covid19 – One Chance to See the World

Graduating in lockdown: A story of a student in India

I am delighted to introduce Vaishnavi, bringing an insight from India on the current lockdown situation for herself and her life as a student.

Vaishnavi has a great blog of art, photography, food and travel (safe to say it is four of my favourite things!) and I appreciate being able to share her story on my blog for the WordPress community.

I hope you all enjoy the read and this insight all the way from India!

Namaste! I am Vaishnavi Karnam, a 22-year old Communication Designer who just graduated from college during this worldwide lockdown. I am originally from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, two of the many state capitals of India, though I have been born and brought up in New Delhi, which is India’s capital. Coming from a rich cultural background from Southern India, my parents made sure my brother and I know our lineage, roots and our native language. Having said this, I am multi-lingual.

Being an elder child, I have always been given a lot of responsibility. But I have had my moments of being a brat and trying to do what I wanted to do. Also, making sure that I did things that I was expected to. I am not only my dad’s little girl, but I am close to my mom as well. My puppy dog eyes are irresistible and always works for me when it comes to my parents. Even though I was pampered a little bit, but I was also made to learn the hardships of life.

Since I was a kid, I have tried my hand at whatever was available to me. Starting from art, craft to music, dance and even sports. Oh, baking and reading too! You can say I am the jack of all trades and master of some. Not ‘none’! I have always had multiple interests, and I made sure to keep trying out new things as and when possible. One such thing that caught my attention and stuck with me amongst a few others is travelling. I have grown up looking at pictures and listening to my dad’s stories from when he used to travel for work. Listening to those stories kept me at the edge of the seat no matter how many times I heard them. It made me want to have some of my own stories like that, to feel that adrenaline rush every single time. That’s how my love for travelling started and, during one of my internships, I discovered my inclination to write. This gave birth, more like helped me to begin my blog. I write about food, travel experiences and sometimes life lessons as well.

When it came to choosing a career path, I was sure that I wanted to do something different from what anyone’s done in my family. A lot of parents in India pre-decide what course their child should pursue in school or college, mine never forced me into anything I didn’t want to do. From planning to study psychology when I started high school to then changing my mind and finally graduating as a Communication Designer, it has been quite a journey. All throughout college, one thing that my friends and I were looking forward to was an extraordinary graduation showcase and a memorable farewell. After all, we were going to start a new phase of our lives. I definitely didn’t expect 2020 to go like this. Like everyone else, I also thought 2020 was going to be my year. I was supposed to start the next phase of my life. I still would be taking the next step, but in a much different way than expected.

Never had I thought for COVID-19 to spread and become a pandemic leading to a lockdown almost everywhere in the world. Considering that I graduated not too long ago, I had about 2-3 months left for my college life to get over. I was hoping to have fun with my friends, peers and faculty in the college, having the most wonderful last few days of college that was left. Every plan I had went down the drain. I was sitting at home, either working on my graduation project, giving presentations online, which is nowhere near to the actual experience. I was usually found dancing and singing at celebrations in college, hanging out with friends, lounging in our studios, travelling and making memories that would last a lifetime. I was never a social butterfly, but I have had my fair share of memories from my college life. Now, I can only imagine what I would have been doing in the past few months if we weren’t confined to our homes due to the pandemic. At this moment, we are planning what we can do once all of this is over, but we can only hope that it actually happens.

A week before the lockdown was announced, I was travelling for my graduation project in the mountains in northern India. This trip I took was preponed at the last moment; otherwise, there was quite a lot of chances that I would have got stuck at an unknown destination with hardly 3-4 pairs of clothes. I was lucky enough for my plans changing at the last minute. Though I am happy that I was back home right on time, unlike my friend who is stuck in an unknown town in Rajasthan (I feel so bad for him). Being a restless soul and staying at home 24/7 wasn’t really turning out the best for me. I was used to staying out of my house for at least 10-11 hours a day, and suddenly it went down to zero. Coping up to this change was tricky, trying to adjust to the new routine all of a sudden. We are a family of four, and I can say for sure that this is the first time that all of us have to stay under one roof for so long without stepping out at all. We had to adjust to each other’s new routine as a family. It was quite hilarious actually. Initially, it was challenging for me to keep sane, but then I tried small activities to help me adjust to this new routine. The first few days, I used to go to the terrace to look at the sunset and walk around a bit. Never had I seen so many people on their terraces. With nowhere else to go, that was the only escape.

Though when I am talking about what I used to do before COVID-19 struck, I feel like I am talking about a different life altogether. A life before taking multiple precautions to step out of the house and terrible news reaching us every day. There are some things that I used to do daily and miss doing it now. I miss the peak hour rush in the metros, booking a cab or bargaining with auto drivers, chilling at my favourite cafes and exploring Delhi even after staying in this city all my life. One thing I miss the most is eating out, especially Indian street food. It’s to die for.

I had a plan, to graduate college, travel and explore a new destination with my brother, get a job at a different city, move there and start fresh. I have always lived with my parents, except for a few years in between where I moved out to be closer to college. I was excited and hoping for a change. With the pandemic hitting us all, there have been so many changes all of a sudden. With employees being laid off left and right, hiring has definitely come to a freeze. The dream of getting the ideal job I had hoped for has been crushed. Sort of. The chances are quite low, considering the numerous people who are now in the market trying to look for new jobs. Though I am not giving up hope to find the perfect job for me, it is still scary when I think about it.

Now that I am free, I am trying to catch up on writing, reading, helping my mum with household chores and cooking. What I do whenever I have the time mostly depends on my mood. There are days when I only feel like binge-watching a show, texting my friends or just chilling in our house cribbing about when I’d get to go out. Video calls, virtual collaborations, Instagram stories of our routine, Tik Toks are now the latest trend.

I sometimes wonder what if Covid-19 hadn’t become such a vital matter, what if things were different, but it’s just left to what if. We can only dream or imagine what the scenario would be but cannot actually know. I know that with a nationwide lockdown in India, there have been positive implications. Pollution levels have really gone down, natural habitat is getting better, less traffic on the roads and we are spending more time with family. But did we really need something severe to affect us to make out lives slow down? Life has given us time to make things better, take time out for things we stopped doing because we never had the time, but did it have to be after putting so many lives at stake? I am trying to think positive, hoping that we all get out of this safe and sound, but I sometimes fear what else could happen, which might make things worse.

Well, that’s just me. I hope all of you are keeping safe and are doing well. I just hope one day, things will get back to normal and life will be better again. Until then, let’s hope for the best and stay healthy!

**Thank you to Vaishnavi for providing this insight for my ‘Life in Lockdown’ series, aiming to provide a glimpse into the lives of people around the world during this pandemic.**

All words are Vaishnavi’s own and for more great stories, art, photography, food and travel, please visit The Vaish Saga, and @thevaishsaga on Instagram.

Have a great week everyone!

Life in lockdown: Teaching a class in Kuwait… from the UK

I’m Joy and I was born in Leeds in 1982. My mom was a drama teacher and my dad was a fireman, we lived in Garforth for the first few years of my life. They had recently been converted to evangelical Christianity and had got ‘the call’ to be in mission work. They joined a mission organisation called NTM and started a year bible school in Matlock Bath, which was where my sister was born.

After that year, we moved to the States for them to complete their training. NTM works on a self-funded basis, so my parents spent a lot of time visiting churches and raising support to be able to be missionaries abroad. We lived in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Illinois as my parents did different parts of the training in linguistics, bible training and ‘boot camps’ (consisting of building our own houses and being self sustainable living in the forest). They eventually decided where they wanted to be missionaries and when I was five we moved to Ivory Coast, West Africa and we lived there from 1987 until I graduated in 2000. We would come back to the UK (after also making a trip to the States to visit supporters for a month or so) every four years for a furlough. We always went back to Whitby, as that’s where my mom’s side of the family is from and my grandparents had a house big enough for us to live in together.

I didn’t really have a career path in mind growing up, unlike my sister who knew she wanted to be a nurse from the age of 3, and of course, I was always her very reluctant patient. I drifted from ideal job to ideal job in my mind, but the one thing that had always fascinated me was learning about other cultures and languages, how we could be so similar and yet so far apart in many aspects? – I found it fascinating.

I had plenty of opportunity as well; not only from living in Ivory Coast and learning the differences between the people who lived in the cities, to the people who I grew up with in our tiny village, 25km from Ferke. I also got the chance to learn from living in the boarding school dorm from the age of eight, surrounded by missionary families from the States, Northern Ireland, Holland, Germany, Vietnam, Canada, France and many, many other countries.

That was what ultimately decided my university degree, in Intercultural Communication.

I kind of fell into teaching English as a Foreign Language, I laugh when I say that as many people who teach TEFL say the same! In my last year of university they were offering the CELTA qualification in TEFL and I thought it would be a good thing to have ‘under my belt, just in case’. At the time, intercultural communication didn’t have as many job opportunities, so my first job was teaching English language back in Whitby. My parents at the time were living in Sanford, Florida and working at the mission headquarters there as everyone had had to leave Ivory Coast when the civil war kicked off in 2002. So their house was free, it was a good move as it gave me time to get my feet under me financially and get some experience.

I didn’t plan to continue being an English language teacher, but I did enjoy it – I got to meet so many interesting people from all over the world and I love meeting new people and hearing about their lives – so it fit well with me! My early twenties were tough, really tough and I struggled a lot. I drifted a lot, moving here and there and worked in so many random places; bartending in Harrogate, teaching Ancient History and Life Skills to 9th graders at a Christian school in Florida for a year, in a clothing shop in Whitby, cover teaching all over Yorkshire, teaching assistant for SEN students at a college, a summer teaching TEFL in Scarborough… While I was at that last job, a fellow teacher said they were looking for permanent staff at an English Language school in York (ELC, now BSC) and I thought it would be interesting to try to stay in one place for a bit longer than six months! I got the job and stayed in York for 11 years.

The main reason why I really ended up moving to Kuwait is far too personal to share. But I’d been teaching mainly Arabic students for over 12 years and I’d always promised them all that one day, I’d go over there and visit. Now I had the chance to move over there and work! I had always been fascinated by Arabic cultures, and had spoken at several Intercultural conferences and published papers over the years on their culture. I spend most of 2019 searching for a good place to relocate to and finally was offered a good place at the college (soon to be a university) in Kuwait City. I thought it would be a great place to start, and it’s location perfect for travelling to other Arabic countries to visit and explore.

I had so many positive experiences in my short time there. I really loved that some of my ex students wanted to meet up with me; two of the students I taught four years ago were visiting from the UK and took me our for a (non-alcoholic) cocktail and food at a burger bar (everyone loves burgers and sliders over there due to the major American influence in recent decades). It was awesome to hear how their years at university had gone and how much they love living in the UK, and how their futures might go after graduating.

I met up with a student who I’d taught over 9 years ago, he’d finished his education in the UK and got a job in dentistry in Kuwait, not far from the school I was teaching at. We met up with him and his friend (as a chaperone, as he was recently married), he showed me the Mubarakiya area of Kuwait, a traditional market which sells everything you could possibly want as a Kuwaiti. As we were walking through the market, I had worn jeans and a very long black jumper, and he the traditional Kuwait male dress; we got a few stares as a traditionally dressed Kuwaiti man and an obviously Western dressed woman! After we got out of the market, we both laughed and said next time I’d either wear a hijab or he jeans and a t-shirt!

All the other students I had taught and I has promised to visit did message, but it was always the ‘wrong time’ to meet up with me. The ones I’ve mentioned were the only ones I saw in my time there. Culture did not permit random meet-ups, even though I had been their teacher, I was a single western woman.

I met new people though, I’d had a student who was still living in the UK, but her sister lived in Kuwait. She gave me her number and I got in touch. She arranged to meet up with me and we met at a Lebanese restaurant on the beach front. She had brought along a friend. The experience was amazing food wise, we tried to communicate, but neither of them spoke very good English – they mostly spoke to each other, with me trying to pick up an understanding from my limited understanding of Arabic picked up over my years of teaching Arabic students. They were both so lovely, and we took Snapchat filter photos together. If it’s the one thing I learned, is that Snapchat is everything over there, taking filter photos and especially… pictures of food…. We met up again the following week, we went to her friend’s house, I had no idea if it was in my honour or just something they did on a weekly basis. The girls (of course all female) from different countries, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait. We sat, them speaking in Arabic (me trying to understand the general context) all smoking shisha pipes and the lady went back and forth prepping the massive amounts of food which she eventually brought out. A million different types of food… for the main and the dessert. Then, the Bluetooth speaker came out (they love listening to music there!!) and each woman got up to dance. We were also invited to a desert gathering two weeks later by a different group of people I had the opportunity to meet. They all listened to western and Arabic music, and danced a lot. (Alcohol in Kuwait cost £150+ per bottle, most people got vodka or whisky as it was just as much to get a bottle of wine!)

In Kuwait I met some really wonderful people; at work; my boss: a poet and author, my colleague; a kind, interesting man who’d spent years living in Arabic countries- we connected so well, the IT director who lived in my building; from Iraq originally, with a family in Oman, we smoked shisha together and he gave me such insights into the Kuwait culture, my students; as insanely lazy as they were; had such drive in so many other aspects, otherwise; the women I met through my neighbour; so driven, intelligent and modern, with goals that they would reach by hook or by crook…

Before the covid outbreak, I did get the chance to visit some key places in Kuwait City. I lived near the ‘beach front’ and tried a few shisha bars down there with a friend from work a couple times and went for walks before doing my weekly shop at the supermarket in the mall. I went to the main park in Kuwait City, Al Shadeed, it was quite pretty, lovely water features. I visited the Al Hamra skyscraper, which I could see from my flat window and with a colleague, wandered around the elite shops and had a meal in an Italian restaurant. I went to the Avenues mall, designed to feel like you were walking along the Champs-Elysees, or the Rodeo Drive in LA, it was mind blowing… but the overall feeling was that, no one except the few could afford to shop there. People came for an outing, and the Kuwaiti nationals were the only ones who could go into shops, especially ‘The Grand Avenue’, which featured the most expensive, exclusive shops imagined from around the world….

The college had Spring Break, as it followed the American curriculum, most of the people at the college left as they were expats to other countries, to visit their family or take a brief week holiday. I went to France to visit a good friend of mine. As I was there, news started to get more serious about the Covid-19 break-out. We got daily emails from work about returning to Kuwait, or to be more specific, how we couldn’t return to Kuwait. Our workplace hadn’t given most of its employees residency visas (required for working in Kuwait) which made our worry so much greater. We were tourists, waiting to come back in to the country illegally. I was so grateful when we finally got the Kuwait news update that no visas; tourist or resident, would be allowed back into the country. I tried to change my ticket from Kuwait to the UK, but had to book it anew. At this point, I didn’t care. I was going home.

We started off teaching again online when I arrived in the UK, and then classes were cancelled a week later as the Kuwaiti government said it couldn’t authenticate online teaching. Ten days later the Kuwaiti government authenticated online learning, so we were all re-drafted in for teaching. Since then, starting 3 weeks ago, I’ve been teaching my two classes online; 16 in my listening and speaking class and two in my writing and grammar class. I’ve learned so much about this new form of teaching, and have enjoyed the new challenge, it’s also included forming all parts of the curriculum to be digital- I’ve been learning so much everyday. I’ve grown so much in my editing skills. Every day is a new challenge, either from the technology issues, to having to create everything from scratch as all my materials and possessions are now in Kuwait, and I am here. Another challenge has been the time difference; when we started the classes back in March there was a three hour time difference, even longer for some of my colleagues, which meant getting up at 4am to teach my 8am class! Fortunately the clocks went forward in our interim break, as as Ramadan started last week, the classes are now all in the afternoon (Kuwait time). I can have a lie-in!

Most of the students have worked so hard to adjust to this new learning environment as well. Obviously, to some it would seem to be an easy transition, especially for students 18-22 years of age… You just log in and watch the teacher and answer questions as usual right? Definitely not! Besides the many technical issues that happen when relying on Zoom and other online teaching sites, they’ve also had to learn how to submit everything either through the college’s e-learning portal (which is not that clear cut….) or by email. I know that seems crazy to say, but this generation has no email, they all have Instagram and Snapchat, but email is for work only, and none of them have had work experience yet. A whole new learning experience for them! Another struggle is self-motivation. I’m not standing over them in a classroom cajoling and entertaining and pushing them, very hard to do online. They have learned so much about being accountable to themselves and their studies. Pushing the boundaries on their traditional learning styles and the assignments they have to do in a new way for me. I’m so proud of them all. Especially in these last few weeks of term, it’s now Ramadan in Kuwait, so not only are they trying to finish their foundation year, but fasting through it all as well. We have three weeks to go till Summer Break!!!

**Thank you to Joy for providing the third insight for my ‘Life in Lockdown’ series, aiming to provide a glimpse into the lives of people around the world during this pandemic.**

All words are Joy’s own and for more stories, photo’s and travel experiences please visit her blog, justjoythings!

Credits:

Featured photo by Ahmad Mohammed on Unsplash

York photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash

All other photos are by Joy herself

This green line leads to something…

As soon as you walk through the exit barriers of the currently desolate Old Street Underground Station, you will notice these lines on the ground leading outside.

A nice thank you message to the NHS, these are all over London right now.

The station has 8 different exits with it being directly under a roundabout, so to help commuters know which route to take these exits are colour coded. I am not sure if the lines simply help commuters find the right exit, or if they also lead to something specific outside. The green line definitely leads to something in particular, so on my daily walk I decided to follow it…

The below shot almost gave the game away… so I decided to blur the answer on the ground 😉

Traffic seems to be getting busier, although it is still much quieter than the norm.

Getting there…

It leads to Moorfields Eye Hospital, only a few minutes up City Road. I heard that the hospital may be treating patients for the virus, but this could be incorrect. It is certainly deferring non-urgent patients though, stating so on their website.

The green line runs right to the front door of the A&E!

The building is a beautiful one, with a more modern extension in the shots above at the accident and emergency entrance. I noticed the clock was in the shape of an eye, which is a pretty cool addition.

Another beautiful day! I have to say London has been gifting us with some beautiful blue skies in the past couple weeks, I hope this continues. It is a concern over here that us Brits won’t be able to resist the opportunity to get a little tan and get complacent with the social distancing, but so far people seem to be resisting temptation. Myself included. I just take shots on my daily walks, or to and from the shop. But I did take a longer walk down towards the highrises yesterday which was EMPTY. Hardly a soul. With it being a bunch of offices the weekend is the perfect time to go on the best of days, now even more so. I felt much better walking down there compared to the parks actually, and I will show you this soon.

I am being sensible, and taking photos when I have to leave for groceries or exercise. And only on an iPhone right now or a small GoPro, as my Nikon would be taking the p*** a little bit.

I hope you have some blog worthy areas on your daily walks when you get the chance to leave the house, and thank you to the NHS and to the health services around the world keeping you healthy in your country.

See you all again soon!!

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak I am somewhat limited as to what I can do in London, but I aim to post as much as I can during this time. I promise to have some great posts coming your way once this is all over as I continue to explore London.

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Empty coffee shops

Coffee shops are giving me a shipwreck vibe right now. That strange eeriness of a thing that was once full of life and now silent. Nothing more than an empty shell, everything inside abandoned in a hurry.

I have bought coffee in here twice since moving to Old Street, it is smack bang in the middle of what is only a five minute walk to work. But it always looked busy and the staff in there were genuine and really friendly. It is a shame to see it currently closed. The leaves sprouting from the tree outside are the only signs of hope, with the concrete seats designed to look like pillows as empty as the streets around it.

One thing I did notice is the unique shape of the building, I am usually walking underneath it so it hasn’t caught my eye before. Crossing the road to get a full shot I could see the zig-zag/ crooked pattern of the whole building. The apartments look nice. If you can’t have a garden right now a balcony will certainly do.

I have neither, but a walk to and from work makes up for that a little.

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Have a blog you want to share? Introduce yourself here!

Also, I would love to grow on Instagram, please give me a follow over there as I will have plenty of London shots coming your way. Any help would be amazing as photography is fast becoming a passion of mine. Click here for onechancetoseetheworld on Insta and thank you so much for your support. It means the world to me.

Are you a key worker?

How many of you in the WordPress community are currently key workers? This isn’t strictly limited to health and emergency workers, I’m talking anyone that cannot work from home. Nurses and doctors, police officers, bus drivers, delivery drivers, bin collectors, security guards, taxi drivers… there is a big list of jobs that qualify.

I ask because I am thinking of doing some posts inspired by those that have to travel to work right now. Learning about life in lockdown for someone that still has to roam the quieter streets and occupy buildings other than their home. On my travels in recent years I have been able to meet people in so many different industries, and I loved sitting down and sharing experiences. There is something fascinating about having a conversation with someone that has a completely different daily routine to yourself. Two worlds colliding and a quick glimpse of another way of life. In fact, I have been speaking to a couple of people that have agreed to share their stories and I am looking forward to posting them, hopefully this week.

It is something different for my blog, I can only ramble on about my life for so long before the same daily walks become all I talk about! I am going to try and find ways to share stories from readers of my blog (both key workers and those of you working/blogging from home) as so many of you have fascinating stories from around the world. And I will of course continue to share my experiences in London throughout this lockdown.

I wonder what the percentage is, I assume the majority of you are working from home? It is also interesting to consider whether the number of blog posts from key workers is higher with the opportunity to blog outside the home, or if working from home (or simply staying home if unemployed/retired/not able to work) is forcing bloggers to keep being creative and putting out blog posts regularly?

Let me know, and I will see you in the comments!

Sam

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Have a blog you want to share? Introduce yourself here!

An escape from the flat

Thank you all for the love you have shown me in my last post, I appreciate it. I have just responded to the comments there and I feel so lucky to have this amazing WP community to engage with every single day. It is a blessing right now for all of us to be able to engage in isolation. We are lucky to have technology allowing us to communicate to each other across the world, what a fortunate time to be alive.

Yesterday I went to the shops. That really is an exciting story in 2020. I had to go to four in total as each one I went to didn’t have everything I needed. I needed mouthwash (currently sold out in supermarkets, so I had to visit the pharmacy), that was store one. Store two had no chopped tomatoes, but it did have turkey mince. Store three didn’t have chopped tomatoes either, but it did have straws that my flatmate asked me to get.

Also whilst I was buying flavoured teas I wanted to share this. Did you know that the company Twinings has this message on their packaging…

‘By appointment to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’

This is because Twinings supply goods to the Royal Family, and have done since the 1800’s. They have a shop over 300 years old in London that I will blog about when I can visit. A cool little fact I wanted to share with you all.

Store four was my little local shop that had everything. So far these smaller groceries have been the best for stock, most people emptying the supermarkets it seems. I got chopped tomatoes, passata and today made a banging chili. That will last me a few days until I have my next crazy adventure.

Just a little travel update, until the next…

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Don’t try this at home

Walking underneath the skyscrapers in my previous post, I came across this interesting piece of art.

I think this is what causes pandemics…

This is ‘Crocodylius Philodendrus’ by Nancy Rubins. On the website sculptureinthecity.org.uk it tells us a little bit about the artwork:

As part of her series Diversifolia– which in the scientific names of plants indicates a single species possessed with a considerable variety of leaf, Crocodylius Philodendrus employs clusters of bouquet like arrangements comprised out of a variety of animal forms that explode into space in all directions. Her calculated compositions employ a structural property called “tensegrity,” wherein individual parts are arranged in balanced compression and secured with tensile cables, that galvanizes the aluminium crocodiles, hogs and deer, cast iron tortoises, and bronze zebras into purely formal, abstract components as they propel into space due to their aggregate momentum. Circumnavigating her towering assemblage reveals the transformation of found objects and industrial refuse into expertly orchestrated abstractions that are fluid and rhizomatic in nature.

Lots of fancy words there. And lots of cool animals that can’t be found in London so I stayed there for a while staring at it from different angles.

The website displays many pieces of art that are currently dotted around the city centre, but also reminds everyone during the pandemic to refrain from looking for them for the time being. But at least I can show you this one, and if this kind of art is your thing, more can be seen in the link at the bottom of this post.

It takes me back to November 2017, walking along the coastline in Sydney whilst Sculptures by the Sea was taking place. Similar sculptures and if you want to check them out I have linked that post too. And who doesn’t like ocean pictures?! 😉

What do you think of this piece of art? Let me know!

www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk

Sculptures by the Sea– A day on Bondi to Coogee’s coastal walk

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Feeling every emotion today

Good evening everyone, my post comes later today as I wasn’t able to publish at work. Today I wanted to upload these shots of the Shard that actually have very little to do with how I am feeling, other than this is the city in which I currently feel them.

The weather in both these shots was perfect, and today was another glorious day. Around 20c I believe (68f) and no clouds whatsoever. The images here are from different days earlier this year, but both close to Southwark tube station.

The sun puts me in a good mood. That is normal for us humans, I don’t think I actually know of anyone that gets depressed at the thought. But today I felt a little gloomy.

We freak out here when the sun finally beats the clouds. And even though we are in a lockdown, I just knew that there would be a few that couldn’t help themselves and venture outside and fill up the parks. That is what got me down a bit.

I work in residential, meaning I have to work and today residents went out solo or with a partner for a jog or long walk. That is (currently) acceptable. However some came back saying the parks were busy, some people sunbathing in groups. Not acceptable.

I understand that I am working outside of the home (I have to) but I am trying to be as distant as I can with everyone and keep with the rules set by the government and the company I work for. We have put a lot of measures in place to protect us all and I am content with this so far.

Some of the population are still meeting friends from outside of their own homes. Fact. It is so frustrating to know that despite most people doing their bit, there is always a small minority that just don’t care. And sometimes these small numbers can do way more damage than they are aware of. I have to meet people outside of my own home, true, but only at work. I wouldn’t and haven’t met anyone outside of my home to socialise. I would genuinely feel partly responsible for the continual rise in cases, all because I just couldn’t help myself but go against what has been recommended by experts.

But I need to be proud of the 99% more than the ignorant 1%. Most people are good people and it can be easily overlooked when all we hear about are the negatives. And I like to think those that have broken the rules are doing it out of plain stupidity and not because they don’t care about the vulnerable.

But I felt relaxed again after watching the Queen give a speech this evening on TV. She spoke elegantly in a calm manner, addressing the nation for only the fifth time other than her Christmas messages. She has only spoken in times of trouble, this pandemic certainly falling in that category.

I will be genuinely sad when Queen Elizabeth II reign is over, being a country with a royal family she has been a good Queen to us. And she certainly hasn’t had the easiest life. With all the chaos going on in the world it is nice to hear a message of hope. And I have just learned that our PM Boris is in hospital… I understand that everyone’s political stance differs (and I will avoid the topic of politics here!) however no one should suffer and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

And I guess my message to end the post is that in all the chaos that is going on in the world, it is important to know we cannot change everything ourselves. But we can make a difference in our little ways and as long as we are being good people and constantly seeking to improve, that is all we can do.

Stay safe, I am sorry for being a little delayed in responding to some of your comments due to working however after tomorrow I have a whole eleven days off. That’s right, ELEVEN. So I will be present more than I have been in the past couple days.

I am sending my love to you all out there, wherever you live and whatever your situation.

Take care!

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Every frustration is a story

This is the first time I have noticed queues outside of the stores. Not sure how long this has been the norm but down the road the supermarkets had these lines, thankfully no more than four or five people.

My mum messaged me from the family home up north, saying that the local Asda supermarket had a line that went all the way to Morrison’s (another UK supermarket chain). This would involve crossing a main road, so I wish I had a photo of this as it sounds pretty crazy. A queue that has a two meter rule will stretch a lot further than it usually would, especially if the number of people allowed in the store is limited.

My flatmate asked if I wanted to join her in having a walk today, as we are currently allowed out for one bit of exercise a day or to do a food shop (the latter to be done as infrequently as possible). Being in pairs with someone in your household is currently okay. We headed to the local park which wasn’t too busy, there was more than enough space for those exercising to keep a safe distance, so we did a walking lap. She needed to buy groceries on route back, a local organic shop was open and seemed fairly popular with five people waiting to go in. The sign said there was a ten person limit, although another sign read ‘one customer out one in…’ so it was a little unclear. I could see some in the queue scratching their heads as they reached the entrance. I stood on the other side of the road and waited as the path was a lot wider and less walked.

When the queue disappeared altogether I got a closer look. They have installed a hand wash outside that I haven’t seen elsewhere in London so far.

Maybe it is more common in your area? For me this is a first.

‘Foot operated’ message on the wall to help assist those in line, with a funny foot diagram to help even further.

The below shot was seen on the store window next door. The window can be seen behind the couple waiting in the first shot from this road. It looked closed, maybe this was stuck up before they had to shut completely. Maybe it is open certain days or for take-outs.

I prefer to see times like these as an opportunity. As much as it is a pain, an annoyance, and of course a danger, if we don’t take these moments and use them to our advantage, they can really take advantage of us.

It is an opportunity to share our stories of what life is currently like, an event that may not reoccur in our lifetime. The photos of the new restrictions and restricted freedoms. The signs telling us how to adjust to a new normal and what we are no longer allowed to do. The little things like an A4 piece of paper stuck in a window will be a big story to tell when we get out of this, looking back in years or decades to come.

Of course this differs depending on where we are. We are all going through the same thing, but with slight variations depending on where we call home. This is what is bringing us all together, we have an excuse for conversation again. Not just because we have the same story to relate to, but each of our stories has different chapters. Differing experiences and characters. And I will for sure be looking out for these stories online in the weeks to come.

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Is this now classed as an adventure?

I am just reading your comments from my previous post, what I love about the WordPress community is that it is full of diversity and people with differing interests. My question was where would you like to visit post apocalypse? Reading the comments the responses varied a lot. Cities and beach resorts, hometowns, ancient wonders of the world, and even just a supermarket without the people (I hear you Pat).

Thank you for all your comments, I will be responding to them very soon.

Today I needed to pop to a specific shop. The flat I have moved into for now close to work is pretty old, it still has one of those electric meters you need to top up with a stick at a convenience store. With it being Sunday most were closed. I found online that one was open, I popped my mask on and headed to it. I strapped my GoPro to my bag as I walked to get some footage of the lockdown to show the grandkids, however looking back at it I did a bad job of walking at a reasonable pace.

Now I know that I am a fast walker, and even though I tried to slow it down it was still too fast. The camera was bouncing and I felt dizzy watching it. I also filmed in 4K and the 16 minute recording was over 3GB which is a hell of a lot so in terms of uploading I have to consider the size too. But I know for next time and if I do record my future walks when I have to leave the house, I may upload them to my blog. I don’t go out often with this pandemic, only when needed. And it feels like an adventure when I do.

I have been watching lots of these videos by a YouTuber named Watched Walker. He does a great job of filming his walks around London, at a decent pace too. I will leave you tonight with one of his videos as I feel they are not just fascinating, but something future generations can look back on with fascination as we do with black and white footage.

It is also a great way to see London for those that aren’t from here (the majority of you!) and before Corona took hold. It is so strange to see groups of people again…

I hope you enjoy, and I will speak to you all soon!

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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