Watched the movie 'Contagion" last week.Very bad choice for these times, but came highly recommended by a friend and so I decided, I would watch it.
Almost every two minutes ,Vincent and I were looking at each other, eyes wide as saucers..every thing unfolding in the movie was literally unfolding in real time right in front of our eyes.The term 'social distancing' almost had me leap out of my chair. Though we are not at the social chaos stage depicted in the movie, neither are we at the quickly concocted vaccine stage. But whether the end of this real life movie is better or different from that movie, remains to be seen.
In the meanwhile, we are adjusting to a new normal. In each other's space all the time! As much a large house comes with the luxury of being able to disappear into one's refuge any time one feels like it, it also means you know there are people lurking in the house ALL the time.You are never truly alone. I think I actually speak only of myself. All the other three people never truly knew an empty house. As a stay at home mom, I did. So this new normal is more difficult on me than any one else. Not that I'm complaining, but its almost like I'm fully aware of what being a stay at home mom entails. Like I seem to cook a lot. And clean more. Time seems to move faster, and slower at the same time. Like a day typically seems to go by sooner.You wake up, and by the time breakfast is done it is 9.30-10.00. Do academic work with Noe and start prepping for lunch and by the time lunch is actually done it is almost close to 1.30. I started typing this as I sat on my couch after finishing up lunch. A couple of hours here using the laptop or my phone and then we take a walk..it's 5.00 already. Come home, have a bath, figure out dinner, make it, eat, clean up load dishwasher, wash up the remaining stuff and close the kitchen and it is almost 9.00...Friday it was a movie afterwards...but Vincent was working still all the other days, so I was back fiddling around with my phone. Close to a typical day so far..but how many more of these?One day bleeds into another. I had to ask Emmanuel what day it was on Friday....because almost all the days starting Tuesday have been identical in their routine.
The weekend was a little different. I went grocery shopping. Just me, stood in line before entering the store, tried to avoid the crowds milling about the vegetable section, stood in line again at the checkout where a store clerk indicated which counter you needed to go to, because they wanted to streamline the process and not have too many people at each counter. Was a surreal experience. No walking casually along the aisles and buying things that caught your fancy.There was this vigilance, you had to make sure you had enough to last a week at least. Multiple calls home to ask someone to check if we had this or that just so we don't forget to buy it and go home and find out we need it very badly. One cannot casually swing back to buy that itsy bitsy item. The new normal is overwhelming. And with no end in sight, it is easy to give in to a helpless feeling in the pit of your stomach. But there are silver linings. Bittersweet.We practiced Tai Chi yesterday, just eight of us to make sure we don't exceed the mandated number at a gathering. Which is ten. From proudly crowing that the room was becoming too small to hold more than twenty of us, we have dwindled to a paltry eight, practicing outside in a park, which incidentally was closed today by the Parks and Recreation Department. It was a sunny glorious day and most of my friends had their coolers on. We maintained the six feet distance between each of us and did a silent practice.It was divine!
Another bright spot was a WhatsApp video call that a friend of mine from school made and connected two more of our school friends on. The four of us giggled away at the craziness of the situation and how we were faring at this enforced proximity with our families( not very well was the conclusion 😀)and it was a breath of fresh air! It was like you were sinking into a quagmire of worry and suddenly came up for a big gulp of air. For once, social media didn’t disappoint! Fatima girls rock! Was fun Latha, RN and Ramya!
We watched the Sunday mass online. Again, a very different experience. Hopefully we don't have to do that for too long.
I managed to drag another close friend back into my school WhatsApp group.We'd all been missing her immensely and she brings an awful lot of positivity....badly needed now!
India is ahead of us by time zone but behind us on the Coronavirus graph. This weekend was a taste of what the future could be for friends and family back there and there was information being shared on social media and by phone.
The ‘workweek’ begins again tomorrow and Manny starts online classes. So there is a minor difference from last week. He will spend more time upstairs! I am wondering if that will be the only major tweak for this week. If this week will be a carbon copy of last week....What about next week?The week after? Days already seem to blur into one another. They seem fluid...flowing in a steady but slow pace. Like lava from a volcano in slow motion? Too cinematic?
The situation outside the house is another thing to handle. The utter unpredictability of it. China has secondary infections from people coming in now! After the mess they created with letting people travel outside their borders, I hope they understand what it feels like to have someone bring something like this into their country insidiously. Hong Kong is seeing an uptick again. For people like us who haven't even finished our first wave yet, a possibility of another one is daunting.
But the sun will rise again tomorrow, we will live through another day whether we want to or not and that day might not be given to so many people. So I guess the emotion needs to be gratefulness? Not this lack of enthusiasm. Not boredom.Not a yearning for a way of life that is currently curtailed. For if we diligently sacrifice for the common good, we might dig ourselves out of this hole sooner.
Fingers crossed!!
And we need to learn to appreciate every single thing we take for granted...for who knows, it might become a luxury in the blink of an eye.
Almost every two minutes ,Vincent and I were looking at each other, eyes wide as saucers..every thing unfolding in the movie was literally unfolding in real time right in front of our eyes.The term 'social distancing' almost had me leap out of my chair. Though we are not at the social chaos stage depicted in the movie, neither are we at the quickly concocted vaccine stage. But whether the end of this real life movie is better or different from that movie, remains to be seen.
In the meanwhile, we are adjusting to a new normal. In each other's space all the time! As much a large house comes with the luxury of being able to disappear into one's refuge any time one feels like it, it also means you know there are people lurking in the house ALL the time.You are never truly alone. I think I actually speak only of myself. All the other three people never truly knew an empty house. As a stay at home mom, I did. So this new normal is more difficult on me than any one else. Not that I'm complaining, but its almost like I'm fully aware of what being a stay at home mom entails. Like I seem to cook a lot. And clean more. Time seems to move faster, and slower at the same time. Like a day typically seems to go by sooner.You wake up, and by the time breakfast is done it is 9.30-10.00. Do academic work with Noe and start prepping for lunch and by the time lunch is actually done it is almost close to 1.30. I started typing this as I sat on my couch after finishing up lunch. A couple of hours here using the laptop or my phone and then we take a walk..it's 5.00 already. Come home, have a bath, figure out dinner, make it, eat, clean up load dishwasher, wash up the remaining stuff and close the kitchen and it is almost 9.00...Friday it was a movie afterwards...but Vincent was working still all the other days, so I was back fiddling around with my phone. Close to a typical day so far..but how many more of these?One day bleeds into another. I had to ask Emmanuel what day it was on Friday....because almost all the days starting Tuesday have been identical in their routine.
The weekend was a little different. I went grocery shopping. Just me, stood in line before entering the store, tried to avoid the crowds milling about the vegetable section, stood in line again at the checkout where a store clerk indicated which counter you needed to go to, because they wanted to streamline the process and not have too many people at each counter. Was a surreal experience. No walking casually along the aisles and buying things that caught your fancy.There was this vigilance, you had to make sure you had enough to last a week at least. Multiple calls home to ask someone to check if we had this or that just so we don't forget to buy it and go home and find out we need it very badly. One cannot casually swing back to buy that itsy bitsy item. The new normal is overwhelming. And with no end in sight, it is easy to give in to a helpless feeling in the pit of your stomach. But there are silver linings. Bittersweet.We practiced Tai Chi yesterday, just eight of us to make sure we don't exceed the mandated number at a gathering. Which is ten. From proudly crowing that the room was becoming too small to hold more than twenty of us, we have dwindled to a paltry eight, practicing outside in a park, which incidentally was closed today by the Parks and Recreation Department. It was a sunny glorious day and most of my friends had their coolers on. We maintained the six feet distance between each of us and did a silent practice.It was divine!
Another bright spot was a WhatsApp video call that a friend of mine from school made and connected two more of our school friends on. The four of us giggled away at the craziness of the situation and how we were faring at this enforced proximity with our families( not very well was the conclusion 😀)and it was a breath of fresh air! It was like you were sinking into a quagmire of worry and suddenly came up for a big gulp of air. For once, social media didn’t disappoint! Fatima girls rock! Was fun Latha, RN and Ramya!
We watched the Sunday mass online. Again, a very different experience. Hopefully we don't have to do that for too long.
I managed to drag another close friend back into my school WhatsApp group.We'd all been missing her immensely and she brings an awful lot of positivity....badly needed now!
India is ahead of us by time zone but behind us on the Coronavirus graph. This weekend was a taste of what the future could be for friends and family back there and there was information being shared on social media and by phone.
The ‘workweek’ begins again tomorrow and Manny starts online classes. So there is a minor difference from last week. He will spend more time upstairs! I am wondering if that will be the only major tweak for this week. If this week will be a carbon copy of last week....What about next week?The week after? Days already seem to blur into one another. They seem fluid...flowing in a steady but slow pace. Like lava from a volcano in slow motion? Too cinematic?
The situation outside the house is another thing to handle. The utter unpredictability of it. China has secondary infections from people coming in now! After the mess they created with letting people travel outside their borders, I hope they understand what it feels like to have someone bring something like this into their country insidiously. Hong Kong is seeing an uptick again. For people like us who haven't even finished our first wave yet, a possibility of another one is daunting.
But the sun will rise again tomorrow, we will live through another day whether we want to or not and that day might not be given to so many people. So I guess the emotion needs to be gratefulness? Not this lack of enthusiasm. Not boredom.Not a yearning for a way of life that is currently curtailed. For if we diligently sacrifice for the common good, we might dig ourselves out of this hole sooner.
Fingers crossed!!
And we need to learn to appreciate every single thing we take for granted...for who knows, it might become a luxury in the blink of an eye.
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