Category Archives: coronavirus

back to the ol’ dishwasher

01 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home

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For those of you who are new to my blog… yes it really is this boring! There is a reason why I slap something up here every day. And of course now I have no excuses since I’m not exactly busy doing other things. But because I’m not doing other things, obviously there are fewer things going on, and less stuff to write about. But that wont’ stop me.   😉

It’s now midway through week three of lockdown and I am back to using my dishwasher which, after a flurry of renewed activity last summer, slipped back to being just a bit of extra storage space. But I’ve been cooking so much that I can actually justify putting it on every couple of days, the only drawback being that I miss out on some extra handwashing opportunities.

I didn’t realise until now just how much I was eating out in tapas bars and so, along with my tours (which also provide a meal for me), I was only cooking at home maybe a couple times a week. So this has also reminded me of how much I love cooking. It’s become the highlight of my day, though to be honest there’s not a lot of competition in that department.

What’s become the highlight of your day?

lockdown day 17: un día más, un día menos

30 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home, sevilla

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This is funny even if you don’t know the original quote (but even funnier if you do). So one more day, one day less. I dunno, it’s kind of getting easier in some ways, though I still don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent on Wednesday. Apparently there’s a moratorium on mortgages, but I don’t know if that will trickle down my way. Fingers crossed! And there may be some kind of government assistance, but it’s unclear how self-employed people will benefit. So far it looks like they are offering a small basic amount and then taking half of it back again by continuing to charge us the 300€ a month for social security. As far as I know, regular employees are getting 75% of their usual income. So um… thanks?

Today I sent in my final writing assignment, which I had kept putting off and putting off, until I couldn’t put if off anymore. And I finally know why… at least until now I felt like I had work to do. Feeling a bit bereft at the moment. Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow if I’m not spending the day putting off my writing assignment. What’s going to motivate me to do all those C List activities?

How are you guys holding up?

applause!

27 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, sevilla

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After going on lockdown March 14th THIS happened. At first it was just here and there, at different times, but then it was decided that 8 pm was a good time for everybody. What happened was that at this time everyone in every barrio across the country would step out onto their balconies and applaud all the front line people who were out there every day making our live possible. Of course the very first front line is the hospital staff who put their lives at risk every day to take care of us, without proper personal protection and not nearly enough beds and equipment. But included in our applause are those who we now realise are more essential than we ever realised: rubbish collectors, police, firefighters, supermarket cashiers and stockers, street cleaners, pharmacists, food suppliers, delivery services, taxi drivers and those who are maintaining our water, electricity and internet connections. I’ve probably forgotten some, but we include them in our thanks every evening when we go outside and applaud.

The first couple of times I did this I thought, oh this is so cool! Then you know, you keep doing it. At one point I wondered if people would get tired of having to do this every day, and would they stop. Well okay, nobody HAS to do this. And yeah I missed the other night because I was so exhausted by EVERYTHING at 7.30 pm that I went to bed.

But you know what? I actually love it. And I hope we will always do it. Apparently videos taken of us are uploaded and sent to hospital staff and others to show them how much we appreciate them. The other nice thing is that now I know my neighbours from across the street and down the road. Now when I go out there we all wave to each other while clapping. The other day my across the street neighbours were out on their balcony and we had a chat, they said if I need anything at all, just to let them know.

Last night was the UKs first applause moment and my Twitter feed was full of people going “omg that was amazing, do you think it might become a weekly thing?”. Well I guess that depends. How often do you appreciate these people who are maintaining your lives, not to mention saving them? Is five minutes each day too much to ask? Also… it’s really lovely. Anyhow, I just got back from tonight’s edition, will be there mañana of course.

Are they doing something similar where you live?