Category Archives: sevilla

lockdown day 42

24 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home, sevilla, sevilla shutdown

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

This is a photo of Plaza Salvador on a typical Saturday afternoon. So as you can see, right now during lockdown is a far cry from Sevillana life as we know it. It’s not only that, like everywhere else, people are staying at home, cooking at home, eating at home, actually living at home. I think perhaps it’s a more accutely felt change here because Sevillanos tend to spend a LOT of time out in the streets. Dinner parties at home are pretty much unheard of and if there is anything to be celebrated then we like to do it outside. Streets are usually crowded and happily bustling and there is little reason to go home because we have almost everything we need outside our homes. And even though I’m someone who loves an evening in Netflixing with the cats, I do also enjoy, love, need (and now crave) the energy that being out in the streets gives me.

Continue reading →

lockdown day 36

18 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, home, sevilla

≈ 6 Comments

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

lockdown day 27: one day at a time

09 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, sevilla

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

So I have put in for what is called the “prestación extraordinaria”, for self-employed people. Apparently people on salaries are being paid 75% of their usual wages, but us autónomos just get something like 600€ a month. If eligible (still waiting on that one). And while that is better than nothing, it’s really not much. It doesn’t even cover my rent. And who knows when we will even receive it? Plus they still charged me 300€ for social security in March, so… wut? Anyhow, TONS of red tape. Well at least those guys still have a job!

I’ve really been trying to just deal with this situation one day at a time because, if not, I could end up on a very slippery slopes leading to The Depths Of Utter Despair. Once again my cancer training has come in handy, especially the finely honed living in denial skillz. Because while I did get help with covering my rent and bills this month, for which I am very grateful, this thing isn’t ending any time soon. What about next month, and six or eight months from now???? Eh, not going there. Yet. See? It almost works.

Continue reading →

yeah, one of THOSE days

03 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, sevilla, spain

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Had to go out for a rubbish dump run and decided – fuck it – I’d also make a quick trip to the supermarket (last one had been ten days previously). As I’ve said before, these days it feels like I’m dodging bullets at the supermarket, even though they are giving us plastic gloves while we’re there and (most) people now know to stay a hockey stick apart. But I just “needed” (okay, wanted) a few fresh things.

Anyhow, as soon as I hit the street with my trolley and a few bags of rubbish my street guy Nico (yep he’s still out there every day) saw me and came rushing over. At first I thought he was going to ask for some money, and nothing wrong with that, but he actually asked if he could help me carry my rubbish to the bins. Awwww… well obviously for money but at least he wanted to “work” for it. Let’s just say that Nico doesn’t really get the “keep two metres away” thing so I thanked him, said I was fine, and that I’d see him on my way home from shopping, after I’d had time to sort out some cash for him.

Noticed that El Corte Inglés is even more vigilent these days, or else it was a busier time of day than last time, as there was a queue outside with everyone standing 2 metres apart. When it was my turn I went in, started shopping and then started to cry. Maybe in part because such a “normal” routine had become, well, what it is now. But it actually started after I bought some swordfish from the fish guy, who was so lovely and pleasant. And I looked around and saw all the staff stocking shelves and being helpful and I looked at all the fresh produce still available and that’s when I lost it.

Continue reading →