In my last post I mentioned that the fall was tough to get through. I didn't go into a lot of detail, but it was the most difficult semester I remember, both at work and at home. A lot of the stress, at least during part of the fall, had to do with preparing for our trip to Barcelona. Getting a visa for Spain is a ridiculous and opaque process that ate up enormous chunks of Matt's time and a lot of mine as well. It wasn't just the time, it was also anxiety, uncertainty, and a lot of money (certified copies of original documents needing then to be certified translated into Spanish, etc.). By the time we got on that plane from JFK to BCN, we were ready to start the party!
The good days lasted for over a month. Barcelona is a beautiful, vibrant city. I love our apartment and where it is located. There are little shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars everywhere. We could eat at a different place every day for a month without going more than two blocks from our apartment. (Okay, I don't know that for sure, but it seems possible.) The public transportation is excellent. The bus and subway systems use the same cards, and it's easy to take either or transfer from one to another to get where you want to go. There are also plenty of places that you can reach on foot from our place, including some of Barcelona's most famous sights: Park Güell, Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló. The boys quickly got tired of sightseeing every day, but Matt and I walked, admired the architecture, and treated ourselves to a cafe con leche at a cafe pretty much every day in February and into March. We also started taking Spanish classes twice a week, which introduced us not only to the local language, but also to the other students and their fascinating stories from their home countries of Russia, England, Israel, and Hong Kong. I developed a pseudo-routine for my professional life, keeping up with my work colleagues and friends via email and Zoom. Homeschooling was going, well, okay. Things were not perfect*, but they were good.
But now? Click on any of those links above and you will notice that all of these places are closed. As are all the cafes, bars, and restaurants that we had been looking forward to trying. Why? Because all of Spain is in lockdown due to the global pandemic virus COVID-19. Can you believe it?
Today is day 9 of isolation in our apartment. I am all over the place about it. On the one hand, none of us is showing symptoms of the virus, which is a glorious thing. On top of that, we have guaranteed salaries (at least through this semester and the summer) and next to nothing in terms of work expectations. That puts us at an extraordinarily rarified level of privilege and I have no right to fret or complain. But I will because, despite our enormous good fortune, this still sucks. We prepared for such a long time to be here. And even after we arrived it was not all Gaudí houses and cava. We still had to go through two more rigorous rounds of paperwork and government appointments and hire a lawyer to secure our visas. We accomplished the final step of that process two days before the lockdown began ... and now we are stuck at home. We are not even allowed to go outside for a walk (except to buy food), which means that the Barcelona spring is passing us by. I have seen photos online of streets from above, flanked by pink and purple trees. I was so looking forward to walking those streets, the spring blooms above my head. I'm sure by the time we are sprung the blooms will be spent. I am trying to focus on our good fortune -- there are small pink trees just down our street that I can see when I stick my head out our living room window. I am trying to ignore the nearly intolerable arguing between my kids. I am connecting online with family and friends more than I have ever before. I was feeling removed from professional life before, participating at work online, but now everyone is doing the same. It's kind of funny (weird, not ha ha). Life globally is different now for everyone. In the meantime, I am grateful for online video services and Overdrive. I am enjoying Shrill, Homeland, and a bunch of e-books, access courtesy of the Delaware library system and the University of Delaware. Our Spanish school is hosting classes via Skype, so I get to keep learning from the pros. All things considered, we could be in much worse shape. I keep telling myself.
I found out this morning that the Spanish government extended the lockdown another fifteen days past the original fifteen, which will take us well into April. I expect it to be extended another 10-15 days after that. But then? All I can do is hope and remain optimistic that we'll be able to leave our apartment and walk the city streets again. People ask if we wish we were back in the U.S. and my answer is: not really. If we were home we'd have more space to occupy and a back yard. We'd have our dear pets and our musical instruments and art and science supplies. We could find more activities to do around the house. But the U.S. is behind Spain in terms of the spread of the virus, but on the same basic trajectory. We may be done with it here a couple of weeks before they are at home. And I still want my late spring and early summer in Barcelona before we have to go back and face the real world of jobs and schools and lawn mowing again. I never expected our sabbatical to be like this, but it's still our sabbatical. And I don't want to give it up.
*For the record, I was very correct to worry about the things that I was worried about in November
The good days lasted for over a month. Barcelona is a beautiful, vibrant city. I love our apartment and where it is located. There are little shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars everywhere. We could eat at a different place every day for a month without going more than two blocks from our apartment. (Okay, I don't know that for sure, but it seems possible.) The public transportation is excellent. The bus and subway systems use the same cards, and it's easy to take either or transfer from one to another to get where you want to go. There are also plenty of places that you can reach on foot from our place, including some of Barcelona's most famous sights: Park Güell, Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló. The boys quickly got tired of sightseeing every day, but Matt and I walked, admired the architecture, and treated ourselves to a cafe con leche at a cafe pretty much every day in February and into March. We also started taking Spanish classes twice a week, which introduced us not only to the local language, but also to the other students and their fascinating stories from their home countries of Russia, England, Israel, and Hong Kong. I developed a pseudo-routine for my professional life, keeping up with my work colleagues and friends via email and Zoom. Homeschooling was going, well, okay. Things were not perfect*, but they were good.
But now? Click on any of those links above and you will notice that all of these places are closed. As are all the cafes, bars, and restaurants that we had been looking forward to trying. Why? Because all of Spain is in lockdown due to the global pandemic virus COVID-19. Can you believe it?
Today is day 9 of isolation in our apartment. I am all over the place about it. On the one hand, none of us is showing symptoms of the virus, which is a glorious thing. On top of that, we have guaranteed salaries (at least through this semester and the summer) and next to nothing in terms of work expectations. That puts us at an extraordinarily rarified level of privilege and I have no right to fret or complain. But I will because, despite our enormous good fortune, this still sucks. We prepared for such a long time to be here. And even after we arrived it was not all Gaudí houses and cava. We still had to go through two more rigorous rounds of paperwork and government appointments and hire a lawyer to secure our visas. We accomplished the final step of that process two days before the lockdown began ... and now we are stuck at home. We are not even allowed to go outside for a walk (except to buy food), which means that the Barcelona spring is passing us by. I have seen photos online of streets from above, flanked by pink and purple trees. I was so looking forward to walking those streets, the spring blooms above my head. I'm sure by the time we are sprung the blooms will be spent. I am trying to focus on our good fortune -- there are small pink trees just down our street that I can see when I stick my head out our living room window. I am trying to ignore the nearly intolerable arguing between my kids. I am connecting online with family and friends more than I have ever before. I was feeling removed from professional life before, participating at work online, but now everyone is doing the same. It's kind of funny (weird, not ha ha). Life globally is different now for everyone. In the meantime, I am grateful for online video services and Overdrive. I am enjoying Shrill, Homeland, and a bunch of e-books, access courtesy of the Delaware library system and the University of Delaware. Our Spanish school is hosting classes via Skype, so I get to keep learning from the pros. All things considered, we could be in much worse shape. I keep telling myself.
I found out this morning that the Spanish government extended the lockdown another fifteen days past the original fifteen, which will take us well into April. I expect it to be extended another 10-15 days after that. But then? All I can do is hope and remain optimistic that we'll be able to leave our apartment and walk the city streets again. People ask if we wish we were back in the U.S. and my answer is: not really. If we were home we'd have more space to occupy and a back yard. We'd have our dear pets and our musical instruments and art and science supplies. We could find more activities to do around the house. But the U.S. is behind Spain in terms of the spread of the virus, but on the same basic trajectory. We may be done with it here a couple of weeks before they are at home. And I still want my late spring and early summer in Barcelona before we have to go back and face the real world of jobs and schools and lawn mowing again. I never expected our sabbatical to be like this, but it's still our sabbatical. And I don't want to give it up.
*For the record, I was very correct to worry about the things that I was worried about in November
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