The Come-Back, Day 14. Home Sweet Home.
Summer is in the air. It's warmer today than yesterday, and while the wind still comes from the northeast, it's calmed down today. The beaches are opening tomorrow. Since I don't have classes now, I could go. The only thing holding me back is the forecast water temperature, which is supposed to be around 17º/62º. I have no wish to freeze.
My husband went fishing early this morning with a friend. It's the first time in months he's been to the ocean at daybreak. Even before the lockdown, either the weather or the tide had been against them since the end of last fall. Today, the situation was good, except for the fish. The only fish biting were small specimens, which they let go.
Despite the lack of economic resources, this isn't a bad place to live. We are surrounded by fields and woodland. Except in the middle of the villages, the houses are far from neighbors. The air is cleaner, and we grown plenty of our own vegetables; some even grow their own chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, sheep, or pigs. During the lockdown, staying at home was not that much of an ordeal because we could go outside to our own garden.
Now, lots of people who have few economic problems, are looking into buying houses, preferably with a garden. The house might be attached, semi-detached, or standing in the middle of five acres all alone. People don't care. They just want a living space with access to a private garden. During the lockdown, the only access to fresh air that many city dwellers had were windows and balconies. Common areas were forbidden. Families had to stay together twenty-four hours a day, without anyone being able to retire to a corner of a garden, or an attic, or even the basement, to get away from everyone else.
So, now the real estate offices are starting to see an uptick in people looking to exchange their flat for a house. But those who are doing so tend to be those with the means to do so, and with the bigger flats, to begin with. What of the family of four that had to make do in the only flat they could afford, with perhaps a tiny kitchen little bigger than a pantry, a small combination living and dining room, and two small bedrooms, along with a bathroom where two people would barely fit together? Ah, and no balcony. Those families, unfortunately, can't look for a house because they simply don't have the income to pay for it. It's not just a Spanish problem, though.
In New York's boroughs, many families living in cramped apartments had no choice but to try to get along. Some conditions were even worse, with maybe five or six people occupying a three room apartment. Is it any surprise that poorer, overcrowded people are the ones to get sick and die more often than the better off? The same thing is happening in Brazil's favelas, where the drug clans decided to impose their own lockdown, while the government pushed the conspiracy theory that the virus was a hoax and life should continue as usual. The poor that have no way to effectively quarantine are the ones who make up most of the sick and dead.
The guidelines in Spain are, that if a family member tests positive, that member should isolate themselves in the house, in a bedroom by themselves, and using a separate bathroom from the rest of the family. That's wonderful advice for those who live in ample houses and where each member can have their own bedroom with an attached bathroom. We are part of that lucky group. When our daughter was worried she might be infected, she stayed in the empty house we have next door. If we didn't have that house, quarantining in our house meant we would all get sick. It's not extremely tiny, but it's not a mansion, either.
What this might mean is an end to the attempts to introduce pod-style apartments to this country. In Barcelona, a company bought a building and tried to make pod apartments. They consisted of a tiny space with a narrow bed, a tiny television at its foot, and some type of storage, in which the person who rented it couldn't even stand up because there was no headroom. There would be a common bathroom, common kitchen, and common sitting room per floor. The mayor said such tiny apartments were undignified, and thereby prohibited them from opening. After the lockdown, I doubt many will want to rent a pod, even if it's the only place they can afford.
Written into the Spanish constitution is an article that says that "all Spaniards have the right to enjoy adequate and dignified housing." Maybe, with this, people will look at living quarters with different eyes. Maybe. And maybe a miracle can be worked.
Life continues.
My husband went fishing early this morning with a friend. It's the first time in months he's been to the ocean at daybreak. Even before the lockdown, either the weather or the tide had been against them since the end of last fall. Today, the situation was good, except for the fish. The only fish biting were small specimens, which they let go.
Despite the lack of economic resources, this isn't a bad place to live. We are surrounded by fields and woodland. Except in the middle of the villages, the houses are far from neighbors. The air is cleaner, and we grown plenty of our own vegetables; some even grow their own chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, sheep, or pigs. During the lockdown, staying at home was not that much of an ordeal because we could go outside to our own garden.
Now, lots of people who have few economic problems, are looking into buying houses, preferably with a garden. The house might be attached, semi-detached, or standing in the middle of five acres all alone. People don't care. They just want a living space with access to a private garden. During the lockdown, the only access to fresh air that many city dwellers had were windows and balconies. Common areas were forbidden. Families had to stay together twenty-four hours a day, without anyone being able to retire to a corner of a garden, or an attic, or even the basement, to get away from everyone else.
So, now the real estate offices are starting to see an uptick in people looking to exchange their flat for a house. But those who are doing so tend to be those with the means to do so, and with the bigger flats, to begin with. What of the family of four that had to make do in the only flat they could afford, with perhaps a tiny kitchen little bigger than a pantry, a small combination living and dining room, and two small bedrooms, along with a bathroom where two people would barely fit together? Ah, and no balcony. Those families, unfortunately, can't look for a house because they simply don't have the income to pay for it. It's not just a Spanish problem, though.
In New York's boroughs, many families living in cramped apartments had no choice but to try to get along. Some conditions were even worse, with maybe five or six people occupying a three room apartment. Is it any surprise that poorer, overcrowded people are the ones to get sick and die more often than the better off? The same thing is happening in Brazil's favelas, where the drug clans decided to impose their own lockdown, while the government pushed the conspiracy theory that the virus was a hoax and life should continue as usual. The poor that have no way to effectively quarantine are the ones who make up most of the sick and dead.
The guidelines in Spain are, that if a family member tests positive, that member should isolate themselves in the house, in a bedroom by themselves, and using a separate bathroom from the rest of the family. That's wonderful advice for those who live in ample houses and where each member can have their own bedroom with an attached bathroom. We are part of that lucky group. When our daughter was worried she might be infected, she stayed in the empty house we have next door. If we didn't have that house, quarantining in our house meant we would all get sick. It's not extremely tiny, but it's not a mansion, either.
What this might mean is an end to the attempts to introduce pod-style apartments to this country. In Barcelona, a company bought a building and tried to make pod apartments. They consisted of a tiny space with a narrow bed, a tiny television at its foot, and some type of storage, in which the person who rented it couldn't even stand up because there was no headroom. There would be a common bathroom, common kitchen, and common sitting room per floor. The mayor said such tiny apartments were undignified, and thereby prohibited them from opening. After the lockdown, I doubt many will want to rent a pod, even if it's the only place they can afford.
Written into the Spanish constitution is an article that says that "all Spaniards have the right to enjoy adequate and dignified housing." Maybe, with this, people will look at living quarters with different eyes. Maybe. And maybe a miracle can be worked.
Life continues.
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