I joined a diverse group of foreigners sitting around a resort bar. Catering to tourists, it was a location normally not available to us. Because of the pandemic, the bar was free of beachgoers and available for us to discuss the pandemic setting in on us. Representing business owners and retirees, with a couple of younger working residents, the group had been invited together via Whatsapp chat to discuss news, available resources, and planning. Over 8 months pregnant Tee stayed home while I joined the group to help gain an overall feel of a very unsettling situation. A German bartender served us domestic beers under the thatch roof of the foreign bar. Scattered upon tree trunks sectioned off into little bar stools, the open venue overflowed with concerned individuals coming together to form a collective understanding of what was happening around the world. When a local attorney warned the group that a country-wide quarantine looked imminent, the bar exploded with disbelief. “They can’t do that!” “I have rights!” “I won’t stay if they do!” All the usual screams of outrage directed at no one, in particular, echoed from the bar. The thought of a mandatory, country-wide, police-State style lock-down seemed inconceivable to most of us, but the attorney assured us it wasn’t. Global citizens already held captive in their homes by government officials, flights grounded, and borders closed around the world, our future was painfully…
