Day #14

Day #14
Global: 558,502
US: 86,012
MN: 398

Announcements (since last post):
- MN Under "Stay at Home Order" until April 10
- MN No evictions
- MN Immediate relief to small businesses
- US Senate passes Coronavirus Relief Package
- Prohibition of elective procedures, and elective vet procedures

Yesterday the US officially became #1 in the number of total cases. What is scary is that this new designation comes at the same time that the united front between the President and various state Governors is completely breaking down. President Trump has said "I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter" the problem is, is that we are seeing virtually zero medical professionals agree with him. It is terrifying to see such a vacuum in leadership at this time, and I continue to be thankful to be living in Minnesota, and under a Governor who is willing to walk the state through the decision making process.

On Tuesday I was scheduled to make a platelet donation at the local Red Cross. This felt like a tangible thing I could do, and seeing as I am still feeling well, and have been doing my best to limit exposure, I went for it. Metro Transit has instituted a variety of safety precautions for riders and it was a weird space to be in, getting on the bus. They are no longer taking fees, and individuals are asked to board at the back of the bus. I completely blanked on this, and bought a ticket on my phone and came in through the front anyway (when my partner and I caught one yesterday, they put up signs and will no longer open the front doors.)

I get onto the bus and take a seat as far away from the two passengers sitting in the front as I can. It was so odd, both men were sitting across the aisle from one another, and when a third guy got on, he sat a row ahead of them. I was thankful to have the whole back of the bus to myself, but it made me wonder if people are just having a hard time breaking out of habits, or if these folks aren't taking the virus seriously. After getting off the bus, I walked a few blocks to get to the donation center and on the way I passed two young people standing on the sidewalk, having a conversation with some older folks that were on the balcony in front of them. I knew immediately what they were doing, and gave a wide berth; scenes like this or folks speaking through windows and glass doors to their loved ones in nursing homes, would have been odd only a month ago, but are now common practice.

Below is an ad I saw on facebook, if you had told me that "sterilized packages" would be a selling point for a clothing company back in February, I think I would have laughed, yet here we are.

All of this has me thinking even more about how Covid-19 will change how people interact in the long run. I guess we won't know until the world comes up for air again though.

Sending love in a sterilized package,
Claire

Day #9

Day #9
Global: 316,187
US: 26,747
MN: 137

Announcements:
- Minnesota has requested to enacted our National Guard in a way that would activate our men and women, but allow the Federal government to cover costs
- Minnesota classifies food distribution workers as "emergency" so they can get childcare
- Minnesota has Gov Walz has enacted an executive order to stop price gouging
-NY and NJ are added to shelter in place


Took a few days off for my own health, and I'm also starting to think I should spend some time doing personal journaling. We are still doing well, trying to keep ourselves busy with house projects, walks, reading and attempting to start a yoga habit (we will see.) Both of us are also trying to balance between wanting to be informed and not buying into the 24/7 media panic which will just make things worse.

We did a quick supply run to Target the other day, and I had been doing well until we walked in there. It wasn't like anyone was running, and their shelves, other than certain paper products (you can probably guess which ones), were actually pretty well stocked, it was more the energy in the place. You don't need folks to be running and screaming to know that there is panic, you don't need fights in the aisles to understand that people are trying to weigh what they would need to get by for the longest period of time if they had to. A whole store of people functioning under the possibility that this could be their last trip to the store for a while. I think the best way I could describe it is a calm fear. We had made a list beforehand which was great, so we got what we needed, checked out, got home, wiped everything down, and through our canvas grocery bags, and every stitch of clothing we were wearing into the laundry.

We also talked about what would need to happen in order for us to start rationing food, and what that process would need to look like for both us and the cats. I truly do not think we will get to that point, but as a planner it was important for me to say the words out loud, and work through them with my partner. We are lucky, she has worked in kitchens for the past 15 years and has really wonderful knowledge around food safety and storage. Waste not, want not, but also now would be a horrible time to get food poisoning.

This whole detox process after we get home had me thinking about what might change once we get to the other side of this. I would love the idea that our government systems will magically reformat to better help people in these extreme times of crisis, but I doubt it. I'm also wondering on a more personal level. I have a hard time imagining my kitchen ever getting down to just cereal and milk again, I can imagine for a long time I will wash my hands every time I walk past a sink, I can imagine I will guard my savings a little more tightly and read medical benefits packages on potential new jobs a little more closely after all of this.

When I try and think about what these changes could look like on a larger scale, I think about work from home policies, I think about people reaching out to check in on their older neighbors, I wonder if there will be fiscal or benefit policies that will come out of this to both protect small businesses and force larger companies to act more responsibly. Most importantly I wonder what kind of lessons there are to learn from this situation for if/when this happens again. We now have multiple generations of people that have a clearer idea of what a fast response means when dealing with a virus. What happens when the next one that comes around has a 10% mortality rate? What about 30%? Will we be so gun shy? Will we understand that to act with restraint in this situations, means to prolong and aggravate the severity of its impact?

We, as humans, no matter where we are, are slow to learn and fast to forget. I hope that we are able to use the current sense of urgency to enact silver lining policies that can protect us better in the future.

Stay strong,
Claire   

Day #6

Day #6
Global: 244,517
US: 14,250
MN: 89

Announcements:
- State Department has told all Americans not to travel abroad, and those abroad should return home
- Italy surpassed China in death toll
- My own observation: this is the first time the US total has doubled in less than 24hrs


I'm low energy from a hectic day of work. My partner and I ordered Chinese food and watched some TV, and I wrote the below email to my coworkers. Forgive the copy/paste, more tomorrow.

Hello All,

I know there are so many of us that are struggling to figure out how, in our professional capacity, we can best help our community in this time of need. This on top of our own obligations to ourselves and our families is a monumental challenge to take on. Our organization is good at a great many things, but immediate disaster relief is not one of them, and that is okay. I found myself getting to the end of the last few days and feeling weird that I had been working around this pandemic and its impact in our community ALL DAY, but didn’t feel like I was having impact as an individual myself. If you are like me, and might benefit from having some direct impact, here are some of the things I’m doing that you’re welcome to join.

• I have a 2pm platelet donation scheduled for next Tuesday at the Minneapolis Red Cross. They are taking extra precautions to keep people safe, and are also in desperate need for donors at the moment. Platelet donation takes about three hours, and you get to hang out under warm blankets. 😊
• To my gay male colleagues, I’m sorry that a homophobic system continues to leave you out of this option, I couldn’t find a donation alternative online, but please let me know if you have one.
• The United States Peace Corps is in the midst of a global evacuation (over 7,000 Volunteers and US staffers.) As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer this is near and dear to my heart. As we are scrappy bunch, and since all Volunteers are being asking to quarantine for 14days upon arrival (which won’t be possible in family homes that have a high risk member), Volunteers are organizing on a single facebook group. If you can make a direct financial gift to an evacuated Volunteer (mostly to help with food or rent), or are able to provide support (housing, transportation, job resources) you can find the google sheets here. I gave $30 to a volunteer who is living in his storage pod until federal funds come in, and needed gas money. I have been using the facebook page to get word out about 2-1-1 as well so if we hear about any Peace Corps calls, you’re welcome!
• As the partner of a chef, and a person who has worked in the restaurant industry on and off over the course of my lifetime, it has been heartbreaking to see food friends be laid off. This also applies to those in the arts. I’m in the process of sending out a list of favorite restaurants, local retailers, and theaters to my family, and I’m asking them to buy my birthday and Christmas gifts early by purchasing gift cards from these places. If we want these beloved places to continue existing, we have to help them more than ever now.
• Also, regardless of your love for Chinese food, put one on your list; we have seen an increased amount of hate filled attacks on our neighbors of Asian decent and Asian food establishments started suffering early on in this panic.

This email’s purpose is not to suggest that we should take on these ideas as an organization, I am writing this because despite the amazing work we are doing right now, I was feeling frustrated and I can imagine you might be as well. Additionally, I’m always here to chat, grab digital coffee or happy hour, show you how to work Instacart, send you food on a delivery service if you really need it, or to meditate/ pray on you and your loved ones behalf.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening, and I could not think of a better bunch of folks to be working with right now.

Peace and love,
Claire

Day #5

Day #5
Global: 214,894
US: 7,769
MN: 77

Announcements:
- NY mandatory 50% of workforce from home
- Two members of the House test positive (Mario Diaz-Balart, R-FL & Ben McAdams, D-Utah)
- President Trump signs Coronavirus Aid Package and institutes Defense Production Act
- Trading halted as DOW falls 1,300
- ICE postpones "non-urgent" arrests and stop most operations near health care facilities (I will try my best to keep the announcement politically neutral, but I find the language on this announcement enraging.)

Working from home felt a bit easier today, though concentrating on things is still difficult. There is part of me that blames this on me just not being a good WFH person, and there is another part of me that understands that with a global crisis afoot, it is more likely that I'm this distracted for other reasons.

My non-profit workplace continues to work to respond to the community, and finally got out Emergency Relief Fund up and running today. As the manager of our three Giving Communities, I'm also strategizing about how I can create a specific response for the organizations we support, and sent out an update to all our committees today. Trying to balance the immediate need with the long term is always a struggle in times like these, and I have much more experience with the immediate end of things, but now as a manager our long term planning must be top of mind as well. Truly I know I'm lucky to even have brain space to be figuring this out, as many are trying to figure out how to cover rent, or care for their kids.

There continues to be silver linings in how the community is coming together, and is working to innovate solutions in times of need.

My partner and I agreed that we are going to create a more open sense of independence than we would normally have in the house together, just to keep each other sane. Less "do you want to go for a walk?" and more "I'm going for a walk!" We (mostly her) got a bunch of music refiled and arranged today in our effort to turn the den back into and office for me, as opposed to a storage place. Small wins will make this all a lot more bearable.

Time for dinner, sending love from our home to yours!
Claire

Day #4

Day #4
US: 6,362
MN: 60

Announcements:
- Potential economic stimulus to every American
- President Trump recommends no more than 10 to a gathering
- Canada and EU close borders to non-citizens
- Amazon shut down delivery of anything all non-essentials and high demand items

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It has been a bit odd, though still not entirely out of the ordinary. Worked from home again today, ad a few different meetings and calls, mostly focused on how to give a clear idea to donors about the types of community support we are doing at the moment. Straighten the apartment up, started cooking corned beef around 1pm, and went on a walk. It was a lovely day out, and with impending snow and the knowledge of relative lock down, it was good to get some fresh air. The neighborhood hasn't really changed as much, though we did notice lighter traffic on the highway.

We had two friends over for dinner tonight. We all weighed the risks, and based on a few different factors, decided it was worth it.
- None of us are in high risk populations, nor will any of us be interacting with high risk populations any time soon
- All of us have been quarantining since Friday
- The other two folks have a kid that is returning from out of the country in a few days and will be going under a 14 day strict quarantine starting then anyway.

I have a feeling the days where we can weigh the risks of meeting up with two friends and reasonably decide its okay are probably coming to an end soon, but who knows? We enjoyed some whiskey, the corned beef, colannon, carrots, and irish soda bread together, and managed to find topics to talk about outside corona about 50% of the time.

Our local Co-Op, where my partner was recently offered a job remains closed. They say she will start next Tuesday, but there is a part of me that is wondering if the lock down won't become more severe by then. I checked in today with my sister who is living with her husband in New Zealand, and apparently panic is starting to hit there as well. I guess they weren't kidding about the "global" part of the "global pandemic."

In a silver lining, the pollution cloud over China has virtually disappeared, and the canals in Venice are clear for the first time in ages. Both of these stories had started me wondering what sort of long term changes will this outbreak spark around the world. Things around cultural work expectations, pollution, and social interactions. I suspect that this episode in the history book of humanity is being written as we sit in our homes. Changed because of how we choose, or don't choose to change our lives.

Working on remaining optimistic and trying my damndest not to be constantly checking the Johns Hopkins Corona dashboard. Erin go bragh!

Best,
Claire

Day #3

Day #3

US: 4,645

MN: 54

Announcements Made Up To This Point:

- National State of Emergency

- State State of Emergency

- All Peace Corps Volunteers Evacuated

- Schools in MN to close Wednesday

- Bars and restaurants closed as of 8pm today

- Bay Area to shelter in place

- One Voice rehearsals cancelled

It struck me today that it might be good to keep track of everything that is going on in the world with the coronavirus. Seeing as I have an online platform set up, I figured I would use it. 

I will mark these very specific blog posts with the number of days since President Trump declared a national emergency. 

We had our "simulation" work from home day today, but it started off with an email from our CEO saying that this will be the new norm until at least March 27th. I have the feeling, based on what I'm reading, that it is going to be longer than that, but we will see. As someone who has done one off WFH days on the occasion, it didn't feel too weird. Signed on to Teams, prepped and participated in a few meetings, tried to stay focused. This will get harder as the days go on, but I'm trying to keep my mind open for silver linings when available. 

My partner and I have decided, like any good Jewish person and Greek would, that we are going to cook our way through this pandemic. Yesterday included bananas foster over buttermilk pancakes, irish soda bread and homemade spaghetti and meatballs. As I'm absolutely committed to celebrating St Patrick's Day, tomorrow's menu should be pretty epic. 

The co-op a few blocks from our house closed down due to a staffer testing positive yesterday...about five hours after we had shopped there, so things have spread into our neighborhood. Friday the Governor declared a state of emergency, yesterday he declared the closure of schools starting Wednesday, and today they have closed bars and restaurants. After hearing about the Bay Area asking folks to shelter in place, I'm assuming it is only a matter of time before the country is under a similar type of declaration. 

It is an odd space to be in as we are privileged to feel comfortable and safe in our home, and yet so much information that we are consuming is fearful and chaotic. We are going to try and stay in good spirits and I hope you all are doing your best to stay the same.  

Foreign Service?

The times in which I tend to log on to this blog and write a bit is always interesting. It started off as a Peace Corps blog, to chronicle my journey and possibly lay a trail of breadcrumbs for those that might be interested in following. There were some follow up posts, some posts during grad school, some posts during my deployment with the Red Cross, and then a reflection post now and again.

There is a chance I'm starting another trail of bread crumbs, so it seem appropriate to log that here.

On May 9th, I took the Foreign Service Oral Assessment and I passed. Passing the FSOA was the culmination of 8 months of work for this round, 2 years and 8 months of work since the first time I took the Foreign Service Officer Test, and over a decade of thoughts, information sessions, conversations and contemplation since the seed of this idea was planted in my head after my parents staid with two retired Foreign Service Officers while coming to see a concert of mine at Interlochen Arts Camp.

From what I have read online, only about 2% of people who take the FSOT end up becoming US diplomats, so though this has been a dream for a long time, the concept of it ever really becoming reality wasn't something I entertained, until the Assessing Officer broke into a smile and said "Congratulations Ms. Psarouthakis, you passed." As I've been in my clearance process for a few months now, I'm hoping that I can use this space to process through my thoughts as they come up. Consider this an introductory post with more to come!

Timeline Thus Far:
FSOT: October 1st, 2018
Personal Narratives Submitted: November 8th, 2018
Invited to FSOA: December 31st, 2018
Passed FSOA: May 9th (5.7 within the PD Cone)
Medical Clearance Received: December 20, 2018

Security Clearance Status: Final adjudications