So, Gloria has Covid…

Gloria has not been feeling well for about a week. Thursday night MINSA (Ministerio de Salud – health department) came and tested her. She had to pay $35. Now she has to quarantine for another week. People are much more jumpy here than at home. Friends were texting asking where she got it from; did I have symptoms; have I been vaccinated; do I plan to isolate? No, I do not plan to isolate. I also have not been within 10 feet of Gloria since she started having symptoms. So, I made sure I shared that with everyone, and now I have to make sure that we enforce this, so no one gets upset. Life in a pandemic. It’s tiring.

Tomorrow I’m having dinner with a conservative bunch; I’m not expecting the same response. It’s early Omicron days here. I think things will calm down once more people contract it and recover from it, as has happened in the U.S. I also think that the numbers are much higher here than reported because people are simply not being tested. I told Gloria last Sunday that if she were in the U.S. she would already be at the testing station. Instead, she had to wait to get someone to come here to test her.

I did take a dish over today, and Gloria left this nice card outside my room. (No idea why my phone insists on taking videos instead of photos.)

I especially like the last line. It reminded me of Auntie Toula kissing me good night one night. She held my face in her hands and said, “Thank you for being you.” What sweeter sentiment can one share with another?

So, again, something’s up with my phone. I did take a few photos this morning, but they are nowhere to be found. Barb and Debra came at 7:30 this morning, and we went on a hike not too far from my house. It was about 6.5 miles round trip. Perfect weather, about 70 degrees, sunny and not too windy. Happy I took my walking poles. Lots of things to tangle the ankles, and also a creek to cross. Poles are invaluable for this.

Debra just returned from Quito, Ecuador where she and her partner, Pascual, have a B&B. She has a home here that she shares with Pascual that is supposedly quite amazing: lots of flowers, animals, and life off the grid… I’d love to see it. Hopefully we can do that before she and I both leave in April. She is planning to return to Canada to be with a daughter. Long story. I’m hoping to get a photo of her. She looks like Lee Remick. Pascual looks like Gerard Depardieu (whom I used to like until I googled for the spelling of his name) but he’s not here, so no photo of him.

I spent the rest of the day with a bit of calligraphy, bubble.io, a bit of cooking, and working on my cards. I’m going to post some soon.

I also owe a deep debt of gratitude to my friend, Pewaukee Cathy. I call her that because her name is CathyAnne Schulte, and her family owned Schulte’s Landscaping in Pewaukee. The building is still there. She hasn’t been back for years. The family no longer owns it. So…I owe her a debt of gratitude because she copied onto a thumb drive a LOT of PBS videos. It is one thing I really miss here. Cathy is a TV junkie, and she likes many of the same things I do, so she has them on her computer. Today I was able to catch up on one of my favorites that I started to binge on at home – The Seaside Hotel. I highly recommend it.

Tomorrow is the last day of La Feria, the annual flower festival in Boquete. I’ll walk down and get some photos – if my phone cooperates.