Hello there! It's been a few days since I last wrote anything on here...that's because I haven't been doing much. I felt like maybe this post wouldn't be that important...maybe I could just leave out the past 12 days, but that would romanticize those days when in reality testing positive for Covid and quarantining during my Christmas break is anything but romantic. That's right. After my extremely enjoyable Christmas celebrations, I got the "Hey, how are you feeling? I'm not feeling well at all, and thought you should know." text. Oh boy.
Turns out everyone in the friend group from my Christmas day celebration tested positive in the few days following. The good news is that we are all recovering well and feeling better with each day! While I am certainly not glad that we all contracted this serious virus, it has been nice to have a support group who is experiencing the same emotions, fears, and timeline. I feel like I now have a unique connection with them all. The other positives are that this happened during my break, so that means that I haven't had to miss any days of school nor have any pay deducted from my monthly salary; additionally, travel is very restricted still, so I'm not missing any opportunities to see new places, like I normally would have wanted. Quarantine is just one of those things that I don't want to do, but as a responsible adult and sympathetic human, I have had to do anyway (I'm sure some of you are feeling or have felt the same). And here I am on the other side, almost free from the four walls of my room! Wahoo!
To fill the time, I've been doing basically what any other human has been doing the past ten months: lots of video chats with friends and family, reading, watching plenty of movies, testing my geography skills, yoga, working on my TEFL certificate and work for school, sitting on the terrace...unfortunately, my New Year's eve in Madrid was spent indoors, sick, and in bed before midnight, but hey, there will be more new years in the future!
Physically, the first few days were the worst. It started with a sore throat, a headache, and some coughing, which was followed by a tightness in my chest, and a sore body. I felt a good deal sick, but not the worst I've ever felt. Thankfully I never had a fever, nor did I loose my sense of smell or taste! Overall, I've just been pretty tired, and have had sore muscles, but those symptoms are also clearing with each day. I also think those come with simply being inside for several days in a row... I've had to keep track of my symptoms each day in my planner, as well as simple things like taking my vitamins, brushing my teeth, and washing my hair. It sounds strange that I have to write down if I brushed my teeth, but the days started to blend together, and when I have no agenda, I start to forget things.
The really, really good news is that today marks the tenth day since I first developed symptoms and I am feeling much improved. I plan to stay in quarantine until Friday, which will be ten days since I tested positive, but I did go for my first walk in quite some time this morning. The sun feels so good on my skin, and the fresh air that again fills my lungs remind my of the simple joys of life. I'm so blessed with more time on this earth, and more time to enjoy Spain!
In the first few days I attempted to document my quarantine: I tried to capture the good and the bad, things that I was doing, or even not doing, but towards the end I stopped just because I found that these things were not really that interesting. However, this picture to the left is from the day I got tested and then saw the results. I had this feeling that I was positive, even without the official results...but when I did see the results, the word "positivo," I still immediately burst into tears. I called my parents completely balling.
I've learned a lot over the past year about myself, more specifically my emotions and the relationship between my mind and my heart. I'm pretty intelligent and mature when it comes to knowing truths of life, my truths at least, and yet more often than not, what I feel does not reflect what I know to be true. For instance, I know that I am a young, healthy woman, with no additional risk factors that could affect my recovery from Covid. However, I was still scared, feeling lonely, and unsure, in a country that is not "my own", and far away from my family. And that's that. I cried a good cry, took a hot shower, and curled up in bed for the rest of the day.
In the next set of pictures, you can see, first, the view I have from my bed, and second, my desk covered in four different glasses/bottles full of water, a bottle of vitamins, candles, a few cards, my laptop, and my Spanish journal.
Lastly, the third picture is just me...after a nice warm shower, in a comfy sweater, with a sore neck, and a messy bed. That was mostly the vibe for the first few days.
Enjoying the sunshine and blue sky...
I was feeling good this day...a much different picture from the first day. Just trying to stay hydrated and get lots of vitamin C! However, you might be able to see in my eyes how tired I was. I remember waking up with exhaustion in
my face, mostly under my eyes.
These are my little reminder notes! I did have one night in particular that I had a little bit of a breakdown...my friends had started to loose their taste and smell, and for some reason this really freaked me out and I started to spiral from there. It's often the little things that set me off...I try to be strong and then boom, I'm in pieces because of the silliest thing. Anyway, I did the only thing I knew to do in times of anxiety; I said my prayers and I asked my mom and a friend for Bible verses for this moment! They never fail, and they didn't this night either.
So, because I have roommates, I had to wear my mask anywhere that was not my room or bathroom...thankfully, two of the three are not here in the apartment, making it less of a challenge. However, I usually I love to cook and bake, but didn't want to put them at risk unnecessarily, so I didn't spend much time in the kitchen. Similarly, I had to order my groceries online for the first time, and it was a weird experience. I'll definitely be happy to go grocery shopping on my own again! Especially because in doing my online shopping, I ordered one single banana... :) I thought I was ordering a whole bunch, but apparently not!
Anyway, thank you for reading about my experience with Covid. I know I am not the only one who has had to deal with these emotions and sickness and I am so glad that you to are healing if you've had it! I figure that if I start my year like this, it can only get better, right?! But in all seriousness, I do have a new understanding of Covid and am looking forward to better days and simple everyday joys I've discovered in Madrid!