Cultural​ Artefacts of the Pandemic ​|​1

Smriti Chadha

Dr. Nicole McCleese WRA 101 733 28​th​May 2020

Coronavirus: Exiling People to their Home

Arriving in the United States was a way to let myself be independent and let my extraverted self run free without any parental supervision. Even before reaching MSU I was making a list of all the places I would visit in my freshman year but the most unexpected thing happened, the world faced a pandemic causing me to cancel all my flights except the one back home. Twice a year me and my family would travel to somewhere in the world only to re energize and rest in hotel rooms instead of spending hours exploring and roaming around experiencing the world outside like I wanted. Therefore, I was accustomed to travelling alone to places filled with other strangers like me who just wanted to experience the beautiful architecture, delicious food and a different culture. In a way my culture is similar to those of travel journalists and other gallivanters and my cultural artefact for this pandemic would be before and after pictures of museums and famous tourist spots.

My first solo trip was to New York City and despite having everyone tell me how scary or boring travelling alone would be, it was one of the best trips of my life. Just the rush of the city and the beautiful skyline was enough to make me fall in love with the city. The Times Square filled with people from all over the world and the Empire State Building with its involvement in romance while striking that little fear of heights in me and the Central Park being so lively yet serene. Also having ridiculously delicious bakeries, pizza shops and restaurants at every other street or

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just going from one end of the city to another to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum was enough to make me not leave the city ever and just visit it more than once. Therefore, I also decided to spend my spring break in the city and have more time to explore it and nearby places. Spending a week in New York and exploring any nooks and corners of the city while shopping till my feet gave up was just what I needed to recharge myself and get back to MSU to continue my heavy course load with a smile. Back in December while reading the news of Coronavirus first showing up in China, I never thought that it would reach a point where the whole world would have to come to a halt. On that account just two days after spring break was over, President Stanley declared that MSU was moving to online classes and my parents were bullying me into coming back home.

I realised how serious this pandemic was and decided to catch the flight back home the very next day. Hence, I left the States without even packing up my dorm room thinking I would be back for the summer semester and my summer internship in the lab. Almost two days after I reached, I realised what a huge mistake it was coming back home as the whole country went on lockdown and leaving the house for even a walk was not permitted. To put a cherry on the top, a self quarantine notice was posted outside my house by the police leading everyone nearby to call us frantically asking if I was carrying the virus. The online classes were much different than the in person classes as I was not able to attend live lectures or discuss the class topics with my favorite professors after class. I was able to score really well in all my classes but the learning process was just not the same. Then the news struck about summer classes also moving online, making me realise that I was stuck at home till at least August. This depressed me to the point where I would be cranky and not talk to anyone as I was not used to just sitting at home, staring at my

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laptop. My whole plan to explore Michigan and have a great summer came crashing down and I could do nothing about it.

Even my plan to just enjoy my favorite restaurants and meet up with people from back home was not possible and I was losing all hope and happiness. I understand the severity of this pandemic and that is why I haven’t tried anything stupid that could harm me or my loved ones but I still have not found a way to cope with this. I have also not been able to talk to my CAPS counsellor due to different medical laws and this has affected me a lot as I now feel like I have no one to talk to. Going from a person who left their room at 7am in the morning and come back almost after 12am everyday to a person who was confined to the house has been a major change. I have been reading stories and articles of all other travel enthusiasts and in a way this pandemic has brought major changes for all of us as we all lost freedom and something we love. Seeing pictures of all the places I have been to when they were swarming with people, which are now empty has been very surprising to me as not a lot can stop travel enthusiasts from travelling to places yet the coronavirus has chained us to almost to one place.

This pandemic has helped me realise that I cannot plan everything and unexpected things can happen anytime and I should be ready to face them instead of crumbling down. Still finding a way to cope with all this unexpected change, I feel like the idea of taking it one day at a time is really helpful and soon I might even be a person who can survive anything the universe throws at her.