LIFE ON LOCK DOWN: DAY 9

I’m having trouble going to sleep these days. At first, I thought it was just from the medications I’ve had to take following my foot surgery, but now I know it’s not. I simply can’t get my brain to shut down. I worry about the spread of the virus and know that every time that I go out to buy groceries, I could get infected, but I don’t have a choice if I want to keep eating. Home delivery of groceries is really not an option. Every grocery store in Madrid that delivers has a full delivery schedule, so you can’t complete an online purchase.

I also worry about how to pay bills and what will the economic situation look like once people can actually return to their places of work. I desperately want to be able to launch my new travel tour business that is currently on hold. Will we be in another recession like 2008? Will people want to spend money on English classes or travel?

On a personal level, I wonder when I will finally be able to go out and meet my friends. I haven’t had actual, physical contact with another human being since March 13 when the surgeon removed my post-operative bandage. I will see him again tomorrow to get my stitches out, and again, it will be my only other physical contact. It’s lonely spending every day locked up in an apartment. It truly feels like life is on hold. You can’t go anywhere or do anything and no one knows how long it will last.

So many people have died from the virus here in Madrid that the two crematoriums can no longer keep up the pace. The government has taken over a local ice skating rink and turned it into a morgue where the bodies are being stored. I read the world news constantly and see people complaining about shelter in place orders just now being placed on them or others just ignoring the government orders to go to the beach or skiing in the mountains. PEOPLE ARE DYING FROM THIS VIRUS! Young, old, rich, poor… it doesn’t matter. Don’t be stupid. STAY HOME. It may be your only chance at not being infected.