Welcome to Truly Raw Stories.  My name is Christine Troyano.  Although American, I have been living internationally for the last several years. 

I first ventured to South Korea to begin my journey as a teacher, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).  Deciding I needed a warmer temperature climate, I relocated to Indonesia in July 2014.  Prior to working internationally, I spent many years working for various California counties within the Department of Social Services. In addition, I have also spent time being a substitute teacher within the California public education system and working for Prevent Child Abuse California (PCA-CA).

During my time in Indonesia, I have taught both Indonesian children and adults both in the classroom and online.  I have also worked teaching Chinese children (both in China and Hong Kong) through online ESL teaching.  

Through my connection teaching Chinese children in China, I witnessed firsthand some of the effects that COVID-19 had on my students. 

It began with Chinese New Year events and celebrations cancelled in January 2020. There was uncertainty as to whether families would be able to return to their hometowns and gather to celebrate this significant Chinese holiday.  They couldn’t.  Schools closed down.  Soon lockdowns were happening throughout the country.  In the beginning, many of my students liked being home.  They could sleep in late, dress casually, no school uniforms, play their online and cel phone games, eat whenever they wanted to.  But the Chinese education system quickly brought lessons into each student’s home.  Online distance learning was in full force.  While parents either worked from home or ventured outside for their essential jobs, everyone was in a strict lockdown.  I could sense a true fear of leaving the house with many of my students. 

The New Normal had begun. 

I know many children were counting the days since the lockdown began.  Noticeably visible was how long the children’s hair was becoming.  I’d do a little check-in with them before we began each lesson, just to see how they were doing.  What they were feeling,  How their families were and their distance learning was going.  Some parents did take it upon themselves to give their sons a buzz haircut as their hair was getting a bit long.  It seemed that only one parent would go outside the home to do the grocery shopping.  Of course, online home deliveries became in high demand.  Although my students had quite a few online school classes to take, it did seem like a bit of  lighter load than the usual schoolwork and homework…for some.  They even had P.E. class a couple times a week lasting 15 minutes or so.  But over time, many students were getting bored of being locked indoors.  They missed their friends and a bit of their normal routine. 

But as I inquired, not all students were eager to return to the classroom.  Many liked waking up later in the morning, being able to snack whenever they wanted, no uniforms, etc…

Slowly, as infections began to decrease and then the lockdowns were lifted, some students began returning to school.  I found mixed reactions to returning to school as well.  Some enjoyed reconnecting with their friends and the social interaction.  Other students would just rather stay at home, learning online.  Many say that other than wearing a mask and having temperature checks, it’s all about the same.

It was mid-April when all students officially returned to school.  However, even though the students are all back to school, many still just go straight from school to home as they still don’t quite feel it’s safe enough to just wander freely in town.  However, others have met with friends during their short spans of free-time.  

As for me, I was traveling around Indonesia at the time of lockdown.  Being that Indonesia has over 17,000 islands, it wasn’t a mandatory lockdown everywhere. 

Jakarta, the largest city in Indonesia and hardest hit in the beginning, suggested that residents stay home.  Eventually, that suggestion became a mandatory lockdown.  There were several businesses that defied the lockdown and were soon fined, closed and sent home.  Lockdown came in many forms, all relative to the amount of COVID infections each island had at the time.  East Java’s lockdown wasn’t far behind Jakarta’s as groups of people became infected in the area as well.  Schools closed Mid-March. My friends in East Java told me of roads being blocked by security.  Those that could work from home were the lucky ones.  Many more were not so fortunate.  Gone were the many street food vendors, and the daily workers.  Local governments did step up and began offering weekly food stape allocations of rice, noodles, oil, etc.  

I chose to be locked down in Bali, Indonesia for a few reasons.  Most importantly was my doctor was here.  After living in East Java for 4 years, I relocated to Bali to teach online (mostly adults from around the world).  After a few months of doing this, it was necessary for me to return to classroom teaching as some physical health issues prevented me from comfortably teaching online at the time.  After one year of teaching in Bali, I chose to leave the classroom once again and go my own way.  Now, with only having one job, that of teaching my Chinese students, I was more location independent and could teach while I travel.  So I packed it up and relocated to Ubud.  I soon realized this wasn’t all I had hoped for.  So, after 3 months, I packed it up one again and lugged all that I had collected along the way (boxes of ‘stuff’), back to Kuta, Bali.  I had a plan: go to Lombok to take care of some business, East Java to see my old teaching buddies, see the rest of Indonesia, Malaysia to finish my travels around there, a quick trip through South East Asia (SEA), home to America to see family and friends and then off to Spain to spend some time traveling around Europe.  

I had made it to East Java, but seeing my friends didn’t exactly go as planned.  Lombok didn’t either.  I had only planned on returning to Bali a few days to see my doctor and sell my ‘stuff’ as the lockdown was looming.  I chose to just put the brakes on it in Bali.  Bali’s streets were already quiet.  Although not mandatory, people were listening to the government and chose to stay at home.  Another contributing factor was that most of the foreign tourists had already made their way back to their home countries.  So, especially in the ‘tourist areas’, there wasn’t much reason to stay open.  Tour drivers, taxis, hotels, homestays, restaurants..all closed-or mostly closed.  Tourism had dried up.  There are still a handful of foreigners in Bali, all here by choice, more or less.  There are still flights back to the US, but how reliable the connecting flight is is another question.  Those of us foreigners who are still here know the risks: of one day receiving that email update from the US Embassy saying that there are no longer any flights going to the US at this time.  But for right now, that is OK.  I know the risks.  I chose to stay here.

And it took me a couple weeks (moving 3 times in 14 days), to find the right place to land to ride out the lockdown. I knew I had to find a place soon as more and more hotels and homestays were indefinitely closing down.  I am in regular contact with my family via Zoom, etc.  

I am one of the lucky one, I am very aware of that.  Other than the fact of needing to say at home, only going out for necessities, and not bouncing around to different islands, it is business as usual for me.  I still teach online with my Chinese students 6 days a week.  I used to go to the grocery store, but soon after decided to order my one meal a day by delivery.  I do walk 5 minutes away to a small local shop to buy more gallons of bottled water and soap, masks, scissors, etc.  And I always have plenty to keep me busy.  I am never bored.  But then again, I have always enjoyed my space, my alone time, with a little social interaction here and there.  I really am a loner, a homebody.  Although I love traveling, I chose to do most of it alone. I find more freedom in being alone.  

Yet, as I watched the effects that the lockdown has had on the world, I began thinking.  I want to do more with my life…more about that later.

One of the other things that my mind couldn’t stop thinking about was my deep desire to know how each and every person, family, and household dynamic was dealing with lockdown. 

All kinds of scenarios were running through my mind.  I tried to imagine how those who were laid off were doing, those who live alone, families balancing the work from home and homeschooling. 

Partnerships and marriages: are they thriving or surviving…or not?

I was amazed at how some companies, individuals and people from all over the world were coming together to take care of one another.  Then some group I hadn’t thought about would pop into my mind: oh, yeah, what about…?  Deeper and deeper.  My well earned Sociology education was coming out. 

I thought that this time in history must be documented or recorded in some way. 

I reached out to a few survey companies and sociological research companies.  My one reply from a survey company was that they have their own internal researchers. 

OK.  How do I do this?

I thought of an old friend who had spent hours perfecting the iMovie process and had built a nice portfolio of local iMovies showcasing local talent from all walks of life.  I thought: he and I could go door to door interviewing every person in America about the effect the lockdown had on them. 

After reaching out to a couple more friends and colleagues, I decided to create my own website where I could devise my own survey for people from anywhere on the planet to respond to in addition to sharing their personal stories via written word, video and/or pictures. 

So here it is…I’d love for you to share your truly raw stories.  How has life been since lockdown?  We are listening…