written by: Xandra Canlas | Comm2B
Upon hearing various announcements and orders regarding the COVID-19, my initial reaction was really “what?” I honestly don’t know what to feel, it feels weird and also alarming. But when the changes reading the orders that were followed started in our barangay, that’s the time it hit me. It is really happening and we have to move.
My family always go to the grocery to buy necessities and stock up food that is good for at least a month. But because of the announcement regarding the month long enhanced community quarantine, we stock up differently this time and because people are also buying things, we end up buying in various grocery stores and buying products that are a bit pricey because the usual ones that we buy are out of stock. And when you thought that the dilemma ends when you’re able to gather your needs, there goes the very long line where you will end up waiting for at least 30 to 40 minutes. And to add up, the grocery stores are very crowded and social distancing is not practiced.
While every other school around manila are suspending online classes, here we are continuing to respond to online classes provided by our professors that is ordered by Letran. At first, we were kind of excited in using zoom, because it is actually “cute” that you get to see your professor and classmates online, and the fact that it e-classes are happening. But as time goes by, problems are slowly arising like unstable connection and personally I find it hard to understand the classes. I also usually lose focus and fails to finish the tasks that were given to us weekly. Not because I’m too lazy to do it but I always end up staring at my laptop and doing nothing at all. It still different learning on a room with your classmates beside you and a professor in front.
Besides attending to online tasks, what keeps me busy these past few weeks are watching movies or series (sometimes), reading books, writing, exercising, sleeping and spending time with my family. Actually, this quarantine has good side because I’m able to talk with my little sister thoroughly and exchange insights about things. Yes, we are able to talk on a daily basis back then but it is very limited because she has training and my classes usually ends up late. Surprisingly my mother didn’t know I play the guitar so after discovering that we usually jam and sing together. I have good relationship with my family (mother and sister) we are close but truthfully speaking there are some things that you end up keeping to yourself because things around you are slowly changing you and you don’t have the time to actually share it and introduce yourself once again that the person you knew back then is somehow different form the person you get to see at home for a very short period of time.
What saddens me the most probably is that my sister is unable to experience her prom and going up the stage, getting her diploma and accepting her transition rites. She was not able to experience that full blown grade 10 life that I get to experience but nevertheless I’m excited by the fact that she’s moving to the Colegio next year. To add up, what also makes me sad is that I really miss hanging out with my friends and I miss their presence. They’ve been a big part of my everyday life. They are the ones who get to see the real me, the one who is really carefree and true to herself. And I promised myself that after this quarantine we will be able to sit again on a lunch table together, to eat, to talk about life and just to shrug off the negativity and laugh. And I can’t wait for that to happen.
To wrap up, I can say that I was able to think about things and because I have plenty time for myself, I was able to reflect on the things that happened in the past, the decisions I have to make and how I will view and take things differently starting from now on.