Since my last post the world has gone crazy. Lockdowns, social distancing, fighting over toilet paper, deaths, covid-19, fear, conspiracy, masks or no masks, hand washing, flights cancelled, borders shut. So much has happened in such a short time and yet a whole lot of nothing has also happened for a whole lot of people. My family and friends around the world are confined to their houses and coming up with various forms of entertainment.
So what does it look like here? Firstly, my family who were coming to visit could no longer come. We should have been having 3 lots of visits from family but alas they have had to adjust plans. This seems to melt into insignificance compared to those dealing with the loss of loved ones, a least we will see our family again.
As a country we have seen changes that happened a little slower than NZ and they also look a bit different. No one is fighting over toilet paper! I was almost embarrassed to be a westerner and see toilet paper hoarding reported in local news papers here. It's a non essential item, wash your bottom with water like over half the world does you idiots! ahem, anyway back to what's happening here. At first there were news articles and people were told to wash hands, this was pretty stock standard practice around the world. Some countries started encouraging people to wear masks and a few started to be seen on the streets. I recall one particular day when DC and I walked to the market, this was in the early days of the virus, people started to cover their faces near us and pull their children aside. We realised they were fearful of foreigners. From that point on we started wearing masks to help alleviate the locals fears of us. This did make a difference and there began to be a camaraderie between mask wearers of placing your hand over your heart as you passed one another. It was like a thankful acknowledgement of thinking of others.
All public transport was cancelled early on apart from cycle rickshaws. Schools were closed down before NZ schools were. The roads are so clear and there is hardly any tooting of horns. It's very strange to have everything so quiet. There are no trains or launch horns sounding, it's incredibly peaceful. There is also less pollution and we can see the stars at night.
Currently we stay home unless getting food supplies from the markets. DC and I do all the shopping for everyone. Going to the market is not like going to the shops in NZ. Social distancing is encouraged here but near impossible to do. Markets have small alley ways you need to walk through and now that there is a curfew from 6pm to 6am, everyone needs to shop during the day time. We used to shop in the evenings when it was cooler but we now arrive back with masks full of sweat and our backs dripping wet. I don't want to complain though because we can afford food and food scarcity is not a problem. Unfortunately the poor are the real victims here, lockdown means they can not earn even the small amount they were previously, this then means they don't eat well and are more likely to get sick while living in close quarters with others. I fear there might be more deaths from poverty than from the virus itself. It also means that when you go out people are more likely to come touch you begging for money, how can you say no or brush them off for touching you? I can't turn a blind eye so we give where we can. We just make sure we wash well when we get home pray for God's protection.
This picture is on a very good day when the market was about to shut so very few people were around. It's very strange to see it so clear. This looks like ideal social distancing. This is who I buy our potato, onion, garlic and ginger from.
So what does it look like here? Firstly, my family who were coming to visit could no longer come. We should have been having 3 lots of visits from family but alas they have had to adjust plans. This seems to melt into insignificance compared to those dealing with the loss of loved ones, a least we will see our family again.
As a country we have seen changes that happened a little slower than NZ and they also look a bit different. No one is fighting over toilet paper! I was almost embarrassed to be a westerner and see toilet paper hoarding reported in local news papers here. It's a non essential item, wash your bottom with water like over half the world does you idiots! ahem, anyway back to what's happening here. At first there were news articles and people were told to wash hands, this was pretty stock standard practice around the world. Some countries started encouraging people to wear masks and a few started to be seen on the streets. I recall one particular day when DC and I walked to the market, this was in the early days of the virus, people started to cover their faces near us and pull their children aside. We realised they were fearful of foreigners. From that point on we started wearing masks to help alleviate the locals fears of us. This did make a difference and there began to be a camaraderie between mask wearers of placing your hand over your heart as you passed one another. It was like a thankful acknowledgement of thinking of others.
All public transport was cancelled early on apart from cycle rickshaws. Schools were closed down before NZ schools were. The roads are so clear and there is hardly any tooting of horns. It's very strange to have everything so quiet. There are no trains or launch horns sounding, it's incredibly peaceful. There is also less pollution and we can see the stars at night.
Currently we stay home unless getting food supplies from the markets. DC and I do all the shopping for everyone. Going to the market is not like going to the shops in NZ. Social distancing is encouraged here but near impossible to do. Markets have small alley ways you need to walk through and now that there is a curfew from 6pm to 6am, everyone needs to shop during the day time. We used to shop in the evenings when it was cooler but we now arrive back with masks full of sweat and our backs dripping wet. I don't want to complain though because we can afford food and food scarcity is not a problem. Unfortunately the poor are the real victims here, lockdown means they can not earn even the small amount they were previously, this then means they don't eat well and are more likely to get sick while living in close quarters with others. I fear there might be more deaths from poverty than from the virus itself. It also means that when you go out people are more likely to come touch you begging for money, how can you say no or brush them off for touching you? I can't turn a blind eye so we give where we can. We just make sure we wash well when we get home pray for God's protection.
This picture is on a very good day when the market was about to shut so very few people were around. It's very strange to see it so clear. This looks like ideal social distancing. This is who I buy our potato, onion, garlic and ginger from.
We are also fortunate that we live in a smaller city. In the bigger city there is a much bigger presence of army and police. I think we have it pretty good where we are right now.
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