This Expat Life (April): Quaratining in Saigon

After moving abroad in July 2014, I started compiling monthly roundup posts about life as an expat in Southeast Asia and all the nitty-gritty that goes on behind the scenes here at Travel Lush. Check out my most recent monthly roundup posts: January, February and March.

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I’ll be honest, I haven’t really felt like blogging or writing or doing much of anything lately. Everyone is coping with this pandemic/quarantine lifestyle differently. Some people are busier than ever, working full-time jobs from home, caring for their children…or both. I commend those people. I know it’s been rough. Then there are people like me who don’t really have anything to do.

Unemployment in the time of a global pandemic sucks. I wish I were that person who takes all this free time to write a book or learn a new skill or pick up a new hobby. But I haven’t. I’ve been out of work for over two months now and I honestly haven’t been productive at all. Motivation has been hard for me to come by. I’m not proud of it. But I also know I’m far from alone.

So I guess this is my way of explaining why this monthly roundup post is just a tad bit late. But hey, I mustered the energy to write so that’s positive news!

Spoiler alert: The month of April was not exciting at all. Now that I’ve said that, let’s get to it. I’m sure you’re dying to know what I got up to in the quarantine month of April!

Life on lockdown(ish)

Vietnam implemented a stay-at-home policy on April 1. Thankfully, we weren’t required to stay inside all the time — as countries like Spain, Italy and Malaysia are — but aside from going for walks or going to the store, Aaron and I spent the entire month of April staying at home. Vietnam slowly started lifting the stay-at-home policy on April 23, but we’ve opted to stay in for the most part. The last time we met up with a friend was March 10!

Reminiscing about my travels with my mom and sister last April

Like most of the world, I’ve spent a lot more time talking on the phone with my family lately. At the beginning of April, I was on the phone with one of my sisters for her birthday. It suddenly dawned on us that exactly one year ago we were toasting to her 40th birthday at a rooftop bar in Hanoi.

My mom, sister and I spent two amazing weeks traveling the length of Vietnam. Reminiscing about that trip was bittersweet. On the one hand, I’m so grateful to my sister for making the trip happen. It was all her idea. We created so many memories that I will cherish forever. And I credit that trip for bringing my sister and I closer than ever.

On the other hand, it made me realize just how much the world has changed. We have no idea what travel will look like once this pandemic ends. But on an even heavier note, I have no idea when I’m going to see my family again.

I’m grateful for my mom and sister for visiting me in Vietnam last year. And I feel incredibly happy that Aaron and I decided to spend two weeks in California for Christmas. We spent so much quality time with his family. But because my family is scattered all over the US, I didn’t get a chance to see most of my family members, my mom and four siblings included. It’s scary not knowing when I’ll get to see them again.

Being crazily excited about the rainy season

You know you’re losing your mind when you get absurdly excited about rain. Actually, I’m always excited about rain and lightning storms. I really do have a thing for them. Like, when it rains I run to my balcony and I have been known to just run outside and stand in the rain on more than one occasion. But the (false) start of Ho Chi Minh City’s rainy season in April had every Saigoneer buzzing on social media.

All of my friends on Instagram who live in Saigon were abuzz about the rain and lightning. I think we all posted videos of the first storm and proclaimed our excitement about the rain at the exact same time on our Instagram stories. It was pretty funny. To think, this is how bored we all are!

Sadly the rain only lasted for a week or so. It’s been dry as a bone for weeks now and I’m wondering when the rain will come again. It would be a very welcome reprieve from the 100-degree temps we’re experiencing these days.

Being trapped in my bedroom while Aaron teaches online

It’s 3:11 pm. I’ve been sitting on my bed typing this blog post since 2:45 pm – that’s when Aaron started teaching his class on Zoom. Just to be clear, Aaron isn’t some horrible person who locks me away in a room. It’s just that our apartment is really small. The only angle that works for Zoom basically showcases our whole living area which is essentially one room consisting of our kitchen and living room. So the only place where I can hide out is in the bedroom. So here I am.

His classes usually run three hours. During that time, he lets me out during the 10-minute break and I run around the apartment. But today he has individual student meetings that run from 2:45 pm to 7:15 pm. No breaks. Life sure is weird these days.

Yes, I realize it’s now mid-May and I don’t actually have to stay at home anymore. Like I mentioned earlier, Vietnam is slowly opening back up. Coffee shops are open and everyone appears to be out and about. I’m not feeling all that comfortable acting as if everything is business as usual, so I’m choosing to stay in for the most part. I’m definitely not going to go wild and hang out with massive groups of people. So yeah, I’m now choosing to lock myself in what I call “room” for hours on end. By throughout April I really had no other option.

Returning to normal in Saigon

So yeah, things are returning to normal in Vietnam. Aaron’s university will continue to teach online through the semester but schools started back up on May 11. Most restaurants, bars, spas and businesses have also reopened. Still no karaoke, guys (and I’m totally fine with that). I’m seeing fewer and fewer people wearing masks, though they are still required in public spaces.

I feel like Vietnam is opening up a bit too quickly. That being said, through all of this we have had 324 COVID-19 cases and zero deaths. Part of me is skeptical about those numbers. That being said, Vietnam started putting all international arrivals in a 14-day government quarantine starting in March and ultimately closed its borders. Vietnamese nationals and essential workers are still allowed to fly into the country and are required to enter quarantine. At the time of writing, there are still tens of thousands of people in mandatory government quarantine. We did have a small spike of imported cases recently. So we’ll see how things pan out as the country returns to normal.

Watching an absurd amount of Netflix

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I have not been productive during quarantine. Well, unless you consider watching countless hours of TV productive. If that’s the case I deserve a medal. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched everything on Netflix. Tiger King? Check. Ozark? Check. Dead to Me? Check. Too Hot to Handle? Check. Big Bang Theory? I’ve gone through nine seasons. I could go on but you get the idea.

This is so unhealthy, I know. I can’t even express how much I miss working and feeling productive. Oh yeah, and the whole paycheck thing. I really took that for granted. I swear I’m going to quit Netflix soon. I mean, I’ve watched everything so I really have no choice.

Doing a whole lot of nothing

Before I lost my job in the beginning of March I was jogging on a near-daily basis. And I was feeling really good about myself. The day I lost my job I got super bummed. I haven’t gone for a jog since that day. When Vietnam went on lockdown on April 1, all motivation to do anything productive went away. Now that things are opening up in Vietnam, I have hope that I can slowly pick myself up and get my life back together.

Still being really worried about how the US is handling the pandemic

I touched on this last month, so I won’t delve into it too deeply. I know not everyone out there agrees with my criticisms. I’m just really horrified by how certain people are reacting to stay-at-home measures in the US. The entire world is going through the same thing. Most governments around the world have implemented some sort of stay-at-home policy. For the most part, citizens have complied, no matter how hard it is.

Last month I saw a photo of a protest on a family friend’s Facebook page. I didn’t know what I was looking at. I saw a sign that read something about “Witchmer” so I googled it. That’s when I found out protesters were storming the capital of Michigan to protest the stay-at-home policies of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Seeing images of healthcare workers in the streets silently standing up against these protesters broke my heart. And the guns. I can’t with the guns. These are unprecedented times and unprecedented measures have to be taken. The majority of the world is (or should be) at home right now. This isn’t an American issue, it’s a global one. I totally understand that some people have to go to work, but those who can stay home should stay home. Otherwise, this thing will never end. Here in Asia, where COVID-19 hit early on, there are now fresh outbreaks in numerous countries that had very rapid and strict stay-at-home measures. So the fact that all 50 states in the US are opening up makes me really nervous.

I just hope everyone in the US stays as safe and responsible as possible.

On a more positive note…

Aaron starts his summer vacation in July. If COVID-19 remains contained at that point, we might take the chance to do some traveling in-country. That’s only if we feel it’s safe and responsible. Again, we’re giving things a bit of time to really evaluate if travel is an option. I know the tourism industry in Vietnam has been decimated by COVID-19 so I’m sure our tourist dollars would be more than welcome. But we’ll see!

OK, I have to go now. Netflix is calling.

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Where in the world are you and how are you coping with the pandemic?