September 8, Third year of the pandemic.

The prices of the basic basket rise more and more in Latin America. Lemon, sugar and rice have increased their prices by one hundred and fifteen percent. People who cook, whether to feed their family or for work, are running out of ideas for the daily menu.

We have a minister of economy who only talks nonsense through the media and an absent president, who only shows up when it comes to social works to boast of her image.

The morning news only shows the empty streets of the city, the hospitals with long lines of patients and/or the violent strikes of one or another union of workers fighting against the police force.

I get out of bed and leave my room to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water, hoping it’s drinkable, while I watch my father watch the news complaining about the government. – One knows that this is common in elderly people. -My mother, covered with a mask, washes the dishes that we left dirty the night before, while she listens to the bad moods of her old husband in front of the television.

The three of us have been marked with the vaccine against the plague that plagues the world. I have three stripes on my arm symbolizing the three doses that correspond to my age, while my father and mother have five and four respectively.

12:00

Today it’s time to go to the market to buy more supplies. My father can’t go because of his age, he could and he wouldn’t want to, but we don’t let him. We get tough on him when we make these decisions. – I know it would be ugly to die from asphyxiation, perhaps one of the worst deaths there could be. But, it doesn’t matter to me, it’s not that I have much desire to continue existing in a society as rotten as the virus that harasses us. –

Welcome to Latin America!

14:00

I arrive from the supermarket carrying around eight bags in my hands, bringing basic foods such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes, rice, sugar, among others. I only had to walk about three blocks from where I bought them, although it seemed longer because of the bright sun that kept making me sweat.

As soon as I arrive, my younger sister is waiting for me with a hose in hand to perform a very archaic disinfection process on me. – It’s like a double bathroom. -I leave the supplies in a tray so that they can be disinfected with alcohol by my mother, while my sister sprays me with pressurized cold water to get rid of any «polluting agent» that she may bring in from the street. – It is surprising that I have not caught a cold to date. –

We had lunch in silence in the kitchen, while we continued watching the news from our beloved tabloid press. It seems that these gentlemen were paid much more, for ruining the lunch of all the families in the country, putting depressing images on the television.

We only see robberies, assaults and scams. One or another politician blaming another political group; which, in turn, they define as «doing politics», blaming them for the current situation and vociferating that with them in power this situation will be different. Then to soothe the endless social depression they give us some sports for dessert, to stoke the little hope that is in our hearts. – As if goals healed people -.

A very famous doctor in the media, recommends not getting depressed and having a good mental system so as not to fall into this terrible disease while the other hours of the day fill our heads with anguish and make us crave for not knowing what will happen tomorrow .

16:00

Bored of being locked up in my room playing video games, I go out to the door of my house to get some air. I breathe while I see how the dust covers the electrical cables on the roofs of each homes.

I return to the kitchen, only to realize that my parents are resting in their room and they probably plan on not coming back downstairs until tomorrow. I drink a glass of water and return to my room to see if I can entertain myself with a serie on streaming.

20:00

A commotion is heard in the distance that grows as more neighbors join in on this bustle. Society decided to hit a pot with a ladle as a sign of solidarity towards the professionals who are on the front line of battle. Doctors, Nurses, Police and Firefighters who have to deal with the incidents of confinement. This collective hubbub lasts for about fifteen minutes and then everything falls silent again. -It seems that today will once again be a day to go to bed early, a day to forget. –