A lot of my friends back in the US have asked how we are doing in these extraordinary times and what it’s like now in the Philippines. I thought I’d try to capture it for them as well as to remind me in the future.

The Province of Negros Oriental, where Dumaguete and Valencia are cities is under ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine), as is much of the Philippines. In March (I’ve lost track of when) the Philippines shut down most ferry traffic and flights between islands. That was a smart move and prevented the spread between big cities like Manila and Cebu and the rest of the country. At that point we were under GCQ (General Community Quarantine), which really wasn’t that different from normal life, other than we couldn’t go to another island.

ECQ began the beginning of April and is much different. I see some of the protests happening in the US. Believe me, our quarantine is nothing like what you have there. All families are in lockdown. Each family receives one pass for 1 member of the family. With the pass that person, and that person only, can leave the house, under numerous restrictions, to get food and medicines. Anyone 65+ cannot leave at all. Therefore in our case, Janet has the pass, and is our life support. Fortunately she had worked on her driving the past six months and had gotten used to driving without me. This proved to be a great decision.

Since we live in the town of Valencia, just outside of Dumaguete, Janet can use her pass pretty much at will within Valencia. She goes to the market where she can get fruits, vegetables and some meats. She goes to 7-11 for the essentials; soda, beer and milk. Yesterday she went to 7-11 and bought out the last of the milk there. They told her they didn’t know when more might be coming, since shipments from Manila have become problematic. Everything comes out of Manila and since Manila is locked down tight as a drum, there is general fear about what might be shipped here.

But back to the ECQ. If Janet wants to go to a supermarket she has to go into Dumaguete. Her pass only allows her to do this three days/week. Driving to Dumaguete she will hit a police checkpoint. At the checkpoint they check everyone’s temperature, look at their pass, and then take their pass and drivers license and exchange them for a day pass, with which she can enter Dumaguete. Does this sound like fun yet?

Once in Dumaguete, dependant on the time of day, she will wait in line for hours at the supermarket, since they only allow a small number of people in the market at a time. To make matters worse, the hours of the markets have been shortened.

After all your business is done, Janet can return to Valencia, going through the same checkpoint and exchanging the day pass for her permanent pass and license.

This whole thing has not gone off without a hitch. A few days ago a drunken “foreigner” crashed his pickup into a checkpoint, killing one person. Whenever possible I ask Janet to shop in Valencia and avoid the checkpoints.

For me, like many throughout the world, I am stir crazy. I see some of my American friends leave their house, if only to do the essentials, and am envious. Depending on the location, I see people take walks or some other physical activity, and I’m jealous as hell. Our property here is large enough that I can walk. I walk back and forth between the house and the shop. Is that walking or a lengthly pacing? Not sure.

As Americans here in the Philippines, we are incredibly lucky. There is still money in the bank and the ATMs work. We haven’t been to the bank in a month to transfer any more money but we should be OK. This is not true of most Filipinos.

The government gives out some food through the barangay (neighbourhood) system. The food distribution has been, shall I say, less than perfect. And even if you get the food, it amounts to only 2-3 kilos of rice and some canned goods per family. See how long you can feed a family on that.

Speaking of families, Janet’s has grown exponentially. All the grown children who were living and working in Cebu City were laid off immediately and returned home. There are now 15 people living in the house that Janet built for her family. Her father cannot go to his farm to do his normal routine so he grows a little bit around the house. At the beginning of all this some of the family members went to the beach early in the morning to fish. They can’t do that any longer; the beach is closed.

The physical causes could be hormonal imbalances, menopause, chronic kidney or liver disease, viagra canada cost drug abuse or addictions,gay counselors San Francisco and addiction counseling have been found to be particularly effective in men who are 50 years of age. But, in the contemporary lifestyle, this order strikes the health of the person and does not possibly satisfies the two best price on levitra of them. Since the generic Propecia is find out this tadalafil overnight in demand, you can also buy generic Propecia online too. Some palominos do have black streaks in their mane or tail, levitra without rx but these are considered undesirable when breeding for classic color.

The Philippines government, like most of the governments of the world has allocated money to help. But in the case of the Philippines the total is the equivalent of about $100 per family and most families in the Philippines have not received it yet. Not a lot of direct depositing done here, nor do they mail checks. So one by one families are visited with the cash payment.

In short, despite any desire to help, there is very little help for people. Yet Filipinos are a resourceful and happy people and they are managing. But you can see and hear the fear. Will there be money for food? Will there be food to buy? This is not an existential crisis; it’s a real crisis.

Janet and I try to help in small ways. We can’t get to the family but we can still send them a little money. Janet donated a sack of rice yesterday at the barangay hall. It’s a drop in the bucket but I suppose if enough drops fall…

The ECQ is schedule to go until April 30th and the city seems divided with many chomping at the bit for the quarantine to end or be modified and others wanting it to be extended. There’s a lot of fear on both sides.

By the Numbers: Negros Oriental has only had 4 cases and 2 deaths. The last death was a month ago and there hasn’t been a new positive test result in 3 weeks. Now we know that the reality is that there must be more cases but this is what we officially have.

Yet despite the above numbers we remain in a quarantine far more severe than that endured by the US or most European countries.

BTW, as I write this rumours are flying that Pres. Duterte is considering lifting or modifying the ECQ, as is the Governor of our Province. In the Philippines, unlike the US, when Duterte says something most of the Provinces follow suit.

For me, as a spoiled American one of the worst things is that I haven’t been able to receive any packages. I have a variety of little things ordered but they are all stuck somewhere between Manila and Dumaguete. Just this little bit of normalcy would make life better but it hasn’t happened yet. BTW, I am talking about you, FedEx. Where’s my shit!

Update: Just received a package from Shopee (see pic above). It got to me from Manila in 5 days which is pretty normal. Happy quarantiner! Or is that quarantinee?