(So now this post will focus more on craziness the coronavirus has caused in our lives here in Saudi!)
Obviously, in January I started hearing "coronavirus" chatter but I didn't really start to pay attention until early February when the outbreak spread to Italy. Bc I was planning on leading a group of 100 people on a youth t*mple trip to Rome I started following the news religiously (pun fully intended)! At the same time, I had a few friends planning on traveling to Barcelona in mid-Feb to run a marathon and I was considering joining them and running the race too (I was training for a 50K in Malta so it would be a good training run). But alas, the Barcelona marathon was cancelled so my trip there didn't get to happen. Trip #1 is no longer! By end of Feb, I knew Rome wasn't going to happen either. Cases were exploding in Italy and spreading further south into Rome. Luckily, everyone got their flights refunded. We made the right decision too bc a week later the Rome t*mple was closed. Our family was pretty bummed about this trip bc we had decided to extend this trip a few days longer and make it our spring break. We were going to road trip to San Marino, Florence, and Pisa. Trip #2 down the drain!
Early March was when our daily routines started to change. Schools were closed and all the kids started virtual school. Our teachers at the elementary and middle school are amazing. We're so lucky that it's not just packets and worksheets. Emi & Mina are still on a schedule- they check in for homeroom, go to "class"- they meet virtually on google meet, watch pre-recorded lectures. They still have homework and submit assignments. They record themselves playing their band instruments and submit it to the band teacher. Mei has a daily schedule too- she is required to start school at 8 am. She does reading, writing, math, science, social studies, wellness, PE, art, music...even library (the library teacher records a video of herself reading a book). Kaiya's school was already prepared and knowledgeable about how to do virtual school bc they always have a couple virtual days built into their yearly calendar. The high school just announced last week that they're going to a pass/fail grading system for this semester...and likely won't be doing final exams. Overall, the kids are doing well with school...but they miss seeing their friends. And Kaiya says virtual school is actually more difficult (more work). It's already been announced that school will be virtual the rest of the school year- and while the Saudi schools will close at the end of April (for elementary) and mid-May (middle/high school), our schools will go until the originally schedule end date in mid-June. We're starting the 8th week of going virtual...7 more weeks to go! Meh.
Our daily routine became even more restricted as the days went on. By mid-March all of our recreational areas were closed off (no playgrounds or pools). Saudi also announced closing its borders in mid-March...no international flights! No domestic travel either. As of now, there is no end in sight to the travel ban. Social distancing was definitely in place too. I was still running with friends but staying a safe distance away. We also had to start wearing gloves at the commissary...and had our temperature taken before being allowed admittance. (Now we have to wear masks too.) By Mar 23, a curfew was imposed- no being outside the home between 7 pm-6 am. I am an early riser and usually was out the door by 5 am to run or cycle...but made do with 6 am. While we couldn't be with friends, we could at least go for a walk with the family or exercise or go grocery shopping. But April 6, we were required to be on 24 hr curfew...full lockdown. Only allowed to leave the house for groceries or medical...and even then, just 1 person per household and no kids allowed to leave the house whatsoever. Not being able to go for a walk, bike ride, etc has been really tough. I've been running in my yard, which is super boring (but I have finished 4 audiobooks whilst running solo so that's a plus)! Ironically, with the start of Ramadan, Saudi has decided to lift the curfew between 9-5pm. Part of me wants to jump for joy bc hooray, I can run somewhere else besides my yard! Then again, it was like 100 degrees by 9 am yesterday...do I really want to be outside?!
So what else has been cancelled?! Here's a list:
1) Mei and I had planned to visit my parents in Japan in early April. Trip #3 cancelled. Thanks corona. Oddly enough, the day we were supposed to leave was the same day my parents ended up leaving their mission early and headed home.
2) My 50K trail race in Malta. I'm so disappointed about this bc I trained so hard! Trip #4 cancelled. I ended up running a 50K around our compound but it definitely wasn't the same. I'm undecided about whether or not I'll try to go in October, when the race is rescheduled for. At this point, who knows that the world will look like in Oct!
3) All the kids activities- sports, etc...even therapy for Mei.
4) All ch*rch meetings- we've been doing sac mtg at home since mid-March. We've done a few virtual youth activities and will continue to do those occasionally.
5) EFY- Emi was going to Nauvoo for EFY with her friends this summer...but that's no longer.
6) Dibb family reunion in St. George
7) Eid trip end of May- for Eid we had decided to road trip through Europe! Starting in Amsterdam...then Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. We also had Kennedy flying out to join us. I was really looking forward to Europe in the spring. Trip #5 called off. This seems to be our new normal.
8) Kaiya's ACT test.
9) I'm most disappointed about this- our flights to the US have been cancelled. I was heading straight to the US with the 3 youngest from Amsterdam after the Eid break and flying to DC. After exploring DC for a couple days I was going to drive to WV to see my sister and her family...then land in Utah for the rest of the summer (with Kaiya and Brian joining later). Now we have no idea when/if we can get to Utah. We are stuck! Trip #6 called off. I really dislike you, corona...!
Monday, April 27, 2020
Covid-19 TImeline
I can't even attempt to catch up at this point, considering my last post was over a year ago. However, it seems appropriate to try and document some of our experiences related to the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has affected our life in Saudi. My awesome friend, Ashley, compiled a timeline of pertinent dates...this might not interest anyone but I want to have a record of this!
February 24 - First confirmed case in neighboring Bahrain
February 27 - Foreign pilgrims barred from visiting Mecca and Medina
March 2 - First confirmed case in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia limits entry to people who have visited certain countries in the past 14 days
March 3 - Saudi Arabia restricts entry for GCC citizens
March 5 - Stake Conference broadcast to branches and wards (instead of in person in Bahrain)
March 7 - Saudi Arabia banned crossing any borders by land and limited its access points by air to 3 airports
March 8 - List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Qatif on lockdown, All self directed groups using recreation facilities are cancelled, At 9:45 pm Saudi announces all schools closed until further notice.
March 9 - List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Air travel is severely limited, SAES schools hold last day of classes
March 10 - First day of virtual school for Dhahran High School (ISG)
March 11 - Most indoor recreational facilities closed, Church announces General Conference will be distributed via technology only, Church announces changes to missionary work
March 12 - First day of virtual school for middle school, List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Non-urgent medical appointments cancelled
March 13 - Sacrament meeting held via Zoom, All church meetings temporarily cancelled
March 14 - Saudi Arabia announces it will suspend all international flights starting Sunday, but the directive actually takes effect immediately
March 15 - First day of virtual school for elementary, All remaining recreation facilities closed, including baseball fields and playgrounds, Only 80 people allowed in the Commissary at one time
March 16 - Only commissary, pharmacy, laundry services and coffee shops remain open on camp
March 18 - Aramco announces controlled access to residential communities, Saudi Arabia orders public sector workers to stay home for 15 days, Malls closed
March 20 - All domestic flights suspended
March 23 - 7 pm - 6 am curfew imposed, including a 10,000 sar fine and imprisonment for violations
March 25 - Church closes all temples. Some had previously been closed.
April 2 - US Consulate announces commercial repatriation flight from Dammam to Washington D.C. on April 6. Flights are $1850 one-way to get to Washington D.C. only, Global cases pass 1 million
April 6 - 24-hour curfew announced, Can only leave for groceries and hospital from 6 am - 3 pm (in your neighborhood only), Military checkpoints set up to make sure you only shop in your neighborhood
April 8 - Grocery shopping at the commissary by appointment or delivery only
April 10 - KLM cancels June flights back to the states, No longer flying to/from Dammam
April 12 - Aramco Government Affairs secures agreement with the Dhahran police to allow DH camp residents to go to grocery stores in Doha and Dana
April 16 - Global cases exceed 2 million
April 17 - Dhahran Ward virtual sustaining meeting
April 24 - Ramadan starts
April 26 - Curfew relaxed in response to Ramadan, we are now able to go outside between 9am-5pm until May 13th. Stores/malls will get to open during this 2 week period starting April 29.
February 24 - First confirmed case in neighboring Bahrain
February 27 - Foreign pilgrims barred from visiting Mecca and Medina
March 2 - First confirmed case in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia limits entry to people who have visited certain countries in the past 14 days
March 3 - Saudi Arabia restricts entry for GCC citizens
March 5 - Stake Conference broadcast to branches and wards (instead of in person in Bahrain)
March 7 - Saudi Arabia banned crossing any borders by land and limited its access points by air to 3 airports
March 8 - List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Qatif on lockdown, All self directed groups using recreation facilities are cancelled, At 9:45 pm Saudi announces all schools closed until further notice.
March 9 - List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Air travel is severely limited, SAES schools hold last day of classes
March 10 - First day of virtual school for Dhahran High School (ISG)
March 11 - Most indoor recreational facilities closed, Church announces General Conference will be distributed via technology only, Church announces changes to missionary work
March 12 - First day of virtual school for middle school, List of countries with travel restrictions expanded, Non-urgent medical appointments cancelled
March 13 - Sacrament meeting held via Zoom, All church meetings temporarily cancelled
March 14 - Saudi Arabia announces it will suspend all international flights starting Sunday, but the directive actually takes effect immediately
March 15 - First day of virtual school for elementary, All remaining recreation facilities closed, including baseball fields and playgrounds, Only 80 people allowed in the Commissary at one time
March 16 - Only commissary, pharmacy, laundry services and coffee shops remain open on camp
March 18 - Aramco announces controlled access to residential communities, Saudi Arabia orders public sector workers to stay home for 15 days, Malls closed
March 20 - All domestic flights suspended
March 23 - 7 pm - 6 am curfew imposed, including a 10,000 sar fine and imprisonment for violations
March 25 - Church closes all temples. Some had previously been closed.
April 2 - US Consulate announces commercial repatriation flight from Dammam to Washington D.C. on April 6. Flights are $1850 one-way to get to Washington D.C. only, Global cases pass 1 million
April 6 - 24-hour curfew announced, Can only leave for groceries and hospital from 6 am - 3 pm (in your neighborhood only), Military checkpoints set up to make sure you only shop in your neighborhood
April 8 - Grocery shopping at the commissary by appointment or delivery only
April 10 - KLM cancels June flights back to the states, No longer flying to/from Dammam
April 12 - Aramco Government Affairs secures agreement with the Dhahran police to allow DH camp residents to go to grocery stores in Doha and Dana
April 16 - Global cases exceed 2 million
April 17 - Dhahran Ward virtual sustaining meeting
April 24 - Ramadan starts
April 26 - Curfew relaxed in response to Ramadan, we are now able to go outside between 9am-5pm until May 13th. Stores/malls will get to open during this 2 week period starting April 29.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
