing the right thing by staying home but as we approach almost a full month away from our friends and normal lives, it is affecting everyone.

But I also cannot imagine how the Spanish are even still functioning.  ALL of this social distancing and staying within your home goes against EVERY SINGLE part of their culture.  They are not seeing their extended family that typically lives just blocks away; they are not having huge lunches and get togethers on the weekends; they are grocery shopping one or two times a week rather than every single day...  And then this week being Semana Santa and one of the largest holidays of the year -- without family.  If they can do it, we all can and we all will come out of this stronger.

(And yes an early post because we are all tired and all going to bed right after our 8PM applause.)

April 9, 2020 (Day 27)
Because it is Easter this weekend and some of the stores are closed, I went to the commissary on base today (much earlier than we needed but I also needed to grab mail, so better to make one trip).  We got some packages which is always fun.  Thankfully base has gotten a lot safer since they have cracked down on people not following social distancing and state of alarm expectations/rules.  But it is still SO hard going out -- I ran into friends at both the post office and the commissary and it was almost impossible not to reach out and hug them or give them dos besos (two cheek kisses).  And even harder talking behind masks.  Not a fan.  We had a low key day at home, Serafina did some dad school while I was out and then we just hung out -- played, did art, watched TV.  It was rainy today so no outside time, but also good because then I know I am not missing any Semana Santa processions for today (they don't go in the rain).

I was telling my mom more about the applause we do each day at 8M and she suggested I share some of it here too -- it originally started as an applause to the healthcare workers and all they are doing to save lives and being on the front lines of this awful virus.  But it quickly morphed into a time for us to applaud everyone, even those staying home.  And even more importantly it became a time to check in with our neighbors since we aren't seeing them out and about anymore.  As we all emerge onto our front porches, we wave to our neighbors.  We are all checking to make sure everyone is out and doing okay, even from across the road or over our walls -- it has become our daily check in.  On the few nights that someone isn't outside, questions are asked (shouted really) to make sure all is okay.  And thankfully, everyone on our street continues to be healthy and safe!

April 10, 2020 (Day 28)
Another week down.  It was a long slow one for some reason this time and I have a feeling this will be the new norm.  We also found out that Trevor will most likely have to go into work more (we won't know more officially until Monday) but I am not too happy about it as it makes for VERY long days for me and Serafina.

Today it was finally nice out (the sun was out and no winds) so we were able to spend some time outside in the afternoon.  We have a blow up hot tub that Trevor and Serafina played in; we hardly ever heat it up but have been lately just to give us something to do.  In the morning Serafina and I did mom school, made cookies and also made stamps out of paper towel rolls (it didn't turn out quite how I was expecting but Serafina sure had fun and that is all that matters).

And in HUGE news -- Serafina lost her second tooth.  It has been loose almost since she lost her first one over a month ago and the new tooth was growing in behind it, so it was time to come out.  I accidentally ripped it out as I was drying her off after her shower -- oops!  But she was pretty excited as it means the mouse fairy gets to come tonight!

Not a lot to report on in terms of numbers.  They aren't going down really, but also not going up -- staying steady around 5,000 new cases each day which to be honest I can't figure out.  We have all been locked inside for 28 days -- HOW are there still so many cases per day.  And of course the lock down extension was approved by the lower government (so extends us officially until April 26th) and there is talk that the president of Spain wants to extend us until May 10th.  Ugh.

And more about our 8PM applause -- the Spanish are known for being late.  Always.  Nothing is ever on time in Spain, you just get used to it and learn to embrace it.  However, everyone is on time for the 8PM applause, early even.  It is the ONE time that the entire country is on time for something and I love it.  Our neighbors straight across our street start playing music usually about 7:30PM each night.  And then about 7:58PM they switch to the quedate en casa song (it is a song that a bunch of Spanish singers/songwriters put together to encourage everyone to stay in their house -- it translates to stay in your house).  We all dance and clap and it is great fun!