Hello friends and family! We are so grateful for all the love and concern we've felt from everyone back home. So many of you have reached out and asked how we're doing, so I just wanted to update you all on the situation here in Spain and how we're dealing with all the craziness.
Spain is now the country with the 4th largest number of coronavirus cases in the world, and that number is only increasing. Last weekend, the president declared a "state of alarm" across the whole country, which is a HUGE deal. As of this morning at 8:00, the entire country is on lockdown. People can only leave their homes if they're traveling to the supermarket, pharmacy, hospital, or if their work has issued them special permission to go in. All the highways between states are closed. There are police at various checkpoints around the city making sure nobody is traveling without one of the listed reasons. It's crazy and wild and a little scary.
Last week, BYU formally cancelled all winter and spring/summer study abroads, and told all students to make plans to return home as soon as possible. The other students here in Spain quickly responded to the call and bought tickets home for the next few days. For Hayden and I, the thought of spending nearly $5,000 to return home, coupled with the idea of traveling home with thousands of other possibly-infected Americans and the fact that I've been really, really sick this week with some other virus and would likely be quarantined as soon as we hit US soil, made our stomachs churn. I've honestly never felt so uneasy about anything in my whole life.
On the contrary, I feel the Holy Ghost calming me every time I think about just hanging tight and staying in Spain. While the news makes Spain seem like a very scary place right now, we live in a house in the hills miles outside of the city, and our little oasis is about the safest place in the whole country. We are living with two other BYU couples who are all going through the same thing. We have a landlord who is willing to help us with anything, including driving us to the store for food. We have a whole forest we can explore while we're not able to leave so we won't go too crazy. We still have a lot of teachers who are depending on us to work from home and help them set up lessons while the schools are closed. We are SAFE. And we are taking this time to focus on things that are most important (and having a Harry Potter marathon because when else in our lives will we be able to do that??).
Yesterday, we had church in the woods with our good friends Sydney and McKay and just felt so at peace with our decision to stay here. Again, we are so glad to have supportive family and friends at home who worry about us, but don't worry too much! We are in a really good place here and feel so blessed to be supported in this crazy time. If anyone wants to talk, we've never been so NOT busy in our whole lives so feel free to give us a call! Thanks, everyone, we love you and pray that this will all blow over very soon!
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