Category Archives: change

shut in

30 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, change, coronavirus, covid, home, lockdown, lockdown sevilla, sevilla, spain

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somosdebarras“Sorry for the inconvenience,
we are doing the impossible to open as soon as possible”

Since Sunday we have been put back into a State of Emergency, which apparently will last through to next May, though it’s not a total lockdown like in March and the situation will be reviewed every two weeks. This time there is a curfew between 11 pm and 6 am, which means bars and restaurants had to start shutting at 10 pm from last Sunday evening. We were told that regional governments (we have 17 of them) would have the option to move the curfew start time one hour either way.

And so while we were waiting for the first two weeks to pass and everyone was busy complaining about not being able to go out LIKE WE USED TO (I soooo want to just slap these people) we found out on Wednesday that beginning today (Friday) various municipalities throughout Spain would be shut in, meaning there would be no travel allowed in or out save for the following exceptions: to work, study, receive medical care, or care for a family member.

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I just can’t…

21 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, change, coronavirus

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I think I need to write this here, so then I can show it to people and they will know that I am not singling them out or judging them. That it is NOTHING PERSONAL. Rather that it is just a very real and personal thing for me. And it’s also a very difficult thing.

I know I have mentioned it here before, that I am immunocompromised due to my previous cancer and chemo, so I am high-risk for catching this thing. And when you add in my age and that I’m overweight with other health issues, well honey, if I do catch this fucker then chances are I ain’t surviving it.

Since we all got “let out” at the end of June I’ve continued to be very cautious about going out. I limit social contact to once a week (my weekly lunch!) and am careful about who I meet up with. But it turns out that not everyone is being so careful, and that is totally their right. Unfortunately it means – for me – that I just cannot risk being at close quarters with them, especially at a bar or restaurant when the masks are off.

This isn’t easy for me. I miss my friends so much. I fucking miss human contact in general. You can’t imagine how hard it is to say no to an invitation when I am aching to go out and have fun and enjoy time with someone I really like… but because they have chosen to take more risks than I can, I just can’t.

As I say, this is not a judgement on anyone. We are all living THIS FUCKING THING in the best we can. Lots of people think I am being ridiculous. And I think some people are being reckless. But in the end, it’s up to us. Our choice.

Recently I wasn’t able to meet a friend before she left to return to the UK because she had just spent time with another friend who’d flown down from Barcelona (no testing). I also won’t be able to finally meet a Twitter pal in person this weekend because he said to me… “Frankly, I’m exposed all day, everyday. I ride public transportation, work in proximity to strangers, etc. Needs must, and we get sloppy through habit.” I really appreciated their honesty.

It’s the people who don’t tell me they might be putting me at risk that I worry about.

So hey, recently doing the daily walks again, often stopping for a cold beer on the way home, and doing more quick supermarket stops than before (as opposed to only doing online shopping). All of this is risky, but it also makes me feel a bit more human. And since close contact with people is minimal, and lots of hand sanitiser is used, probably the risk is also minimal. But that is as far as I can go right now.

And so the thing is… if you’ve been travelling, or have been hanging out with untested people who have travelled here, or if you are out and about every day in contact with lots of untested people, family or friends… dammit I just can’t see you. Even though I really want to. I only ask that you don’t get mad at me. Because trust me, this is harder on me than it is for you. xx

nico

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, change, coronavirus, home

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I wrote about Nico shortly after lockdown, because he had disappeared for a few days and I was worried about how he was going to get on with fewer people in the streets to give him money. He’s my “designated street guy”. I mean, I can’t afford to be giving money to all the street people, so it’s been my thing that wherever I’ve lived here I get to know one of them a bit and do my best to help them out. Not just with money but also stopping and chatting a bit. I was used to seeing Nico every day.

Anyhow, now that I am only going out about once every ten days or so I haven’t been able to give Nico much help but then I saw him walking past my house and called out for him to stop while I looked around for a fiver. I had visions of it fluttering down onto my neighbour’s balcony so I made it into a tight square and tossed it down to him – and that worked fine! So now I have a new method of getting some cash to him a bit more often, even if it means throwing my money around.  🙂

rooftop life

23 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, change, coronavirus

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Remember last Sunday when I did that indoor race for the Red Cross? Well both Ania and I thought it was such a good idea that we are motivating each other to do this at least twice a week now. Ania actually runs a lot of it (indoors!), but I am just walking, so far managing about 5300 steps each time (rather than my usual 10,000 on my river walks). I am doing about 4000 steps upstairs on the terraza (that’s my rooftop walking route in the video) and then the final 1000 inside. Then I do a set of my lockdown workout.

Ha, anyone remember that one? When I said A MONTH AGO that I was going to set my phone timer while sitting at the computer desk, to make sure I got up every 45 minutes and moved around a bit? Well, never happened. I mean, I have been doing my mini-workouts, but not as often as I’d intended. Why not? Fucked if I know. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been busy doing anything else. But somehow I just couldn’t work up any motivation. I dunno, maybe it had to be a progression. Of what, I still have no idea.

But even after only a couple of 5000 step walks at home, I can see this working out. And, look what I found yesterday! I’d forgotten I had this cord attachment doohicky that allows me to hang my iPhone around my neck while walking (and counting steps – don’t have a fitbit or iwatch). And although it may sound silly, today I organised my “workout/walking clothes” so that I make the mental shift from hanging around the house in hanging-around-the-house clothes and get into fitness mode.

And it turns out I’m not alone. Since doing this I have spotted my next door neighbour also walking around in circles on his terraza, and Ana across the street is often out there tending to her plants and enjoying the fresh air, and even my downstairs neighbour is coming up to the roof to sit in a beach chair and take the sun. Also, “balcony life” has also been happening more in the past couple of weeks. Unlike in the past (almost) three years I’ve lived here, I hear my neighbours chatting to each other during the day, out on their balconies, and not just during the evening Balcony Applause. Something lovely is happening in the midst of all this mess, and it’s something I am trying to hold onto.