It's so nice to see you join us here on Hive!
I look forward to hearing what you have been up to.
It's too bad that the people there have been so scared by Covid. We have had mask mandates here, which have come and gone a few times already, but at least there has never been an Outdoor Mask Mandates! How ridiculous! I'm glad that you have a small community of people who have allowed you to still socialize and feel a bit of normality.
We have thought many times about fleeing our Totalitarian country for somewhere with more freedom, like Nicaragua, where lockdowns were never enforced and no mandates exist. Or El Salvador where the restrictions were terrible in the beginning like Panama, but now have all been removed. Yet I see the majority of people in all the videos from down there still walking around outdoors wearing masks!! There are no mandates, and the countries are tropical (which would make catching a cold/coronavirus a lot less likely) and yet the people seem very scared still.
Canada is horrible and has created an Apartheid System -- but you don't see too many people outdoors in masks, and at least where I am, once we have a break in the rules (for summertime usually) most people take off their masks indoors too.
Anyways ... welcome back!
When it first started, people in Panama City were not even allowed to leave their apartments - even to talk the dog! It was insanity. They added the male/female days after we had the strict lockdowns to start based on numbers. Thankfully we live in an area with a lot of farms and the farmers could get a "transit pass" that allowed them to be out working if necessary. There was even a curfew for a long time. It was so draining to have to deal with everything they kept throwing our way...and unnecessarily. They were doing counts of deaths, positive test results, hospitalized, etc. every day on the news.
You wouldn't believe the number of Canadians and Germans who have moved here over the past few months. I'm sure they have moved many places in the world. It is crazy what the governments are capable of doing. The people in these Latin American countries are very compliant with government regulations - at least here they are. Not many protests about masks, vax (not mandated), etc. I bet some of the others are similar, and that is why we think people still wear them outside. They are also PARANOID, probably since they went so long doing the death count on the news... It is a crazy time for sure.
Thanks for the comment! I could go on more and more about all the craziness, but you get the idea. 😉