A survey of lockdowns

My spaceship has not have had so much use this year. I’ve traveled far less in the last 6-7 months than I have in years. Currently, in Slovenia, we have a surge in cases. So this means that we cannot leave our city and have a 21:00 curfew. Everything nonessential is closed except we can get takeaway from restaurants. I’ve managed to undergo lockdown or some form of lockdown in three different countries! In three completely different parts of the world!

So for fun, I’ve decided to compare all three lockdowns to determine the bearable and suck factors.

Lockdown # 1 San Pedro Guatemala

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Shortly after arriving in San Pedro, Guatemala, I learned the airport is closed until further notice. A couple of days later, the Guatemalan government started implementing a lockdown. If I knew now what I knew then, I would have just not have gone to Guatemala at all. I was a bit flippant and snarky about the whole Covid thing when it was just in the news. I mean come on, I heard the same stuff about the swine flu and ebola. My little escape was a little too prematurely planned. Anyways I was stuck there for a bit.

The suck factors: I had a very early curfew. I am not sure how much it was enforced, but I did not want to find out. I did not want to piss people off and be that person. I was afraid of being a source of blame. I also did not have much of a safety net in the event of an emergency. I also was never clear of the mask requirement. I had mine on to ensure the locals that I was living by whatever guidelines set, but I saw no policies enforced. I also scared this poor little Mayan girl every time I would visit her parents’ shop.

The bearable factors: I was alone. For many people, this is a suck factor. I enjoy my me time. There were also a lot of zoom chats with friends in case I wanted to talk to people. I had a beautiful apartment. I had time in the day to walk around. The fresh fruit sold in town was excellent. I ate quite well. I did improve my mediocre Spanish.

Lockdown two: The Southern United States

The suck factors

I had to deal with a couple of toxic issues that one sometimes has to deal with when returning to their high school hometown. Let’s stick to that. The uncertainty of getting back to Europe made things worse. My original goal was to get back to Europe, but certain requirements and canceled flights made this too difficult to plan. I did not have thousands of dollars to throw away on canceled flights. I also was not really sure how exactly to go from there. The American healthcare system! I didn’t have the proper insurance to stay in the US. I kept fearing that something horrible would happen to me, and I would go into medical debt. I was super paranoid about everything. Also, I didn’t particularly appreciate dealing with covid extremists; this goes for the idiots that refused to wear a mask and the types that would outright shame me for trying to get back to Europe as soon as possible.

The bearable factors

I was able to housesit for some family. This was a huge relief. I could do some socially distant activities with some old friends such as kayaking, hiking, and drinking craft beer outside of my favorite local brewery. I was able to get all kinds of great take out food. There is much more choice when it comes to groceries in the US. Not everything from the US is overprocessed junk that everyone seems to believe. Sure, you can find a lot of that, but you can find a lot of decent and wonderful stuff too. I had Mexican, Thai, Cajun, and Dim Sum at my disposal. I did spend too much on food, though. I got to witness some parts of the BLM movement. The events leading up were not bearable, but I had some faith restored in my so-called compatriots. I saw many people stand up for the right thing, and some of these people were not the kind of people I would have expected to. I was amazed to see people from all over the country mobilized. The fact there is racial injustice, and corrupt law enforcement still sucks.

Lockdown # 3 Ljubljana Slovenia

The suck factors: Curfew at 21:00! It does not matter so much as everything is closed. I live in a much smaller place, and I’m not alone. I miss my friends, but I would be missing them wherever I am. The grocery selections are pretty bleak. Also, the options are a bit limited for taking away. The language is difficult also. However, I can use English or German with a fair size of the population. I can make some deductions with my horrible knowledge of Czech. However, I want to do the right thing and try to learn some Slovene, but it isn’t a picnic.

The bearable factors: Ljubljana is still beautiful. There are some nice hidden nooks. I managed to have several months with “smart social distancing” before the last couple of weeks. I was able to go to a wedding this summer with some people I care about and visit Prague. I can talk to friends on zoom. I did enough travel in the last year to make a couple of months pause not a bad thing. My company is pretty nice for the most part as well

Which lockdown was the most bearable?

Ljubljana! It wins only because I have fewer uncertainties weighing down on me. I have access to healthcare in case something happens. I am in Europe, which is where I prefer to live. It might be the most boring, though. Guatemala wins for the most interesting. The US wins for the most comfortable.