The coronavirus pandemic has been storming the world unexpectedly, arriving with great turbulence and occasioning many massive, devastating and bewildering consequences. Aside from affecting physical health, it has been disrupting mental health, jobs, and the ability to travel. As a result of the pandemic, I found myself unable to return home for four months, together with my mother.<\/p>\n
My mother and I travelled to India at the beginning of the year, right before COVID\u2019s tremendously rapid escalation. We had planned a short visit, but little did we know at the time that we would end up being stranded in a rural village in the Keralan jungle for months! The first time we learned that we had to stay put during the mandatory national quarantine, we accepted that we would have to postpone our return for a couple weeks. The second time was also a shock, and we counted the days until we could fly home. After the third and fourth times of extended lockdown, we developed a new attitude and surrendered to the fact that we had no idea when we would be able to leave India. We did our best to remain positive, and were very grateful for our good health and relative safety.<\/p>\n
A general pattern developed itself \u2013 we would search for tickets, finally be able to purchase them, and then, the airline would cancel. Over the four months, we ended up having more than 20 cancelled international and domestic flights combined. Everyday we sat for hours on hold, waiting to get through to try to purchase tickets on the phone since the websites were overloaded and kept crashing. The tentative Wifi in the South Indian village we were staying in didn’t help, as it went out with every big storm, and it happened to be an early onset of rainy season.<\/p>\n
My professors were enormously understanding and supportive. I managed to do all my classes online through the Waseda Moodle system using only my cell phone. The days went on, folding into each other like thick batter. There was a sweetness in the nostalgia of pining to go home; a wishfulness, a wistfulness. Awaiting. The Indian Minister of Civil Aviation predicted there might be international flights going as soon as early autumn. Since it was not even summer yet, it felt like an immeasurably long time to be away from home. Some hours felt dark and bleak. Aside from searching for flights and me completing school assignments, my mother and I passed the days with watching the birds in the jungle, talking about what we would eat when we got home, taking late afternoon walks \u2013 when it was cool enough to go outside and early enough that the snakes weren\u2019t lurking underfoot, and waiting, waiting, waiting\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/top\/en\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Photo-1-Taxi-610x458.jpg\")
Taxi ride to the airport<\/p><\/div>\n
And then, finally, finally, finally! We miraculously managed to get the last tickets on two of Air India\u2019s repatriation flights, my mother to the USA and myself to Japan. The program was part of the world\u2019s biggest of rescue flights at the time. We got two pairs each of hand-sewn cotton masks, and checked the internet for others\u2019 experiences on flying during lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\t\t