The Key is Organization: Day 12

Day 12: April 7, 2020
Global cases: 1,430,981; Deaths: 82,036
Egypt cases: 1,450; Deaths: 94

Professor Kim Fox
@KimFoxWOSU
Journalism and Mass Communication

Reflecting
I’ve been waking up daily in the 8am-9am hour, sometimes with an alarm, sometimes beating it. I try not to involve my iPhone because once I touch it, I gravitate to the red circle or to my guilty pleasure, Instagram. These days, I’ve been grabbing the phone, opening up IG and checking to see if DJ D-Nice is still spinning. He’s on the West Coast in the US, and often I get lucky and there he is and eventually dance my way out of bed to some old school R&B. His regular Club Quarantine sets have been immensely popular. One set had over one million people at one time including many A-list celebs.

Anyway, depending on the day of the week and the time of day, I will either take a morning walk or a bike ride. Cycling is best for early mornings and weekends because by 8am, there is already a good amount of traffic on the streets and not the ideal outing for a relaxing bike ride. Either way, as I make my way around my neighborhood, I say Sabah el Kheir to so many people; my boabs (sp), other boabs on my block, the guys who work at the grocery store, the security guy at the UN office, the bus driver, the policemen in front of the church and my longtime friend Gad, who owns a shop where I usually stop to get some chips.

Once home, it’s breakfast and then getting dressed for whatever is on the agenda like a slew of Zoom sessions. Whether teaching or meetings or virtual happy hours, I feel like I’m online all of the time or my face is in front of some sort of screen. Actually this is all of us right now. Also, between my computer overheating, my spotty Internet connection and my carpal tunnel, I haven’t kept up on responding to emails like I typically would; perhaps it’s for the best.

I must be honest, the online teaching is exhausting. I keep wondering how I managed to physically teach three courses in one day – in person. The key now, in my ‘emergency remote teaching’ world, is organization, again, something that I think I normally have under control, but now, it all just seems messy.

Dinner is usually in the 6pm-7pm hour followed by more Zooming or other work related activities – online.

For The Caravan’s previous diary entries in Arabic and English go to our COVID-19 Special Coverage page.

For example, my evenings are definitely spent on Twitter, sadly, waiting for Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population to release the daily status of coronavirus cases and also sometimes FaceTime with my fam in the US. My mom is a seamstress and has been making masks, so I get updates on the supplies she needs or a new method she’s discovered. Oh, and I have evening office hours too, so it’s a chance to have a casual conversation with students about how they’re doing during this crisis.

Around midnight, I try to shut it down and since it’s been endless hours on the computer and iPhone, I’ve been trying to finish reading The Sellout: A Novel by Paul Beatty. I’ve been reading it for years; no really, I bought the book in 2017 and it sits on my nightstand waiting for some attention. Now is a good time. I’m 100 pages in.

Bright spots
Throughout the day, I listen to podcasts usually on my morning walk and also when I’m preparing dinner: NPR’s Up First and Skimm This are a must and The New York Times’ Still Processing seems to be back so that’s in my rotation too. Of course I listen to my students audio work and it’s pleasant to see, and hear, their improvement.

Dark spots
I yelled at some guys the other day who are/were doing construction right above my bedroom. By the time I return from my walk or cycling, the drilling has begun and is intense for six consecutive hours. On this day, in my plain, but loud English, they sensed my anger and ceased their work for the day. One small victory for me. Sigh: They were back at it the next day.

Outlook
It seems like this will be our new normal and I’m thankful that I have the privilege to stay home as well as practice social distancing. Though I’ll probably have to switch up my routine in order to survive. I pulled out my roller blades … but it might be best to just try some meditation and finish reading my book.