Quarantined in Barcelona

“Sometimes you never realize real change unless you have a time of crisis”

Well this is my 5th day here in quarantine in Barcelona, Spain. Let me be the first to say that it is not easy at all and I applaud all the people doing it so they can help the world around them. At first when the Coronavirus first began to spread throughout Europe I was closed minded and very “well it can’t affect me, so I’m okay to do whatever I want”. But as the virus began to spread more rapidly and really get to see it unfold before my eyes helped me look at it in a new perspective. It very well affected me in many aspects, like now my study abroad program was canceled and cut short, I am now quarantined for about 15 days, all the stores are running out of food. It is safe to say that it affects us all. I am not more conscious that by staying inside I am helping the virus not spread to someone whose immune system may not be as healthy as my own. I may be saving someones child, parent, or grandparent.

Now that I am inside and see many people who are not taking this as serious as selfish in a way because staying completely inside all day for 5 days already is enough for any person to go a little insane. I also think it is crazy how I am living this crisis right now and I am part of history. Spain is such a different experience that I have ever had before. For example, every night at exactly 8 pm everyone in the local area goes out to their balconies and start to clap for a straight 5 minutes saluting all the medical workers for their non-stop effort during this crisis. This all started a few days ago when a picture of a nurse went viral all over the news and social media. The picture was a nurse who had collapsed at her desk from exhaustion from working a full 15+ hours helping patients who had the virus. I think this was a real turning point for the community in Barcelona to really see that this was not a “vacation” that some people thought it was. I think it is very cool to be able to see a community gather this much. They have done this every night and everyone comes out to clap and it it actually very powerful because this does not happen in the United States. I really liked to be able to see this and be part of this gathering as I also go out with my host family to clap for all the medical professionals.

I still have some days to go with this quarantine and although it is very boring and sometimes depressing if you think about it a lot, but it helps me gain new experiences. I can now be able to focus on things I never focused on before. I now have time and have now excuse to not try out new things like at home workouts or meditation or even catching up on reading books that I have not done in a while. It is sad that we are going though this crisis but we have not choice but t look at the brighter side and be with our loved ones and friends. I still so grateful t be here and view the news and how the community handles the situation from a different perspective.