Dear Community,
I guess people have had different experiences of COVID 19 Pandemic depending on where you live. "Different strokes for different folks" applies here. I am sure that what I observed might be completely different from what you observed.
Lockdown in my hood has involved handclapping at 800 p.m, giving Skype English lessons, birds chirping, toilet roll fights, restricted exercise times. and social distancing.
Handclapping at 800 was a wonderful way of saying thank you to the medical personnel for their hard work in incredibly testing conditions. The 5 minutes of handclapping was a poignant reminder of lives lost in Madrid and throughout the world.
Online English lessons I have found to be quite an adjustment as it's completely different to teaching face to face. There are so many distractions, ranging from poor sound quality, students staring out windows, cats jumping across the webcam. It's just not the same experience as face to face teaching.
Chirping birdsong, and cleaner air has been a huge plus. This period of confinement has been fantastic for the environment, is it me or does the sky look clearer and the grass greener?. Maybe this period has been a big wake up call for those big wigs opposed to climate change when they see how the reduction in Carbon emissions has boosted the ecosystem of our planet.
Toilet roll fights, seriously people get a grip!. This panic buying of toilet paper is undefendable unless you host a family of four elephants who have a terrible case of diarrhoea you do not need 20 packets of toilet rolls a week!
Exercise times in Spain during our Phase one lockdown restrictions have generally been respected. We have exercise times of 6:00 to 10:00 in the morning and 8:00 to 11:00 at night. Unfortunately what hasn´t been respected has been the dog owners behaviour. Put it this way in my “barrio” as a runner, you have to run like a "tap dancer on laxatives" dodging the many dog "territory markers" on your chosen route.
My wife (@flores39) really enjoys spending time and exercising outdoors, she used to run or walk 4-5 times a week before the covid-19 restrictions. She is the runner in the family and she imparts that infectious energy to me, thus I have found myself waking up early just for the simple pleasure of going for a walk and connecting with nature. We are really lucky to live really close to one of the biggest parks in Madrid "Parque Juan Carlos I". If you are ever around this city you cannot miss this place.
I have enjoyed the social distancing. I have always liked my space and standing 2 metres away from someone is a pleasure, standing more than 2 metres away from a person who has never used deodorant is a blessing!
Some have found this period of time mentally challenging and I respect that it’s been difficult for many people. Personally speaking, this break has been a period of great personal reflection or maybe it’s the start of my mid-life crisis.
