With a 7 day window we (the citizens of South Africa) were given to change locations, and no end in sight for this lockdown, I knew if I didn’t get on a repatriation flight or find somewhere else to live, I would be stuck in the very uncomfortable and bad-for-me situation at the granny flat. Being there was the last place I wanted to be, given the hostility and illogical behavior of the landlord.

In this country, during this level of the lockdown, you are not allowed to go across district or provincial lines. And they mean business, with roadblocks using police and army. So the 7 day window was my only opportunity to escape and change locations.

Even way before the lockdown went into effect, I was looking to get out of there and had originally planned to leave South Africa around June. But then everything went upside down, and I was stuck, alone, in the flat, with no end in sight. It felt like living in the house in Washington - on steroids.

My first choice was to move up to Mick and Debbie but was concerned as he had a sore throat and of course, in this day and age, anything like that is suspect.

If I was to get on a repatriation flight, I would need to get to Johannesburg, a 7 hour drive from here. But the State Department, which works with the airlines, didn’t have any definite dates for departures. Finally, on the 5th, I received notice that there was one on 8th. The 7 day grace period ended on 7th, so it would mean I would need to drive and overnight on the last day.

Then the landlord decided she wanted to show the flat as I had originally planned to be out at the end of May, then that timeline was extended as no one is “allowed” to move around, and they had given me 30 day notice from the “end of lockdown” which currently has no end in sight. So I was wondering what her intentions were. But agreed to allow a person in, wearing a mask, gloves and not touch anything as I had no idea who this prospective tenant was. Then she decided that she was coming in with the guy and his daughter and I said no, one at a time. She refused to honor my request and proceeded to throw a hissy fit, with such a stream of invective language, I was what they say here, “gob smacked.” It’s difficult to believe she is related to anyone I know.

That did it. I considered the repatriation flight and decided against it as it meant a real rush to get there and not even knowing where the flight would land, it just seemed too risky.

I phoned Mick and of course, he said, “You have a room here” for which I am eternally grateful. This was 6th, Wednesday. By noon on Thursday, I was packed and out that door. There is nothing that I will miss there, except the dogs, who visited every day.

As it turns out, as I was heading up the road (man, it felt good to actually be able to drive somewhere) I received an email about the flight - the departure day had been changed and the flight had already left that morning! So my gut feeling about getting on it was right - glad I listened!

It’s taken me until today to recover as I had no idea how much living there was stressing me out. It’s such a relief, not just to be away from there with all those negative vibes, but to actually be able to see someone in person and have people to talk to. All the electronic messaging, phone calls etc. are wonderful but just not the same as being face to face.

So now, it’s a matter of regrouping and waiting for international flights to open up. We can only hope that this country doesn’t erupt into anarchy, as the lockdown leaves millions hungry and devastates the economy which was in dire straits before this mess.

On a sad note, I have less than half a bottle of gin left.