Dear Family and Friends,
We were away from Ecuador from October until the first of March 2020. Actually we landed in Cuenca about two weeks before the lockdown began. Everything happened so fast and it all seems so surreal.
It has been four months now. Chuck and I have followed the rules faithfully to prevent the spread of the virus. In June we started venturing out and meeting with just a few friends for card playing, coffee, and lunches. We have felt pretty safe keeping our contacts to just four or five people. Well, we have felt pretty safe until just this week.
All of a sudden we are aware that the virus is quite prevalent within the expat community here in Cuenca. We have heard of several people who have had it or going through it. We even have friends who have succumbed to it.
We have decided to become even more extreme in protecting ourselves. We are choosing to close down face to face contact with everyone except each other.
We will continue to get out and walk. This is important for our health. We will have to, of course, continue to grocery shop. We may even eat out, if it is a place that we feel safe with lots of space between tables. We have just decided to not have direct contact with others, even while using face masks. It is so contagious that even with the strict precautions we are taking we can still get it.
Chuck and I are so fortunate that we have each other. So many expats are here and living alone. Some are able to cope better than others.
We are not judging of others. People will do what they think best. If they choose to get together with friends that they feel are safe, we understand. We were starting to do that ourselves.
For all of our family and friends in the USA and other countries, we are sending you our love and wishing you good health. Please take special care of yourselves, we love you.
Now that you know that we are still kicking...if you would, please comment about how you are doing, what your stay healthy strategy is or if you have had the virus. We are all going through this but, as we are learning, each of our experiences are different.
Love,
Nancy and Chuck
glad to hear you are both well. too bad Cuenca is experiencing an upsurge in COVID contagion. All is calm-ish here in Baños...very strict regulations in a small town make for minimal spread. I continue to care for my friend and neighbor Shana who is 80 and needs more and more help as time goes by. She has severe physical limitations and rapidly advancing dementia so it's quite heartbreaking to watch her steady decline. I cook lunch for us each day, do the shopping, handle her banking and medications, help with laundry and house cleaning. It's truly a full-time job. I do my best not to feel too resentful that none of her daughters or other friends have stepped up to help out. I just restarted yoga classes 3x per week and it is wonderful to have something that's just for me and my own well-being. sending big hugs to you dear friends!!
ReplyDeleteIt is good to hear that everything is going well for you in Banos. So wonderful that you are able to care for Shana. You are a wonderful human being and we love you.
DeleteHi Nancy and Chuck,
ReplyDeleteWe are happy and healthy here on Vancouver Island. Being very careful and going out only when absolutely necessary. We love picnics and do these maybe once every two weeks on a week day. Thankfully we have a nice home in a wonderful town and staying safe is not too difficult.
Be Careful out there and stay safe.
Cheers, Peter.
Peter, so good to hear from you and that you both are safe. Wonderful time of year for Vancouver Island.
DeleteGood to see your post! You may have heard that Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties are the worst in WA. Aside from Dave, the morning only other people I’ve seen since early March are my dog park pack. Been masking up since mid Feb when people gave me looks like I was a nut case. Stay healthy!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are taking good care of yourself. Thank you for the hometown update. So sad the east side of WA is so bad.
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