March 22, 2020
** This post was originally intended to be a blog, but l ended up posting it to our Facebook page. A few people wrote me privately asking me to put it here as it might provide a few minutes of reading material as well as it being a historical log of sorts, so here it is. Apologies if you’ve already read it on Facebook. We hope everyone is weathering the storm well. Here is a day during lockdown in Spain.
A day During The Valencia Spain Lockdown:
We are on day 6 l think (the days sort of roll together, one of the side effects of this quarantine). Here is what we have been doing to keep ourselves occupied during the lockdown. This is yesterday.
We got up at 8am. I am usually up before this because our bigger dog whines a lot. He wants to be walked earlier and earlier and does this annoying whine that makes me want to throw a show at him, but instead l lean down and rub his belly for about 15 minutes and we finally rise up and change clothes.
Fede walks the bigger one Sky, while l walk the little one, Bella. We can’t walk them together by decree, which is just as well. Bella has a variety of maladies and hates to walk. In these days, when just about the only excuse to be out is to walk a dog ( people are actually renting their dogs!), I insist on taking her out even though she has already done her business in their assigned back balcony. My bribe is a dog treat that l show, but don’t give her. I manage a ten minute walk before she absolutely gives up.
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The streets are empty, save for a few people going to work. The bakery downstairs has a few customers. Of course all are observing the one meter between people rule. I wonder where all the other dog owners that l used to see on the walks are? I can only imagine maybe they walk earlier or later than l do since most people don’t have to go to work. The bus passing has just a lone rider with a mask on. So different from the usual.
I come back and make coffee. I contemplate going to the bakery for fresh croissants but don’t really want to wait in line, so opt for oatmeal for me (good for my cholesterol anyway) and l butter some dried biscotti for him. We eat when he gets back from his long walk. After breakfast, we lingered a bit at the dining table talking about people and the crazy ways they are coping. When the football season might start up again and other crap. I check my emails on the laptop and reply to to some. I also check the website and answer comments if there are any. Traffic is way down as people are not interested in travel at this time. Bigger worries.
I’m on Facebook a lot, even more than l used to be. I absolutely feel no shame about spending time on here :-). I like to read about what everyone is up to, check out silly dog video and leave sarcastic comments. So many people are coming up with creative ways to keep themselves occupied while on lockdown. I rummage through my photos to find images from cities that begin with “C”. Someone in our travel group came up with the idea to post pictures of past visits using the alphabet. I posted pictures from Cairo.
I find a Youtube Zumba class and proceed to dance my butt off for 56 minutes. I liked one of the songs and stopped to Shazam it. My dogs totally ignore me, one turning her back on me and l posted it on my FB timeline a little later. I think how lucky we are that we have strong WiFi. Had we been stuck in Italy at the last AirBnB which had crappy wifi, I would have either died of boredom or run up a huge bill using our data.
The TV had nothing but virus news, every freaking channel. My only saving grace was the two episodes back to back in the morning of “Dukes of Hazzard” which were thankfully in English. I loved that show. After Zumba, I take long, hot shower. I love the tankless water heater as it allows me to take long, long, long, showers. I know l should worry about water conservation, but f**k that! One luxury l can still enjoy.
It’s now a little past noon. I get on the desktop and research Audible from Amazon. I would like to read some really long novels, but l wouldn’t mind listening to them either and l’m curious as to the cost and if available in Spain. I find out that yep! it is available. Excited for a while till l stumble on the fact that Amazon U.S will not work here and vice versa. They have a gazillion audible books in English and shite on the Spanish site. I’m not paying 15 euros a month for nothing. I am crushed and trying to think of a work around. VPN? Will have to research that more. In the meantime, I download a free app where you can listen to classics. I’ll give that a try tomorrow. *Update: I was able to join thanks to a lady who wrote, but l have since decided that l prefer to read my books, not have it read to me. I am not enjoying listening to the book at all.
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Since our Spanish classes at the local university as well as my Tuesday Spanish chat classes have been cancelled until further notice, I only have my listening and learning videos on Youtube. Today, I check out whynotspanish . It’s a cute one today, from the perspective of her cute dog. I also do a Queremos one. I pick up about three new words and knew lladrar (bark) before she said it! Yeah!!! That l remembered from the last Tuesday chat. One of Julie’s words as we played “Simon dice”.
Lunch time is soon here. Fede has been busy in the kitchen. Today, he made lasagna, so that’s for lunch. It was amazing as usual. We finish half, and save the other half for lunch tomorrow. I do something l rarely do at home, which is have a glass of wine with lunch. A lot of people think we are big wine drinkers which l find funny. We usually only drink when we have company over or when we go out. One bottle of wine at home will last us about four days, maybe more and we often throw the rest out. Once in a while, we will buy a bottle of beer if we have pizza or wings for dinner. Fresh milk is what we both love most. When this started, we bought one bottle of wine and eight bottles of fresh milk. I have it with oatmeal, coffee, and just for the heck of it and also at bedtime. I hated milk in the U.S and it gave me so many stomach problems. Not here!
After washing the dishes (I am the dishwasher. He cooks, l clean), I sit down to watch television. First l go on Youtube and search for any new episodes of House Hunters International and l’m disappointed. No new ones :-(. Netflix it is then. I settle in for a few episodes of “La Reina del Sur” – a Spanish soap opera. I watched the last few episodes of season 2. Good soap, and it has definitely helped me improve my listening skills, not to mention some swear words. I fall asleep for about 20 minutes, thanks to the wine. I never sleep in the afternoon otherwise unless l’m ill.
Some friends are having a Zoom meet up and l contemplated joining for a second. Truth is l am really useless at working Skype, Google hangouts, etc.etc. I don’t have any interest in learning either. I only started using Whatsapp for real lately and rarely use my phone except for Scrabble and Words with friends. I keep watching TV. Now l started some show called “Travellers” on Netflix. Kind of okay, but l have a feeling l know where this is going. I turn off the TV after a while to rest my eyes. Silence is good and l play with the dogs as they have shifted from the couch.
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Fede made onion rings and wings for dinner. I realise it’s 8pm when l hear the clapping. Every night, the people in Spain go out on their balconies, or lean out the window and clap in appreciation of the working staff during this crisis. Medical personnel, grocery workers, etc., everyone on the front lines. We go out and join them. Our next door neighbour is a budding singer. He plays the guitar also and we can usually hear him practising. I think we have birthed a monster. We told him how good last time we saw him in the elevator. He has definitely seized this opportunity for his 15 minutes of fame.
After the clapping the first night, he sang a song and the people applauded. Then he proceeded to announce that “tomorrow will be better”. Every night since then, he’s given a half hour concert after the clapping. Now he’s added a microphone, some really loud horn thing, and a friend (who should not be there btw) plus lights or something. Fede recorded a little of his singing last night for his family in Rome who are as bored as we are. This will only encourage him more l said…haha!!! He’s a good kid though and someday l will understand his rapid Spanish.
Later it’s time for our movie of the day. Tonight l found the movie “Blockers” on Amazon Prime. It’s a stupid comedy about three parents trying to block their kids from having sex on prom night. It has its funny moments. I’m glad we have a big ass screen and l make some popcorn sometime in between.
End of day! We both remark again how fortunate we were to be able to get back home in time for the lockdown. After all, we have our own coffee, our own food, supermarkets etc., pretty much our usual routine for the most. It could definitely be a lot worse.
This will go on in one form or the other for the foreseeable future. How are you holding up wherever you are? Are you in lockdown? Share things that might help others weather the storm.
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I loved reading this! One way ore another, this virus is changing life on earth on all fronts. I am curious how will things change (if they will at all) after things are under control. Even for us, who worked from home before this entire madness kicked in, things are proving to be a bit difficult. You never know how much those 30 minute walks outside help until you can’t have them anymore 🙂 But we’re adapting, we’re getting creative and we’re going to do it.
I personally have stocked up on the entire Police Academy series, a bunch of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, some more of Stallone’s, the Chuck Norris classics and a few series that I always wanted to watch but never had the chance (Stargate and Battlestar Galactica). It’s about time my son learns why I chuckle every time I leave the room and tell him “I’ll be back!”
Haha! Thanks for the laugh :-). I always say “I’ll be back” as well a lot of times. It’s classic. What a good idea about stocking up on the movies. Fede likes the Police Academy ones too and l remember liking them too. We re-watched a Stallone movie yesterday. I always like the classics (and l mean violent, not romantic crap!).
It is weird not being able to just leave whenever you want. It’s one thing to want to stay home, it’s another being told you have to stay. Now, I do the walk with the dog not for her sake, but for mine. Those precious minutes in the empty streets mean a lot to me. I now fold up our clothes rack on the balcony so l can stand out there and just look out. This too shall pass though and it could always be worse.
I love Eric’s yoga poses :-). He is definitely handling it well.
Kem, it sounds like you have all the bases covered, with the exception of FtF contact with people other than Fredrico. Thank god we have the internet to entertain ourselves and to get what we need delivered. I downloaded Scrabble and Zoom but haven’t used either. Planning a test run with some of my book club buddies soon. I have two books sitting in my Kindle that I will read when I run out of things to do. For now, we can still get outside, so I go to the park and hit against the backboard solo. Haven’t been with friends in over a week.
We are eating well, isn’t it great to have husbands who cook? But, one bottle of wine for four days, not gonna happen. We open a bottle every other day! Most people hoarded TP, we hoarded WINE!
Thanks for a glimpse into your daily life. This too shall pass…..
Thanks for reading Suzanne. It’s been kind of cool almost being asked to do our little part and do it without too much hardship. Let’s hope everyone does their parts too. Yep! Thank god indeed for the internet. When l think back to the old days nd what peple had to go through 24 hours a day without all the modern comforts, you realise how lucky we are indeed to live in this era. I am loving the new Scrabble Go, I think they are getting rid of the old Scrabble soon which l loved. The go is fun though since it’s a lot quicker.
I am going to look into Zoom as well even though l’m sure l will never use it. I have a few books on my Kindle as well as some actual books and l read off and on. Lucky that you can still be outside. Enjoy it while you can.
I am so grateful to have someone who can cook. I would be miserable without his cooking. Haha! about the wine. Hey, it’s good for your health to boot, so why not?
Yes, this too shall pass :-).
Haha I loved reading your day. I was wondering how it is now in Valencia. Honestly, I would rather be in Spain than here in U.S as things are handled horribly (prob the worst among all the countries) and things are not looking up. Well we had our visa interview on the day Spanish government announced locked down lol. The consulate is in L.A, we live in Denver, we were going to stay in L.A for a few days but felt uneasy so we changed our ticket and flew back home right after the interview. Thank God, a couple of days later CA governor announced shelter-in-place order. Whew! Anyway, we have seen someone who had an interview a week prior to us getting approved, so assuming ours is on the way soon, but obviously they won’t actually issue the visa until all of these are clear. Our renovation hasn’t even started yet, now who knows when it can start and be done. So frustrating. Our original plan of moving was late April, now we have no idea. It’s a bit nerve-breaking as we have prepared our savings and all, we really don’t want to be staying in U.S and paying expensive rent, etc, so it just makes us anxious.
But, safety and health for this world comes first. Thanks again for sharing your day, we are stuck home here as well. Stay safe, and praying for all these to be over soon.
Hi Vicky! Hope you guys are fine. You know that saying about life is what happens while you’re busy making plans? I guess it is so true in this case. I have my fingers crossed for you that everything will go well, you’ll have the approval and only just need for things to be lifted and you can start your new chapter in life. I’m sure it’s frustrating and unsettling for things to go haywire so abruptly.
Yes, safety and health does come first. Hopefully soon, we can all look back at this as some sort of weird dream/lesson and we will come out ahead. I agree that so far, the U.S does not seem prepared at all. Let’s hope it doesn’t blow up and become an even bigger mess than it should be.
Stay safe and hopefully, we will see you soon in this part of the world, and your renovation can begin in earnest :-).
Thank you. That’s exactly right. Life is what happens. What a crazy world though. I am pretty concerned about U.S, looking at the leadership, it does not look good. Just hoping things don’t blow up so badly. Hoping this will end soon and we can go back to our plan to start a new life. Fingers crossed!
Take care, and hope you and your husband stay safe as well, and keep us posted about what’s going on in Valencia! 🙂
It’s kind of surprising that the medical experts like Dr Fauci are being silenced. How crazy is that? I just hope the damage done can be reversed and these people start growing some balls and speaking up.
I’m glad you liked the post. I will keep you updated as to life here, which is most likely the same there, only with a Spanish flair. Try not to worry too much even though l know it’s easier said than done :-).
Hi KemKem. I’m glad you posted here because I don’t do Facebook! Your neighbor is pretty good. It never ceased to amaze me how Spaniards would just break into song walking down the street. In this part of the world you’d want to cross to the other side to get away from the crazy singer!
We’re not on quarantine but people are being advised to stay at home. In Canada it’s 2 meters social distancing. And you only have one meter? I pretty much stay at home a lot anyway. I have to drive to the farm where I keep my horse daily to feed and check him. I always bring my dogs and we stop for our usual walk around town where just about everything is closed. All non-essential business are closed. Bars closed. Restaurants that have to go or deliver can stay open. Drug stores and groceries are open, also bakeries and produce stores, though many have reduced their hours.
My work pretty much dried up when Washington issued a stay at home order on Monday. I drove a pick up truck to a dealership in Longview, Washington last Friday, March 20, about 250 mile drive along Interstate 5, which is mostly 70mph. Except for a hundred mile section that starts north of Seattle through south of Tacoma that’s 60mph. This is a slow section. Stop and go traffic, and just slow. Friday was the first time ever I drove 60mph the whole way through!
Good luck managing the boredom!
Hello there Cheryl :-). Thanks for the feedback about the decision to post on here. I didn’t think about the fact that a lot of people didn’t use FB prior. I’ll try and remember that going forward. Yeah.. people are not so receptive to people singing spontaneously. I would move to in the U.S. and l am still a bit jarred when l see people talking to themselves now because l don’t walk and use the phone, and l forget about the wireless headsets.
You’ve got a pretty good handle on the self quarantine and it’s not a big stretch for you which is a good thing. It sounds idyllic and spending time with your horse sounds marvellous. I grew up wanting to ride, but of course l’ve only ever done trail riding while on holidays. I enjoy it though, sore butt and all :-). Such a weird time in the world.
I’m sorry about the job drying up. It’s so hard to predict when things will turn around because it is a first for all. I heard about the astronomical number of people filing for unemployment. Things are going to be bad for a long time it looks to me, stimulus package or not.
Let’s just hope it gets better, and sooner than later. Hang in there :-).
I’m catching up this morning on your recent posts and thinking of you and Fede, as well as all the people in Spain and Italy during this horrific pandemic. And dare I even mention the ghastly clusterf*** going on in the US? I was housesitting for some friends in nearby Boliqueme when Portugal declared a national emergency mid-March and I was infinitely thankful that they were able to catch an earlier flight back to Portugal as I was picturing weeks of staying inside alone. Yet another reason to appreciate co-housing. 🙂 Stay well my friends!
It really sucks for a lot of people who live alone. It would be hard to go stir crazy. I am so glad that you have you co-house friends. We look forward to meeting them and taking up space in that ginormous house :-). The lockdown came about so fast once the decision was made and caused us to flitter from one place to the other. I am also glad we were able to make it back to Terry and hubby could make it back to Portugal in time too before the lockdown as they had been considering staying for a few more days after the Fallas was cancelled. It feels better to be stuck at home and in your own space for sure. See you soon ojala! :-).