Same view of Boston
Sunday March 15. It’s the end of the vacation. We’ve planed them for months and we left Boston 8 days ago. I checked before leaving that it was safe, the situation was still pretty normal in the United States: it didn’t seem irresponsable to leave. But when we got back to the Nassau marina after our completely off the grid sailing week, the connexion back to Internet – and reality – was rough. The situation has escalated: it was bad.
At the Nassau airport, we go through immigration without too much issue, since we are green card holder the situation is much smoother. Surprisingly, we are not asked anything concerning our health. Our French friends who are going back to France aren’t as lucky. Their connecting flight is through Miami and they can’t leave: there’s a travel ban in effect for Europeans travelers.
Bye bye! We spend 8 days on this catamaran
Flying over the Bahamas
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Back in Boston, once again, there is no screening at the airport. But on the plane, we were given a paper mat that I immediately place on my table. I’m safe now! Everyone around us – us including – clean their seat, Naomi Campbell style. It has never smelt so good on an aircraft.
3pm. Time to go grocery shopping at Whole Foods. The veggie section looks pretty bleak. The unpopular remaining vegetables are artichokes, celery, fennel and kale. And on the fruit side, we can only have bananas and pineapples. Fine with me.
9pm. We call some friends in New York who want to share some good news. We chat for a while: is it the new way to spend a Sunday night with friends?
Working from home
Home office cuteness
March 16. Manu works from home, from the couch precisely. I already have my home office set up for the blog and book writing, and to manage my tour company, Boston le nez en l’air. I need to call a collaborator, but Manu has the priority and starts his day with a stand up meeting with his team at 9:30.
Meanwhile, I finally catch up on the magnitude of the crisis. Both of my businesses are deeply affected by the travel ban: no Europeans (and soon no Canadians) travelers to go on my tours or to book activities or hotel rooms. The city of Boston is also taking some actions to close librairies, schools, restaurants, cafes and to cancel many events. I update my community by writing an article about it. I have to resolve myself to lose a large, if not all, part of my income in the upcoming weeks.
I spend quite some time reading about the virus and the new notions of social distancing and flattening the curve.
I call my sister who is in France, soon to be in full lock down. I send messages to friends to know how everyone is dealing with the situation.
5pm. We leave the house to go for a walk around the river, it’s good to be out even though it’s so cold that my legs are freezing under my jeans.
9pm. We call some friends tonight who are on the other side of the river, in Somerville. It’s Ben’s birthday!
MIT has fallen
Hanging out with friends
March 17. All the yoga studio and gyms around town are closed, I need to find a new routine. I am used to work on my own and mostly from home, but the ambiance is very different now. My new normal implies to deal with a small space to live, play and work. I make some space in the bedroom and unroll my mat. I meditate for 10 minutes.
12h30. Time to get some air. There’s still people on the streets. We grab a coffee but can’t sit, there’s no seats anyway.
4pm Delivery time! I’ve ordered some fancy food – cheese and pastries from a coffee shop in Brookline. On the phone I was told that times were hard but they are finding new ways to stay open, even if it means laying off people.
6pm Walking time. There’s a lot of people along the river, walking solo or in couples, a lot of runners too. It’s hard to picture that a week ago we were in the Exumas!
Charles River
Gourmet Food
March 18. On social media, there’s a mixed bag of messages from “new normal” to pessimistic “it’s the end of the world”. Creative minds want you to quite social media and do stuff. I have a lost harmonica somewhere at my place, maybe I could finally learn how to play it? Despite all this social media wiseness I lay on my bed and listen to Ru Paul on Fresh Air while reading some local news.
It’s 11am already and in an hour, I’ll follow an online workout (it was awesome)
Mayor Walsh will speak at 4pm to small business owners. I don’t know if as an immigrant I can receive any help anyway.
Also, I need to file up my tax return and this census thing
