I was traveling Europe, then a pandemic happened.

I traveled to Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. Then a pandemic happened. Here are the details.

So back to about the end of February and my best friend Emily came to visit France! I picked her up at CDG airport and we had a great couple of days in Lille. We spent time catching up, drawing and drinking Aperol Spritz. Then we went to Amsterdam, Belgium and lastly Paris! We met up with our friend Jeff from UW because he was traveling Europe during his vacation time from the Peace Corps.

After Emily visited my dad was going to come but this is when the first couple outbreaks in Europe started, mostly at the ski resort in the French Alps. He decided to cancel and I completely understood why, because it’s not worth the risk especially when you are over the age of 60. So I decided to go to Fussen, Germany last minute and I met up with my friends Mira and Monica (I went to Switzerland with them too!). I took 5 trains that day, from Lille to Fussen. When I got to Fussen, I remember we had a conversation about how this whole coronavirus thing and that it will probably go away. We figured Moinca and Mira would be able to finish their travels that they had planned for the coming months. After seeing the beautiful mountains and woods of Fussen, I went back to Lille for one night and then the next day I hopped on a plane and traveled to Ireland to meet up with Jimmy and his family there.

In Ireland, there were not yet any concerns over the virus or anything like that. We did group tours and a falconry lesson at Ashford castle. The falconry lesson was incredible, and it was funny because 2 years ago I went there to explore the grounds of Ashford castle. 2 years ago Monica, Mira and I joked about how funny it would be to go to falconry school and here I am doing it 2 years later! We got to see lots of the countryside of Ireland and also danced in pubs with locals. It was an unforgettable trip and it had been 2 months since I had seen Jimmy!

As March continued on, I taught more classes and planned lessons and life was very normal. I was planning for my trip with my family in April and with my friends to go to Greece at the end of April. About 2 weeks ago from today we were still planning on going on our Greece trip and my trip with my family. Just 2 weeks ago. Things. Change. Quick.

On Tuesday March 10th, there were jokes between me and my friends that they might close school and we would get paid for doing nothing. There were about 1,700 cases of coronavirus in France. Then 2 days later, Macron announced he was closing schools. I’m going to be 100% honest, I was excited because this meant 2 weeks of no work (since I play a minor role in the school), maybe I could travel a bit and then I could go back to work. My teachers were joking about having champagne because there was no school. However the next day (Friday March 13th) I had no idea but this would be my last day at my job. In the next 48 hours essential businesses closed. It really was becoming a weird reality in France. But it was okay because we could still go outside and go to friends places. This was good because this meant the virus would hopefully slow down. Well it didn’t. People left the bars and cafes in exchange for the parks. The parks in Paris and all over France were over flowing with people wanting to socialize. 48 hours later, it was announced that we would be on total lockdown. This became pretty scary for me, I didn't want to be trapped in my apartment (I had limited windows and sunlight). Two of my roommates left since they didn't have school and I couldn’t really work from home since I worked directly with students. I had nothing to do, so I moved most of my stuff from my apartment and moved in with my friend Madison and her boyfriend, 20 minutes from my place in Lille. Many other assistants started leaving to get back to America.

The 3 of us were determined to stick out this 2 week lockdown together. One of my main motivations for staying was because if I left, my contract would be terminated and I would not get paid for part of March and all of April, I also hadn't gotten a chance to say official goodbyes to my students, coworkers and my roommate Laura (she left earlier and went back to her hometown of St. Malo, France). I was also daunted by the idea of packing up everything and leaving during a time of uncertainty. We cooked every day and played lots of games (lots and lots of Catan) and worked out together most days. At 8 pm every night we cheered for the healthcare workers at the hospital across the street. It was a routine I could really get used to for the next 2 weeks.

However, days passed and the numbers rose higher and higher and I saw the exact same events start happening in the US that started happening here in France. School closings, people self-quarantining and now whole cities/states shutting down.

To be honest, I was not too concerned about my health in France. I had healthcare, I wasn’t in an extremely populated city, I was on lockdown and I had my friends to support me. I stayed inside all day and it was starting to get up to the 60's, I would just sit by the window and soak up the sun. It was honestly ideal. However, everyday new developments came from the United States about travel bans and this and that and to be honest, I wasn’t super concerned because I thought I could get back to the United States whenever because I am an American and they can’t really deny me entry with the current set of rules.

Then, speculation began about tighter border controls even for US citizens and screenings that could potentially prevent even a US citizen from entering if they had the virus. And none of it was true. It was all fear mongering coming from the lack of communication that American authorities had with Americans abroad. The only clear “alert” was the level 4 travel ban which was enacted at the end of last week. This gave me (some) clarity about my choice to stay or to leave but I kept going back and forth. Then on the same day of the travel warning, I got an email from my recorat (head of the Academy of Lille aka my employer) saying that if we left to go home and reunited with our family that we would be paid in full. I didn’t know how to feel about this clear information. I got what I wanted, which was to be paid even if I returned home. Now it was up to me to choose whether or not to say or leave. And with the situation getting worse every 24 hours in France and in America, I knew I had to make a decision quick.