Items

• 
  2020-08-02

  Sensory Overload in Brussels

  I was living in Germany when the COVID lockdown began in 2020. One of the big perks of living in Europe is the ease of travel and close proximity of many cultures to experience. Germany, and Europe as a whole, were strictly locked down from March to August 2020, they were not allowing border crossing and all tourist locations were shut down. In August of 2020, Europe opened back up for tourism. Three of my friends and I jumped in our car and drove six hours to Brussels, Belgium. Our goal for the trip was to do a city walking tour that included chocolate and beer tasting, the chocolate was in the early afternoon and the beer was in the evening. After being stuck in our homes in Germany for five months, experiencing the taste of fresh Belgian chocolate was almost a sensory overload. We walked up and down the main “candy shop” road, sampling every kind of chocolate and even world-famous macaroons. The smells of chocolate and bakeries almost punching our noses. Later in the evening we went to the Delirium Brewery and sampled seasonal beers that were only available on site. We all enjoyed the experience of fresh crisp taste of Belgian beer right from the keg that you cannot get from drinking out of a bottle or can. I never thought that the COVID lockdown would numb my taste and smell in a way that wasn't a symptom of the virus. Being stuck in one place eating and drinking the same things day in and day out really makes you long for something different. We were very lucky to be able to have the opportunity to venture out to such a historic and important city of Europe to experience fresh tastes and smells.
• 
  2020-03-15

  Empower: Ecuador - Canceled (Personal Experience)

  I was part of the group of student that was preparing themselves emotionally, spiritually, and physically to go to Ecuador and be present with a community in Guayaquil. During this class and for the entire semester we were in retreats together, reading, journaling, and sharing our hearts with each other. We built a community and were deeply connected with the mission of the program and the desire to go to Ecuador and meet the neighbors. However, exactly a couple of days before traveling the lockdown happened, and the plans were canceled. We did not know that the world was going to change so suddenly and immediately. I clearly remember the meeting we had to announce that the trip was canceled and how most of us were filled with sadness and crying. Afterward, we kept being in connection to Ecuador with our prayers and writings. We even wrote some letters to our neighbors in Ecuador. So, this story is to reflects how we can be in connection and engagement with others even during times of depression and distance and how in specific this program had to adapt through COVID-19. To express the story I chose the screenshot of an Instagram post from the Community Engagement Office at St. Mary's University.
• 2020-02-14

  COVID-19: From Italy To New York

  In February of 2020, from the 14th to the 22nd, I was on a school trip in Italy. It's safe to say I was having the best time of my life, until I became ill towards the end of the trip. I felt extremely lethargic and fatigued, my nose and throat were as stuffed as could be, my voice was gone, and my body was consistently hot. It wasn't until I got home from my trip that I suspected my illness was COVID-19, because I was informed that the exact day I returned home from Italy, Venice went on lockdown. I had been in Venice at the beginning of my trip. My suspicions heightened once my mother, father, and sister all got COVID-19 several days later, yet I was healthy as a horse again. In the weeks I had been quarantined with them, I hadn't gotten sick again. Now, this is my earliest memory from quarantine, and quite frankly one of the only memories since the days began to mesh together. I remember time no longer felt real, and I tried to pass it with as many activities as possible. The family began solving puzzles and playing more board games. I was playing more of my instruments, including piano and ukulele. I listened to countless albums and new artists. But, in all of the good, there still remained some low points such as overeating and inactiveness. I'm sure everybody can find pros and cons in their quarantine experience, definitely more cons for some. But, I just wanted to share what I remembered from my own experience. It's the story we always told people when they asked if we ever got infected; I'd say I'm pretty sure I came home from the best trip in the world only to infect my family and almost immediately go into lockdown.
• 
  2021-06-20

  The Best-Laid Plans Go Awry but Mojitos Soften the Blow

  The pandemic torpedoed a very important trip for me – a trip paid for by my place of business to attend a conference in London and give a presentation on an archival project and connect with fellow librarians. I intended to bracket my trip with a visit to Ireland, the home of my ancestors, and conduct some genealogical research. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I probably won’t be working at my current workplace when the next conference is held (once every three years), so I don’t expect to have the opportunity to get a free trip to a lovely part of the world from them in the future. And I need to have boots on the ground to conduct more research: following up on facts and documents my family has shared with me and which I wanted to confirm or debunk during my research in Ireland. So my genealogy work has stalled as well. There hopefully will be opportunities in the future to visit the UK, to conduct research in Ireland, and to attend conferences, but the perfect combination of all of these that had been arranged for summer 2020 is lost forever. Since I live in a very hot locale during the summer months, and count on getting out of town to maintain my sanity, I wasn’t able to create a staycation to counteract the lost of this trip and vacation—unless you count being huddled in the coolest room in my home with my feet in a kiddie pool sipping mojitos and reading travel and Irish history books to be an acceptable alternative. Although, come to think of it, those mojitos were pretty good.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Lost 16th Birthday Gift

  This document recalls my sister's cancelled 16th birthday present and her perspective on the closure of events in 2020-2021. It is important because it captures a unquiet perspective from a teens point of view.
• 
  2020-08-26

  Mini COVID Vacation

  This video represents a small handful of times I got to hang out with a friend while attempting to distance myself during the pandemic over the summer. It was taken in August, between our Summer and Fall semesters, on a mini-vacation to get away and take our minds off the craziness happening around us. My friend, Marly, came up to my family’s small cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee and we got to spend a few days relaxing. At the time, things started to open up again under the guidelines, and we were able to safely visit attractions and explore the area. What I like about this looped video, which was taken at Castle in the Clouds, is that upon first glance you might think this was taken at any time pre-pandemic. When Marly is turned around, you cannot see the mask as she takes a photo of the lake, but when she turns around it comes into view. It immediately speaks to when this loop was taken, which I find interesting. In the future, people will instantly be able to place a photo or video that was taken during COVID just by what people are wearing and doing.
• 
  2020-10-28

  Milwaukee cultural institutions team up to provide a virtual field trip portal for teachers

  In Milwaukee, several museums and a zoo team up to create virtual field trips. This allows for students to have field trips in light of most schools not allowing off-campus trips because of COVID-19.
• 
  2020-08-07

  More outdoor time

  We had to find ways to beat cabin fever, and that was hard because it was the hottest summer on record in Arizona. We took mini trips to Sedona, Tucson, and Camp Verde. We hiked and did as much outside as we could on cooler days. The kids enjoyed taking trips, because they couldn't see their friends or play with them during the lockdown.
• 
  2020-09-30

  Up, Up, and Away

  This was mine and my family's first trip we took during the pandemic. We had been quarantining since March and we were both essential workers so we also had been going into work everyday while so many other people were being laid off or furloughed. It was stressful because it is a pandemic and there is always worry about catching the virus and getting sick. We were also traveling with our 9-month-old son, which added even more worry to an already stressful time. This photo is important because it shows the new restrictions when it comes to flying. A mask is to be worn at all times or risk getting escorted off the plane and banned from flying with the airline again. It involved an endless amount of hand sanitizer every ten minutes or so and being hyper aware of the surfaces you are touching going through the airport. Flying is already riddled with anxiety and flying during a pandemic elevates that anxiety tenfold.
• 
  2020-08-23

  A Unlucky, Lucky Case

  This screenshot is a routine "how are you?" text I got from one of my coworkers. She is a mother figure at work, and always made sure to check on me and keep me updated on work drama, updates, and just positive thoughts. She knew I was bored and made it a point to have a conversation with me almost every day. I was so bored because I was a lucky case and barely had any symptoms. I'm a healthy, twenty-two year old who caught it after taking a trip to Iowa to visit some friends. The whole group had it and it varied on the severity, but no one was affected too badly; although, one girl did lose her sense of taste for three weeks. My boyfriend and I were holed up for nearly two and a half weeks, due to waiting for negative test results for job-return purposes. While my boyfriend had symptoms that kept him in bed for a week, I simply lost my taste, had a stuffy nose, and minor body aches. I was very lucky because I could barley tell I was sick, and after 3-4 days everything cleared up except my sense of taste, which lasted a week. I will always be thankful that I didn't experience a bad case and that all my friend were okay after.
• 
  2020-09-25

  Avoiding Sickness while Traveling

  I’m sitting in the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport waiting for my flight to go to Chicago Midway airport while I’m geared up like doctor. I have my goggles on I purchased for my biology labs in college and my black face mask. I’m going to be seeing family, and much of my family is very old. I feel guilty being roped into going but I have to go. I’ve seen many people take off their masks for no apparent reason and I’m essentially blind because my goggles keep fogging. If there’s any obvious errors in this, that’s why.
• 
  2020-06-12

  Camping

  During this whole pandemic, one of the worst things I had to go through was losing my opportunity to see all of my friends before going to college. In my photo, you can see me in the middle, surrounded by some of my best friends I was able to make while in middle school and high school. It was June 12th and the second to last day of what we called our “Senior Trip”. We had planned to drive to Canada or take a cheap flight somewhere ever since we were freshman at our high school. All of this was scrapped due to the pandemic of course so we had to adjust. We hadn't seen each other for months so it took quite a bit of effort to create a safe yet fun trip which was achieved by making a camping trip. Though this was a very fun 4 day experience to have with some very good friends, I always wonder what else we could have done? When will I see them again like this after college? With all of these unanswered questions, it's hard to not feel like I missed out on being with my friends before I head off to college for the first time.
• 
  05/06/2020

  Jeff DeGrave Oral History, 2020/05/06

  Chippewa Valley COVID-19 Archive
• 
  2020-03-16

  Day Trip to Sedona before Quarantine

  My friends and I took a trip to Sedona for the day in order to celebrate senior year before the lockdowns and stay at home orders were issued #cshsecon
• 
  2020-03-16

  Sedona Day Trip before Quarantine

  My friends and I took a day trip to Sedona before all lock downs and stay in place orders were set in place
• 
  2020-03-15

  Cheap flights from Phoenix to Seattle!

  Seattle was the first major hot spot of COVID-19 in the United States and continues to have high case reports. Airlines are still flying in and out of the major US airports including Phoenix and Seattle. These prices for March and April are ridiculously low. It's almost as though nobody wants to fly right now.