An Insider's View to Quarantine Life

15 March 2022 -- Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be crammed into a tiny “home” with all your family members? You don't have any personal space and barely get any fresh air. How would you feel?

Well, I’ve got a lot to say about this topic and trust me, it's not exactly the best news. This article is about my 21-day experience in Penny’s Bay Quarantine Center, and there's a lot to say about that! But through our adventure, my family and I did learn a few important life lessons.

The room was rectangular and could only fit about five to six people before it got cramped. The beds were as hard as metal and so very narrow that I barely fit, and the pillows were so thick that they gave me neck pain from sleeping. My sister’s bed was about three feet away from mine, and in front of the beds was a narrow table that we ate meals on. It was a coffee brown and it only fit two, so we had to cram another one in there. This “room” was decorated with mini drawings and post-it notes that we had made. There were also cards that friends had sent to cheer us up and games hidden under the beds so that we wouldn’t die of boredom. Just to the right of the table was a pretty spacious bathroom: it had one toilet, a sink, and an undersized plastic closet that we could put some of our clothes in. Just above the toilet was a shelf built into the wall where we would put all of our toiletries and vitamins. The floor was cold and gray, and there were a few windows above the toilet. This was the biggest room in the “house.”

In the next “room” was my parent’s bed, higher off the floor than my sister’s and mine, and more comfortable. The beds were on different sides of the wall like me and my sister's beds but longer. There were two windows above their beds and the beds were facing the wall. Just next to the two beds was a table that we put all of our food on, along with a few plates and silverware. There was also a little space between the beds and the wall so we could walk around. There was another bathroom but this one was much smaller—it had a toilet and a shower crammed together. When we would shower, we would have to pull the shower curtain in front of the toilet so the water wouldn’t get onto the toilet. Soaps and hygiene materials for showering were just on the floor and the towels hung on the doorknob so they wouldn’t get soaked. Mostly everything was crammed and we also had a lot of stuff so that made everything a little bit worse. There was no space to just be alone no matter what part of the room I was in as I was very likely to see at least one of my family members, whether I liked it or not. I was so annoyed that there was no personal space that I built a fort underneath my dad's bed to get away from the rest of my family!

Food and Other Essentials

There was no kitchen in the room so we got food delivered from the quarantine center. When we first got there, we were given a choice of which cuisine we would like to eat for the next three weeks - the options were Western food, Chinese food, or Indian food.

My sister and I chose Western cuisine and my parents both chose Indian. We would get our food delivered through a tiny glass window close to my bed, which was also our only source of air. Another thing we got to pick when we got there were bedsheets. We were given four bags filled with a pillowcase, a blanket, and a sheet to go over the mattress. They all had different patterns on them, like flowers and the ocean with ocean animals or just boring gray ones. Three times a day, workers would walk by and drop off plastic bags with plastic containers inside and we would eat out of that. Not only did they drop off food but other essential materials such as water and fruit came with the daily delivery. We were only allowed to take the food from the window ledge after the workers dropped it off, for we were not allowed to come in any contact with anybody else there.

There were also many restrictions that they had about food and beverages and tools: no alcohol, no sharp objects, and no weapons - the quarantine center checked our bags for any of those things when we arrived. Since we stayed there for three weeks, we were allowed to get things delivered from our house to the quarantine center. We would have to send photos of every single thing that was being delivered to the people who worked there and they would approve it. It was a very long process and we had to send all the photos of everything we wanted to be sent to us 24 hours in advance.

The next thing was trash; this was the best part of the day! Every day the workers would stop by our mini window and drop off red trash bags on the ledge. Once those trash bags were filled we would open the door of our tiny home and walk outside feeling the fresh air against our faces and the warmth of the night against our bodies. We would stand there for a second and wait outside and whenever we saw a worker we would drop the bag on the ground and go back inside. It was the only time we got the feeling of air against our whole bodies.

Activities During Our Stay

During my stay at Penny's Bay, there wasn’t much to do after we had virtual school but we made it work. Every morning, we would wake up to breakfast which usually consists of some eggs and a croissant, then we would join our Google meet calls for school.

Our parents woke up around the same time as us and when we were doing virtual school they were working as well, but in the most unusual places. Since it was really hard to focus with four people in the same room, we decided that only my sister and I could do school in the room on our beds. That meant that my parents had to work somewhere else, and with only two other tiny rooms, my mom was left to move one of the tables we had into the spacious bathroom and work from there. My dad, well he got the small bathroom with the toilet for his desk and a single chair, which was quite stressful for him as the limited space made him feel claustrophobic.

During lunch, we would move the chairs back to the table and talk about the first part of the day. After we ate, my sister and I were not allowed any screen time so we would do arts and crafts that friends had thoughtfully sent to us through the facility’s delivery process. Before we left America on summer vacation, we were given many gifts including a lot of arts and crafts. On some days we would paint or draw, or sometimes make our own tattoos and bracelets, and on other days we would color pictures from coloring books. Rivera and I sat together at the table doing whatever art and crafts we liked and talking with each other.

Sometimes though, the table would get very crowded with all these things. One time, I knocked over my cup of water and all of my diamond pieces for the artwork got wet. I had to wipe down the table and try to dry off the tiny diamond pieces which made the process more difficult.

Another rule that my parents had was that after school we could only have one hour of screen time so Rivera and I would sit and read books on our own. Due to all that extra time, we also did a lot of physical exercise. We had family workouts every evening depending on what my dad was up for. Sometimes we would do cardio, core, and ab workouts. Sometimes they were so intense that Rivera, my mom, and I left my dad to do them alone.

After our intense workouts, we showered and had dinner, and we did it every day for three weeks. During dinner, we would take another table and place my computer on it. It was the same height as the dining tables but white and narrower. Every night, we would watch a TV show, Avatar the Last Airbender from Netflix, as a family if we wanted to watch a movie.

In conclusion, that's what my life was like for three straight weeks! It seems like it wasn't the best experience but honestly, my family and I were able to have more quality time together, and we were able to enjoy the experience, in one way or another! In the end, my family and I learned a valuable lesson which is to always consider others. I mean, after living in Penny’s Bay for three weeks and being with each other all day, that became the inevitable result.