The Coronavirus Blues

So, as many of you frequent readers and friends may know, I am moving to China next year.   While in many ways, I am so excited about this move.  It will be good for my son as the ECC program he will go into next year aligns with my understandings and beliefs of what a strong, Reggio inspired program should be.  It will be good for my husband, as he currently has a number of Chinese clients, and is hoping to extend that circle and potentially open up an office in the Silicon Valley of Shanghai.  Finally, I am excited about this move for a number of reasons.  First, I will get to catch up with and hang out with a number of friends who currently reside in Shanghai.   Also, I am excited to work in a full implementation of the C3, really diving in, exploring and supporting teachers in building an inquiry model that incorporates workshop elements and also builds kids understandings and opportunities to make connections about civics, the economy, history and geography.  Finally, I am excited about all the food I will get to consume in China, after 2 volatile years in Buenos Aires, which includes eating the very best and worst of Argentina's offerings.    Still, there is a big cloud lurking over our heads known as the coronavirus.  It's not only causing problems with my potential move to China.  It's spilling over into my joy.   

To start off with, I was supposed to go to New York to the Teacher's College Climate Change Symposium.  I was so excited to get this future forward PD and really was looking forward to it helping me imagine some clear lines with upcoming C3 units I was to develop with my K-5 teams in Argentina.   This has been cancelled because of the Coronavirus and I am currently dealing with the repercussions of trying to get money back from various stakeholders, long on-hold calls, and also, the sadness of not getting to see some dear friends from New York that have recently had some big life changes (babies, house buying, etc).  

Coronavirus isn't killing only my travel joy but others too.  My best friend and her family are scheduled to visit us in BA in the first week of April for the Easter holiday and we are crossing out fingers that their flight does not get cancelled and that they are able to fly.   Both my son and I need our buddies, Heather and Lane, and their energy and love, to help finish out this tiring school year. 

Finally, Coronavirus is putting a kink in the momentum of our school.  After a rollercoaster ride of a year, the superintendent was finally gaining momentum with a number of initiatives: PD, a new mission, hiring of a new admin team, etc.  and now, we have shifted our focus to all things distance learning.   I know in the future we will look at these days and be thankful that they helped us prepare for such events with great detail but for right now, it's frustrating from a big picture perspective, that the school is getting held back in moving forward because of having to deal with the coronavirus potential crises. 

The last thing before I go is that my hubby is in Spain right now: one of the recently blacklisted countries that is currently adding new cases in the hundreds each day.   He has been gone so long and isn't feeling well and is frustrated with the socialized medicine in Europe, which is always so good, until these kind of catastrophes happen.   We just want him home and healthy, so we can snuggle and not miss papa anymore, in the words of my son. 

Anywise, enough complaining for today, I think I'll try to use this post as inspiration for a poem or song tomorrow to the tune of the coronavirus blues. 

#SOL20 #day10