Quarantine Mid-April

So who expected this out of 2020? I didn't. 

But also, because I haven't been updating my blog as frequently as I should, there are a few things to update golf-wise.

I didn't play well in LET Q-School in January(I won't even get to the scores because that's something I'd like to wipe off my mind like a clean slate lol), but THANKFULLY, it seemed like I would get into a few LETAS (Ladies European Tour Access Series) events and also compete on the Santander Tour, until coronavirus hit, of course. As of now, a lot of things are uncertain, and I can't really say for certain when my next tournament will be. 

In the meantime though, I have been really grateful to have this month just to reflect on my game and review my goals. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to hit real golf balls for a month, but I have been training hard and as efficiently as I possibly can indoors. I will probably publish a post on quarantine practice later this week, so I will not explain in-depth about that for now. 

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What I want to talk about in this post is how things are in Spain, from my point of view. 

As it is all over the news, Spain has recorded the second-most cases of coronavirus and with all my condolences, the country's death toll stands just above 20,000 as of today. Although the situation seems to be mitigating, the lockdown protocol has been extended to May 9th. 

The Spanish quarantine started on March 14th, so it's been a little over a month. 

On March 10th, everything was still normal and it hadn't hit me the seriousness of coronavirus. I don't think it was hitting anyone because people were still crowding the bars as usual on the streets, and the golf course was packed. There was tension definitely because we knew how the virus had spread in Asia, but the number of cases was still really low so I thought we had more time until the virus actually hit Spain. 

I think it was on March 10th, the day the government closed down schools when the reality hit the people. I remember coming across my coach and trainer at the golf course and who had a completely different attitude about the situation compared to a few weeks before. They suggested me to leave Madrid and train because, at that point, we were assuming that only Madrid would be under lockdown. It turns out the entire country closed down in a matter of a few days. 

The hardest thing about being in lockdown for me is just not being able to golf and work out the way I had before. The tournaments are being postponed, and it's also hard to plan out my training, too. But to be really honest with you, that's probably the only dilemma I am facing. Thankfully, grocery stores are still open with a full stock of everything, delivery services are still intact, and Amazon has been our best friend when we need things that cannot be bought at grocery stores. I've been able to set up a decent indoor practice facility for golf, and although it kills me to be not out on the course, I understand that it is a really difficult time for everyone. 

Our family chose to stay in Spain because we'd be under a 2-week quarantine even if we did return to Japan, and thought that the virus would be lethal no matter where we went. It just wasn't the time for action for us, and also it helped that we do really love living in Spain. 

I hope you guys are staying safe!