Tags
Last night I got an unexpected call from my friend Manolo Manosalbas, possibly the best food photographer in Spain. We’ve known each other for many years and we always see each other at various events, and for awhile I did some “tapas research” with his wife Blanca. But we were never “friends” like the kind who call each other up at 23.30h on a Friday night. So that’s why it was a surprise.
It turned out that Manolo just wanted to check up on me and also to talk about the “new normal” coming our way. I was really touched by this, as I do often feel a bit “forgotten” and truly miss my rather vasty social circle. The hard truth is that for those of us who work with hospitality and tourism, we are pretty much fucked now, along with all our friends who run bars and restaurants here.
Some harsh realities are starting to sink in now after five weeks of lockdown, with the (fake) news and (mis)information changing daily. The latest is that “officially” we are on lockdown until May 10th, but nobody really sees that lifting until the end of May at the earliest, and more likely sometime this summer. At first we heard that bars, restaurants and hotels would be able to open again shortly after that, perhaps September, but now reports are saying they will probably have to remain shut down until January 2121. Very sadly this means that many many places we know and love will not survive.
With a second wave of the virus imminent, until we have a vaccine it’s never going to be safe to go out there again, at least not how we were used to doing things. I’m kind of looking ahead with both a sense of trepidation and genuine curiosity bordering on hopefulness. I mean, we already knew things couldn’t keep going on the way they were. Now we have no choice but to make changes. I think for starters people are going to have to become less greedy. By that I mostly mean big biz, banks, landlords, utility companies, etc, but also on a personal level. It simply cannot be just about us anymore. Not sure I have that much faith in humanity to do the right thing, to be honest, but for now it’s all the hope we’ve got. ❤ xx
casa azahar 
PM me your address, please.
I used to have it but you moved and I didn’t keep up.
Xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
“until we have a vaccine it’s never going to be safe to go out there again”. Exactly.
I apologize to everyone for the idiots in my country, up to the highest office in the land, saying it’s okay to let some people die to restart the economy (whatever anyone means by that) because they DON’T want to make the kinds of changes you’re talking about.
We have to put our wealth at the service of all. We have to take care of the least among us because THEY ARE US. There’s no them or us. I hate it that we had to experience this to make it clear to anyone and hate it worse that there are people who still don’t get it.
I think often of my late and ex husband, whom I memorialized on my blog back in the day because no one, in Harlan Ellison’s phrase (which he used to quote), should go down into the dark with too few words. He was addled in the head and wouldn’t bathe and lied about being homeless and sick until he collapsed on the street, and in these times he’d be in a potter’s field like they have now in Hew York City, open and doing business. So many gone like that now. I don’t know how there can be people impervious to this depth of grief or able to ignore how much worse it will get if this is treated like any other disruption. In a movie there would be a few idiots that someone could do an end run around and all the best hearts and minds would come together to make that vaccine and get it to people. No wonder I like fiction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“There’s no them or us.”
This will either bring us together or divide us further, because divided we always have been. I’m afraid that humans, like most other animals, will tend to look out for number one. The difference is that animals are operating on pure survival instinct. We are supposed to be more evolved. I don’t know anyone who is truly suffering from this yet (lost their home, no food to eat, etc), or anyone who has died from the virus.
I mean, of course I am very worried and have no work prospects until probably next spring. But so far, for me, it’s mostly been a big social media event featuring banana bread, online wine tastings, photos of organic veg boxes, lockdown meals, etc… oh, and of course sourdough! And all of that is great, helps keep people’s spirits up, but what happens six months from now? Next year? Will everyone be as generous once their lives are actually threatened?
It seems like every week we are going… “remember when we were worried about (fill in the blank)??” as though those were the good old days. I dunno. Time for lunch. x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well if it helps my “imaginary trip” heads to the Iberian peninsula next…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m really enjoying those! Thanks for doing them. Hope you’re okay. xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, it’s a way I guess to get the ol’ brain juices flowing. I hope you are doing okay there too. I worry about them lifting things too soon, and all this would have been for nought… Take care of yourself and the kitties.
LikeLike