Having family and friends in Switzerland meant a lot of questions about the entire Corona crisis here in Mexico. With this post, we are trying to paint a picture of the situation as we have perceived it.
Beach
The beach had been closed for a couple of months. Of course people were still going, but the government had officially declared it closed. A month ago or so, they opened the beach during the week from 6am to 10am, now it is open during the week in the morning and in the afternoon, but still not on the weekends. We don’t go to the beach that often, so we are still fine 😉
Border
The border to the US has been closed for us tourists for a while now and it has proven to be quite helpful with saving money since we are saving on gas. It also made us realize that we find pretty much everything we need. What we cannot get down here is Swiffer pads and Swiffer detergent. We were also unable to buy our usual diapers that are a lot cheaper than what we can get down here. On the other hand, a Mexican friend recommende Anja a hairdresser that would cut her hair for $10, which is $40 cheaper than what our friend in the States charges when she cuts Anaj’s hair.
Calvary Chapel Rosarito
In the beginning, Mike Vincent, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Rosarito (CCR) did a sermon series on the Corona Virus, giving biblical guideline as how we, as Christians, should deal with the crisis and how we can be a light to others in the midst of it. As the situation worsened, CCR had to close its doors, but continued its services online, also providing bible studies and daily devotionals onine on Facebook and Youtube.
Since a lot of people lost their job or had a cut back in their workload, there was a real need for groceries. CCR reached out to the church family and asked for donations for these family in the form of non-perishable food and other important necessities. When Anja was at the store with our second shopping cart of donations, a random guy behind her at the register wanted to know why we needed that much cooking oil. After explaining everything, he simply said, “I want to pay for that” and handed the cashier his credit card. Wow, just wow.
After some time, CCR announced that they were going to hold a “car service”, like a drive in cinema, with a stage instead of a screen. It was a huge success! Some of the neighbors were not happy, but CCR was given permission to continue since they made sure to stick to all the safety standards.
The next step was to open the church back up for some test services, before they were recently given permission to host services officially again. That meant taking people’s temperature, providing hand sanitizer, ensure social distancing seating, limiting restroom access to a three people at the time, coming up with a system to dismiss people one at a time after the service and to give them a safe opportunity to share
their prayer requests, reminding people not to socialize after the service, to not hug or touch each other, etc.
Just this week, CCR was officially allowed to open its doors again, still sticking to social distancing and sanitizing standards. However, they still provide online services and daily devotionals, making sure that the people who do not want to come to church (yet) or who just stumble accross their account will be provided with a good, spiritual meal.
Chiropractor
Anja has been having issues with her back since August 2019 when she lifted Ziva in and out of her car chair sideways. With Ziva getting heavier, the pain has been getting worse, which was the reason why we wanted to go to a chiropractor. We even had a friend recommending us an apparently “amazing” chiropractor. However, when we contacted him, we could not make an appointment due to the Corona crisis.
After two weeks though, he opened again for a few clients a day and we have been able to go see him every second week. Nowadays, he takes appointments morning and afternoon 6 days a week. You need to wear a mask and santize your shoes and hands upon entering and he sanitizes the room after every customer. He also told us that he had to instal a filter system, similar to the one restaurants have.
Restaurants
A lot of restaurants were closed, but still offered take out. However, a couple of restaurants are back open again – social distancing and everything.
Shopping
If you want to go grocery shopping here, it’s only one family member at a time and wearing a mask is mandatory. They do take your temperature when you enter the store and you will be given a splash of sanitizer for your hands. Certain items were limited per person, like toilet paper, rice and eggs and non-essentials, like clothing and toys, were unavailable for a certain time. Funny enough, baby clothes were excluded from this rule. However, everything is available again.
In smaller stores, like DSL or organic stores would only allow two customers at the time, mask being mandatory as well.
Support the Schmid Family – Reach the world
Would you like to support us financially? You can do so by:
- Monthly transfers or gifts over $1000: EGS (Electronic Gifting Solutions) Network with the comment that it’s for the “Schmid Family”
- Writing a check to “Calvary Chapel Rosarito” with a comment “Schmid Family” and send it to:
Mike Vincent
PMB W-304, PO Box 439016
San Ysidro, CA. 92143
Important: Please let us know that you sent a check!
For more information, visit the About Us or Become a Partner page.
