November 15 Blog
Well it’s been a bit. I finally have some time on my hands.
On February 29, 2020, the USA confirmed it’s first death from COVID-19. 37 countries confirmed a first case of COVID-19 in February. [Wikipedia]
In my last post I said that we were moving into a condo. We booked it for a week because the current plan was to return to China on March 6.
So it’s now February 29, 2020. Leap day, the novelty kind of got lost in 2020. We moved our suitcases to the next place, it was a nice looking condo amidst all the fancy condo buildings on the shore north of the old town on the island. In this part of the island there were no UNESCO rules limiting development and it was lined with investment properties ready for international retirees looking for more value for their pounds, euros, yuan, and various dollars.
Our room looked nice but despite being on some high in the sky floor the road noise was quite disturbing. Our door was aimed at a major road and somehow the acoustics bounced the noise right inside. Well, that was all the complaints we had. The place hosted a striking view of the sunset over the water to the mainland. One odd thing was we were on the coast but out our window dump trucks and dredges were busily creating an extension of the island to accommodate even more condos and malls. Digital scenes of beautiful buildings were all over. It was all a little shoddy though. The tropics bring mildew as soon as the paint drys, without constant upkeep things deteriorate quickly. Without money to pay workers new buildings quickly age. These are the things I thought about as we watched the sunset with a glass of wine. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring.
March 1 brought an unsettling surprise. Jill’s school sent an email stating that she shouldn’t come back until they tell her. The school thought the virus was not under control and it would be safer if we did not return and risk catching it. Our plan was to return to Shenzhen on March 6, what to do, what to do. We had a few days to think about it.
