The Silence is Deafening

Antigua without traffic

A week into the four o'clock curfew I find myself wishing that there was a way to photograph the silence. Not a car, a bus, a motorcycle, not even a siren, gladly. And it is also very dark at night as only eleven of the thirty-five houses in my gated community are occupied. Rather than stay here where, so far, the virus is fairly well contained and the sun is shining every day, many fled back to the cold places they had been escaping from on evacuation flights. Friends renting across the street returned to Ground Zero, New York City. I fear for them. The US state department advised that everyone should come home. Why? In Guatemala we have been locked down at home for two weeks since before there was a single confirmed case. We are expecting more weeks of lockdown and curfew. In fact, an extension of the restrictions until April 12th was just announced.

As of today there are thirty-four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country. The majority are related to the one fatality, an eighty-five year old man with underlying health issues who had traveled from Spain. Ten of the thirty-four have tested negative twice and thus have been classified as recovered. They are still in quarantine, however. Thus, there are twenty-three active cases, all related to travel and only one is classified as serious. This, of course, might well change by tomorrow.

The Guatemalan government has created an app for cell phones, Alerta Guate, in order to be in constant contact with the entire population. One gets an alert whenever there is news; the alert can be translated into any number of languages. There is also an "SOS" button for immediate contact with the authorities as necessary.

In order to shop at Pricesmart (Costco) one has to wait in line on lines on the floor six feet apart. When you get to go in someone sprays the handle of the cart with Lysol, another person takes your temperature and asks you to use the bottle of hand sanitizer. There is plenty of stock including toilet paper. The president is frequently on television reminding people that eighty-percent of the cases are very mild but to be safe everyone must stay home and wash their hands. If one has problems breathing they need to call one of two special 4-digit phone numbers. A government team will go to the house, assess and administer a test if warranted. If positive for the virus the person is transferred to a special hospital. The president is earnest, honest and forthright. For the first time in decades people are praising the president of Guatemala.

Cris and Diego serving up tacos.

As for my house, it is full. A week or so before the lockdown started Diego told me that there were (again) problems in his house. He seldom spends more than an hour or two in the house he calls home. For all practical purposes he is living in my basement which has a stronger internet signal than his assigned bedroom.

Before his grandmother died, a year or so ago, she apparently confessed to one of her daughters that her husband, Diego's beloved grandfather, was not the father of Diego's mother. The daughter to whom she told her secret unwisely decided to share it with the rest of the family. Diego's uncle who lives in the family home and may well have an alcohol problem decided that his father should no longer be supporting someone who was not his daughter nor her three children. Diego reported that when the uncle was drinking he said very cruel things to Marielos in front of Cristofer and Mishell. He told me that he was worried about them. After a week long family conference it was decided that Marielos would move out. Supposedly, she will rent a room from a friend in a nearby community. And, Diego, told me somewhat hesitantly, that Cristofer and Mishell would be staying at my house along with their brother. He told me that they would be moving in on Monday, which coincided with the start of the Corona Virus lockdown. I said that I would pick them up as I did not want them taking a crowded bus. Diego told me that they would be ready at ten. I pulled up to the house and the two children came out carrying most of their worldly possessions in four backpacks. I did not see their mother nor their grandfather, no one from their family. They were happy and laughing. I was confused but refrained from asking any questions. I did not want them to feel uncomfortable. I was happy that the lockdown would keep the mother from showing up at my house every night at dinner time as she had done the last time that she had dropped off her kids, several years before.

Gladly, a friend who lives in Connecticut had arrived a couple of days before the lockdown started. Well over two weeks ago she had had her temperature taken by health officials who had boarded the airplane in Guatemala City. Jen, a university Spanish teacher and author of children's books in Spanish had wanted to visit a family at Lake Átitlan whom she had written about. She also had a workshop scheduled at the Antigua Green School working with kids who were interested in writing. Neither of those things happened as the evening she arrived the president announced the closing of the schools and most everything else including public transportation. What luck to have a teacher good with kids stranded in my house. There have been expensive evacuation flights sponsored by the state department but, gladly, Jen has opted not to return to her home near what might be the worst outbreak of the Corona Virus on the planet.

Mishell attending online classes

As the household help also has had to stay home we created a chore list. Everyone has some chores. I am in charge of making food available three times a day. Jen is doing the clean up and helped the kids get set up on Zoom for their online classes which started almost immediately. Cristofer feeds the dogs and cats in the evening and does some watering of the garden. Mishell is in charge of keeping the water filters full and Diego, watering the hanging plants and pots and washing the vehicles.

We have more or less settled into a routine. As the first one up I walk the dogs, feed the two dogs, two cats and three goldfish. Then I head upstairs to the terrace with a large cup of coffee where one thinks nothing can go wrong. I check the news but not too much as I am very annoyed that most of the news from the states is horrible with little mention of people who have tossed off the Corona Virus or stories of people helping other people. Here there are two animal rescue groups who are feeding the street dogs who rely on the now shuttered restaurants and the kindness of humans to survive. One group is buying the food with donations and is having the bomberos, volunteer firemen, distribute the food as they are allowed to be on the streets after curfew. The president has organized food distributions to the poor and to the students who rely on meals at their schools. Local corporations are donating money and supplies for the construction of temporary hospitals. There is an economic reactivation plan in place which includes infrastructure projects that will generate jobs.

Bread by Diego

Once everyone is up and fed breakfast there is school work. The three kids all seem to enjoy their Zoom classes as they can connect with their teachers and friends. Surprisingly, all three have expressed an interest in cooking. Diego is learning how to bake bread, Mishell makes way too many Snickerdoodles, likely because she has mastered the whole process. We are hoping to wean her into something with less sugar. Cristofer wants to learn how to fix dinner. One day he proudly held up a bag of pasta that he found in the kitchen and announced that we would have pasta that night. He did get a little help with the sauce and meatballs. The next night he was the sous chef for roast chicken, baked potatoes and broccoli, his favorite food.

Broccoli by Cristofer

Gladly, March is one of the better months weather wise. The sun shines most of the time and the temperature during the day is about eighty degrees, a temperature that is apparently fatal to the Corona Virus. I have a pool that is holding a temperature of about eighty-three degrees so we use the pool a lot for much needed exercise. Diego is very much seventeen and is still finding his place in the human race. Without some prodding he will spend the day in the basement playing video games. The basement is now off limits during the day and he is required to swim, ride his bicycle or play some soccer with his siblings at least once a day.

Escaping from the Corona Virus

We have access to a large coffee farm which houses my miniature horse and his companion goat, Maggie. As long as we pass a temperature check, we can enter the farm which is closed to the public.  The kids can run, ride bikes and spend time with a few friends at a respectable social distance. Jen is giving Diego driving lessons at the farm where one can drive around with little risk on the dirt roads and practice parking and backing up in the empty parking lot.

Mini and Maggie

Diego practicing his driving among the coffee plants.

We are home before the four o'clock curfew. Because my house is in a gated community we can still go out and walk the dogs and the kids can kick a soccer ball around. Laundry, gardening, cleaning and cooking occupy the hours later in the day. We have a sit-down dinner, which is very new to these children, and talk about the day, the restrictions, their feelings about the Corona Virus, what they would like to do the next day, etc. Mishell is reading books using my Kindle account on an old tablet. The boys refuse to be weaned from their video games though last evening Cristofer came into my room with a horrified look on his face saying, "the internet is out." I explained that a book is a good substitute for the internet. He shook his head. I offered a board game but he thought it was too late.

Today I picked up Astrid and Beyker in their village and all of the kids spent a couple of hours in the pool. Beyker, at three and a half, accepted the challenge to jump off the bridge into the pool.

Beyker takes a leap

Starting Monday Astrid will be "working from home" in my basement. She has been working for a call center and saving money to go to university next year. It is a good thing that she did not go this year as the academic year will likely be lost. As her call center is in Guatemala City she said that she was going to quit. She is good and fearless so they pleaded with her not to quit. The call center agreed to give her a computer to work from home but since her home has no internet it will be my home. Now there will be six places at the table as she finishes after curfew and thus cannot go home. Astrid was fielding customer and driver calls for Lyft and since Lyft seems to have disappeared she will be fielding calls starting Monday for Instacart which is apparently doing a lot better than Lyft right now. Some thirty people in the call center have been reassigned to Instacart.


My biggest concern is around eating three times a day along with an endless supply of Snickerdoodles, bread and wine. But one has to do what has to be done to get through this very unusual situation. So far, so good. I try not to think about what another month of this is going to feel like. I hope you all are hunkered down and staying safe.

Maggie the goat says "wash your hands."