” What goes around, comes around “ …

The moment that the Corona virus arrived here in Germany, especially here in Bavaria, this saying had been hovering in my mind.Too bad that what goes around is something that we all doesn´t look forward to. It all took us all off- guard. Unprepared , confused, and scared, we slowly moved into social distancing. This saying is totally true in all sense right now. It´s been almost 24 days now that we stayed at home, and each day becomes a merciless repeat of yesterday’s innuendo. Amidst of this global Corona pandemic, we managed to stay safe, healthy and sane. This is the first time that I am personally experiencing this type of hysteria and yes, I have learned a lot. I guess these part of our lives will be set in history so I decided to made a journal about life lately under Corona Lockdown here in Germany.

The news are all scary, some data , especially the infections and death rates are even unbelievably unimaginable, but then it all boils down to one: Everyone´s health is at risk.From Asia to Europe, to Us and to far east and through out all parts of the world, the slow process of shutting down is still on its course. We don´t know until when. Now we are all under this big black cloud of wondering what will happen in the coming days and weeks.

March 16 was the first day that we officially ” go under lockdown” here in Bavaria because of Corona virus containment plan. I think Bavaria was even the first region to declare this emergency measure to prevent the spread of the virus.Supermarkets, pharmacies and hospitals are open and limited office are on operation, and that includes my husband´s office. Yes, he still goes to work every day. He does most of the shopping and right now we can´t do anything about this situation. His work cannot be done thru homeoffice so we have no other choice. We practice proper hygiene,wash our hands frequently, shower immediately after he came home. I even sewed masks for all of us so we have protection whenever we go out.We wear masks and gloves when we go out and take precaution all the time.

Outside, people got into panic. Everyone is buying toilet papers and doing ” Hamster kaufen” or simply panic buying. I heard from my colleagues that they did bulky grocery shopping and stocked up on potatoes, pastas, rice and other food. I couldn´t believe it.The shelves in supermarkets got empty. Even bread is out! Paracetamol is out from Pharmacies as well. Disinfectants and sanitizers were all gone.It was crazy.The Pandemic had arrived in Germany!Talking about masks, it was completely obsolete here.

Friday, March 13th, the government announced that effective Monday, March 16th, all schools and Kindergarten to closed up until Easter holiday. That would be almost 2 weeks!! I almost didn´t believed it once I heard about it! My worry during this time was who will take care of my daughter while we go to work. What is happening outside tells me that there is really something ” serious” going on. At work, more and more conferences were cancelled because of the scare of Corona virus.We were even advised that if we are sick, we should not report to work. The following day, the Hotel where I am working urgently announced that we´ll be closing for the meantime due to the Corona pandemic and all staff will be on ” Kurzarbeit” until further notice. Kurzarbeit here in Germany means short term work , or simply put as an agreement between the employer and employee about a temporary solution on a crisis like this.We´ll be earning less because we´ll have shorter hours of work, we won´t lose our jobs and part of our income will be compensated by the German government. On the other hand, I was relieved hearing about this, because it means my child will stay at home with me and therefore we will have less risk to be infected. Although it´s not the perfect situation because my husband still goes to work every single day. He´s still on the risk because he goes out everyday.

We feel the pressure of this and it is never easy. I felt that life outside is never safe anymore. I´ve went out a couple of times to get something from a store and it never feel safe as it is before. There´s really a big change

Today is Wednesday already, the 8th of April and on Sunday comes Easter. Corona suddenly changed the way we will be celebrating Easter.The “Ostermarkt” was already cancelled, together will all the other public events here in Ingolstadt. Days comes quick and ends without no doubt, fast and fleeting. We have sunny days over here and we spend most of our times getting some much needed sunshine in our little garden and my kid played in the Terrace , cycle or ride her roller. We hung eggs in our yellow ” Forsythia” bush and probably make an easter egg hunt in the garden.

When I told my daughter what is going on and why we didn’t bring her to Kindergaten, she just said ” Oh then we are going to do the 30 days challenge Mama! ” She meant that everyday we need to do something creative, more playtime and learning exercises! Indeed we will and we ought to be. Day after day we get creative and bent on learning while Kindergarten is closed.Quarantine with kids is a lot of work but we try to stay positive. She´s supposed to start school on September so we busied ourselves and devoting at least 2 hours doing exercises. It is not always easy being stuck at home with an active child, but then I explained to my daughter what is going on and she slowly understands the need for social distancing. One day while playing in the garden, one of her friend passed by and the 2 girls wanted to hug each other and suddenly hesitated after a quick look…it all looks and feel strange now. I guess it would take a little while to go back to the usual norm.Probably soon…but definitely not yet now.

On the other side, quarantine is by all means welcomed by myself.I see it as a time to go back to my roots and really dig in to what really matters.

” Family matters…Staying healthy matters…communicating to loved-ones and friends who are far away is important. Caring during this time is important.“

I am not going to deny the fear that I feel everyday. I think I´ve prayed more and more than I ever praxed in my life.The day after lockdown was announced, I got sick.I catch a bad cold and on the next day, my voice was totally gone. I have no idea what to do.I decided to call my doctor quickly and ask if I could visit for an urgent check up. In the clinic there was already an announcement that we need to observe ” Abstand” or social distancing. Meaning, we need to put space, a physical distance between others. In supermarkets as well this is very evident. There was a big bottle of disinfectant right on the door for the patients to use before and after leaving the clinic. The “corona scare” is totally evident everywhere. Turns out that I had an infection in my tonsils and went on antibiotic.I kept watching for other symptoms but that God I get better just after 3 days. In time of Corona, a simple cough is seen like a deadly stigma, it creates a wall and unsolicited looks and stare from others. It is an uncomfortable feeling. The feeling of isolation is totally different when you got sick in times like these.

The worries that my family, my husband and my little daughter would be put into the risk and everything kept me always on guard. Nowadays I think I am cleaning and disinfecting the whole house more than I did before. The more that I listened and watch news all over the world, the smaller my perspectives become so I tried to limit now myself from stress of media exposure. I decided to filter what I feed my mind and what I feel. I can still be well informed about the virus and not be stressed by it. When I have ” free time”, I absorbed myself with writing drafts in my Blog, I still have lots of unfinished stuff to be done. It´s been ages since my last post and I feel ashamed of this neglect. I painted a lot until I ran out of paints, cooked meals for my family, everyday we read more, hugged more. We always find ourselves looking for ideas to bake.I tidied up the garden and tend to my plants. That gave me unquestionable peace. I am grateful that at least we have a little space to breathe and my daughter has a place to run around.

Living with plants have reminded me that nature has its own course to follow. They know the times very well. Their time to sprout new buds and leaves really signals growth and hope, reminding me that all of these, shall soon pass.The sunshine flooded our living room and terrace nowadays.It felt good to do some BBQ in the garden and quick chat with the neighbors.With short moments like these, I am reminded to be grateful, to move on and keep my sanity.

How about you? How was life lately under lockdown?