Written March 6, 2020 (Posted March 28, 2020)
Surprise!
It’s four something in the morning when I walk into the dark bathroom in our small Airbnb apartment in Valencia, Spain, feeling along the wall for the light switch. Snap! Light is suddenly flooding the small bathroom.
Front and center on the bathroom counter, only a foot away from me, stands an absolutely gigantic cockroach. He’s at least the size of a silver dollar, but stretched long-wise into the usual cockroach oval shape. I notice his antennas twitching, but after that I remember nothing except leaping from the bathroom (screaming) and jumping on the double bed, where Steve is sound asleep.
Too Big for Comfort
I have minimal experience with cockroaches, but I’d say that guy was unusually big. As in really large.
I was half asleep, and the sudden and unexpected sight of him sent shock waves through me. I sent Steve in to do his manly duty and get that cockroach, by any means necessary.
Steve tends to think I overreact in bug situations, whereas I tend to think he under-reacts, but this time was different. Steve came out of the bathroom in full agreement that this was a very large and unwelcome guest.
The Funnel Method
To be on the safe side, I turned on all the lights in the apartment, thinking perhaps there were other cockroaches lurking nearby. I sat on the bed and googled cockroach information while Steve, working with a lavender plastic funnel he found in the kitchen, and a folded up map of Valencia, tried to catch the fast moving insect.
Do cockroaches bite? Can cockroaches jump? How does one get rid of a cockroach? If there’s one cockroach, are there more? So many questions. As one might think, there is way too much information on cockroaches on the internet, including disgusting YouTube videos that are quite disturbing to watch at 4:00 am.
You Can’t See Me
Steve had some trouble finding Mr. Cockroach, who had gone into hiding. Eventually he was found and the bathroom was once again made safe.
Shit’s Getting Real
And like that cockroach, we’re doing our best to hide. In coronavirus lingo, it’s called “social distancing”. We’re holed up in our apartment, staying “in” way more than is normal for a vacation. We cook breakfast and lunch in our apartment to avoid people.
We go out once a day for a nice walk, steering clear of crowds. The city is flat, welcoming, and walkable. The abundant street art is spectacular and creative.
And, of course, we wash our hands for 20 seconds after doing almost anything. For those times we can’t wash, I carry hand sanitzer in my purse, which we use often and liberally.
Europeans eat a very late dinner, often at 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Most restaurants don’t even open until 8:00 or 9:00 pm around here. So, in the effort to avoid people, we head to dinner as early as possible so we have the restaurant pretty much to ourselves. Right after dinner we retreat to our apartment, avoiding people as much as possible along the way. We’re home and tucked in for the night early, well before the hoards come out to play (and eat).
Get Outta Dodge
A couple of weeks ago, while still in Cambodia, we realized we better plan our escape from SE Asia for sooner, rather than later. Novel coronavirus cases were increasing quickly throughout Asia. Several fellow traveler friends were having bad luck with their flights getting cancelled, particularly flights that had a layover in a location with lots of novel coronavirus cases like Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Singapore – all typical layover locations for a flight to Seattle (home).
To avoid any of these “hot-spots”, I had the bright idea of flying to Europe, staying briefly, then flying home from there. That way we could enjoy a week or two in Europe, which only had a few novel coronavirus cases at that time.
But by the time we arrived here in Spain, only two weeks later, things had really heated up. We thought we’d have a typical tourist stopover in Spain, revisiting Madrid (we were in Madrid four years ago, back in 2016), and exploring a new city, Valencia, but those hopes have been dashed.
We’re still enjoying ourselves, but there’s a black cloud hovering overhead and it’s hard to shake. In reality there’s mostly blue skies and temps in the high 60’s to low 70’s. Even with the beautiful weather, a lovely beach about 25 minutes away, amazing architecture and charm everywhere, we’re looking forward to getting home.
Tall Yellow Apartment 
At the Beach, Valencia
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the good people of Seattle haven’t bought up every last tube of toilet paper before we make it home. We hear it’s a hot commodity.
Wins and Losses
Wins
Having an eerily empty flight from our layover in Doha, Qatar to Madrid, Spain. Probably only 20% full on a huge plane. Plenty of room to socially distance with ease.
Fried calamari with dipping mayo in the background.
Hmmm…I’m sensing a theme here.
Tapas and bakeries everywhere. Fried potatoes seem to be a favorite tapas around here. Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside – topped with garlic mayonnaise. Enough said.
Finding a hefty stash of hand sanitizer in Thailand, enough to last the rest of our trip with some to spare.
Having a lovely one bedroom apartment to hide out in, located a one minute walk to the largest fresh food market in Valencia.
Losses
Having a second cockroach visitor, albeit a bit smaller, in the wee hours of the morning two nights after our first encounter.
Coronavirus. Definitely a loss in every way imaginable – for so many people. Hope the worst of it will be a distant memory soon.
Note: this was written twenty days ago. How fast things have changed.