It looks like if I want to be vaccinated within the next year, I need to get back to the States. My plan was to go back around June for 3 months anyway, and any notion of getting a shot before I left here has evaporated.
Life on Hold
They tell us - we should be getting vaccines soon. Again, how much we can believe that, is another story. Supposedly the first plane load arrives tomorrow, Monday, headed for first responders and essential workers. But when the second batch will arrive is a mystery and that is probably the batch that I could possibly, maybe get! It could arrive sometime soon, but more like not for a couple of months.
This Shit is Everywhere!
It’s been an interesting few days, surprisingly! Not event-wise, but as an introspective time that was foisted on me unexpectedly.
We’d been going along merrily, doing as normal a life can be these days when I was notified that I had been in contact with someone who tested positive to the plague. Then a good friend I visited notified me she had tested positive, so I extended my quarantine for the full 10 days. Which led to a meltdown and a lot of introspection.
What a Mess
What a mess the world is in with this awful pandemic. Here in South Africa, we are supposedly heading into the peak with infections surging all over the country. Often illogical rules and regulation are put in place, then removed, then reinstated, with very little transparency, leaving people floundering in a vacuum. Rumors are rife and spread like wildfire, causing further unease and uncertainty about the unknown.
Lockdown Meltdown
I thought I was immune to this isolation and restrictions and was, I thought, mentally prepared for the anticipated announcement from President Ramaphosa. We all knew that the three weeks wasn’t long enough to “flatten the curve” but when he announced on Thursday evening that the lockdown would continue for an additional two weeks, making it a total of five weeks, taking us to the end of April, it felt like the world caved in.
Locked Down in South Africa
DAY 5
This is when I’m really grateful for all the electronics and messaging systems we have available!
It’s pretty much the only way to keep in contact with anyone during the South African COVID-19 lockdown, and being on my own, it’s super important that I keep in contact and know that if one messaging system isn’t connecting, I have four others to try!
Life in South Africa under COVID-19 UPDATE
Life in South Africa Under COVID-19
One of the main reasons I had made the decision to not make South Africa my permanent home is the the sense of isolation and distance from family and friends in the US. Just knowing how far it is and how long it takes to go back and forth between the two locations was what clinched that deal. I was so afraid of getting stuck here.
And now, here I am under COVID-19 rules, with no idea how long I will stay.