What a joy it has been to go running and walking on the streets and along the beach. Each day I see more and more people out and about enjoying the fresh air. I'm lucky enough to have a balcony but there are many who were stuck in their flats for 7 weeks. In general the people I've seen on the streets have been behaving themselves apropos social distancing - and I know how difficult that is for Spaniards as they are quite an emotional people. (O.K. I know I shouldn't stereotype but I couldn't resist it.) It's also difficult for those who live in the big cities, e.g. Madrid & Barcelona, to practice social distancing, as my first picture shows.
But tomorrow 51% of Spaniards (and a significant percentage of Johny foreigner) can transition to Phase 1. The document, explaining what you can and can't do, is almost long enough to be a book but to summarize: groups of up to 10 people can now come together, coffee shops & restaurants with terrace seating can utilize 50% of their seats providing the social distancing rules are still kept, small businesses can re-open.
The good news from Spain, earlier today, is that 'only' 143 have died from corona-virus related illness during the last 24 hours. Fingers crossed we really are 'winning' in the fight against COVID-19 and it's not just waiting in the wings to hit us with a second 'spike'. I read that the 'flu epidemic of 1918 (aka Spanish flu) killed 50,000,000 people - i.e. one third of the world's population. So far, globally, we're 'only' running at 280,000 deaths. Some countries, Spain included, are, hopefully, past the peak but for many countries the worst is yet to come.
But the jokes just keep coming. The 'black' humour sustains us in these difficult times...
Finally, some good news. Here in Spain we appear to be ahead of the curve and, starting yesterday, as a reward for good behaviour, we have been allowed out of our homes for a walk and/or some form of exercise. (Previously we were only allowed out to go shopping or to visit the doctor.) Different groups of the community have been allocated different times to go out. Since I am (well) under 70, I am allowed to go out 0600-1000 and (or?) 2000-2300.
Depending on what translation of the Official State Gazette (BOE) you read will depend on how you interpret the 'guidance'. Some I have read suggest you can only go out once a day for walking OR exercise. Others suggest once for walking AND once for exercise. I chose the more liberal interpretation and yesterday enjoyed a run/walk to the beach in the morning AND a walk 'around the block' in the evening. A couple of dozen people on the streets in the morning, running, walking or cycling. Many more in the evening. I saw more this morning than yesterday morning as word gets around.
I also saw that large green arrows had been painted on some pavements, particularly Carre Barcelona. These are to indicate which side of the road we should be using - like a one-way system for pedestrians. The logic falls down a bit when you consider the usual Spanish walking pace (almost funereal). When I want to overtake, using either my normal walking pace, or whilst running, I find it easier to go into the road to pass them. Luckily there's not much traffic on the roads.
How wonderful it is to be 'free' again and to breathe in the sea air. Provided we all behave ourselves and keep up the social distancing then we can enter Phases 1,2 and 3 of the de-escalation process. If we don't, and there is a 'spike' in infections, then it will be back to 'house arrest' Today's total of corona virus related deaths is 'only' 163 - the lowest since March 18th. Unbounded optimism.
Here is this week's bundle of jokes/GIFs etc and a great parody of Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence. Enjoy.
I know it's wrong but I'm starting to get a little blasé about the whole thing, maybe even a little slapdash. Yesterday, for example, I followed the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. The letter of the law allows one to go shopping. The spirit of the law, to my mind, really ought to mean to go to the nearest shop and to go as infrequently as possible. But I went to the nearest supermarket, 400m away, came home and dumped my shopping, and then went out again to another supermarket, this time 1km away. Naughty boy!
From today, children under 14 are allowed out to walk for up to 1km and in the company of one adult.
But last night came the news I had been waiting for: From Saturday 2nd May, adults will be allowed out for walks/exercise - provided that the contagion figures keep going down. This tiny relaxation of the quarantine restrictions will mean so much for me. The Med is a 15 minute walk from my little flat but for the last 7 weeks it may as well have been 15 miles. It will be good to see it again. And, to quote from a translation of what Prime Minister Sanchez said "the de-escalation of confinement measures
will take place throughout May, and we will see what happens in the
month of June.”
He also said “I would like to convey to you the
importance of being cautious. This is not a race to see who is the first
to reopen a shopping mall or a small business establishment.” Todays total of deaths attributable to Covid-19 was recorded as 'only' 288. Weekend totals are often lower "due to lower levels of personnel".
I hope my few blog readers, whatever country they're currently in, can also begin to enjoy a de-escalation in the very near future.
A few more jokes to lighten the general mood of pessimism. At the risk of teaching grandmother to suck eggs, click on each picture and it will enlarge.
1. Another two weeks are about to be added to the quarantine, making almost two months (so far). It strikes me that prisoners get time off for good behaviour, whereas we're getting time added on! If they'd said two months at the beginning I think they may have had a mutiny on their hands.
2. It has been raining, it is raining and it promises to be raining for most of this week. Nice! Not! I suppose it doesn't matter if we're indoors anyway. Miss the sunshine.
3. The mosquito season has started and at least one of them did a few circuits of my bedroom last night. Thankfully I have king-size sheets on a double bed so can just pull the sheet up over my head and practice being in a morgue.
4. Even with all this extra time on my hands I still find there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I would like to. Most days I end up with more on the to-do list than when I started the day. (I suppose, intrinsically, I'm just an idle bugger)
Let's see if I can't balance the Yin and Yang.
Positives
1. I'm spending more face-to-face on-line time with both family and friends.
2. I'm slowly improving my Spanish - despite no longer having the same opportunities to speak it.
3. The Spanish language database I have designed and am developing is slowly progressing. Will it ever be ready to sell and make me a multi-millionaire? Perhaps not.
4. There is a glimmer of hope with the quarantine. I read that Regional governors are pressing Sanchez to allow us out for some exercise (like people can do in many other countries). Children are apparently going to be allowed out from 27th April. I might be asking friends if I can borrow a few! It must have been hell for those with no garden to play in. Registered coronavirus deaths are finally below 400, although weekend totals are notoriously inaccurate. Last Thursday I sneaked in a little 'expedition' to the local Lidl. It is 1km from here. I enjoyed the walk so much that I'm going to do it again next Thursday!
And now for the odd cock a snook (British informal) at the coronavirus. I'm sure you will have seen a few of them but hopefully there is something new here for you:
Three video clips today:
Hello Mama, Hello Papa - prompted because of the rain in Spain this week
On the eve of destruction - prompted because of coronavirus (I know it's an anti-war song, but the title sounded right)
Mountbatten Military Music festival 2020 - from The Royal Albert Hall - stirring stuff
Greetings fellow hermits! How are you coping with the monotony? It seems
that every time you fix your mind on an end date they move the
goal-posts and you find yourself 'banged up' for another two weeks.
I
can see the sense of quarantine, and self-isolation, and
social-distancing. But I can't really see the sense of not being allowed
out for a (long) walk. I would be on my own, neither passing, nor
receiving, the dreaded virus. Perhaps after the next planned lockdown end date...
"From that moment on, the relaxation [of the confinement orders] will happen progressively so that citizens can begin, in an orderly fashion, to return to normal life, to the streets, to the public squares.” Spanish Government spokesman on 8th April.
Happy Easter.
It's Easter Sunday today, at least in the Christian calendar. In the Russian Orthodox church, which has Easter on a different date because they still use the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian one that 'we' use, today is вербное воскресенье or pussy-willow Sunday, the first day of their Holy Week.
The message is the same: Jesus Christ has risen from the grave.
More pictures than words this time, 1) because I have so many of them and they just keep on coming, 2) because it's getting harder and harder to find themes to write about when I'm stuck indoors all day and every day and 3) because it's time to cook dinner!
Week 4, already the stay-at-home regime feels like the new "normal". What was life like before? Who can remember? I had my 69th birthday on Thursday of last week. Many of my friends on FB were kind enough to wish me Happy Birthday and some even visited me in "Des's virtual pub". It was nice to see, and talk to, some people I hadn't seen for years. Perversely, this lockdown is bringing us closer together - although no touching/hugging/kissing is allowed.
I have the utmost admiration and respect for those people who still have to go to work, to keep the world turning: nurses & doctors and all emergency services including the military, food shop staff & delivery people, care home workers, people working in public transport, postal workers and so on - the list of 'key' workers is long. Not all of them have the correct PPE (personal protective equipment), which is scandalous. Even with PPE they are putting themselves "in harm's way" and I applaud them all for that. I've heard that in UK people applaud key workers, especially NHS staff, every Thursday evening. Here in Spain, the applause rings out from the balconies every single night.
I'm also very aware of those enduring lockdown with difficulty. This post, from a friend of mine on FB, seems to sum it up nicely. "My sobbing 6 year old daughter: 'Mummy, I just want a normal day'. So do I, my darling, so do I."
We are allowed to go shopping and usually, and sensibly, I go to the closest supermarket - about 200 metres away. Yesterday I sneaked out early, shopping bag in hand, to venture a little further for my favourite bread. The streets were deserted but there was evidence that the rubbish containers, which are almost on every street corner, had been disinfected. More key workers. I did some 'panic buying' and bought three loaves. They went straight into the freezer and will last me for weeks saving me another trip to that particular shop.
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the beginning
of hol(ida)y week when Salou would normally be waking up from its long Winter
hibernation and getting ready for an influx of rowdy tourists. It will have
to sleep a while longer I'm afraid.
Talking, briefly, about Religion, many (most?) Christians will believe that the corona virus is the work of God and He has chosen to inflict this on mankind at this time. For myself I wonder how closely He has chosen to micro-manage the spread of the virus or has he just thrown us a fast ball and is sitting back watching how we deal with it. Enough theology. Have you noticed that after even a simple sneeze, or a single cough, the irrational part of your brain cuts in and says "oh-huh, this is it and I'm going to die!". Thankfully, logic prevails.
Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, warned that an eventual
return to normality would "not be easy" and that a new world awaited. "The world that is coming, in which we are already, will not be like
yesterday, but even less will be like the day before yesterday."
While we're looking forward to tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, here are a few more jokes/GIFs/Memes that I've come across on the internet and saved for your delectation. Enjoy.
Just beginning week three of our lockdown here in Spain. I suspect that governments around the world were trying to break us in gently when they 'suggested' a 2-3 week lockdown. I'm beginning to think 2-3 months might be nearer the truth. Mustn't complain though as it's keeping us safe (I hope).
The clocks went forward this morning (Spring forward, Fall back). Got up at my usual time of 6.30ish and realized that if I hadn't put the clocks forward it would only be 5:30ish. Early even for me.
I heard birds singing when I woke up and thought how lucky they were - they can fly about as they please! Two Skype video calls today, one with the members of the local bible study group, bolstered by the addition of cousin Raymond, and the other with my family in UK. Two secrets to making Skype video calls - you can wear what you want on the bottom half, or even nothing at all, unless you mess up the camera angle!, and you can put what you want in the coffee mug and nobody will know what you're really drinking. I've set up a group called 'Des's virtual pub' which I will activate on my birthday, Thursday 2nd April. I will put a link on Face Book, please feel free to dip in and out during the day to wish me happy birthday. You'll have to bring your own drinks I'm afraid, but you will get to meet a nice class of people. 😇
Went shopping yesterday. I used to go once every two or three days as then there wasn't so much to carry. Now I'm trying to shop only once a week and just put up with the longer arms I get from carrying heavier bags. Don't like to leave my little bubble unless I absolutely have to. The shelves were full in my local Bon Preu supermarket and I was invited to don some disposable gloves before I could start my shopping. It's quite funny doing the new self-distancing dance - a bit like magnets repelling each other as soon as they get close.
One of the only advantages in these crazy times (it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good) is that many companies are offering 'stuff' for free. The Bolshoi Theatre is streaming live opera and ballet. So far I've watched, and enjoyed, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Next up will be the Tsar's Bride on Wednesday. A reminder to any of you may who have been watching - Russia no longer changes clocks for winter/summer so 19:00 Moscow will be different in your local time zone to what it was last week. I'm slightly puzzled as to how the dancers and all the staff at the Bolshoi are immune to the effects of the virus currently sweeping the world.
It's Sunday today so a day off from on-line fitness training. Time for a self-isolation party. All three of us will be attending:
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