Quarantined: Days 3 – 7

Nothing exciting is happening in quarantine! All in all, we are spending our time pretty leisurely -mostly reading, writing, watching news on television or some interesting YouTube programmes.

Last night I was woken up at about 1 AM by a very loud noise from the next door. This guest was speaking on her phone and I could even hear the person on the other side talking. She would speak very loud (almost shout), make funny exclamations, laugh aloud and sometimes even scold the person on the other side. This process went on for over an hour. In the morning I had to lodge a complaint to the hotel management and make sure it is not repeated next day to spoil my sleep. It seems the information got conveyed effectively as the event was not repeated again.

I was suffering from severe toothache from day 2. I hoped it would go away but was only aggravating. On the 4^th day, I called Dr Gyan and asked for advice. He prescribed antibiotics and some strong anti-inflammatory medicines. I forwarded the requirements to the hotel staff, a Dessup volunteer serving through the whatsapp connection. She was kind enough to forward it to a hospital staff who in turn delivered the medicines in the afternoon. What an incredible service! This perhaps happens only in Bhutan.

Even with medicine, the pain was coming back frequently until Day 6 and less frequently from Day 7, but did not go way completely. It would start at a particular point between upper right molars but would spread throughout the jaws and gums, neck and head. I have to somehow sustain the pain until I am out of the quarantine and is able to see a dentist.

In between there were few online meetings and discussions with the management team of the college, almost every day. Besides these official engagements, I still have enough time to read. I hope to read some more books in next one week that we have here.

Food is reasonably good in the hotel, even though there is some monotony in the menu. The volunteers make a big bang on the door after dropping the food on a table kept next to the door. They disappear from your sight immediately. Door is closed right away and permanently. Food comes in small aluminum foil packs. Breakfast at around 8 AM includes fried rice and occasional puri and sabji with tea in tiny paper cups every time. Lunch at around 1 PM includes rice (invariably) with dal, vegetable curry and occasionally some non-veg item. At 4 PM you get your tea in small-sized cups along with some biscuits and occasionally some fries. The supper is at around 8.30 PM and is not very different from the lunches. We are habitually fond of milk tea and insist that we get some fresh cow milk in our tea and hopefully make curd for meals. The dairy shop in front receives and sells milk to people who keep dropping in throughout the day. We have managed to get at least 3 times a bottle of milk each through a contact in the pharmacy. This gentleman has been kind to add a bottle of fresh milk with our purchase from his shop and drop at the hotel counter for delivery to our door table. So we continue enjoying milk tea and continue making curd as a supplement tastemaker in our meals. Thanks to the curd that we brought from home which is serving as a starter.

Amidst reading writing and some official correspondence with the workplace, we do enjoy the sun that finds its entry from three panel window into the hotel room, which is luckily facing east. We do brisk walks across the room, do some stretching and yoga poses to give ourselves some exercise. We also watch people on the street, cars passing by and cleaners cleaning the already quite clean road.  Once a while the noise through a mike from across the border breaks the silence and reminds about a very different mood out there. Prayers or spiritual hymns, Bollywood songs or some political speeches are overheard frequently assuring everyone that life is moving on as usual in spite of 3^rd or 4^th wave of corona surge in our neighbor's great land!

Here in the hotel, everyday tests results are announced by the staff through the whatsapp group and fortunately until this time all the ones tested from this hotel have shown negative results.  On the 7^th day we gave our test to two smart ladies who appeared at the door in their full PPE. Also everyday few people are seen leaving the hotel on completing their quarantine and heading for some other destinations. These travels are very well coordinated and organized by the Task Force staff and Dessup volunteer staff. This is amazing how we have become very efficient in managing affairs in these times of dire need. In spite of all these, virus is making its way into the communities. Country saw a surge in cases with one more death reported recently. Phuntsholing is seen leading on the country’s datasheet. Unfortunately one more patient with kidney troubles succumbed to COVID infection taking the national death toll to four. We hope and pray that this is the last tragedy and the last wave of pandemic.