The lyrics to this teen pop song have been stuck in my head for days. That's how it felt to me. The two of us trying to escape ahead of the virus, and the grownups with their borders and laws.
If you have seen my recent Facebook posts you know that we planned to return to North America on a cruise from Chile. We canceled after the first cruise ship went into quarantine a few weeks ago and this past week the cruise line itself canceled the cruise at the very last minute, stranding thousands of passengers in Chile. (In fairness to them it was not their fault, it was the Chilean government that made the decision). Then we booked flight after flight, 5 or 6 on different carriers into and out of different countries, all of which were either canceled or proved illegal after borders and airports in three different countries closed.
My father was a refugee from Eastern Europe. He left his homeland with only one hour's notice before the borders closed on what became the Iron Curtain. This story plays an important part in my family history and while these two stories and their consequences are not the same, they are close enough to keep me up at night.
If we’d been somewhere comfortable in a way that could work for a longer term like Mendoza, Argentina or Puerta Vallarta, Mexico we would have just played musical chairs, stopped in the next available seat, and hunkered down. But the province of Mendoza was one of the first to close its borders, even before Argentina closed the airport. And Vallarta is still an option for us.
I just glanced through some texts and Facebook posts I have made in the past week and I can hardly believe what was going on. I am posting some here not so much for you, the reader, but as catharsis for me to release the stress this situation caused.
The airline just canceled our Tuesday flight. We now have paid for two tickets to the US but still can’t get out of this city.
After eight hours on hold on the phone, we are flying FROM Santiago, Chile but we can’t get TO Santiago.
Help. Borders closing here. We need to get out before the 18th. Can you please get on the phone with COPA airlines and try to find us a flight through Panama or Rio. Can't go through Peru or Columbia, they are already closed. Mexico is ok.
Don't try to call, we are on hold with Delta for the past two hours.
Now we are stuck in Chile. The same problem as Argentina, the President is closing the airport the day before our flight leaves. We may really be trapped this time.
These are just a few of the messages I have sent or posted in the last 10 days. And I am not even listing my messages to friends who flew to Argentina for a tango festival that was canceled while they were at the airport or in the air. I wasn't able to stop them (3 people from different cities) from flying in. Once they arrived they had only two options - to go into self-quarantine for two weeks or fly back.
March has been a difficult month so far. Can someone please press the reset button?
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