Adrift in Andalucía

Phase 2

We have made it to Phase 2. This brings a few changes.

The beach is officially open. Although we have been able to use it for exercise for the last few weeks, the beach has been closed to swimming and lounging for 11 weeks. Now, most exciting, we can swim in the sea!!

Leo wanted to get out to swim as early as possible on the first day. He would have gone out at 7am, but we made him wait until 9am so it would be a little warmer, and we could eat breakfast. We returned for a second swim in the afternoon.

The government is trying to figure out how to ensure social distancing on the beach. The entire length of the beach is groomed every morning and rectangles are drawn to designate spaces.

Close to the water’s edge where the tractor can’t go, flags are passed out by lifeguards so you can mark your beach space.

Later in the summer, when people are allowed to travel from other provinces and countries, people will have to reserve their beach spot online. The Andalucían government is hiring 3000 unemployed people to act as beach sanitation assistants, to help local law enforcement maintain social distancing. They will receive double the minimum wage.

Another big change is that we all can go out for exercise at any time of day! This means that the boys can go out in the morning again, which is especially welcome since going out at noon is too hot, and waiting until it cools off in the evening is too late for 2 active boys to have to wait.

You can gather in groups up to 15 (although we don’t have any plans to). We have met up with a few friends at a safe distance, and will probably see a couple more, to say goodbye before we leave.

Leo played with his friend Leo, while I chatted with his mom on the beach, 2 meters apart in our separate sand rectangles.

Restaurants can open indoor seating at 50% capacity, which means that more restaurants have opened, since owners are finding it more financially worthwhile (previously they could only be open on terraces and for take out). In order to open, restaurants have to follow strict hygiene guidelines.

Restaurants have to be creative in their use of space to try to get as many customers as possible.

The Thai restaurant set up one of their tables in the pharmacy’s parking spot (since they had closed for the day). Usually those tables are about 1 foot apart from each other and all fit inside the Siam awning that you can see in background.

Barbers and beauty salons were able to open in Phase 1, but we didn’t try it until this week (since Oliver’s hair was over his eyes). You have to make an appointment and only one person is allowed inside at a time. And of course everyone has to wear a mask.

We are still not allowed to travel outside of our province. We are okay with this, since it means that no one from outside can travel to the beaches in our province, keeping our exposure down. We also aren’t needing to go anywhere since we can swim in the Mediterranean every day.

Barranco Blanco

Our next outing took us west, to Barranco Blanco, another river bed, that gets its name (White Ravine) from the white limestone that lines the ravine.

This provided another great opportunity to cool off walking up the creek,

taking dips in the many different natural pools,

and enjoying the waterfalls.

The boys also spent a lot of time catching frogs.

These were the tiniest frogs I have ever seen.

It was so nice to get a way for a couple of day trips. Now back home so they kids can do their digital school work and we can do more planning and preparing to head home. Fingers crossed that our mid-June flight out of Spain doesn’t get cancelled!

El Río Chillar

Moving into Phase 1 allows us to do “rural tourism” within our province. We decided to celebrate by renting a car and taking a day trip to Río Chillar (our first time in a car and out of town in 2.5 months).

Río Chillar is a 25 minute drive east of our town. On a hot day, hiking up a creek was very refreshing.

The opportunity to get in the water was a real treat for everyone.

The kids didn’t stop smiling all day.

I don’t think the adults did either.

We had planned to just go a few kilometers in, but the kids were having a great time and begged us to go further.

We ended up walking about 6 hours!

Watch this little clip to get a glimpse into the experience.

It was a great day!

Phase 1

Progress! The Málaga province got to move into Phase 1 this week.

This phase change brings a few changes!

Restaurants’ outside terraces can open at half capacity, for groups of 10 or less.

Water sports can resume (we can go on the water and next to the water but not in the water yet).

Our rental townhouse has a kayak that we can use (finally!).

Libraries can open with reduced capacity.

Fishing and hunting can resume.

We can do “rural” tourism in our province only.

We biked to the far edge of our town where the beach is more wild.

We took a drive to Río Chillar for a creek walk (more on this later!)

People who live in the same house can now go in a car together (it was only one person allowed in a car before).

we rented a car so we could get out of town for the first time in 2.5 months

A few more businesses can open, with strict limits as to how many people can enter.

People can now visit friends and family in group of 10 or less. We haven’t been so brave to start doing this yet.

Places of worship can open at 30% capacity.

With more people out and about, Spain has required masks to be worn in closed spaces and streets where you can’t maintain a 2 meter distance.

Parts of the country will move to Phase 2 next week, but Málaga will have to wait at least one more week. Madrid and Barcelona will finally make it to Phase 1 next week.

The return to “new normalacy” is painfully slow, but the long months of confinement seem to have worked and all of the new freedoms are extremely welcome.

Mediterranean Sea Life

By Oliver Farris

Living on the Mediterranean Sea, my family and I see lots of amazing sea life. Let’s start with the species I saw first, the jellyfish.

The Jellyfish

There are three different types of jellyfish I have seen here in Spain.

The Fried Egg Jellyfish

The coolest one is the Fried Egg jellyfish. My friends and I found it during a Club Nautico camp. We had paddled out on our paddle board and then found it. Some people did not want to be that close to it because it is a very poisonous jellyfish, so we went back to the shore. After that, we got an instructor to go with us to see it again. The instructor, knowing it was poisonous, chucked it away with a paddle.

The Sailboat Jellyfish

Another jellyfish we have seen is called the Sailboat Jellyfish. We have seen it on beaches in America and on Mediterranean beaches. These jellyfish appear in large groups but they are quite small.

The Shiff Arms Jellyfish

The last jellyfish is the biggest jellyfish I have ever seen. One day my mom, my brother and I were walking on the beach when I saw something in the water. I ran over to it and it was a Shiff Arms jellyfish. I picked up a bamboo stick and pushed it out to sea where it floated away. This is a picture of the one that I saw.

Enough about jellyfish, let’s move on to something else.

Mediterranean Dolphins

All my life I have wanted to see a dolphin. Now I have seen a dolphin twice. Both times my family and I saw ripples in the water and then, BAM, a dolphin jumped out of the water. The best part was that I got a really good video both times. The first and second times I think we saw a Bottlenose dolphin but the second time the dolphin was bigger, darker and more majestic. Curious about the video? Check it out here:

Black Winged Stilt

The last animal I will share about today is called a Black Winged Stilt. We have seen this type of bird a few times now. They just sit on the beach but are very skittish. These birds are about the size of a pigeon but with long pink legs.

Conclusion

I have loved seeing all these fascinating creatures and hope to see more. Also, I hope that this gives you a peek into what we see everyday.

Phase 0

Last week we entered Phase 0, giving us the opportunity for outdoor exercise and allowing restaurants to offer takeout.

Even though restaurants are allowed to offer takeout, many have yet to open (questioning whether it makes financial sense). We only found one this week: Taj Majal Indian. First meal we haven’t cooked in 2 months.

This week many parts of Spain are entering Phase 1 of deescalation. Unfortunately, the province of Málaga did not quite qualify for Phase 1, mainly due to case numbers in Málaga city. The government is hopeful that Málaga will qualify to enter Phase 1 in a week. It is odd, however, that some provinces were able to open parts, whereas for Málaga it was all or nothing.

The police continue to keep a close eye on us, which is a good thing since some people have started to get a little more bold and are pushing the limits. I was stopped for this week on my way home from the grocery store (I was riding my bike alone during the children’s exercise time). They accepted my explanation and let me go on my way.

For now, our outings serve as a source of much joy.

The beach provides endless possibilities, even though we are not allowed to get in the water yet.

And I continue to be greeted by amazing sunrises for my dawn runs.

first plane contrail we have seen in a long time (not sure where it was going or where it was coming from)

Small steps

After 6 weeks of near complete lockdown, we were given a few new liberties. The first was allowing the children outside for some exercise and play. Kids under 14 were allowed outside the house for 1 hour, within a 1km radius of the house, once a day, with 1 adult, between 9am and 9pm. And they opened the beach for kids to play.

The very first morning the kids could go out was like Christmas morning for our kids. Oliver was the first one awake (that NEVER happens, even on Christmas morning). We were all dressed, fed and out the door by 9am. We had the world to ourselves. We were out before the local government had been able to remove the tape to signify that the beach was open. We played on the boardwalk until we saw a guy taking down the tape, double checked that it was okay, then spent the rest of the time on the beach.

The kept an eye on us, however.

One fun thing was many of Leo’s friends walking by and saying hello (unfortunately, because of the location of Oliver’s school, his friends live more than 1 km away).

A week later (7 weeks into the lockdown), we got a second new freedom… permission for adults to exercise outdoors!!! This new freedom does come with a very controlled schedule so that children, adults and seniors are all out separately. And just like the kids, we get to go out 1 time a day, but we can go anywhere in town for any length of time within our time windows (I’m not sure why kids are limited so much more).

First day I could go out for a run was like Christmas morning for me.

7 weeks of exercising on concrete, tile and marble has been really hard on my knees. They were very happy to run on packed sand.

Todd was pretty happy to get out too.

Surprisingly, most of the time that we have been out with the kids we are the only ones there.

But during the adult exercise time, there are lots of people out, even at dawn (when I was out).

And of course the police and national guard are out there keeping an eye on things.

The downside of our new freedom is that the window for kids to get outside has been reduced to noon-7. That means our boys cannot get out first thing in the morning anymore. They really loved getting out first thing.

Spain’s president has laid out a 4 stage asymmetrical deescalation of the lockdown (meaning that not every region of Spain will proceed through the stages at the same rate), mandating a minimum of 2 weeks at each stage. If all goes well, Spain will reach a “new normalcy” by mid to late June. “New normalcy” will still mean social distancing, and all restaurants, stores and public locations at 30% capacity. For now, I’m ecstatic that we all can get out for some exercise and to play every day.

The beginning of the end of lockdown?

We’ve been in lockdown for 6 weeks. The lockdown has just been extended for yet another 2 weeks, until May 9th, but the kids have been granted permission to leave the house for the first time in 6 weeks! Starting Sunday, they will be a to go outside for 1 hour, within 1 km of our home, for play. They must be accompanied by an adult (poor us, we will have to go outside to play with them). They will be allowed on the beach (first time for any of us in 6 weeks). They must keep proper social distance. Masks are optional, but encouraged (I guess they realize keeping masks on kids might be challenging).

The curve has flattened in Spain, both in number of cases and deaths, but I am surprised it hasn’t dropped more with are very strict quarantine. The numbers are especially good in Axarquía, the smaller region we live in and Andalucía in general. When the state of alarm ends, the lockdown can start to be lifted in different regions. Andalucía is hoping to be one of the first to have restrictions lifted. When they do start lifting the lockdown, it will be a very slow and cautious process. Currently, they are talking about not opening Spain to tourism (which includes hotels and restaurants) until the end of 2020. We are not sure when flights, other than repatriation flights to the U.K., will resume. We are hoping to have a better idea mid-May so we can start making a plan to come home.

One hopeful sign that our lockdown may be loosened is that the town has returned to fixing up the beaches. Torre Del Mar is very proud of their beaches and takes extremely good care of them (you can tell the difference when you go to other beaches in the area). Normally, workers are out daily, picking up debris and garbage, raking the sand, smoothing and watering the sand trail, sweeping the sidewalks to the beach, washing the boardwalk, painting railings and beach soccer goals, etc. When the lockdown started, all of that work stopped and the beach was empty except for the birds. Debris collected along the beach, the beach trail was washed away. Green spaces became overgrown and choked with weeds and long grass. This week we saw workers out; mowing grass along the board walk, cleaning up debris, shaping the sand trail that crosses the mouth of the Rio Seco.

For now the police have continued to be very strict and have constantly patrolled and staged roadblocks.

It’s funny how you can get used to this new “normal.” The kids really aren’t too unhappy. Oliver oscillates between saying, “I’m actually pretty happy,” and “I really want to go back to school and see my friends.” I think they are happy for a less pressured schedule. Oliver seems most worried about not being able to see all of the places we planned to see in April, June and July. He’s already asking to come back next year to see the things we’ll miss (finances and this virus may make a return trip something that won’t happen for a long time). Leo just seems content (he’s really a home body).

The boys’ schools are getting more comfortable with distance learning. Leo’s teachers finally got on Google Classroom. The initial upload of a month of work was kind of a pain, but it is much easier than searching through emails and WhatsApp texts to find all of the assignments. All of Oliver’s teachers but one are using Google Classroom (one insists on using Aula Virtual, so Oliver has to make sure to remember to look at two platforms).

They have added online tests and even virtual classes.

It doesn’t always work smoothly. For example, one time when Oliver logged in to complete a biology test the teacher had uploaded an editable copy of the test, so as soon as the students tried to complete the test, they started making changes. In a few minutes the teacher locked down the test and told the students that they would try again the next day. It was kind of funny once Oliver got over the initial upset of thinking he was doing something wrong and wouldn’t get a chance to even try to do the test.

Oliver says he kind of likes having everything online:

“Everything is clear.” In school nothing was given on a handout. They were given all the information orally and Oliver would take notes. He didn’t always get everything down in his notes and sometimes forgot things later. Online, everything is there in print, and he can go back at any time to check.

“I know when everything is due.” Again, online, all due dates are there and easily located.

“I can ask teachers a question.“ Oliver says that in school, students were not encouraged to ask questions. There was no time between classes to stay behind to ask a teacher and no office hours. Online, there is a comment space for every teacher and for the most part they respond to any questions.

“I don’t have to deal with the naughty kids.” Oliver constantly complained about disruptive kids In his classes. As class president, it was a regular job of his to take kids to the office for an “aparte” (in-school suspension).

“The teachers don’t yell at me.” This was a regular complaint when he was at school. The teachers would yell at the class for a variety of reasons. Oliver thinks the teachers are much nicer online because whatever they say is in print, and he can show his parents what they say.

Leo also prefers online school over regular school, because he doesn’t have to listen to the teacher lecture him.

Besides school work, we fill our days with a variety of activities.

The boys are learning to cook more.

The boys have joined me in the garage.

Oliver dribbles the soccer ball back and forth

One funny aspect of lockdown is that the kids really haven’t worn shoes in 6 weeks. If they join me in the shared garage they do need to wash their feet however.

And somehow we continue to dream up new ways to keep the boys active.

“Tennis” played with giant ballon and no hands

Easter provided us with lots of activities.

Dyeing the eggs.

Filling the cascarones.

Normally this would be done with confetti, but in an effort to keep our teeny tiny yard “clean” we just added a bit of cornmeal.

Finding the eggs.

And smashing the eggs.

Zoom and FaceTime continue to help us connect with home.

Hopefully after this latest extension of the lockdown, the number of cases will continue to decrease, the restrictions will start to loosen, Spain will start to reopen and we can start figuring out how to get home.

Leo’s view of Lockdown

Hi, I’m Leo. I’m stuck in the CoronaVirus lockdown in Spain. I have to do homework, so I wrote this. Hope you like it!

I feel okay with the lockdown because I have to do less school work, but I have to do chores. I also can’t go outside of my house, which is annoying.

Some activities I like to do during lockdown by myself are listening to my story (audiobooks, podcasts, etc.) or music, playing video games and reading DnD books for the umpteenth time. Some things I like to do with friends and family are playing DnD, sword fighting with LARP (Live Action Role Playing) swords (foam ones), throwing paper airplanes, playing games with Soccer, Basket, Spike and Ping-pong balls that we make up. I also like playing games with family. Some of these games are 42 and dominos. These are most of the things I enjoy during the lockdown.

Some things I miss because I can’t do them with the lockdown are playing games on the beach, riding bikes, climbing stuff like trees, rocks, rock climbing structures and really anything else that is climb-able.

I also miss eating out at restaurants.

During lockdown I especially miss friends.

In Spain lockdown is different because we can’t go outside except for these reasons: going to the grocery store, work, walking dogs, urgent need, or medical care. If you don’t follow the rules you get arrested or fined.

These are most of the things you need to know about lockdown in Spain. Hope it ends soon. Bye!

A month in lockdown

We have been in lockdown for a month now. It has just been extended for 2 more weeks, making it 6 weeks in lockdown, with no guarantee that will be the end of it. The lockdown appears to be working; the curve has been flattened for both the infection and death rate.

I’ve started to lose track what day it is so I have to cross off the days on the calendar.

We are still on a quest to find new ways to keep the kids engaged and happy, and ourselves exercised and sane.

And we’re still having treats to sweeten our time.

One big change in our Iives has been giving up the late Spanish meal schedule. Before the lockdown, we’d have lunch at 2 or 3 and dinner after 8 because of school and restaurant schedules, and because that is what everyone else does here. Now that there are no outside influences on our schedule we have gone back to a more American schedule.

Following this schedule frees me up to do my grocery shopping a couple of days a week when the rest of town is having lunch, so there are fewer people to run into.

Off I go alone with my old lady grocery cart. I walk instead of biking to have a few extra minutes outside.

We’re still enjoying calls from friends and family.

The police continue to patrol. In additional, the military has also started to patrol. Police are still catching people trying to make their way to holiday homes on the coast, especially with the Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Easter holiday.

They actually came into our garage because someone’s alarm was going off for nearly an hour and the garage smelled strongly of exhaust. Never learned what it was.

We continue to go up to the roof patio every evening at 8pm to applaud the health workers with the rest of Spain (we used to go up in the dark, but thanks to daylight savings time, we get to go just before sunset). The applause is often accompanied by police sirens who line up outside of the hospital then drive by our house.

Leo plays the drum he made and Oliver plays his flute, while Todd and I applaud.

One of our neighbors was taken away in an ambulance by someone dressed in protective clothing. Unfortunately, I can’t find out what happened and whether it was a CoronaVirus case or not.

We have two friends here that work in the health field. One is an ambulance driver. He has left his son, Leo’s friend, with his brother (who actually is one of our neighbors) so as to not risk infecting him. He hasn’t seen his son in a month. The other is a nurse at the hospital. She says every day is worse.

Ambulances drive by at least 3 times a day.

And we continue to enjoy our view. We are so, so, so glad that we have a view.

After a long day of rain, dirty water washed down the Rio Seco and into the Mediterranean, creating a layer of brown water in front of the turquoise water.

I’d like to plan for what is next, but I just don’t know what is next. I don’t ‘now how long we will be in lockdown. We were hoping to travel for the last 3 weeks before heading home in July and our first destination was supposed to be Italy, I don’t know if we will be able to make that trip. I don’t know when we will be able to get a flight out. I just try to keep everyone healthy, safe and relatively happy, for now.