We knew about the virus when we arrived in Granada, Spain at the end of January. We did not know then how much the virus would affect us– after all, China seemed so far away…how could it possibly reach us? Looking back I realize this is the mentality America struggled with too and it has become a problem faster than any of us could have imagined.
We lived our lives as if nothing was happening. We went to clubs, shared drinks with friends, I licked the same ice cream as my best friends, and we sampled all of the olive oil possible. Luxuries I never realized I wouldn’t be able to have in just a few weeks.
When we first heard the news of Italy, I had a feeling. I could feel that the situation was getting more serious, especially with Spain being so close. Our universities at home emailed us, telling us that if we decided to come home now, they would pay for our flights and for a semester’s worth of credits. Yet most of my friends still emphasized the fact that they didn’t want to be sent home so early. The study abroad students in Italy were already being sent home, and many of them were really upset. But we were in Spain still acting as if nothing was happening.
When the first cases of coronavirus hit Spain, the whole country took on the attitude, “No pasa nada,” which translated to “oh, it’s nothing.” My senora said that as long as we keep eating oranges, washing our hands, and staying active– we’d be fine. My friends and I went to Amsterdam for the weekend and I had the most amazing time. But when we came back I looked at the live coronavirus update and the numbers had jumped from less than 200 cases to over 1000 in just that one weekend. I was scared. If the numbers kept rising like this would I be able to stay in my study abroad program? More importantly, if the situation got worse, would I be able to get home? I face-timed my boyfriend and he predicted by the end of that week, the numbers would skyrocket to 5000– he was right. By Thursday the numbers had reached that mark.
Everyone went to the club on Wednesday, but I had opted out this time because I had the worst migraine. On Thursday morning I woke up to hundreds of texts and emails from faculty at Rowan, and my roommate whispering across the room, “we are being sent home.” It didn’t feel real.
At noon we had a meeting with our program directors. It was true, we were being sent home. President Trump had declared that all US citizens needed to return home by March 20th. There were talks of many international borders closing. And from then on followed the three most stressful days of my life. The first 24 hours we had not heard anything about our flights. Our program directors were in charge of organizing our flights and we were getting worried they might not find any. When all of us had done individual research we could only find flights with 20-hour layovers in either Madrid (where the virus was) or Istanbul. I had my mom calling me and my whole family telling me to get on any flight I could before borders closed.
I cannot begin to describe how stressful it was just waiting. Every hour seemed to bring more bad news and cases kept skyrocketing. I had never felt more isolated from my friends in my entire life…they didn’t understand what I was going through. How could they? They were not the ones feeling stranded in another country away from everyone I loved. And no one could do anything to fix this. I felt so helpless.
When we finally received our flights, we also received news that the entire country was put on lockdown. We were only allowed to leave for the supermarket and the pharmacy. There were talks that police were going to patrol the streets eventually, fining people who were out without excuse. I went to bed that night thinking at least I have a flight home.
The next day we spent the whole day in the house. One of my best friends who was also in Spain with me– it was her 21st. We were not allowed to celebrate it with her due to the lockdown. My roommate all day had been talking about going to the market and my senora told me to go with her.
When we left the house it looked like a ghost town. Something out of an apocalypse movie. There were almost no people on the streets and those that were wearing masks and gloves and seemed to judge me for not wearing the same things. I couldn’t. All of the sanitary supplies had been sold out for weeks. I had so much anxiety walking outside. The only thing I could think was, fuck I need to wash my hands again. I just didn’t want to get the virus. I did not want the airlines to have a reason to not let me on my plane back home.
The supermarket didn’t look right. There was a line on the outside of the building of about 20 people– all three feet apart in masks and gloves— and it was only one in and one out. I felt too anxious to walk in. We went back home. That night our flight got canceled. More stress. More talks of borders closing. I just wanted to get back home. I wanted to be home more than anything. Our program directors found us a different flight and we left at 4:30 am the next morning. A bus to Granada airport, a plane to Madrid, and then another plane to JFK.
At our layover in Madrid 20 minutes before boarding, our flight got canceled again. It was comical at this point. We waited in long lines to get the boarding passes for our new plane while being told over and over again to stand 3 ft apart. At 12:30 we left for JFK.
My friend and I popped Tylenol and Ibuprofen when we landed for fear of having any temperature. People were saying that when we landed if they found we had a temperature that we would be sent to federal quarantine. I had a slight cold from stress (which I always get when I don’t sleep and we had been up for 24 hours), and none of us wanted to be pulled aside for the little things. As we exited the plane, they checked our temperatures. I breathed the biggest sigh of relief when I was told I had no temperature and all of the passengers coming out congratulated one another.
We made it back to the USA. I had never been happier to see customs in my entire life. I ran to see my parents and hugged my friends goodbye. It sucked that study abroad ended so quickly but I was so relieved to be back safe after the stress of everything. And now as I type this I am in self-isolation (with no symptoms and feeling fine!) for the suggested period of two weeks by the CDC. It’s not so bad… it’s nice to be home.
BUT all of that being said, this virus has been one of the most stressful experiences I have ever lived. I know in America it has not hit us like it did in Europe, but it will and we need to start taking precautions NOW.
Stop going to clubs. Stop going to concerts and parties. Wash your hands every time you touch something public (bathrooms, transport, vending machines).
I know it sounds redundant but these things are necessary. If you don’t want to be stuck in a nationwide lockdown, you need to start listening NOW. I cannot stress this enough how important it is to be careful now and prevent this spread. I wish I had known how to act in this situation before it got to Spain… 20/20 hindsight. Be smart America please go wash your hands!