And here we are starting another week... I cannot believe we are going into week nine of all this. I understand why we are still in lock down but I also never ever thought it would last this long. While our province gets to move into phase one this Monday we are still learning about what that all means...
If you need a refresher on our past weeks -- week one here and week two here and week three here and week four here and week five here and week six here and week seven here and week eight here.
May 9, 2020 (Day 57)
I had a hair appointment today at a salon in Jerez (closest bigger city but within our province, about a thirty minute drive away). Know the rumors of places opening up soon, I had messaged the salon to see when I could get an appointment when they were able to open up an to my surprise they had opened this week! So away I went to get pampered, spend some time out of the house and get a much needed haircut (my hair was SO long and heavy it was giving me headaches). The appointment itself was wonderful, it was really weird seeing everyone in masks -- although I did have to take mine off at one point so the stylist could cut and color my hair properly (and also to see my face shape to figure out a good haircut). I saw other clients have to do the same thing, so sort of defeats the purpose but oh well. I never felt unsafe, everything was being cleaned constantly. And other than the stylist, I never came close to other people.
At home, Serafina and Trevor just hung out. Serafina really hates change and has a hard time whenever either of us get a haircut so she was pretty upset most of the day knowing I was getting my hair cut and then hating it when I got home. So needless to say it was a really lazy day and no pictures (because I was gone most of the day)! I got in a walk tonight between the rain storms, not looking forward to a week of rain.
No update on what moving to phase one means for us (as Americans associated with a military base)… So hopefully some information comes tomorrow.
May 10. 2020 (Day 58)
Mother's Day -- looked a little different this year since we were limited to things around the house but still a good day. I got to sleep in and Trevor took Serafina for a bike ride so I had some time in the house by myself which is always nice. Other than that we had a pretty low-key day -- the rain started yesterday so we have been doing things outdoors between the rain storms.
While we learned that we can gather in small groups of 10 or less, we still don't quite understand what that all means -- do we have to keep with the same 10 people, do children count, do we have to wear masks, and more... But we do know things are slowly starting to open up, like retail stores and restaurants but will limited patrons and must still keep social distancing. But it looks like we are actually start seeing friends tomorrow which is HUGE and so needed and will be amazing.
May 11, 2020 (Day 59)
Today was a HUGE day. WE GOT TO HAVE A PLAYDATE AND SEE FRIENDS. We have been encouraged to keep our gatherings within our command (meaning the group of people Trevor works with) so that is what we will be doing for these first few weeks, but it works out great because we LOVE a lot of the families in our command -- and Serafina loves their kids. So today we got together with two other families (keeping it under 10 people); it was just the moms and kids but it was SO nice to have other human contact outside of Trevor and Serafina. AND I got to meet my friend's new baby that was born the first week of lock down. It took awhile for the kids to get into a groove but overall they played well. Serafina had SO many questions on our way to our friend's house because for so long we have told her it wasn't safe to see other people because of the germs. Today felt like the first semi normal day is a very long time and it was so very welcome. Of course COVID was always in the back of our minds, making kids wash their hands so often, all of us sitting far apart and not hugging each other on arrival, but still -- face to face conversation and interaction was SO wonderful.
May 12, 2020 (Day 60)
No playdates today -- we figured we would do one every few days or so as to not overwhelm the kiddos. Serafina didn't even ask to see friends today so I think we made the right decision. I did bravely take her to base to run errands this morning. Trevor had a meeting and we had to get to base to check on a few things which meant I had to take Serafina with me. She did SO well, was SO well behaved but was also SO nervous -- on base we have to wear masks everywhere (in town we are encouraged but it isn't 100% mandatory like it is on base). But this was the first time she had been out on errands with me and so it was hard for her to see people in masks, gloves, distancing, me telling her to not even think about touching anything... It was a lot of her to handle so we had a low-key afternoon with lots of snuggles. She and I also took a short walk looking for painted rocks that some of our American friends have left around the town. It was really fun and we of course gathered some plain rocks to paint and go leave out as well.
Still lower case numbers being reported which is still really good news. We are all hoping the downward trend keeps going... Sadly (or maybe its a good thing), the 8PM clapping seems to have stopped -- especially since we are all allowed out of the house now and since things are relaxing... I am not even sure we can call what we are doing a true quarantine, especially how it all was even just two weeks ago. The release is slow and deliberate and while it can be really frustrating at times, it is needed. There have been rumors that summer camps will open up and I am just crossing my fingers -- we have done great with Serafina at home but she needs socialization and more Spanish than we can even come close to at home!
May 13, 2020 (Day 61)
Another big day for us -- our house cleaners came back :) Now I missed having my house clean but I missed them as our friends more. They have been cleaning our house since we moved in, so over 4 years ago and they have become a part of our family, helping us do anything that requires extensive Spanish, bringing us food when we are sick, checking in on me whenever Trevor travels, loving on our sweet Serafina like she was their own. Plus as an added bonus we all got to practice our Spanish this morning! And we painted rocks and did mom school (including some assignments from her actual school teacher). We had another playdate, again only seeing people within Trevor's command (co-workers). We know the importance of keeping the number of people we have closer/prolonged contact with at a small number so that is what we are doing.
Numbers continue to go down (even continuing to stay low after the usual low numbers that always happen on Sundays and Mondays), so hopefully things keep going in the right direction. We also learned that our territory has really ramped up testing for people with antibodies so that is also good news.
May 14, 2020 (Day 62)
Today was low key because there was SO much rain, SO much. We did mom school, played with the puppy -- Trevor had to go into the office today but got mail and my Dyson arrived so I was really excited. Serafina and I took a walk in the rain to put out the rocks we had painted -- I had fun getting caught in the downpour, Serafina not so much :)
May 15, 2020 (Day 63)
And here we are, another week gone -- and it feels so weird to be in this "new normal" where we can see friends in small groups, but nothing is actually back to normal.... It is a weird time we are living in, that is for sure. We had a long day -- Fridays are the day that Trevor spends most of the day in the office and while our usually fairly decent at going potty outside dog decided that today was the day he forgot ALL his training and went inside constantly. It was rough. We had friends over (again with the same families we have been seeing all week) which was really fun for the kids -- but made for a rough evening for Serafina when she was SO sad her friends had to leave.
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| snuggling with my friends baby |
Numbers are still looking fairly good with things trending downward with new cases. Sadly the Spanish are starting to plan and hold protests nationwide which will result in large gatherings -- which of course has us all nervous. Really hoping it does not result in a spike of new cases or a backtrack into the extremely restrictive lock down.
Also I decided to start doing weekly updates on life in Spain during COVID-19 -- especially since our lock down is no longer the strictest in the world and we aren't even truly in lock down/quarantine anymore. Obviously if something big happens, I will update more frequently but for now we are chilling in Phase 1 for the foreseeable future!
No more daily updates??? :(((. But I understand. I just look so forward to them.
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