Diary of a day during the COVID-19 pandemic

What used to start as a day full of activities, lots of people, and a shining light outside, has now taken a different nuance. It is not “Love in the Time of Cholera” from Marquez, but it’s life in the time of Corona virus…

The alarm rings sharp at 08:00 O’clock. Nobody hurries to go out. There is no more pressure we will be late to go anywhere. However, there is still need to cook breakfast and serve it, wash the dishes, clean the rooms, and the house must smell lavender all around! All the chores double when you have to do with 10 family members. More meals, more needs and wishes to be fulfilled, more corners of the house to be kept clean and in order, more, and more, and more… counting seems to have no end. As hard as this may sound, in an environment where children have been properly educated by their parents or any other person, this is a very positive thing.

“More” is now converted into a helping hand. More people to contribute, serve, and finish given responsibilities. Even my little brother cannot escape from this duties’ division, despite the fact that he is an “only son”. Moreover, I cannot compete with him when it comes to his closet in which clothes are divided according to colors! It is no wonder that my father too completes his role successfully. Yes, h does cook meals, this happens for real! He makes his bed when he wakes up and is always ready to help us, even if it is “women’s job”. Thus, it is not difficult for my little brother to help us since he has a role model to follow.

One day he decided to help me clean the balcony. At that moment, a car passes by, with two boys his age inside. When they saw my brother with his sleeves rolled up and holding the water hose, they started laughing and whispering something, and drove away.

I turned my head to see his reaction, and I was surprised. Instead of being angry or shy, I see him smiling as if he did not care about his peers. He looks at me, and says smiling:
“You forgot to rub that big stain, right there.”

I start smiling together with him and I feel happy for who he was become. When finishing, we get back inside and continue watching our TV series which we paused. On the other side, our older sister is reading a book on the armchair – something about Japanese secrets for a happier life.

That’s all we need to mock her.

And so begins a game of childish mockery. Our father joins us in the afternoon. He looks tired from the work he has done at the yard all morning.

Our mother joins him with a glass of wine and thy both start telling us how they first met, something we have memorized like a poem but don’t interrupt them. When I look around, I see relaxed people, a stronger bond than ever, warm hugs from grandparents, and I think to myself: “Maybe life in the time of Corona is not so bad…”

This article was written by Liridona Selmani, a student in the Department of Social Work in UP under the monitoring of professor Vjollca Krasniqi within the cooperation with SIT. This article was written within the project “Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and the Prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans”, implemented by CARE International Balkans in partnership with SIT and YMCA in Kosovo and supported by Austrian Development Agency, and Oak Foundation.

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