Kellyable

Yesterday, it was the last day of the Emergency State here in Portugal. Starting today, small businesses are starting to open, of course they have to operate according to security norms but still, this is the first step towards going back to normal. Whatever normal is now. Personally, I’m afraid. I’m afraid that people will want more and more, and that they’ll take this decision as a sign of “Oh, we can do whatever we want again.”, which is not true. And if this mentality remains, numbers will start going up again and the government will impose the Emergency State again. So, since no one wants to go backwards I can only hope that everyone remains focused on the greater good. The more we protect ourselves and each other, the more we follow the norms while they’re needed, the faster we’ll get over this. On another note, lately I’ve been feeling really anxious (the kind of anxious that takes all inspiration and motivation away). I’ve been struggling to sleep, my mind is at maximu...

Today I left the house for a while after being inside for the entire weekend (besides occasionally coming outside to look at the view or check out my flowers or even to watch my cat playing, chasing out butterflies and bees). I got in my car and went to pick up my mom from work, in order for her to avoid public transportation. While I was waiting for her in the car, I got to thinking about the simple things I used to take for granted. Things like going out for coffee with my friends, getting on a train every Friday to go stay with my boyfriend for the weekend, going to birthday parties, going to the movies, going out for dinner... I mean, sometimes I even declined some invitations just because I “didn’t feel like it”. It’s common to hear people tell us to enjoy life as we have it, because things can change very quickly and right now that sentence has never made more sense. We really only appreciate certain things when we lose them. We appreciate breathing normally when we hav...

Staying away from loved ones is probably the hardest part of this quarantine. You might be lucky if you live with family or friends, but some people are completely on their own. Of course, today people are just a click away, but nothing can replace that physical, personal contact. I live with my parents. Sometimes I think I would rather live alone, at the moment, because I’m scared of going out and bringing the virus home with me and infecting my parents. Specially my dad, since he is in the risk group because of chronic disease. However, I think that at the end of the day, having someone to talk to in person and just hang out keeps me sane and makes me feel safer for some reason. Loneliness is something that many people might be experiencing right now, and even though people can stay in contact, at night, when there’s nothing there to do but think, is hard not to think about your friends, your family, your significant other... I miss my boyfriend, a lot. We live separately...

Yesterday, the Portuguese government presented the measures that are to be in effect during this emergency state. They created different rules for 3 groups of people: Infected people or people that suspect being infected, 70+ year old people and the rest of the population . I fit in the latter category, therefore I can circulate outside if I’m going to work, to assist a family member, to buy essential things or medicine or to exercise. Of course, all of these activities must be done with care and concern for ourselves and others. In general, I think the measures that were presented to us are not very strict and are feasible for now. Depending on future developments, these rules might need to be revised. All I hope for is that people respect what is being asked of them and to take in consideration everyone around them. That’s the only way we are going to be able to overcome these darker times. Now more than ever, we have to be united . Yesterday I was also able to ch...

It’s technically day 2 for me but yesterday I did absolutely nothing. Today I felt like it would be a good idea to start writing down what’s going on in my life and country with this pandemic. Yesterday, here in Portugal , the government decided to implement the State of Emergency . This means that we lose some of our rights as citizens, but it is ultimately for a good cause. We won’t be able to walk around freely as we wish, we’ll need good, documented reason to leave our houses (unless we need to buy essential goods or medicine) and I think that this was a necessary measure to take. I mean, even with everything we see on the news, they were refusing to shut down shopping centers, airports and other things that allowed crowds and gatherings. On the day they announced that we could go on voluntary quarantine , loads and loads of people went to the beach. Now there is not whats, ifs and buts. Everyone stays home, everything shuts down. This is the only way to get rid of th...