Headscarf Chronicles of Quarantine: Day 29

Day 29: April 24, 2020
Global cases: 2,828,826; Deaths: 197,099
Egypt cases: 4,092; Deaths: 294

Noran Morsi
Multimedia Journalism senior

I have a countdown app on my phone that I use when I’m looking forward to an event, maybe graduation or winter break. Now, I use it to track how long it’s been since I’ve gone out; actually gone out. 43 days, 20 hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds as of when I’m writing this.

Ramadan just started, and my patience is already growing thin. While the food we break our fast on as a family is delicious, Ramadan in Quarantine is a special kind of challenge.

I find my mom and I escaping the overload of family stress, with her black tea and my raspberry tea.

I’m writing this from my make-shift desk where I have all my Zoom classes and do my work. I never used to work at my desk; most of my work was done at university, whether in the Caravan newsroom or the OSL lounge – so my bed just wasn’t cutting it. I positioned my desk in front of the window so I could get all the sunlight possible.

Maybe by the time this is over I would have gotten a tan.

My routine is all pretty much the same, day in and day out. I have two different types of days; class days and non-class days. Oddly enough, the days when I have online classes are the best. It’s a reason to wake up early, to see some friends’ and colleagues’ faces and to talk to some of my professors. I always look forward to my after-class nap, but for some reason, I’m usually motivated to get some work done after.

I used to wake up 30 minutes before class to make myself coffee and a quick breakfast, but now that I’m fasting I’m gonna need another motivation to get out of bed. Then, comes the highlight of my day; I choose which headscarf I’m wearing to Zoom for the day. Stripes, polka dots or plain neutral? It’s honestly my favorite decision to make. I’ve been sharing my headscarf chronicles on Twitter with friends on a daily basis for fun.

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

Considering I hadn’t been staying home for more than a day at a time pre-quarantine, this hasn’t been as bad as I expected. My family wasn’t big on travelling during summers as a kid, so I feel myself slipping back into Middle School Noran, finding different ways to entertain myself at home. I’ve reorganized my room about 457 times, gotten back into film photography and watched some new TV series – that is when I’m lucky not to have tons of schoolwork to do.

It’s hard to motivate yourself to do schoolwork when there’s an actual pandemic happening.

What’s made me saddest, though, is missing the last couple of months of my senior year. I’ve only spent three years total at AUC, and began to really enjoy my time at university a few months ago – so that’s bittersweet.

I do, however, like spending time with myself, and getting to journal and really let the last hectic six months breath. It’s also nice to be somewhat in control of my schedule, and it turns out – I have two siblings. Who would have thought?

I guess … I just miss my friends and my illusion of independence.