F*ck Covid! I miss home

Of all cities, the one I miss the most is Porto. My home in Porto. My family in Porto. My friends in Porto. My routines in Porto.

I miss...
... The smell of my flat...
... My large living room overlooking the avenue...
... Staying in bed seeing the seagulls...
... Walking to Petulia for breakfast or lunch or at any time of the day really...
... Walking to the fruit market...
... The beach...
... Walking in front of casa da musica...
... My mum, my dad... their food... their hugs... their plays with my daughter... 
... Travelling there and back without fear...

Home has been in Geneva and in Porto for the past 15 years... and it pains me not knowing when i will be able to go back... For now it remains... I am at home and I miss home.

Pre Covid travels and routines - NYC

Yesterday one of my friends texted me saying "she was happy she traveled so much before Covid and didn't wait to go to the places she wanted to go."

I agree... and me too. I have traveled the world and visited places way beyond my wildest dreams.
In the midst of remembering Thailand, India, China, Taiwan, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Mexico, Jamaica, USA, Canada, Cameroon, Dubai, Jordan, Norway, Hong Kong, Macau, Colombia, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, South Africa, UK, France and so many others... my mind goes to the routines i ended up having in some of these places...

... Normally the day I landed in NYC would be my "free day" (with exception of that one time where I landed, changed in the taxi and rushed to the UN just in time to speak)... I would check in at the hotel, where the receptionists already knew me, and then I loved walking to Time Square. Seating down and taking in all the loudness and lights of the city. I would then gather some energy to walk around, go shopping, buy way too much stuff mostly for my daughter, pick up some take away dinner and walk back to my hotel where i would have dinner in bed while watching re-runs of the big bang theory and fall asleep at 9 pm. I would be up at 4 am, tossing and turning, cursing the jet lag until i would get up and go for a run, pick up breakfast on my way back, eat it while talking to Europe, get ready and start the day and settle in the office before 8 am. I would do this for 3 or 4 days (normally adding business dinners, meetings and non-stop working), then rush to the airport where i would stock up on M&M supplies, board the plane where I would quickly fall asleep from exhaustion, feeling miserable and missing home. Last time I left NYC not knowing when i would be back... i guess none of us really knows that now....

It's OK

Sometimes my mind wants to give in to fear, to pain, to sadness, to panic brought on by uncertainty...  Breath and remember.... it's OK.

It's the first time we are living through something like this. It's the first my simulation exercises pass on to reality. It's the first time a health issue has caused so much caos in such short notice.

It's OK. Breath and remember... this is not permanent, it may feel permanent but it is temporary. It will pass and when it does, we will be able to manage whatever comes next.

While we are here... in this strange and scary moment in history ... make use of all coping mechanisms you need... This too shall pass 🌈

What i want post Covid-19 #3

I want to...

... Go to Madeira, watch whales, walk in beautiful gardens, eat delicious food, enjoy the sun, swim, order room service and let my daughter watch all cartoons she wishes
... Go to the Bains de Cressy
... Bring my daughter to her swimming class
... Go get a massage at a nice SPA
... Take some walks by the lake
... Have my family over
... Meet up friends for dinner at Luigia

What I want post Covid-19 #2

I want to ...

... Let my daughter play freely in all the playgrounds
... Have picnics and barbecues by the lake
... Hug my friends when i see them and stop this "hand over my heart" madness
... Go to all the restaurants and bars and ice cream shops
... Stroll through the airport and go on a plane without disinfecting my hands every 2 minutes
... Walk to the bakery and think only about the potential food poisoning i will get from the lady who gives me the bread with her naked hands (the same she uses for the coins and everything else). My body has good immunity to that...
... Have normal conversations that don't involve number of deaths, number of new cases, the fact that we are still 12 months away from a vaccine and nobody has a clue on how to scale up treatments (if ever they appear)

What i want post Covid-19: #1

I never thought i would live through such a pandemic in my lifetime. I ran multiple  pandemic simulations in the past 4 years and the results were always frightening: the world is not prepared. We are not prepared! So of course, i always hoped we were being prophets of doom and nothing so bad would ever happen. 

And now here we are... Europe is in lock down and we are all living the unimaginable "contagion". As hard/ destabilizing/ scary as these days have been, i don't want to focus on that... i want to keep me and my family going by repeating to myself "This is not permanent, it feels permanent but it is not! This too shall pass and we will be alright!"

With this in mind... i want to think about all the things i will do when these days are over...

- I want to go to Porto

- I want to hug my family

- I want to see my daughter play with our family 

- I want to go to the beach, explore rock pools and just enjoy the sun 

- I want to walk to Petulia, listen to a concert in Casa da Musica, and have grilled chicken for dinner

- I want to eat Francesinha and see my girl run up and down in Aliados 

- I want to go to Albufeira, smell the lavander and the pine trees, enjoy the outdoors heated pool and have dinner in the balcony of my hotel room