Mangos

It looks like we are going to have a lot of time on our hands over the next few weeks and unfortunately, it looks more like months.  The Coronavirus that was largely dismissed months ago as something similar to the flu has taken control of the world.  Currently affecting 202 countries and almost one million people, that we know of.  I feel extremely lucky to be able to stay at home with family as I know many people around the world are not as fortunate.  We have space, warm weather, food and most importantly each other.  The last few days we have been catching up on things we do not take time for, I have been fixing my blog (from when I lost all my photos) and looking through old photos.  Tonight I cooked a dish I have not made for about ten years, eggplant parmigiana, and I must say it was delicious (I should have taken a picture but we ate it too fast).  Luis has started a couple University courses and Sebastian is getting stronger and more determined every hour.

 Passed out from trying to get into everything

 Sebastian on lockdown

His new favourite food, mango.  Dad is thrilled to pieces.

Uniting

Today starts a curfew and some restrictions in Barbados, I am sure that it will be a matter of time before we are also on full lockdown.  I can only hope that people unite during this time instead of the blame game tearing people apart. It would not be the first time that people blame the foreigners, different races or cultures for things and you just need to read a few history books to see this always ends in disaster.   Luckily we are with our loving family who would never behave this way and in an island where the people are known for their kindness and willingness to help others.  

 We are super happy that Lola is being so well looked after back in Phuket.  Nina and Pete are doing a wonderful job having also been placed on lockdown.  I am of course worried about her but feel so reassured she is being so well looked after.

 Showing Sebastian some cows

 A 6am morning on the beach, beautiful empty and probably the last one for sometime.

Barbados, so especially beautiful during this time as most tourists have returned home.  I do hope they will return one day soon as the island relies so heavily on their income.

Pool and Beach

It took us almost a week to get to the beach for the first time but I guess this visit is so very different than all my others.  It is so strange not seeing any friends and very little family so far into our trip. Poor Sebastian cannot understand why everyone he does meet does not give him a cuddle, he is dying to be held by someone other than us. But of course, it is necessary to keep the virus at bay and keep people safe.  I must add here that I have been super impressed by the way Barbados has handled it so far.  Many restaurants and businesses have close up, not because they have been told too but to keep their customers and staff as safe as possible.  I see orderly very spaced out queues at places that are still open, I know many people are trying to stay home as much as possible and the people I have seen around seem happy and just going about their day to day business.   We have spent the most time at home, have set up a pool for Sebastian but did manage a quick swim at beautiful Carlise Bay yesterday.

 I almost forgot how beautiful Barbados is.  It just shocks me every time, Carlise Bay was just spectacular yesterday and empty.

8 Months

On a much happier note, Sebastian not only celebrated the 8-month mark yesterday but also his first tooth.  Bottom front little tooth has popped through and it looks like a great tooth so far.   He celebrated by going to meet his Grandy Andy at a safe distance and discovering horses.

Eight months, he is growing up pretty fast.  It was great to see Aunty Andy from a distance.  I cannot wait till our two week mark is up for proper cuddles!

Blog Apology

I must readdress a recent post about Coronavirus, as upon rereading it sounds crazy insensitive and inappropriate.  Since I have had Sebastian I write things when I can, very quickly and often not with the same thought I put into it before.  I must first say I realise that the Coronavirus situation is beyond serious and will have mass implications across the world for probably years.  I know it is not something to be taken lightly.  I am worried for my friends and family I am not with, I worry about what will happen in Barbados a densely populated small island, I worry about Ecuador and Luis's family, I worry about being so far from my sister and her family and how this will end.  It is going to be devastating for so many reasons to so many families, industries and well basically no one will leave this untouched whether they get the virus or not.  I know the situation in Europe is absolutely devastating as it has been in China, South Korea, and other nations for the last few months and will be across the world in weeks to come.  My point was merely how things were reported and what this causes.  Fighting in shops over toilet paper, panic buying, stockpiling guns, blaming people for the spread of the virus is not helpful.  And I do think the way news is presented to the public helps cause this.  But again, this is my blog and my opinion so definitely not fact.  I also think everyone needs to be careful to know everyone's story before judging.  I see a lot of blaming on social media and the judgment of people's choices without asking why they made them.  We took the difficult choice to fly across the world for personal reasons but it was not a decision taken lightly and with lots of tears.  We did not want to put ourselves, our son or our loved ones here at risk but on balance we felt we needed to be here and close to Ecuador.   
I do worry tremendously for all countries and people and especially countries that do not have big incomes behind them.  I deeply apologise to all the people across Europe and North America and the world if I seemed insensitive in my earlier posts.  That was certainly not my intention, I suspect most of the world will be on some sort of lockdown soon and I hope we learn something from Europe as not sure we learned from Asia when we had the chance.

4 Flights 38 Hours

We made it, it took a total of 38 hours and 4 different flights but we have landed in Barbados and now starting our two-week self-isolation.  It is not so bad, we are staying at my cousin Craig's house and well it is a lovely house to spend two weeks in.   We have seen family through fences and will find a spot on a deserted beach until they put the island on total lockdown.  The flights were super bizarre, the whole world seemed to be closing down around us.  The airports are deserted as re the planes.  Who the hell knows how this is going to play out.

 Sebastian was an absolute star.  He handled all the flight's way better than I did.

Coronavirus

It is safe to say we have entered trickier times.  Coronavirus started in a city in China sometime in November or December (I cannot remember when) and Asia has been dealing with it ever since.  There has been a lot of discussion but not too much panic. Instead an attitude of let's deal with this as best we can. But now it has blown up in Western Europe in the USA, which means mass panic.  I am no expert but I do believe that this is not a very helpful reaction and will probably result in more chaos, loss of jobs, poverty than the virus itself.  But again, I am no expert.  For now, our school has shut, as has many schools and countries across the globe.  Europe, Canada, the US, and many South and Central American countries are on lockdown.  Sadly, Ecuador included.  We are desperately trying to fly to Barbados and then Ecuador on Friday to see family. But again know this may not be possible but as of today, we will try.   I hope the next post is after a very long journey to Barbados.   In the meantime, keep your hands clean, keep a safe distance from people and try not to panic.

Corona Break

All I seem to do is read and talk about the Coronavirus.  In fact, I imagine that is what most people are doing these days.  We are watching it closely as we are meant to fly out of Phuket on Friday so our loved ones can meet Sebastian.  It is stressful times for everyone and my new obsession with looking at the news every five minutes cannot be healthy.  Therefore, last night it was great to have an excuse to take a night off and not look at anything for a whole 12 hours.  It was Leica's 40th birthday and she held a great party at a fantastic venue not so far away.  I finally got out dancing and we feel much better for it.

Unfortunately, the break from the news watching came to a crashing end this morning when we both woke up to a million messages about airport closures and countries shutting their borders.  We will be watching everything closely this week and crossing our fingers we can leave on Friday.

Uncle Nick and Uncle Sam

What a wonderful time we had with Uncle Nick and Uncle Sam, they have been gone one day and we all miss them terribly.  I just wish I was half as switched on as they are when I was their age.  In fact, I wish I was as switched on as them now.  We had so many great discussions, and I just enjoyed having them here so much.  Sebastian was spoilt with attention and it was clear they genuinely adored being with him.  

We spent the last day like we started, back at our beach.  Sam made us this lovely picture and we had another nice dinner together.  I cannot wait till we meet up again.

Sunday Funday

I cannot believe it is Tuesday and I am now only blogging about Sunday.  As the world goes mad over the Coronavirus (I hope that I don't live to regret this comment) we took Sam and Nick to the South East to stay a night without us.  We had lunch and a swim with them before heading back to what felt like a very empty house.

Last week I posted about the island still being crazy busy.  I now realise that parts are and parts are super empty.  This hotel had no one in it, and usually, it is ridiculously busy.  I have not really mentioned the Coronavirus, and I guess I should so that I remember when I read this back at 80 (assuming I get anywhere near there).  I guess I do not really see it here, well no one has had it in Phuket and according to the government not many in Thailand. I think now we can only really watch and wait to see what happens.