Pandemic Diaries Week #2

23 March 2020 again

I spent half my day walking around looking for a place selling face masks.  Finally found a tiny bodega that was open - chairs across the front so that customers couldn't enter, shop keeper wearing his own mask and latex gloves.  But, he had masks, one soles each (about 30 cents US), and I bought 4.  I'll probably add a layer or two of fabric over the paper, but I feel better with some kind of protection, no matter what the CDC says.

In the evening, I watched the videos from the art workshop I'm taking online.  We made blob paintings - make a random blob of paint, let it dry, turn it into something.

The second video was about drawing/painting food.  Just a quick drawing, then add color with watercolor.  

Good thing I take photos of special food items, LOL!  Though I changed the angle to have less whipped cream.  I sketched my slice of opera cake, added some aquarelle pencil for color, layering color for depth, and then carefully used brush and water to create the paint.  Dipped the pencils in water for some highlights on the cake top.

My whipped cream is not quite right, but oh well.  So, real cake and drawn cake.  Yummy either way!


24 March 2020

The Canadian Embassy is diagonally across the intersection from our hotel.  We've been using their flag as our wind indicator - thank you, Canada!

Today, it appears that the Canadians are evacuating several flights worth of citizens - we watched people lining up with their luggage from 8 AM onwards.  They go to the gatehouse to check in, do something at tables operated by several women we presume are embassy staff, and then they fill the buses that line both sides of the street.  

There are video cameras and crew, with people being interviewed - we are guessing this is for some news, possibly here in Peru but also in Canada?

And then, as the buses are filled and begin to drive down the street, heading to the military airport which is the only airport used for these evacuation and repatriation flights, the women from the tables line up and applaud and wave at the buses, full of Canadians heading out of the lockdown and flying home.

Sweetest thing ever, those staff women applauding another successful bus of evacuees!

25 March 2020

Photos of Lucky the cat, who Richard reports is a female.  The shop owner told him.

Apparently there's a hotel in Cuzco that is quarantined, a tourist came down with Covid-19 and now no one can leave that hotel at all, or even leave their room.

Which led the Minister of Health to send out tighter guidelines for hotels and how they serve meals.  Now, we can only go into the dining room for brekkie in small groups and not sit at tables together, but need to be spaced farther apart.  No lingering, because other people are waiting for their breakfast.  It's getting tense.

In lighter news, today's art project was to make a quirky bird, embracing things about yourself that either you don't like, or that frustrate you, or whatever.  So, my quirky bird started with my crazy hair, with which I have a love-hate relationship.  My hair has a mind of its own, and it doesn't ever do what I want.  Unless it wants to.  Somehow, my Quirky Bird looks like she's wearing a scuba mask - so sure, why not, Quirky Bird is scuba diving, with my uncooperative hair floating wildly in the water and that too thick too bright green dive mask rim around her face!!!  (I laugh every time I look at it!)


26 March 2020

Housekeeping in our hotel is now spraying each room with an anti-bacterial thing - I thought it was a vacuum cleaner before she started, but it's more like an exterminator's spray device!  Whoa - good thing I bought some face masks - I have asthma, I don't wanna breathe this stuff in on top of everything else!

And we just found out that the quarantine of Peru has been extended by the president here.  For two more weeks.  It would be nice to get one of those embassy evacuation flights back to the US.  I mean, it isn't as if we're currently ill or anything.  We both have enough prescription medication for maybe two more months.

But it would be nice to be in a place where we can speak the language if there's a medical emergency.  Or to have more than one room to sit in.  Or to have a kitchen so we can fix our own food.

Simple things like that would make the quarantine a bit easier.

Oh well.  I guess maybe I'll go for a walk after lunch and buy more face masks, and add a cloth layer or two.



27 March 2020

Learned techniques for drawing/painting flowers today, though I did a leaf - I had a photo of this wonderful leaf, and finally painted it.  Leaf in Spanish is hoja - pronounced OH-ha. 

I keep practicing my Spanish.  I don't have enough words, so I often am forced to talk around a subject and hope that the person is smart enough to figure out what I want.  People occasionally laugh, but they usually understand what I want or need.

And I'm assuming I make grammatical errors left and right, but people seem to appreciate the attempt at communicating in their language.  Despite the fact that I have zero idea how to say anything in the past or future tense!

But hey, we've all known someone with a foreign accent who butchers English but in an adorable way, right?  I'm hoping I'm that person in Spanish.  No clue if I am, but I'm hoping.


28 March 2020

The ups of quarantine or shutdown or lockdown - I've spent most of the time reading book #14 in a series that enjoy.  The pre-ordered book came in yesterday, but I saved it for today so I can read it all.  I can't sleep until I know our group of protagonists all come out okay!

The downs - the US embassy sent out a form for us to fill in for our request for an evacuation flight.  Despite the fact that I submitted our first request over a week ago.  And have re-submitted it twice since.  I don't know what's worse, their disorganization, or the fact that I have to submit information four times.


30 March 2020

I just received notification from the US Embassy that they've received our "interest in a flight."  That was in reply to the third time I sent in our information, when I received an automated reply.

I haven't received a reply for the submission of the new form sent out on Friday.  

I'm starting to think that someone, somewhere, thinks we should stay in Peru.  Lower number of cases than in the US.  Less chance of catching the virus.  More chance of hospital care if there are fewer people needing the care.

Our flight was officially cancelled, and we were notified by the airline.  

All we can do is wait, and stay here.  Live day to day.  Try to get in exercise, stay busy with reading or the internet or my art projects.  Richard found a TV channel with old movies in English.  We're not bored, just antsy.

The national curfew has been extended - no one is to be out between 6 PM and 5 AM, except in some parts of the country where the curfew is 4 PM and 5 AM.  No idea if there was more partying there, or increased crime, or possibly just more viral cases from those ares.

Thus ends two weeks of national quarantine, shutdown, lockdown.