As you all know I recently flew back to America from India after almost a year. Although I was not expected to quarantine, I thought it was a good idea to do it anyway. No one in their right mind would want to do this by the way! So here are some tips to survive 14 days of quarantine.
It’s all about the food!
It really is. The only way to break up the day when you are cocooned in your room is with meals that magically appear outside your room. You also catch a glimpse of your kids or spouse as they make a hasty retreat while you grab your bowl or plate. Like my cousin in Adelaide I would have loved to order food while in quarantine but eating meals not cooked by me was good enough.
Stocking up on snacks is a good idea too. Remember fellow family members are not running a catering service out of the home kitchen and may not available to whip up a sandwich when you feel hungry between meal times. For me it was raisins, nuts, and a bowl of fresh fruit or bananas.
Try to exercise
Keyword try! I used to walk every day when I was in India so I tried to follow that during quarantine. I paced for 30 minutes around the room for a few days and then this inertia grew over me. It was like my butt got glued to the bed and I only got up to go to the loo or get my food from right outside my room. I keep telling my cousin to exercise but I see how being isolated can make you less motivated to do things you enjoyed doing before. And the motivation to do something new is completely absent. This is just my experience. Maybe you will do better. So try and exercise or you might come out of quarantine a few pounds heavier.
binge watch
Netflix saved my life during quarantine. I watched an insane number of movies and numbed my mind. My cousin watched shows. Just pick your poison. But keep it light or you will end up with a bad taste in your mouth and take it out on the tireless home chefs who also provide room service! Finding good movies that I would enjoy was a challenge. That way I feel shows are a good choice. You find one you like and make sure you have enough seasons to watch for 14 days and you are good to go. Now movies are trickier especially if you are picky like me. Thankfully, I had discovered some pretty good Malayalam movies while I was in Chennai.
BE social
How you ask? Pick up the phone and call people or after 14 days you will only be able to belt out movie dialogues and if you were watching R rated movies that won’t do you much good. Your family might be forced to isolate you till you get rid of your potty mouth. Which will have you watching more R rated movies (unless your account gets downgraded to a kid’s account) and puts you on a endless isolated hamster wheel. So watch the movies but also remember to have some real conversations with real people. Video calls are good especially with folks in India or old relatives because if you haven’t showered or combed your hair in days they will be sure to call you out on that! Also it may force you to take a shower every other day.
shower!
Just because no one can smell you doesn’t mean you can practice minimal personal hygiene. Remember this is temporary and on day 14 you will emerge out of the room and go out into the world. Make sure you don’t send everyone else running into their rooms! The afore-mentioned inertia seemed to possess me as well but I wasn’t noseblind so I may have skipped showering for a day here and a day there but was otherwise pretty good about it.
enjoy it while it lasts
All good things come to an end and so must quarantine. You will suddenly find you have lots to do with little time to spare. So if you have a pending list of things you never had time for, tackle it during quarantine if you have enough motivation. I didn’t. I came out of quarantine on Christmas day. So I did tons of cooking and baking that day and we also put up decorations around the house. Boy, was I exhausted! That’s why you exercise a little during quarantine and also socialize. Otherwise just standing and cutting veggies will completely wipe you out! Or talking all day to your family can leave you with a swollen tongue and strained vocal cords.
This post is purely for laughs. Quarantine is something to be taken seriously but I felt like we had enough seriousness in 2020 and I wanted to start 2021 with a humorous post. Hope you enjoyed my 200th blog post!
Punctuate Life 