“Two Worlds of Quarantine: Long Island, New York and Colombia, South America” By Miguel Giral

As I write this blog entry, I can still remember going out to eat with a friend at one of Hofstra’s dining halls one day in early March, 2020 and being suddenly shocked by a loud wave of cheering and yelling around me: Hofstra had canceled classes for the week! Without realizing what lay in store for us all, I went to my dorm, said goodbye to some friends, and drove home that afternoon. Little did I know that that day would be my last drive away from campus for the semester, and that I would have to finish my freshman year in that fashion. What I thought would be an extra week added on to my Spring Break vacation has turned into three months of “New York on pause” and being confined to our home. My family and I have been fortunate enough to stay well, but the massive public health crisis has definitely taken a toll on our lives.

Although being at home was something that I cherished and looked forward when I was in school, craving a home-cooked meal and having the warmth of family around, being at home for such a prolonged period of time has been a major challenge. It’s different when you are forced to stay home for several months, and when you return home from college for a few days. Life at home under quarantine has revolved around school work and assignments that have piled up one after the other. Although the assignments are no more difficult to complete than when I was on campus, I now lack motivation and find myself procrastinating when it comes to my schoolwork. Still, I consider myself fortunate in that school is the only thing that I have been struggling with. Thankfully, we have plenty of food and other basic necessities and no one in my family has contracted the coronavirus. Some of my schoolmates have not been as fortunate during this pandemic. My work with Hofstra’s Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice has taught me to expand my worldview and consider the multiple ways we are connected with others on the planet. I was inspired to write this piece to compare the ways my family here in New York and my family in Colombia are dealing with the challenges of the pandemic.  

My Colombian grandmother, who lives not far away from us here in New York, has been the one that has been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Unfortunately, she is currently battling pancreatic cancer and the quarantine restrictions had an impact on her treatment. The need to go to chemotherapy and frequently having to visit her doctors have now become a much harder enterprise. The physical and mental fatigue that comes from radiation treatment had been going on for months before the pandemic stuck, but her levels of anxiety and exhaustion have now risen with the added precautions that she needs. Routine check-ups are currently a scary experience that she faces, knowing that she is much more immunocompromised than the average patient, and the thought that if she were to get sick with the virus her chances of fighting it off would have been limited. To further to her stress levels, her downstairs neighbors tested positive for COVID-19, which terrified her as she thought she could potentially contract the virus from them. Family occasions that we used to enjoy, like Mother’s Day, birthdays, and graduations, have all been put on hold this year. Seeing one’s children and grandchildren via Zoom does not compare to our usual face-to-face visits and encounters. It has been tough for my grandmother, and for us all in my family, to get through this situation.

Aside from my immediate relatives who live here in the United States, the vast majority of my family still resides in Colombia. Colombia’s quarantine laws, however, have been much more strictly and rigidly enforced—by both the police and the military— than what we experienced here in New York. The authorities are under orders to issue fines to those who are outside their homes except during the prescribed times or for essential purposes. Upwards of 95,000 people have been fined so far in Colombia for the equivalent of $235 if found in places they ought not to be. This immediate demonstration of power by the government has worked in keeping people home for the most part. Granted that many people still need to go out for essential work or essential necessities, the government is allowing only one member of the family to go out in pursue of either food or medicine. Those who are over 70 years old cannot go out at all (except for emergency treatment) because of their higher risk of death if they contract the virus. Every person that goes out is required to bring some sort of identification as proof of their age. In the last two weeks, some progress has been made in flattening the curve. Officials in Colombia have begun allowing those who are 6 to 17 years old to leave their houses for up to 30 minutes up 3 times a week. But large gatherings will still be disallowed for the foreseeable future, and places like gyms, churches, and parks will remain closed.

Most of my family is spread out across Colombia, but they mainly live in Cali or Medellín, and vary in economic status. One part of the family is fortunate enough to live on ranches that are self-sufficient with crops and animals, and this self-sufficient economy has come in handy due to quarantine restrictions. The other part of my family, however, work in the city and get by with day-to-day checks. Their more precarious economy meant that they did not have the luxury of being able to stock up on basic food or necessities for the quarantine. Since work has been scarce, they have been low on food, and government funds are emptying out rapidly. Moreover, not everybody on this side of the family owns a laptop or has a Netflix subscription, or a gaming console that will allow them to pass time.

Meanwhile, here at my home on Long Island, I have been trying to take advantage of the current circumstances and have been striving to maintain a certain degree of productivity; I have been trying to stay healthy by working out and improving my diet. Since I now have much more time to spare, setting a schedule to focus on my body has been helpful in staying positive during this lock down. I have also been setting time aside to play the guitar and the piano, which helped in sharpening my skills, and as a way of distracting myself from reality. I have also invested time playing video games, as this allowed me to get online with friends and classmates and be in touch without leaving the house; this kind of social contact has made being in quarantine much bearable. It looks as if COVID-19 will be part of our world for a long time, and all of us will need to adjust to this new reality in our own lives and pursuits. I just hope the remainder of my college experience will not be restricted to virtual online learning. I can’t wait to return to the Hofstra campus and reconnect face-to-face with my friends, professors, the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice, and the NOAH Program. 

Miguel Giral is a first year student, part of the NOAH Program, and served as Student Fellow at the Center for "Race," Culture and Social Justice this academic year.