Total Lockdown: Day 13 of 10
This will be the last time I write the obviously wrong number of days of total lockdown this way. The initial 10 day lockdown was extended 10 additional days at it's conclusion and now we are not supposed to leave our houses at all and all businesses are closed with a few exceptions.
Some places that supply food are open but only for delivery by approved people that have been vaccinated. Luckily I stocked up on a bunch of stuff before the lockdown began so for the most part I am good. I may have to switch over to rice and get creative soon though because getting bread at the moment is simply not possible since all the bakeries have been shut down.
But there has been some stuff going on as all the foreigners were called out at the same time to go through yet another round of covid testing.
We were told to turn up at this particular university parking lot at 5pm to be tested. Now before this even started this seemed like a bad idea to us because the foreigners live all over the damn city and now you are going to crowd us all into the same spot at the same time? Let's assume you are a nervous nelly that actually believes Covid doesn't have an over 99% survival rate and also believe that is spreads really easy. Can you think of a better way to ensure that it moves all over the city than by having everyone come from all over the city to the same place and have no system in place to keep them spaced apart? I can't!
After standing there for about 40 minutes and having the lines not move at all or see anything happening on the interior of the fence, me and some friends decided to leave and go drink beer on the rooftop and come back in an hour or so. Our plan worked because when we returned the line was gone and we got straight in.
Sometimes drinking beer is the best idea.
I know a lot of people that didn't go at all but this was something that was going around group chats.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF COVID-19 SECOND TEST IN MY AN WARD FOR FORGEINERS: 5:00pm tomorrow (August 27th, 2021), for COVID19 at College of Culture and Arts, No. 130 Le Quang Dao street, My An Ward. We really hope everyone goes fully and on time. If anyone does not go, they will be fined up to 3,000,000 VND; if they spread COVID19 virus to the community, they will be imprisoned for up to 12 years according to Vietnamese law.
I put bold emphasis on that myself because what if by ordering hundreds of us to all gather here from all around the entire city is what results in the spreading of Covid?
The threat of 12 years in prison is absurd... how on earth would you figure out who was the one spreading it especially when so few people that test positive for Covid are even aware of the fact that they have it.
There was nobody checking ID, you filled out your name, address, and phone number yourself using pens that are shared by everyone so if there is any truth to spreading Covid by hands congratulations, you just accomplished that as well!
One good thing that came out of this was that if you were a foreigner, you were basically allowed to walk and go anywhere you wanted last night because they don't know where you live. Therefore, I used this opportunity to go back to my old condo (that I am still paying for) and retrieve a few items.
Up to this point Nadi has been dealing with a tragic loss. She only has 2 of her 17 toys. Therefore I rectified this situation and all of her pals are now in the new condo that I intend on staying in until I leave this country. Other items i picked up and didn't realize how essential they were until I was without them
- running shoes (been going barefoot in the gym)
- Q-tips / cotton buds / ear buds. You know what these are for, I can't believe i forgot them
- Phone charger and power banks... I feel like a real dumb shit for forgetting these
- Pasta strainer... my new condo has no pasta strainer? What kind of dumb shit is this? Ever tried to drain pasta without a pasta strainer? good luck!
So as far as I can tell we have at least another 7 days of not being able to go anywhere for the most part. I never really did all that much moving around anyway but for some reason I now feel compelled to do so since it isn't allowed. The beach that I never used all of a sudden seems like the most important destination in town! Well, other than the bowling alley of course and I don't think that place is going to open at all for the rest of the time that I am in the country.
Almost two years have passed since the corona and governments still have not been able to establish order.
and they never will. Governments are not good at very many things... just taxes and war... everything else they get involved with they make it more expensive, slower, and less effective. If they just got out of the way I think we would have been done with Covid a year or more ago.
Absolutely you are right, we need a decentral system on state management.
That just sounds utterly absurd! Or like "typical government," of making it look like action is being taken without anyone actually pausing to think through the greater implications of "taking action."
I do hope you get to move on to a better place, soon!
yeah, my plan is to get out of this country as soon as I possibly can. It isn't as easy as just wanting to go though. At the moment I don't even have a passport because I turned it in for a visa extension right when they shut down all travel, delivery, and courier services.