Terenia Taras
WELL, it finally happened! I had the mother of all meltdowns last week! I have really tried to be positive throughout the whole COVID crisis but whilst we were in the UK for Christmas and New Year our landlord contacted us to say he was having to move back into the apartment which we rent from him.
That was the final straw which broke the camel’s back because our home here has been the only constant in a year of total uncertainty and stress. We moved to Mallorca less than a year ago and a few months prior to that I moved with my son from our home in Harrogate into my partner’s house.
So that involved consolidating two houses full of our stuff, into one house and the rest was given away or put in storage. We then moved country to arrive in Mallorca just in time for the COVID sh•tshow to begin.
My PR consultancy business, which was doing great up until then, took a slow and steady decline as businesses were closed and people furloughed. Not to worry, I could always write and work as a journalist! Paul, my partner who works as a pilot for Jet2 has yet to even take off, as he’s not flown since we came to Mallorca and was put on ERTE.
Ok, we have some savings between us so we’ll manage.Then he broke his leg falling off his road bike so that put us both out of action for several weeks as he was laid up and I took on the role of carer and general run-a-rounder.
I’ve got this! Once Paul was back up and about again, life resumed until we both tested positive for COVID, back to self-isolation, do not pass go, do not collect £100! This game of life was starting to get a bit frustrating now. But we got over COVID with the help of Netflix and plenty of vino tinto!
We flew back to Britain for Christmas on a 12-hour journey via Madrid and had a lovely Christmas despite moving up and down the tier system to the point you don’t know what the hell you’re allowed to do anymore! Then our landlord gave us the news about having to move out! Oh and let’s not forget the COVID show running in the background. We get a vaccine finally, yay! Then the bloody virus hits back with a new strain, he’s got some bigger, badder mates to take even more people down! Come on life, enough is enough, how much more do we need to endure?
Ok, it’s a new year, ‘onwards and upwards’ I said! So back to our home in Mallorca after enduring another PCR test to get back into the country.
Since we returned all I seem to have done is view apartments back-to-back until they started merging into one. Then we go into another lockdown and in the words of Amy Winehouse, back to black!
And that was the moment people that I lost my shit!
There were tears of sheer frustration after trying so hard all of 2020 to build a new life and earn a living here in Mallorca amidst the pandemic. I was desperately missing my son who was also on lockdown in the UK and with movement between countries proving near impossible unless you’re COVID-free and a Spanish resident, I feel like we’re all just trapped for now.
How much worse can things get when we’re already at the threshold of hell! Oh and did I mention that I suffer from anxiety which up until this point I had managed to keep a lid on? Well the lid has blown and I’m having to up my medication just to keep the panic attacks at bay! Please life give us all frickin break before the sh•tshow tips those of whose mental health is really starting to suffer over the edge and others joining our party!
*And another thing. At time of going to press my son in the UK rang to say he had COVID!
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @tereniataras
