Love in Times of Corona

The traveler who is currently the fastest and learns the most cultures: The Corona virus. On everyone's lips, feared and at the same time downplayed. From a distance, we observe how the discussion swells up and dominates our hometowns in Switzerland and Germany. On one hand, we naturally think it's good that high-risk patients should be protected and - from an outsider's perspective - drastic measures are being taken for this. On the other hand, panic and fear arise, and many processes that paralyze everything and don't move anything. Until now, we thought these emotions were far away from us. Until now.

Because we are somehow out of the world. We live in the last corner of Costa Rica, a country that has hardly any Corona cases so far. By living, I mean that we have rented an apartment with a family right on the beach. They have two children, the parents are super nice, and we get along quite well. In the evenings, we often sit together in the garden, the men surf together, and we try to communicate as much as possible in Spanish, although they speak English very well. We like it here. Our everyday life is really laid-back. Didi and I are both diligently learning Spanish on the computer. We have the freedom to go to the beach at any time, where we collect beautiful pieces of wood, dig pools, lie in the waves, or even collect trash. We have a lot of time for our family, we live in a small space but with inner space. It's like being on a small island and it's great.

We can stay here indefinitely, and our older daughter goes to preschool, also called "Kinder" here. I am in contact with her teacher on WhatsApp, she sends me photos of the children or instructions from time to time. And more and more now: news about Corona.

Then our first daughter started coughing on Sunday. We didn't think much of it because we often stayed in the water until sunset on weekends. Despite the tropical temperatures, both children had blue lips when we ran home under palm trees, and because we let ourselves be blown by ventilators all night, we assumed it was simply too cold for them. But when she had a slightly elevated body temperature during the night, I decided that she should stay home for a day. I let the teacher know - conveniently via WhatsApp. And I received a variety of voice messages (in Spanish!) that I didn't understand. Somehow I was aware that this seemed to be a delicate situation. There are already a few Corona patients in the capital of Costa Rica, and everyone is a bit on high alert. Besides, it's not winter here and it's not cold season either. If someone coughs, it stands out. With the help of the host family, I was then able to understand from the messages that all children with signs of a cold should stay home. Alright then. And in that moment, I felt the family move away from me. Just for safety.

Within a short period of time, I became aware of what Corona does to people. It creates fear and makes one think of oneself first. All sorts of things went through my head. Not fear for our lives, we are too young and not the target group. But what if we carry the virus inside us, brought in by someone from the capital who visited the tourist destinations in the past two weeks and infected many people? What if the grandmother of the family, to whom we brought freshly baked bread yesterday, falls ill with the dangerous virus? In the midst of my thoughts, a conversation with the host family interrupts, confirming that they are very worried about the grandma who is in the house every day, and that we should keep our distance. It makes me sad, I feel rejected. As if we were dirty. I try not to let these thoughts in. They say it very nicely and in friendship, but my first thought is rejection. Love in times of Corona probably means distance above all.

So I did a little research on the internet to find out what we should do. A mistake. I already know about washing hands. But try to avoid transmission with small children, whose bottoms you wash, who constantly put their fingers in their mouths, and who kiss faster than you can blink. Forget it. For one day, I had a hint of stress in me, fueled by all the studies, tips, and rumors. Probably much more threatening and closer to many people in Europe, Asia, and Iran. Suddenly, the horror news seems so close and I empathize with all people, especially older people, who are afraid. I just find it crazy that we are suddenly thrown into the midst of the virus whirlpool in this remote place. What used to be an island now feels like a prison.

I don't even consider the idea of testing ourselves for the virus. Firstly, Costa Rica has only recently had the capability to perform tests, and secondly, we are in the far corner behind the huge jungle. We have to drive over an hour by car (and we don't have one) to get to a hospital. And it makes no sense to me to use the host family's car or take public transportation to go to a place where there are many sick people just to get tested for Corona.

By the way, Mila is much better. She spent a day listening to audiobooks and complaining of a headache. Since then, she has enjoyed drawing and would love to go back to the beach. We were also relieved that we still had some cough syrup with us and are now giving it to her.

Right now, I am trying to practice steering my satisfaction more from within myself and not depending on my external circumstances. And today is another great practice day. Because I have every reason to be grateful for who I am and what I have, for life and my family. And the external circumstances are fabulous: We live right by the sea and can do whatever we want. Even if we consciously put ourselves in quarantine now, it hardly changes anything about our daily life, we are always mostly by ourselves. I am currently trying to turn the prison that I feel (especially as an extroverted people-loving person) back into the island it actually is. I think many people would like to spend a quarantine in paradise. And I think about solidarity and love.

Corona has brought so much bad:

Pure selfishness when people hoard everything for themselves.

Fear of others, open racism, and mutual accusations.

Many, many divisions.

And somehow, I wish that Corona would bring forth love.

Love that considers others.

Solidarity for the weakest.

Love and lasting appreciation for the medical heroes who work on the front lines.

Flexibility in all plans, that we learn to look openly into the future and let go of our expectations.

I wish all of this and can contemplate it these days. We are also discussing how to proceed for us. It's actually time to book flights now. Of course, we hope that the other tourist - Mr. Corona - won't get far and gets stuck somewhere. With lots of rejected visas and a lot of bad luck. That he doesn't seek out older fellow travelers and gets put under house arrest as soon as possible. Exactly the opposite of what we wish for ourselves.