April 14, 2020 Lockdown

You'd think that as we have been in total lockdown for more than 2 weeks now, I would have more time to update this blog.  Not so!  I am busier than ever; cleaning the house (ugh), cooking (half-ugh: chopping and clean up are full-ugh), sweeping the yard, watering the garden, laundry.  So far I have avoided ironing as I don't have to iron the two dresses I wear around the house.  Added down side is that we are entering one of the hottest times of year, so that by the time I am finished the housework, I am literally dripping in sweat.  Working in the nude is the only way to go.  The up side is I am losing weight between the added movement, the sweating and the fact I don't feel like eating as much in the heat.  Always a silver lining.  However, this is when I appreciate all that Vineetha and Poomani do for me.  I can hardly wait until they are back.

 

I have been in self-isolation for 4.5 weeks now.  I have managed to get out only once to go to the bank, or more correctly the ATM as the banks are closed.  We were still under curfew but one of my neighbors had a pension card that allowed her to go and get her pension money and go to the pharmacy.  She and her son took me in their car to the bank.  We were stopped at a police roadblock but Mrs. Gunnesekara's pension card got us through with no problem.  They barely glanced at me.

We are having food delivered either on order or by lorry.  Lorries full of bread, fruit, vegetables, even gas cylinders are roaming our little street.  We are lucky in that we are a prosperous neighborhood and are just off one of the busiest commercial streets in Kandy.  Where Vineetha is in her village east of Kandy, they were not getting vegetables and were living on only rice and sambal.  When I talked to her yesterday to wish her Happy New Year, she said that they had gotten a few vegetables but that they were pretty pathetic.  Here we are getting plenty of product and fairly good quality.

It is the second day of Sinhala and Tamil New Year today.  Not a very good new year for Sri Lankans.  One advantage is that they can't get their hands on the usual crop of firecrackers that go off like an artillery barrage for hours.  It is blessedly quiet this year.

I was totally alone in the house for about a week except for the cats.  That was wearing a little thin, but finally my landlady came home from her grandchildren’s place.  So now she is here and at least there is another human in the house.  I see one of my neighbors when he comes over to give me fruit or I see him waiting for one of the lorries on the street.  We maintain at least a 2 meter distance.

Lots of phone calls and video calls.  In fact, cell phone usage is apparently up by 32% here.  My mobile phone provider is giving their clients 250 free minutes of calling time every 7 days.

Apart from that, I am keeping busy with the housework, the usual crosswords, an on-line jigsaw site, on-line mahjong, reading, TV programs and movies.  I have even started an appliqué project.  

The number of infections here are quite low as are the number of deaths.  Of course, the real numbers are much higher than those reported, but the government took action quite early on so infections are at a minimum.  We probably won’t be out from total lockdown until the end of April.  God only knows how an already bankrupt economy is going to survive.

Strange times.  It is times like this that I appreciate my ever faithful four legged companions.  Just hope I can get cat food when I need it.  I have enough for about another 20 days so hopefully by then we will not be under total lockdown.

All five of them here for the evening TV session.