Locked Down in Lima

18 March 2020

We left Valparaiso, Chile, and flew to Lima, Peru.  We like the area of Miraflores because it's near the kitty park (Parque Kennedy), lots of cafés and restaurants, a couple of small casinos, and has several tree-lined boulevards with park benches for reading and people watching.  Our usual small hotel was renovated and priced higher than previously, so we selected another hotel a few blocks away, and settled in.

Our first two weeks, we reacquainted ourselves with our usual haunts, and I found some friends still working in a few places.  We found some new spots as well, and started making new friends.  Met more cats in the kitty park, wandered through a weekend art show. 

Richard went to see his dentist, who had some recommendations and suggestions.  We've followed up with that, and there will be some more appointments.

Things were humming along, despite the ongoing news of Covid-19 across the world.  But yes, we started washing our hands more frequently.

On Monday, 16 March, we woke up to the news that Peru's president closed the borders.  All transportation in and out of the country was stopped.  The last flights out would be just before midnight. 

 Also, all non-essential public and private operations would be closed for 15 days.  That meant all the cafés and restaurants and shops and casinos would be shut for just over two weeks.

Supermarkets, small food shops, and pharmacies would be open.

Any persons who felt they had symptoms of Covid-19 should call a certain phone number, and health personnel would come to the home or hotel to conduct the Covid-19 test and assess the patient.  (Really, the info we received says "health personnel.")  If necessary, the person will be transported to a hospital equipped to treat patients with this virus.

Our hotel told us that they would be closing, and in a day or two we'd be transferred to another hotel.  That probably was the most stressful thing, although a day later they decided to take in other stranded travellers, which meant they had enough guests to make it worthwhile to stay open.

And they offered two additional meals per day, lunch and dinner (because breakfast is already included in the reservation).  

So, we're taken care of.  We've gone to the market to stay stocked up with drinking water, since the tap water is not recommended.  There's a three bottle limit to water at the moment.  (We had to wait on a line to enter, because they were limiting how many people could be inside at a time.  And upon entry, a staff person squirted our hands with alcohol!)

We're just hanging out, reading, playing on the computer, keeping up with the news.  And yes, washing our hands.

Today, we found that breakfast is not as sumptuous as it has been, perhaps an indication of unavailability of food.  The supermarket shelves are definitely looking bare.  But all we can do is hope for the best, and maybe buy some items from the supermarket or the mini-mart type shops as needed.

We had quite a few more people at breakfast today, including a large group from the Ukraine.  They were all sitting together at a table, either not bothering with keeping a distance from each other, or perhaps they'd been travelling together long enough that it didn't really matter anyway.

A small group of women were near where I sat, and one woman in the group said I should join their table.  I smiled and thanked them, but said we weren't sitting with strangers right now.  She asked where I was from, I said the US, she said one of the other women is also from the US.  I was totally puzzled, and just said the virus doesn't discriminate by nationality.  She really was rather insistent, saying that strangers are just friends we haven't met yet.  I finally said I have asthma, and need to be extra careful right now.  The other woman nodded in understanding, but that first woman, while friendly, seemed somewhat offended.  And, in my opinion, rather clueless about the purpose of this whole national lockdown.

That's our life right now.  Washing hands and trying to stay away from friendly strangers, LOL! 

We did have some fun moments prior to this.  One pair of slacks developed a torn knee, and while that may be trendy, it isn't my look.  I spent days - literally DAYS - looking for iron-on patches or iron-on fabric.  Turns out this is called "tela areciba" although my spelling may be wrong.  At any rate, one day I walked 5 km (3.3 miles) going from store to store, looking, asking, receiving suggestions of where I should go to buy this and directions on how to get there.  FINALLY I saw a men's tailor shop, complete with bolts of fabric, and they had iron-on fabric!!!  I only needed a small amount, so the head tailor sent someone to bring some scraps.  He selected a large one, and presented it to me.  I asked what was the price, and he said only a tip.  So I gave the guy five soles, about $1.25, and everyone was happy.  (And I always feel brilliant when I can manage to accomplish all of this in Spanish!)

My other story involves looking for a candle in a glass.  This is for a yahrzeit, the anniversary of the death of a family member.  Somehow, just finding a small candle in a glass or jar always becomes a huge quest.  None of the stores had them.  Nor the mini bodegas.  Not a hardware store.  I finally told Richard I had seen a church on my walking around, so I'd check that out.

I found the church, and went inside.  (Humming "California Dreamin'.")  Looked around, no candles in glasses.  I went back out, and there was a nun all in white, playing with a smartphone.  Seriously.  She was a very petite person, and rather old.  As in, maybe 80 or so.  Playing with her smartphone!

I politely said good day, excuse me, do you speak English?  (All in Spanish.)  She looked up, smiled, repeated my question, and told me (in Spanish) that her Spanish is not good, she is Italian, do I speak Italian?  No, only so-so, I replied in Italian, which made her giggle.

I asked for candles in glasses, she said they didn't have any but explained to me, nice and slowly, where the cathedral was and that they should have some up there. Up the big street, near the park, lots of trees - I knew where this was, up by Parque Kennedy.  Then suddenly she remembered there was a supermarket nearby, and I could get the glasses there.   She gave me details, and it was maybe 3 or 4 blocks away, and easy walk.

She decided to be more social, and asked where I was from.  I said the US, she wanted to know what state, and like people everywhere, she confused Washington state with Washington DC.  "Ah, con il presidente!"  No no, il presidente is on the east, the state of Washington is on the west, far from il presidente.  We had a little conversation regarding Il Presidente, and we shared the same opinion of him.

She then repeated her directions to the supermarket that had candles in glasses.  I of course thanked her in Italian, which made her light up - and then, she reached in her pocket and pulled out a rosary and offered it to me!!!!  I nearly fell over, it was so unexpected!  I explained, again in my so-so Spanish, that I wasn't Catholic, that I was Jewish - and she lit up even more!   I said it's a Jewish tradition to light a candle for the anniversary of the death of a family member.  She told me that G-d is the same if we're Catholic or Jewish, and that it was all beautiful.

I thanked her again, and headed off to the supermarket.  It definitely was an odd but enjoyable little encounter, and definitely brightened my day!

So, we have photos of kitties and flowers and the art show in Parque Kennedy.  

All I can add is what a friend in St. Thomas said, this is a modern-day version of "The Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio.  (Story of people waiting out the Black Death plague in pre-Renaissance Italy.)  Or maybe "Love In The Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - although the cholera of the title is really more about passion than any kind of a plague.

But yes, we're living through a modern day plague.  Some of us may not remember the polio epidemic of the early 1950s, but some of us survived that.  We've seen the Ebola crisis in parts of Africa.  Our grandparents went through the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.

So, we can survive this.  Friends, if there is a request to self-isolate, please do so.  Stay inside.  Walk around a bit in your yard, or your neighborhood.  Talk to friends and family on the phone, or via computer.  "Visit" elderly family members and friends through a closed window.  Take care of yourselves, and take care of others around you.  

And keep washing those hands!  

NOTE:  I forgot to add that we of course did exactly what everyone is told to do when in another country and there's any kind of emergency - call the US Embassy.  They aren't answering their phones.  We don't know if they are not open, or if they are inundated with calls, or what.  But the automated answering machine clicks on, tells you what number to push, and then no one answers the phones, no matter which number you try.  Disappointing and absolutely useless.