Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – April 27, 2020

Hi everyone. It’s been over a month since I last wrote something, and I think that may be the longest time I’ve ever gone without posting. As of this month, I’ve been writing as The Girl Who Goes for three years! (A fact I was reminded of when I was prompted to renew my domain registration.) So, it looks like I’ll be the girl who’s going for the next three years, at least. 🙂

Obviously, Spain has been in the news a lot over the past couple of months. It’s the second-most affected country in the world after the U.S., and third in number of deaths after the U.S. and Italy. That being said, as I begin Week #7 of lockdown – honestly, it’s more than just quarantine – I have seen a lot of changes over the past 6 weeks and glimmers of hope for the next weeks to come.

Life Under Lockdown

Life under lockdown has been hard. Last time I wrote, I think I discussed some of the frustrations I had with the attitudes that were pervasive in the U.S. at the time. (I didn’t go back to read my previous post before I wrote this because I wanted a totally fresh perspective.) Since then, school districts and cities and states have gradually shut down.

At least where I’m from, in Missouri, people are still allowed to take walks, go to parks, exercise, and spend time in some public places. It sounds like lots of “non-essential” businesses such as hardware stores and craft stores are open. That’s why I wanted to make the distinction between quarantine and lockdown. I read that Spain has some of the most restrictive lockdown measures in the world… though I am curious about the differences about how those are enforced in smaller pueblos compared to Madrid.

All that being said, it’s been very difficult not being able to leave the apartment at all. I make a trip to the grocery store about once every 10 days. While normally, when the cashier asks, “Quieres copia?” – Do you want a receipt? – I almost always say no; now, small signs taped to the counter instruct customers to keep their receipts in case they are questioned by police on the way home.

Starting today, there’s one specific change to Spain’s lockdown measures. Children were not allowed to leave the house under any circumstance over the past 6 weeks. Again, I have a feeling that was probably different in smaller towns with standalone houses that have their own yards. But I’m sitting outside on my balcony as I write this, and I find myself witness to the previously-familiar sight of children shuffling down the street on scooters and tiny bikes. Parents wearing masks push strollers and take videos on their phones of their toddlers’ first moments outside in 6 weeks.

Trying to Stay Busy

Most of the week, I stay busy working on my writing projects. Sometimes, the teachers I work with at school will ask me to prepare a presentation or a video they can send to the kids. I miss my students a lot, and unfortunately I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that we probably won’t go back to school this year. Even though the school year goes until the end of June, I’m not sure that it will be worth it by the time it’s “safe.”

It’s really a bummer to think that I had my last day working at school and didn’t know it. But since I’m planning on coming back to Madrid in the fall – though not as a teacher – I definitely want to visit the school and my students on a pretty regular basis.

Besides working, I’m making a special effort to do things that are good for my physical and mental health. Even though my sleep schedule is still not ideal, I’m trying not to be too hard on myself for sleeping, resting, or crying when I need to. I want to be physically active but I’m not very good at yoga, so I’ve been doing a 30-minute stretching video pretty much every day.

And I’m cooking! While last year in Spain, I often ate cereal or chips for dinner, I’ve branched out a lot this year… and especially during quarantine. Here are a few of the recipes that are keeping me going right now:

• 5-Ingredient Avgolemono Soup (I use chicken instead of turkey)
• Creamy Chicken and Rice Skillet
• Lemon Garlic Pasta with Chicken Sausage

On the weekends, I try not to work. I make pancakes for breakfast (with strawberries or chocolate chips, and whipped cream) and come out here to sit on the balcony. I usually FaceTime with my parents on Sunday afternoons, and I talk to Matt every day while he makes breakfast. Last night, we played Jackbox with Hanna, Carson, and Natalie over Zoom while we all drank wine from our respective homes.

I listened to an audiobook, The Fountains of Silence, a few weeks ago. My high school AP English teacher, Ms. Thompson, recommended it to me since it’s set in Madrid during the Franco dictatorship. I also got a free book from the grocery store the other day. I was thoroughly confused, but later I realized it was because of Día del Libro – world book day. Moonglow is an American book translated into Spanish, and I haven’t cracked it open yet, but I’m planning to start reading it this week. I’m afraid my Spanish has gotten rusty during this month, so it’s going to be slow going. But I guess I have to start somewhere.

What’s Next?

Over the next couple of weeks, I expect to hear more about the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions. I still am not sure what it’s going to look like for me to go home to the U.S. for the summer, though I would have to say my biggest concern is getting stuck here during the Spanish summer heatwave with no air conditioning, once again. (Though I know I mentioned in my last post how I didn’t have a passport. Luckily, that did eventually arrive!)

Since my spring break plans were canceled, I’m still waiting on refunds from the airlines. The refunds have been approved, but they’re still processing. I’m pretty happy with the customer service I’ve received from the various transportation agencies (plane, bus, and ferry) and hostels. A couple of them wanted to give a voucher, but when I pushed back on that, they did offer full refunds.

It’s been strange not being able to travel and not having much to write about on this blog. I’m trying to keep my Instagram account active. To show that I’m still here, and to get my fill of travel inspiration from other peoples’ pics. If you’re not following me yet, you should 🙂

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cathy // digital nomad (@thegirlwhogoes)

I think that’s all I have to share for now. Hopefully by the end of May, things will be looking a lot different for all of us!

Thanks so much for checking in with me by reading. I hope everything is going well for you, wherever you are. ❤

-Cathy

Originally Published on April 27, 2020.