Life Update

What a difference a year makes!

Today is the 26th of April 2020, 5:30 in the afternoon, and I am here inside my apartment. I've actually been literally inside my apartment for a month and a week now due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  As I was reading my last post here in this blog, which was an emo/dramatic experience, I was thinking - My past self back then would have never ever even imagine the situation I am and the whole world is in right now. 

People around the world are living in strange and difficult times. Strange because at present, with our modern practices and technology, we are still grappled by this novel coronavirus, officially called SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2). A pandemic has occurred before during the early 1900s and in this freakin' year 2020, history is repeating itself. Difficult because millions of people have already been infected and hundreds of thousands have already died and the front liners - doctors, nurses, and other people in the medical field - are risking their lives everyday to help the infected patients. Different countries have imposed lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus. Social distancing, proper hygiene (always washing one's hands, avoiding touching one's face), and the use of masks have been implemented to flatten the infection curve to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system. Schools, restaurants, cinemas, and other establishments have been closed. Events which involve large gathering of people have been cancelled.

With all these happening, personally, it's just too much to take in. The first few weeks that the quarantine has been imposed, I was thinking this would be a way to have a break from my everyday experiments at work but then, I was also feeling anxious knowing the numbers and how easily the infection spreads. It's been a roller coaster ride of emotions from that moment on - anxiety, depression, loneliness. There were nights were I would wake up in the middle of the night and just stay awake for 2 to 4 hours. There were mornings were I was thinking if all of this is just a bad dream. But, unfortunately, it's the reality. Whenever I have to do essential stuff, like buying my groceries and doing my laundry at the laundromat/waschalon, I was always nervous that I might contract it from other people. It's like I am in Hunger Games trying to survive day by day. This is our reality now and things will not get to normal until a vaccine is developed. The silver lining though is that - the last time I checked, there are now 81 groups or companies that are doing clinical trials for the development of a vaccine. They say the earliest that a vaccine would be developed is next year, so hopefully, these groups will be successful. 

These past days, I've been experiencing irritated throat and body and joint pains. Last Thursday, I called the doctor and told my symptoms and also told her I was scared if this is already Covid-19. She recommended that I go to the testing center. The next day, I went to the Uniklinik testing center and had the swab test. They sent me the result on the afternoon but I only got to check it on Saturday...and thank God it was negative! Such good news and a big relief!

With regards to other aspects of my life:

1) I should be writing my thesis during this quarantine but I just find it hard to focus. Sadly, I am always procrastinating. I don't have the motivation anymore unlike when I was younger. This is terrible but I hope to get back on track again. I need motivation, focus, determination, perseverance, and the momentum to read the journal articles and start writing some parts of my thesis. 

2) The long awaited, long hoped for happened - I finally met someone who likes me, cares for me, treats me as an equal, and respects me as a person. We may be from different countries but his personality definitely complements mine. He is the third person I met up with on Tinder. We had our first date May of last year and after 8 months of getting to know each other, we have decided to start a relationship. It's been 4 months now and I'm just happy and thankful. It's just amazing to finally meet the person you've been praying for all these years and it made me realized that God truly grant the desires of our hearts.

I guess that's it for my life update. I hope we all continue to stay healthy and safe!