Written on June 15, 2021
February 11, 2020: The WHO names the disease COVID-19 and the virus is named SARS-CoV-2.
February 12: The first case in London, UK is confirmed.
February 13: Japan confirms its first death from COVID-19. The National University of Singapore starts a week of online classes.
In Ubud. Jill and I were thinking about going to the beach for a week. Out of the many options in Bali we decided on going to Amed on the northwest coast. I wanted to get my SCUBA certification and some online review had set me on the beach village of Amed. So, I emailed a dive shop there. I have an old injury that raised a red flag to the dive shop though. So, I spent a lot of time looking through my medical history and trying to find a doctor who could check me out to go diving. I remember visiting one clinic in Ubud, everyone was wearing masks and appeared rather serious. They said they did not do SCUBA physicals. I later decided to just go snorkeling.
I wrote this on Feb. 13
I have a nice daily routine here in Ubud. I like going to cafes drinking coffee and eating.
So, here I am trying to capture a life in Bali. In the midst of some worldwide health emergency. [When I get bored, not just bored but, really] long drawn out stretches of heat and uncomfortable boredom [I tend to write more]. The same boredom that drives me to consider things like getting SCUBA licenses.
It feels as if every afternoon my nose is slick like I’ve oiled it. Jill tells me not to rub my face because it gets irritated. Now, its a bad idea to touch your face anyway. No one is safe when a terrible illness is a touch or a cough away. No more if [we will get COVID-19] only when. Bali the prison or Bali the paradise. What does the breakdown of society look like in Bali? Tourists with no cooking facilities, no way to buy ingredients safely, no social support no way to leave and frightened.
Tourists with diverse skills forming a workable society using the supplies we have. Taking the infected away from the healthy and doing what? Palliative care while preventing transmission to caregivers? Someone should ask Alex Garland.
Alex Garland is an author whose story, The Beach, I was referencing. I had recently read The Tesseract by him. If you’re wondering, I had just finished The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, on February 11.
We were still going out for walks everyday and spending a lot of time at cafes and restaurants. It was time to move along. We met Daria on Feb. 13 for our last night in Ubud at an open mic concert. We had vague plans to return if we could renew our visas. It’s the last time we have seen Daria or Ubud.
