EN Quarantine

Today is Sunday the 23rd of August. Every day, I have to check a few times what day it is, because often I have no idea.

In my blogpost from last week (right? ;-)) I wrote that I would fly out to Tenerife on the 19th of August and that went all well. My mom dropped me off at the airport early, because she still had to go somewhere else, so I've spent quite a while waiting there. Then I had a continuous flight from Amsterdam to Tenerife, where I arrived around 6pm. (Tenerife is in the same timezone as the UK, which is an hour behind Dutch time.) From the airport it would onluy have been a 15 minute drive to the ship, but first I had to go to the maritime immigration office in Santa Cruz, which was a 45 minute drive. I wasn't prepared to have to go there first too, but used our little drive to see a bit more of the island, which will probably not happen much in the coming months anyway.

 

In my last post I already said life on the ship would be really different this time and I think it's time to give you a bit more explanation on that. I don't have to tell you about the pandemic we're living in at the moment. The Africa Mercy is one of few places where life is still pretty "normal", all because the whole ship has been quarantined since the end of March. Nobody is allowed to go off ship and everyone who is embarking, needs to spend there first two weeks either in full quarantine or in restrictions. When you're in restrictions, you are allowed to work as long as you're wearing a mask, but other than that you have to stay in your cabin. With full quarantine you are, like it says, in full quarantine and you are not allowed to work. To decide in which category you fall, they look at the amount of new cases per million in the country you're from. In the Netherlands cases have been rising a lot lately, so I think you will guess which category I'm in. My first two weeks on the ship, I'm in full quarantine...

When in quarantine, you're also excluded from fire drills.

So what does it look like, that full quarantine? Well, simply said, I'm almost not allowed to leave my cabin. I'm allowed to go outside for fresh air twice a day, between 8 and 9 in the morning and after 7.30 pm. In the evening, that's just on time to look at the sunset. 
For breakfast, I have milk and cereal in my cabin, so I can arrange that myself. Lunch and dinner is brought to my room. Some time before mealtime starts, I will get a call from our head of Food Services. She will tell me what are food options are, asks me what I would like to eat and then makes sure someone will bring it to my cabin. The person bringing it, will put my plate in a destined area next to my door, knock on my door and walk away. After I finish eating, I wash up my dishes myself. The cutlery stays in my room, but plates, bowls and cups I will put outside in that same area after I get a call for my next meal. If I need anything else during my time in quarantine, I have a buddy who I can text and ask to do something for me, like fill up my 8L waterbottle with drinking water or get me an extra snack.

I'm really lucky, as I have been placed in a family cabin for these two weeks. Here I have a lot more space, as there is a seperate living room with a couch, a nice chair and a dinnertable. I also have a microwave and kettle, which comes in really handy. In addition, I have four windows that look out on the harbor and the island (my cabin is in the back corner, so I have windows to two different sides).

Like I said before, I've lost track of the days completely. That's why I made myself a little countdown calendar yesterday. I've now done three days in quarantine and have to do another eleven. Sounds fun, right? By now I'm a bit over it, but on the other hand the days go by quite fast. And of course I know what I'm doing it for, because after I finish my quarantine period, I can walk around freely on the ship I call my home!