Lockdown Day 2

The Spanish government instituted a nation-wide lockdown starting yesterday morning to slow the spread of covid-19, which has gotten quite bad in Spain. They published a clear and specific FAQ that helped us understand the extent of the lockdown. For example, we assumed it would be fine to go for a walk in a nearby park. But they don't want people out of the house at all, except to work, buy food or medicines, or care for someone in need. Or in the event of "force majeure," which they leave completely unexplained, but I assume it has to do with complying with the demands of the armed forces should they arrive at your doorstep and demand for some reason that you exit your home. In any case, all restaurants, shopping centers, libraries, museums, etc. are closed. Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open, although they are limiting the number of customers in the store at any time. We stocked up on food earlier this week so we don't have to go shopping for another couple of days. 

All in all, things for us could be much worse. The kids don't really like to leave the apartment anyway, so they're perfectly happy. In fact, now that schools in Delaware have closed, Will is looking forward to more opportunities to chat online with his friends. Both kids tried to convince us to discontinue homeschool since the rest of the globe seems to be off of school, but I said no way. We need structure and things to do in the apartment. We manage to squeak in the purchase of several board games and some knitting needles and yarn before the lockdown shut down stores. I wish we had gotten some fabric and sewing supplies because this is a perfect quilt-making opportunity, but we didn't get to it. We also still have our Spanish classes, although they will be held online for the duration of the lockdown. I love learning new things, so having that intellectual activity to focus on has been helpful and fun. I have also been deep-cleaning the apartment and catching up on laundry. I think we may start going stir crazy after a few days, but I've actually been really pleasantly surprised by how busy I've kept and how quickly the days at home have gone by. 

Two spine-tinglingly nice things have happened since we went on lockdown. First, last night I was video chatting with my friend in Virginia when I heard all this yelling and clapping from outside. I had no idea what was going on so I ran to the open window to see neighbors all over the place out on their balconies or leaning out of their windows clapping and cheering. I did not know what was going on, so I ran to the best real-time news source we have, Twitter, and found right away trending in Spain was #AplausoSanitario. Organized via social media, people all across Spain went out on their balconies at 10:00 p.m. and applauded together the healthcare workers and others who are taking care of all of us during this crisis. There are videos posted all over the internet, so search #AplausoSanitario if you are interested in some feel-good online content. 

The second nice thing happened this afternoon when I was bringing in dry laundry from the lines out the back of our apartment. A family across the street was out on their balcony with a guitar, playing and singing. Neighbors from several nearby buildings cheered and joined in. It was such a simple thing, but something that I would never have experienced in my sleepy suburban neighborhood at home. We are honestly really well off here in Barcelona, given the circumstances.