There isn’t much more, other than what I’ve posted about. Surely I can do better than that! This week I plan to do some other things around the house that I never usually get time for.
What about you? Have you accomplished anything interesting this past week? Let us know in the comments.
Stay well.
At first I believed what I heard — that masks weren’t really helpful. I was told they were for people who were sick, so that they wouldn’t spread the virus to others, but didn’t do any good otherwise. Of course, now that has been shown to be wrong, so I decided to get with the program.
However, there are no masks available, so I decided to make my own. I saw videos on how to make masks out of a bra, but mine are the wrong shape. I had tried a scarf, but apparently that is the least effective, probably not helped by the fact that it kept slipping off. I then read that one of the best things to use was old t-shirt material. The only t-shirt I was willing to sacrifice was black — hence the terrorist look! Like it?
Argentina went into lockdown officially on Thursday, and we were almost there for a couple of days before that. Since Thursday, mainly because I am spending time at home alone, I have:
( These three are all part of my newfound desire to cook, after hating it for most of my adult life. Stay tuned.)
4. Shortened the sleeves of a jacket — something I’ve been meaning to do for months.
5. Hemmed one pair of pants.
I’m going to continue this list for as long as the lockdown lasts. Knowing I’m doing that will encourage me to do more things.
What are you doing to make the most of this enforced downtime? Leave a comment to share your experience.
If you are one of the many people who have asked if I was OK because I hadn’t posted in the blog for a while, thank you for caring. I’m fine. I’ve just been a bit lazy, but I’m back on track now.
Stay safe.
This happens every night at 9 pm all across Buenos Aires.
I’m using this enforced isolation to work on my cooking skills. If you know me well you are probably laughing, but it’s true.
This morning I made this banana bread, and I’m having some for lunch. You may think that’s not a very nutritious lunch, but think about it. It has fibre and potassium from the bananas, and a hearty doze of yumminess. What’s wrong with that??
Well, it’s here — total lockdown throughout Argentina. The President went on telly last night to make the announcement, and it wasn’t really a surprise. We have about 150 cases in the country, apparently all of which are “imported”, and there is no sign of community spread. That’s because of the precautions we’ve been taking so far and, amazingly, Argentines are doing what they’re told — not a natural thing for them! they are building eight emergency “hospitals” to deal with the situation, which I imagine will be kind of M.A.S.H. type places. Great idea. Of course God alone knows how we’ll pay for it as the economy is already in shambles, but hey, one crisis at a time.
We can go out for food or medicinal supplies, but police will be on the streets asking where we are going, so they are serious. Good thing.
I would like to say I’ve been working on my book and other business things, but sadly that’s not the case. Like many others, I’ve found it hard to summon up the energy, and even interest, to work. But I have done some things I’ve been meaning to do, like hemming a couple of pairs of pants. I’m also taking the opportunity to work on my new cooking skills. Check out this yummy rice pudding — which I decided to make from some leftover rice! OK, I know you may not think that’s a big deal, but for me it is. In the past I would keep the leftover rice until it walked out of the fridge!
Now that we are in mid-March, summer is winding down here. It’s not fall yet, but it’s not hot hot hot. I have a lovely balcony with plants, so I’ve moved one of my comfy living room chairs out there and I’ll be doing some work and some reading out there for a while. Good way to get fresh air too.
As I’m not a big movie fan, I’ve never felt inclined to get Netflix, but I’m considering it. In the meantime, there’s lots on YouTube to inform, comfort and entertain. I found old episodes of the British gameshow/comedy called Q1 hosted by the hilarious Stephen Fry. Falling off my red couch laughing. Check them out if you enjoy sheer unadulterated British silliness. Otherwise, forget it as you’ll just shake your head!
The other thing I’ve been doing is using video calling to stay in touch with friends. Four of my women friends here in Buenos Aires had a “virtual glass of Malbec” together a couple of nights ago, and I’ll be doing more of that with other friends both here and around the world. I highly recommend it. Might be a good idea to plan in advance to talk about things other than coronovirus though. No point in moaning all the time.
Well that’s it for now. Heading out to my balcony to sit on my chair and have lunch.
Stay well and safe.
OK, this is a rant. I hope it won’t offend you, but frankly as a fairly intelligent human being who can read, I’m offended. Let me know what you think.
Today I went to the supermarket, and the first thing I saw was that there were no carts available, as there were so many people shopping. I had to take a basket, which meant I couldn’t take everything I planned to buy. As I walked around the aisles I saw that the shelves, while not empty, were rapidly thinning out. The people who had managed to get carts had loaded them up mountain high, and it took forever to check out.
This struck me as an indication that siege mentality has set in. And you should know that so far we have a total of 40 cases of coronavirus in the whole country!
Other signs
Most public events have been cancelled, including football matches – gasp! Now that is really serious in this football mad country. An annual gaucho fair we were going to attend today was cancelled. All events of the expat organization I belong to have been cancelled until further notice. Concerts some of us attend at the Kirchner Center cancelled until further notice.
Yesterday I had lunch with four women friends, only a couple of whom did the usual Argentine hug and kiss when we met. That’s part of the national culture here and it’s hard to see it go. I hope it comes back when the virus goes away. There was to be a fifth friend at our lunch, but just yesterday the government decreed that anyone arriving in the country in the last eight days had to self-quarantine for fourteen days, and Joanna had arrived from the US seven days before.
And in a move that devastated those of us who dance tango, all the milongas have been closed until further notice! Mind you, I have to admit that with all that close contact and the fact that at this time of year many of the dancers are visiting from other countries, it was probably a wise move. Thank goodness I still have my lesson with Alejandro so I can get my tango fix at least once a week!
It’s very strange to look at my social calendar for next week and see it empty. Still, it’s worse in many other countries, and I hope that by taking these measures this early, we can avoid a major outbreak.
Wherever you are as you read this, I hope you are managing to live as normally as possible through the crisis and taking care of yourself as much as possible. This too shall pass.
Self-isolating Argentine style