8 — Monday, April 20, 2020
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

PHOTO ESSAY

MARCH 8

202 cases in Madrid, 644 in 

Spain. Public transport danger 

became our major topic of con-

versation along with the view 

of health care in the country. 

We had been told over and over 

about the difference in person-

al space definition in Spain in 

comparison to the US, and at 

this point, it became a reason 

to suspect that Madrid could be 

in real trouble soon. In Spain, 

the common greeting is kiss-

ing one another on the cheeks, 

something that takes some get-

ting used to as Americans. The 

social change that would ensue 

because of social distancing 

would be drastic.

MARCH 9
MARCH 10
MARCH 11
MARCH 12
MARCH 13

I remember sitting on the floor of my 

room in my homestay when I got a text 

in a group-chat of friends saying to turn 

on the television and watch the Madrid 

news. We didn’t have a television, so my 

roommate and I sat together and started 

refreshing the news pages. Then it was 

uploaded. Madrid had made a declara-

tion that all educational facilities would 

be closed for three weeks. IES Madrid 

alerted us that our learning would be 

transferred to online and that every-

thing would continue as normal. They 

had no intentions of closing the program 

or any reason to think that we would 

return to normal class in the three 

weeks. There were 644 cases in Madrid 

as of that day. University of Michigan 

students received news that the program 

was aware of the situation in Madrid and 

it was under review.

In the morning, my roommate 

and I woke up still in shock that 

there would be no classes in-per-

son, and just sitting and waiting for 

our universities to notify us what 

their decision was. We went to Buen 

Retiro park to sit in the sun, not fully 

knowing how much more time we 

had. There were 1600 cases in Spain, 

782 of which in Madrid. That night, a 

large group of students from the IES 

program all ended up at Círculo de 

Bellas Artes, a lookout over the city, 

to watch the sunset. We talked about 

the possibility of getting sent home, 

some students were convinced we 

would be able to stay, others took a 

more pessimistic approach. Regard-

less, we all sat and watched the sun-

set over the buildings of our Spanish 

home, took pictures, and reminisced 

over what wonderful things we were 

able to do. That evening, I got the 

email from U of M announcing their 

decision to pull all students from 

Spain.

While things had been getting cra-

zier in Spain, stress was growing back 

in the US as well. U of M announced 

their decision to cancel all in-person 

classes which shocked us all. We had 

been living in a city with so many 

cases, and with just the beginnings 

of the pandemic in Michigan, class-

es were cancelled right away. I am 

still trying to find a way to explain 

the difference in perspective that I 

had compared to my friends back in 

Ann Arbor, not better or worse, but 

entirely different. Despite constant 

conversations about the virus, I had 

never felt in danger or that there was 

anything to be afraid of by being in a 

place with so many cases. Being then 

able to look towards the US and see-

ing how differently they reacted was 

so interesting. This perspective on 

how the different parts of the world 

reacted to this pandemic and contin-

ues to react will be so interesting to 

dissect more as time carries this part 

of history through.

I woke up later that morning after staying up later read-

ing the news about Spain and Italy, cancelling trips I had 

planned and talking to my parents trying to comprehend 

what was happening. By the time I rolled over and checked 

my phone, it was well past 10am and, within the hours I had 

been sleeping, the entire world changed. I had notifications 

from friends saying they were boarding planes, on busses, 

re-booked flights, and that all the sudden if I didn’t get home 

within twenty-four hours, I would be stuck in Spain for 

months. The president had announced the travel restrictions 

for all of Europe and Spain had obtained a level 3 travel advi-

sory by the CDC and State Department as Spain had reached 

3000 cases in the country. A time of reaction filled of misin-

formation, we all the sudden were under the impression that 

we needed to fly back that day. A great way to wake up in 

the morning. After calling my parents, 2am in the Midwest, 

I re-scheduled a flight back for Friday the 13th after making 

one for Saturday only two days before. Only slightly later did 

it become clear that US citizens would not be affected in the 

travel ban. But regardless, my roommate and I spent our days 

packing up our lives and shoving them into the couple suit-

cases we had, telling our host mom that we would be leav-

ing the next day. After packing up my study abroad room, 

I walked around the park with some of my closest friends 

that I made while in Madrid, and watched the sunset over 

Temple de Debod, the last sunset we would be able to see in 

Madrid. 

I woke up at 4am to catch a taxi to the airport for a 9am flight back to the US, 

because the lines had been hours long to get through security the day before. 

I took a plane with several other students from my program, many of which 

had masks on for the plane ride. Airport personal passed out gloves and masks, 

and we were forced to go through extra security checks due to Department of 

Homeland Security’s new measures. After a ten-hour flight, we landed in Atlan-

ta. Expecting tests for fever or illness, I made sure to have plenty of time for 

my layover. To my surprise and astonishment, I had to go through no health 

checks on my arrival. My passport was barely checked, and no questions about 

my health were made. 

