Twenty years ago a fortune teller in Cambodia read my palm and told me that I would die when I’m forty. I don’t believe that nonsense, but I recently turned the prophesied age and, walking home from a bakery in Belgrade a couple days ago with a birthday cake for my daughter, the coronavirus nearly struck me down.
For her birthday, NG requested that I buy V-bucks (virtual video game currency) for her brother as she had sold him her anticipated birthday credits a couple months ago in exchange for a pricey virtual video game dance. Instead, I spent hours trekking around on a cold, foggy day in search of the right toy and cake for her.
We have now experienced pandemic living in three different countries and they have all been quite different. In Serbia, face masks are worn without exception in markets and malls. This is quite different from Albania where it seemed that almost no one wore masks at all and the United States, where political affiliation seems to determine whether one wears a mask or not. Of course, wearing masks outdoors is a different matter. I have noticed in the Belgrade-Zemun area that about half the people walking outdoors wear masks. We generally don them in crowded areas and that is exactly what I was doing the other day as I returned from birthday shopping.
My glasses immediately fogged up when I exited the warm bakery with NG’s chocolate cake. I slipped my mask down for a bit as I walked so that the fog would dissipate, but on approaching a busy crosswalk full of people I pulled it back up. The cold, humid weather has been terrible for the face mask/glasses combination. I have mostly avoided the need for a mask outdoors by avoiding crowds. When fog has been unavoidable, I have used my family as my eyes to guide me through the crowds.
Alone on this occasion, I stood at the crosswalk squinting through the heavy fog covering my glasses until a light turned green. And then I began to walk. Halfway across the busy intersection, I realized something was wrong as cars were passing close by and honking. Turning, I saw that I was the only one walking. The other pedestrians were still back at the curb, probably assuming I was a dare devil traffic dodger. Ripping my glasses off and feeling even more blind, I realized that the green light I saw through the fog on my glasses was not the crosswalk light at all, but rather the traffic light and I was in the middle of a busy thoroughfare.
I managed to get to safety in one piece, but it did make me think about the pandemic in a different way. How many people are struggling to see through the fog in which this pandemic has shrouded their lives? How many people are feeling depressed, lonely, trapped or hopeless?
I believe my family and I are amazingly fortunate to be able to make it through this pandemic exploring a foreign land and with minimal worries about money. However, like many people, I am without a job thanks to this virus and I’m uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the future.
I should be feeling pretty content considering the good life we have been living, but recent developments have sunken my spirits. One of our goals for the year was to live in Puglia for some time and learn Italian. Our plan was to fly to Slovenia in a few days and make our way from there to southern Italy. With the current virus surge, however, Puglia has been closed for nonessential travel and Slovenia has moved Serbia from the green list to the red. It now seems unlikely that we will be boarding our flight to Slovenia or going to Italy this year. I’m completely unsure of where we will be next week.
Serbia, like many places in Europe, is experiencing all time highs in daily new infections, though it still has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe. Slovenia, meanwhile, is experiencing an infection rate three times that of Serbia and has one of the highest rates of new infections on the continent. Even before the change in Slovenian entry requirements, I was thinking that we are maybe better off staying here. Italy and Slovenia both are enforcing regional travel restrictions and forcing many businesses to close while life seems to continue on in Serbia with minimal restrictions.
After days of fog, we enjoyed a sunny day at an outdoor cafe for lunch. Only in 2020 is a busy cafe such a thing of beauty. I took a moment to admire the sight of the happy crowds. A couple of grey old men sat at the table next to us pleasantly chatting away their day over a table of empty shot glasses. Both wore face masks, dipping them down to sip plum brandy.
This is a hassle, but it’s a hassle we can live with.
Twenty years ago I scowled at the fortune teller after he told me an early death was in the lines of my palm. He shrugged his shoulders and told me to be careful the entire year and maybe I’ll be ok.
I believe that to be true for every year.
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