11 April 2020

The World Suddenly Got Really Big

I've been to a few places, done some stuff, seen a sight or two...met some folks along the way. I have had a a couple of small-world encounters that made my head spin.  I have two degrees in engineering but I think statistics is (are?) a form of torture that violates the Geneva convention (and my English skills, apparently).

I would like someone to crunch the odds of me leaving Ghana and traveling to northern Thailand where I would meet a random traveler who had come from Europe where he had had met someone (at the running of the bulls in Pamplona) who I knew in Ghana (it's difficult to convey that story in a single sentence).

I previously wrote about one of the more difficult parts of expat life. This is my fifth time living abroad.  I can't say that I really thought about needing to go home for an emergency when I was 16 years old but most 16 year-olds wouldn't.  I did think about it during my time in Ghana and while it was possible the logistics were a bit trickier.  The most frightening thing was a Peace Corps SUV pulling up to your site unscheduled.  This was before the time of cell phones (at least in Ghana) so if there was a real emergency the Peace Corps would send someone to you.  I only got an unexpected visit once and it was not an emergency (it was a program director visiting volunteers (not from my program) who stopped by to drop off a package). I was in the classroom teaching but I saw the vehicle pull onto the school compound and went running out of the class in a panic.  Logistics were also difficult when I was in Afghanistan because there just weren't flights in and out every day.  But  normally you can hand over a credit card and be on a plane from western Europe to the US in less than a day.

This is the first time that's not an option.  It's terrifying. It's nerve wracking. It's heart breaking. I have never wanted to hug someone more in my life (and I am not someone who generally wants to hug people). 

[Source]
I have never felt further away and that includes being in Ghana on September 11, 2001 when I might as well have been on a different planet.

In an age where we can fly to any corner of the world at almost a moment's notice (okay, maybe you need to plan ahead to get a visa for a particular country but the flight options are there), the COVID-19 pandemic has made the world suddenly feel as big as it must have felt to the early explorers when it took them years to make the same journey that we can now do in a matter of hours. 

Whether you're in a lockdown situation or a place that's doing a less-than-stellar job at handling this pandemic, I hope you are safe and healthy and staying home as much as humanly possible. If you're a front-line worker, THANK YOU!  Check on your neighbors. Don't hoard toilet paper (I really don't understand this one and it's thankfully not a thing where I am). Wash your hands (why weren't you doing this already?!?!).

What's the situation where you are? How are  you coping?