so what’s new at the wuhan quarantine?

so..i haven’t written much lately. you’d think that with only a small apartment and a baby and my wife, and nowhere to go, i’d be swimming in extra time. the fact is that it’s the complete opposite. i get around six hours of sleep daily, plus maybe a nap if sophia takes one too. the rest is work. keeping house, entertaining my baby, keeping things exciting and interesting for her is a full time job. i wish i could take her downstairs. our residential park is quite nice. but it would mean taking a big risk. the best i can do is stand with her on the balcony, and wait for stuff to happen: someone walking, a car, birds beginning to nest. and if we’re lucky, a dog or a cat. my baby loves dogs, and like me, she isn’t that keen on felines..

a lot of things happened. a certain fried chicken chain which has a logo that “looks like a photonegative of Ho Chi Minn” has reopened and does deliveries. i was never a fan of them, but it was a nice break to go downstairs. chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce was all they had. i guess they still have supply chain problems. i wonder why.

we have a crazy hypochondriac a floor above me. she doesn’t dare go out , even with protective gear. she also would not accept food that volunteers could send her, because it’s coming through the elevator and they are contaminated. (in fact, we had only one infected in our building and he got the honor of solely using the right side elevator ever since..)

the lady still needs to eat. so she made a rope out of strips of bedsheets and loweres it down from the window. it looks like something from “the great escape”. it goes down and you see knot by knot, how it was made. but my baby loves seeing the rope going down and hoisting up bags of food... very exciting for her.

i got a food delivery a few days ago. food deliveries are not to your door. they are to the neighborhood gate. you pick them up, and it’s mostly organized by volunteers who risk themselves going to the supermarket and buying stuff in bulk, then breaking it down to smaller care packages. its mostly greens and rice. we need more things for my baby, so we got a private , more expensive delivery. the guy comes and he only has strawberries (by the pound) and chicken to sell. what a strange business to have... so i got a huge basket of strawberries and a chicken. i bring it home, only to find that it was not gutted or cleaned. just plucked.

so what to do? i’ve never butchered anything in my life, i also have a problem with blood. at first we thought to just keep the legs and wings, but that would mean throwing away a lot of meat. so i had free anatomy lesson...it’s not fun at all.

people share a lot. if there is anything you need, other people come forward and offer you. they don’t ask for money and they don’t ask to trade.

We got C batteries for a toy we had. the batteries can not be obtained in stores normally, even before this crazyness. when they toy stopped working , my baby was very upset. but someone just gave us a pack when he read we needed.

we also have a problem with diapers. ..had.. there is a jewish relief organization called Chabad. they have offices in many countries. i asked for help and got in touch with rabbai Shimon Freundlich. a very kind man . he arranged for a delivery of diapers from Beijing. really saved us..

these are just examples of good things that people are doing, caring and helping each other. while there are also bad things people do, focusing on them seem petty right now.

i want to close this post by saying i hope all of you are careful. the virus is spreading around the world. it’s probably heading your way whereever you are and it is NOT just another flu. avoid gatherings of people (movies...parties..). get gloves, masks and disinfectant before they run out in the panic that will come. keeping food and other things is also smart. there probably won’t be major shortages, but every time you have to go out is a risk, worth avoiding...

anyway keep safe and well.