Part 2: One year in Goa - Life during COVID-19 lockdown

<< Read Previous: Part 1: One year in Goa - Arriving in Goa and the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns

The day after we arrived, we went to the market by walk, which was about a kilometre from our home. It was a nice walk through rice fields and local streets. The local Chandor Market was a small market with two vegetable stores, few fish sellers, one fruit seller, and a few stalls selling sausages. It was a very intimate setting. We explored the nearby grocery stores that were selling most of the groceries we needed. It was a nice day exploring the village and the market.

A few days into our stay, we heard the news that Indian government announced two day lockdown during the weekend starting March 24, 2020 where everything will be closed. We went to the market again and stacked up fruits, vegetables, and groceries as much as we could. The weekend lockdown started and everything was closed. Before the end of the two day lockdown, it was announced that a strict lockdown will be enforced for another three weeks (21 days). As it was almost unheard of in India and in this village that everything is planned to be closed for this long, panic started kicking-in in the village. It was unclear if the food supply will be there or if it might become a problem. Even though there was an assurance from the government that food supply will not be interrupted, all grocery stores and vegetable markets in Chandor village were closed for almost a week. In addition to the lockdown, there were many rumours and misinformation regarding how the virus spreads and what one needs to do. There was also no clear instruction yet from the government, nor WHO regarding what care one should take during this time. There was no guidance on masks nor information on who are vulnerable to the virus.

Almost a week later the village management (Chandor Village Panchayat) arranged the vegetable and food market to be open with lot of controls on social distancing and personal contact. There were long lines to get groceries and vegetables. One small store that was in our neighbourhood charged 3 - 4 times the normal price for groceries. As we were unsure when the food supply will be back to normal, we stacked up on whatever we could get hold off. However we realized after a few days that the situation in the market area was different. There was police controlling the sellers in the market to make sure they were not overcharging. It was all new for everyone in the village, and it was certainly new for us to watch all this panic and chaos around us.

We had originally planned to stay here for a month, travel around India for a month and head to Europe in May, stay there for a few months to meet family and friends and head towards Mexico and South America. We had all our flights and trains booked. But along with the lockdown, all domestic and international flights from India were cancelled until further notice. So we immediately extended our stay at this house for another month, which we continued extending and stayed here for a full year.

During the lockdown we stayed mostly at home. But our lockdown was very different compared to what we heard from other parts of the world from our friends and family. During the first week or two, Sam was able to go to the market every few days and get everything we needed. We were able to go the the playground across from the home everyday even during lockdown, and also go to the football ground next door to workout and do our regular runs. Luckily the home we stayed in also had a very large open area around the house with a lot of trees and plants. So Nora and Nina had a lot of space to place and enjoy outdoors. The only thing we could not do was to explore and see others parts of Goa during the lockdown period, other than that our life was just as it always was.

The lockdowns continued until end of May. But luckily there were no known cases of Covid in the entire village of Chandor until this point. In the beginning few weeks of the lockdown, only Sam went out to get groceries and food supplies. But two or three weeks into the lockdown, all of us including Nora and Nina started going to the markets every few days. As we carry our supplies in our backpacks, it was easy to have both Kathi and Sam go to the market and carry the supplies so we could bring more supplies each time. Also, Nora and Nina enjoyed the time outside and the park that was on the way to the market.

The Government of India started providing guidelines for unlocking the country from June 1 onwards with gradual opening of services and facilities depending on the number of cases in that area. This process continued up until end of November, 2020. As the lockdown progressed, there were more guidelines and instructions from the government and WHO regarding masks, social distancing, and more details on who are vulnerable to the disease and what care one should take. We started wearing masks whenever we went out and it became normal to wear a mask very soon after that.

Almost six months after we first arrived in Chandor, we made out first trip outside the village to Margao city which was about 10kms away. We took the local bus and the bus drivers were eager to charge us extra as they thought we were tourists from other countries. Sam spoke with them in Hindi and told them that we live in Chandor and we are almost like locals. From that point we paid on buses the same price as the locals do. It was interesting to see other parts of Goa other than just the village of Chandor. Due to Covid situation, many buses were cancelled and there were only a few buses in the morning and evening traveling to and from the village. We tried to leave early in the morning and on the way back we got off the bus a few kilometres away on a different route and walked back home. It became normal after a few times, and soon we started enjoying these long walks back home. Most of the long distance train services in India were still suspended, and only a few special trains were operational. International flights were still banned. We could've traveled to other parts of India on these special trains, but we decided to stay here until things settle down reasonably.

We arrived in late March, and a month or so into our stay, around beginning of May, we started doing some projects on gardening, building a shed, and experimenting with other things around our home. Monsoon season started at the beginning of June and it poured heavily for the next 4 - 5 months. In all of this, we were grateful that we were not affected by the lockdowns adversely as we did not have any connection to work, school, or other obligations. In addition to this, we also had very friendly neighbours, very supporting and kind hosts with their three children at home, markets open everyday, buses functioning, playgrounds open, and we also had lot of time to try out a lot of new things. Nora and Nina also enjoyed the weather changes, time in nature, and our walks to the market, and short visits to the nearby city of Margo.

Lockdown was a wonderful time for us to take a break from planning about travels and focus our energies on just being at one place and enjoying everyday. The only thing lockdowns did to us was to restrict us from traveling to Europe and other parts of India. We were grateful that we were healthy and in kind company during this time.

We couldn't have imaged being at any other place during this lockdown other than in Chandor village with our friendly and kind hosts and neighbours.

We will share more about our experiments with gardening, and our travels across Goa in our future posts.