Reunited

MARCH 12, 2020 : Almost 30 years ago, when I found out that I was pregnant with a boy, I started to worry that the brit would be on Shabbat. A brit on Shabbat is complicated and how would we manage? Mark lost patience with my apprehension and pointed out that there was only a one in seven chance that this would happen.

Sure enough, my premonition was correct. Ari was born one hour into the Sabbath. The brit was on Shabbat – but it turned out to be a very nice brit, and yes, my worries were exaggerated.

And here I am, many years later with more premonitions of doom. This time, I pictured Mark in Australia, and me stuck on the other side of the globe – the coronavirus preventing me from joining him. During these past 12 days apart, in my mind, the global pandemic mushroomed so large and so quickly that all international travel was cancelled. He was there and I was not.

Maybe these travel restrictions will eventually come true, but luckily, it did not happen while I was on my way. All my flights – to Johannesburg, then Perth and then Melbourne – went smoothly. Mark and I were finally reunited late last night at the Melbourne airport.

It was well past midnight by the time we got an Uber to our Airbnb in the St. Kilda neighborhood of Melbourne. We are staying in a lovely apartment, with many synagogues, kosher food stores and vegan restaurants all within walking distance.

So now we are really here – and ready to start exploring. 

P.S. A few things happened over the past few days – all virus related – that I had not seen before. When entering South Africa, before passport control, you line up one by one and a woman holding what looks like a white plastic gun, stands about a meter in front of you. She asks you to remove your glasses and then points this thing at your forehead which takes your temperature to make sure you are not entering the country with a fever. I was not.

Like many things in South Africa, the school where my grandchildren learn is totally enclosed. Entrance is only through one gate. At that gate, stood a woman holding a large pump bottle of disinfectant. She squirted a few drops onto everyone who went by – kids and adults alike. Only after cleaning your hands could you enter the school yard. This was a new protocol that was started recently as a precautionary measure. Seems like a good idea.

On the plane, a few minutes before we were to land In Australia, they announced that according to Australian health regulations, they need to disinfect the plane. It was recommended that we cover our noses and mouths and anyone with contact lenses should close their eye. The stewards then walked down the aisles, each with two aerosol spray cans – one in each hand held high above their heads, and sprayed disinfectant all over the plane. Felt ominous.