A new situation 04/05

It has been a long time since I actually sat down and reflected. And blogged about it! It's my last full month here as a volunteer, and I really really want to keep these memories written on this platform, as I would like to look back at them.

"Life seemed normal. How can a virus have the power to change our lives g-l-o-b-a-l-l-y? Yes, media plays a role. Yes, fear plays a role. Yes, politics play a huge role. But.. I don't know how to properly put my thoughts and emotions into words for the digital audience to read and understand." That was my last thought on the previous blogpost. Let me tell you a story about how the situation effected our little community...

The second or the third week of March, we got an email from the project coordinator, recommending us to stay as much as we can in the community, and to let him know if we should stay somewhere overnight. He also asked about how we were feeling, and if we had any symptoms. This was the first official mail towards the lockdown. Baby steps. And after this some cafes and restaurants, and even pubs closed. On their own initiative. As the UK government didn't have anything in place (yet), but Ireland already announced a lockdown.

A week later or even two, UK followed the procedure around Europe: lockdown happened. Everything was standing still, unless it was classified "essential" Another mail followed, and we were asked not to leave the community. We had some volunteers (coming on their own here or having different sending organizations) leaving the country and returning home. But all of the ESC volunteers stayed. And I think this collective decision made me stay as well. I didn't want to risk being stuck in Dublin or London on my way back to Germany and catch this virus and pass it on to my family. And also, flights were constantly being cancelled.

I think if I mention "bulk buying" everyone will remember empty aisles, empty toilet roll shelves, and people just going mad about the situation. The only thing I thought I might need was one box of paracetamol (I still have 12 out of the 16 pills left), and that was my contribution and preparation to the lockdown situation. 

The house I would help out in, went into isolation, as some residents showed symptoms. I was given the option to stay for a week in my room and see if I would develop anything. My housemates would check daily on me, bring me food and keep me going with the happenings at their work place. Another thing which was very crucial is probably the fact we all had access to the internet, not always working 100% but I don't know how it would be if I didn't have contact via video calls to my friends and family back home. And calming my mom down "Look, I am still alive! I am ok!".
Until the moment when we had a first official positive test result back in the community. With these news everything became more real. This virus was first found in China, and now it is in the community here in Northern Ireland. To be completely honest, mentally I think I was struggling a lot during these times. I was overthinking, I was just overwhelmed with the whole situation, adding the facts that I wasn't in my usual setting, that people had to self-isolate, or they couldn't go to work or in worst cases lost their jobs. How the numbers of domestic violence was rising. What does it mean to not leave your house or home? What does it mean for people who don't have a home? Not to mention mortgages and credit card debts. And the fact that I was checking the news on Germany and the UK was not really helpful. You want to be updated about how it is going, but also you don't realize how it actually effects you.
During these times each one of us went for a beach walk on their own, or in little groups of two or three. Nature does wonders. Green and blue around you. No planes. And being able to live in a big estate around the forest and sea was amazing; it's stills amazing!

But this whole thing had an effect on us. We should keep a distance. We shouldn't be leaving the estate. The only buildings we are entering should be the place we live in and the house we are attached to.

Nevertheless, I would say at one point we just started embracing the situation and had our ways of coping: we had people preparing French classes, we started gardening, we were reading and watching a lot, we painted windows, a lot of us started attending online classes (I will prepare a post with how to make the most out of an online class, and where one could 'attend' one), collected wild garlic and made pesto out of it, discovered more and more of the community- we have a pottery here!-, there was so much baking going on, people went swimming in the cold sea, we received parcels from home (for which I am really grateful as I was needing a piece and sense of home), we celebrated birthdays and had breakfast at half 7 in the morning and everyone attended, we helped with the big fields and seedlings. We continued work during this time, as we would be classified "essential". We were staying in our little community within the community and keeping each other sane. Being thankful for Netflix and Facetime, and our weekly grocery shopping. And the most important thing is, as we were experiencing all of this together, it brought us closer. I remember one day in the kitchen this question was asked "How is the relationship with your parents" and people took their time to talk about a very personal subject. Being  stuck at a place really teaches you another level of patience as well.
This was also the time where zoom become a part of our lives. Mid-May I attended two or three times a get-together-meeting with Europeers and fellow European volunteers, and something similar was organized by my sending organization where we had a meeting with current volunteers participating in projects and potential interested volunteers. In one of the conversations we were talking about how the hosting organizations were dealing with the pandemic going on and we were reflecting on the past few weeks and months. As well as talking about what we were missing, and what kept us going. 

To be fair, I would have never imagined this direction of my year in Northern Ireland but with Brexit going on, I suppose I was prepared for a wee bit of strangeness..