- ZOE C. LATUMBO
Last of 2 Parts
As soon as I reached home, the first thing I missed was the solo access to the strong connectivity at my Yangon apartment. Even if we had to deal with scheduled internet cuts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., the intermittent power interruptions, and clandestine use of VPNs to be able to use social media applications, the connection there was much faster than in Manila. What with the perennial problem of snail-paced connection and six people sharing the household wifi. Thus, working remotely from home country was a foremost challenge.
There was no stopping me from pursuing plans to visit the US when travel restrictions in Manila slackened a bit in June. That was by far one of the long haul flights I had with least hassle. Social distancing was strictly observed by the airlines and at the terminal in Haneda Airport where I transited. The only slightly offending though funny experience was when the good looking immigration officer at San Francisco airport seriously told me to rub my fingers on my “oily forehead”. Perhaps out of his desperation to get my biometrics done after several minutes of trying and with the queue behind me getting longer. The paranoia of washing hands, alcohol and sanitizers as often as can be must have caused my hands to an advanced stage of dryness.
For six weeks, with eight states visited in the US, travel measures varied from city to city. In most public places, indoors meant wearing a face mask. But there was one national museum that did not require guests to wear one (to the point of discouraging us). In beaches and parks, visitors come as they please, with or without face masks on.
Me and my travel buddies always kept our faces half covered when in crowded places and indoors. It may feel liberating and normal again to expose your face and flaunt smile with your latest lip tint, but the paranoia in us prevailed: better safe than sorry.
On my second trip back home in early August, cases in Manila have surged again. Despite having completed my two Pzifer doses in the US and my first jab of AstraZeneca in the Philippines, I had to quarantine for 10-days this time, inside a no-window-just-walls hotel. The US was not included in the green list category allowing for shorter 3-day hotel quarantine. Despite the much longer period of isolation, expectations were set to a minimum, this being my second time to quarantine.
Preparing for my trip to Bacolod, the requirements for domestic travel was every bit a challenge to one’s patience with all the documents you needed to accomplish online and within certain limited days. As soon as I stepped out of the plane and felt the breeze of sugarcane fields filling the air it smelled freedom up a notch. No more narrow floors and paces, delivered food, and resonating silence.
My experience in staying in various cities this year, whether as resident or transient, meant dealing with different pandemic protocols, social behaviors, routines, lifestyles, and impulses. Here in Bacolod and in Yangon, I do my groceries regularly while in Manila, everything is ordered online and delivered. I was free to do outdoor exercises in Bacolod and the US cities. I could sneak out of my apartment in Yangon only in the mornings when extremely necessary. We had the opportunity to visit jam-packed beaches and national parks in the US like there was no pandemic.
Although protocols are strictly followed to an extent, you would still wonder how and why a family member, relative, friend or acquaintance contracted the virus. Many people have asked this, myself included. On my fifth swab I tested positive. Symptoms were very minor like having a seasonal flu: minor cough, husky voice, runny nose, and loss of smell which lasted for three days. No antibiotics or any medication taken. Just good nutrition and vitamin supplements. This, amid the worries and stress while attending to my ailing mother. Trust me, Covid vaccines work indeed. Please get one now if you haven’t yet.
Crossing seas and continents in the time of Covid was a leap of faith and a challenge to embrace the new normal with a passion. Have we adjusted to the now, or are we willing to wait to go back to the old normal? – NWI
