DATELINE May 17, 2020, Medellín, Colombia. We don’t know about you, but the longer this pandemic drags on, the more we’re craving even the smallest signs of normal. At least, what we considered normal before the coronavirus hit the fan. Even little things  – like the workers getting back on the job at the construction site across the street (we don’t even mind the noise like we used to), or the reappearance of the corner empanada vendor this morning after many weeks – are enough to put a smile on our socially deprived faces. Since we’re still so very early in the trajectory of this pandemic, any ideas about a new COVID-19 normal are mostly speculation. While speculating in public can be a dangerous thing (bleach injections, anyone?), sometimes a little musing is good for the soul. And since we don’t have the bully pulpit of POTUS, hopefully our musings won’t…

DATELINE May 3, 2020, Medellín, Colombia. These updates are getting harder to write. It’s clear that this pandemic is not going to end soon, and any real resolution – whether it’s brought about by effective treatments, vaccines, or some other unforeseen factor – is going to take many months, if not years, to pan out. And, being an impatient species that’s used to getting its way with the planet, we humans are chomping at the bit to get back to our “normal lives.” It’s been difficult to watch the protests against mandated social distancing in our home country, including the (relatively small) gangs of armed thugs making threats to state officials. Especially since social distancing seems to be the ONLY somewhat effective approach to containing this thing. Which brings me back to why these pandemic posts are getting harder to write.  We’re beginning to realize just what a big uphill battle…

DATELINE April 25, 2020, Medellín, Colombia. It’s day 41 of mandatory quarantine here in Colombia. A day in our COVID-19 world looks something like this: Wake up early because you went to bed early the night before. Put on the coffee and read for a bit. Feed and walk the dogs around 7. Do our exercises and have breakfast. Work all morning, have lunch, walk the dogs. Work all afternoon, read emails and catch up on online news. Watch the BBC and Colombian TV news, have dinner, walk the dogs. Then watch something on Netflix or Prime until we both fall asleep. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, punctuated by two exciting trips to the grocery store every week. It’s Groundhog Day, Medellín-style! If that sounds like a whine, it’s anything but. There’s something really calming about this routine, because we know it’s keeping us safe. And it keeps us centered, with so…

DATELINE April 4, 2020, Medellín, Colombia. We’re feeling a little more downbeat this week. There’s been a lot of gloomy COVID-19 pandemic news lately: By some estimates, a third of humanity is now under some type of movement restriction. The global food supply chain is holding up for now but is on shaky ground. It’s been hard to shake the horrifying images from Guayaquil, Ecuador, a city that has been completely overwhelmed by the coronavirus. It seems an anomaly, since the rest of Ecuador and most other South American cities and countries are managing the crisis reasonably well. And the U.S. . . . oy vey. How is it possible, during a global COVID-19 pandemic, that the governor of New York has to beg and plead for lifesaving equipment? That getting federal help seems to depend on how much your governor has kowtowed to POTUS? That some states have STILL not…

DATELINE March 28, 2020, Medellín, Colombia. Cheers to all! Hope everyone is staying safe, healthy, and hunkered down. Here’s the latest from our little corner of the coronavirus pandemic. Check last week’s entry to see how much things have changed (quite a lot).  John and I are now on day 14 under COVID-19 quarantine. We started a few days earlier than the official, nationwide COVID-19 quarantine that began last Wednesday. So far so good – since I’ve always worked from home and John’s retired, our lives haven’t changed radically. We miss eating out, riding the Metro, and seeing our friends. But the silver lining is time to read, time to reflect, time to take a breath and count our blessings. And time to eat popcorn while we binge-watch our Netflix shows! Apart from our permitted 20-minute dog walks, we have not been anywhere except to get groceries last Tuesday. The supermarket…