Eissa Albinali

As the cases of COVID-19 rise, my fear rises with it. Spain went into an aggressive lockdown on March 14. Besides taking out the trash, we are not allowed to leave our house. One adult per family can go get groceries.

I’ve been on lockdown in my house for 4 weeks now, and honestly, I want this to be over.

Done. Khalas. Enough. Suficiente!

Every day is the same day put in repeat. Wake up, do some random busy work, play video games, talk to the family, eat, sleep. Pick a day, any day, I dare you! Guess what, same thing!

The hardest thing for me is the missed opportunity. We came to Spain for one year to learn Spanish and it got cut way too short. Just when I was finding my way, and feeling like this is home now.

I first heard about the Coronavirus in late January, and how it was affecting China. It sounded bad, but I wasn’t concerned. I didn’t feel like it was a threat to me. How could a country over 5k miles away have an impact on my life? However, very quickly other countries started to have sudden and severe outbreaks of the virus.

It wasn’t until Coronavirus hit Europe that the world started to pay attention. And, the outbreak in Lombardy, Italy is when Spain finally took notice. This was when many people realized Coronavirus was not just “China’s Problem”, it was a problem for the whole world.

One week after Italy’s cases started to surge, Spain also followed suit. Hundreds of new cases every day.

My dad had to leave for a business trip to the States, something that was planned months in advance. Two days after he left, Spain announced a State of Emergency.

March 13, a Friday, my mom kept us home from school. Even though the school did not officially close down, she felt it was headed that way. She was right.

Since the amount of food in our fridge was already low and with the inevitable country-wide quarantine, we left for the grocery store. The supermarket is where I felt the fear. The store was packed, every aisle had people shopping and filling their carts. People’s faces showed immense worry and anxiety. Some people were pulling two carts, overflowing with food and supplies.

All these signs showed the threat that the virus posed to the normal daily lives of people all around the world.

That evening, the official announcement came that all schools in Spain would be closed for two weeks. I felt so fortunate that we were able to get what we needed for this lockdown early, and that I could stay safe in my home from the virus.

When the quarantine first began, I was actually overjoyed! Everyday I could wake up at noon, eat breakfast and play video games. How bad is that? However, it only took two days before I realized and thought to myself…

“Is this really how I want to spend my time?” And the answer was no.

I decided to use this time to further my goals, manifest my dreams and explore my own interests,

I pick three goals to complete each day. The goals can be anything from watching one Masterclass writing episode to writing a blog post, and at the end of the day there is a sense of accomplishment. I check them off as I go, and it’s been satisfying to look back over the days and see how small goals add up to big accomplishments.

One small goal that has become a big achievement for me, is starting a Friday series I call “Kid Jumah” where I give a khutbah. A khutbah is a speech or sermon that is given during Muslim Friday prayers. With the lockdown , all mosques are closed, and so no khutbah, or sermons. Every week is a different topic and the only difference is that I direct my speech to a younger audience. I make some of the vocabulary easier for kids to understand. Every Friday I hop on YouTube and Instagram live to deliver my khutbah.

It’s been a way for me to connect with other kids who are all at home and hopefully talk to them in a way that they can relate to.

Although I miss my dad, a lot, as he is still unable to join us in Spain, I am trying to keep myself busy in creative ways. Thankfully, technology keeps us all connected socially, even if we are apart physically.