Score: Homestay 99.99%, USA 10%

A serene and pleasant home stay here in Laurel, Maryland is coming to an end. The imperfection of the score of this blog post title is due to the one person whose mask fell below her nose at a local supermarket, and an unwilling mask-wearer who made fun of me at a gas station. Nothing to do with my home stay, actually, except that the unpleasant violation of Maryland’s COVID safety rules took place in the neighborhood. Otherwise, we have been safe.

I have spent the last two months with old friends, in a lovely big home in a quiet and friendly suburban neighborhood. I have been able to keep up my language studies—adding Chinese to the mix—with lessons, conversations, “language parties,” and interactions with other learners every day. I’ve also been able to see my local Maryland friends, either with online calls, or even in person once or twice.

Despite daily exercise consisting of 60 minutes of walking outside, 30 minutes of yoga alternating with weight training, and 250+ steps per hour, my sedentary life has caused “The Sitter’s Fat Torso.” Damn! I shall have to up my movement game—and perhaps lower my sedentary time and a bit of my food intake—in my next location.

My wonderful hosts have made me feel comfortable and welcome, and have enabled me to continue with my life in this worldwide emergency. I have a keen awareness of how difficult it is for a family to adjust to an “other” who comes to live with them: all are driven by circumstance, but still must deal with an unbalancing factor to lives already stressed by the ever-changing exigencies of the pandemic. Here, my hosts treated this factor with open communication and grace, for which I shall be ever grateful.

So, on to the continuation of this “interim of the unknown” in Oaxaca, Mexico. I’ll be back in my apartment from last year, with Paulina and Julian, my hospitable Airbnb hosts. I’ll talk to you soon from there!
Love to all,
Dorée

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