What happens to you when you suddenly lose your freedom in a foreign country. Personal experiences and reflections.
 

For a long time we took the Corona reports only half seriously: a flu more, maybe a little worse than Sars, but just a flu that passes again. The media focus more and more on the topic and the politicians act of course in such a way that nothing can happen to their political careers. In South America we were far from the gunshot and observed the whole situation as a bystander from a distance. Political reactions came closer and closer, first the Mercosur countries decided to close the borders. We reacted calmly, since we only wanted to travel from Argentina to Uruguay in about three weeks. In the province of Mendoza we had to extend our visa, which is usually an action of around an hour and is completely unproblematic. This time it was suddenly a problem. It was extremely difficult for us to escape quarantine, since we had been in Argentina for three months continuously. The time-consuming process involving officials who were overwhelmed by the situation because it was still too new took two days. We were lucky to get an extraordinary visa extension. Our stay was legalized again. Our travel planning meant that we wanted to drive from the province of “Mendoza” through the province of “La Pampa” to the province of “Buenos Aïres”.

The news that the provincial borders are also closed came to us more by chance from a street policeman in «La Pampa». The policeman had the order to push us away from our camp in a small farming village because the population did not want Europeans in their village. It was the first personal shock, so far we have always been received with great hospitality and interest. We could usually talk to the population about their problems and exchange ideas. We packed everything up with protest and drove over the provincial border to Buenos Aïres until shortly before midnight. Psychologically, that was an escape for us. We have never had to flee from anything in our lives! We, Swiss people liked all over the world, are undesirable people. A fact that really made us think.

Next came the announcement that Argentina would impose a general curfew from March 21 through the end of the month. If you don’t follow the rules, you will face massive prison terms. We also received this notification officially from the FDFA. Since we have friends in the province of Buenos Aïres, we ask them for accommodation. We were immediately invited and drove all day so we could make it to their farm before the curfew came into effect. We had to endure the at times aggressive police controls, but after all we were able to reach our destination safely. Other travel colleagues were less fortunate, they were locked up in a campsite with other foreigners, others were driven away under the threat of physical violence and only taken to a safe place thanks to a consul.

Our hosts are very generous. On their farm we can stand in their garden and take part in your social life. We are invited to their meals and can give almost nothing back. We can only take and not give! How can we react to that? We do not know it. Another change we have to deal with. The hospitality is infinitely warm here, of course we are part of the family.

We travel in our own motorhome and therefore always have our apartment with us. So far we have been completely free and independent. All public campsites have been closed, the villages do not want us on their land, a difficult situation. Driving on the streets is only possible with a special permit. Our freedom and independence are completely gone. We are no longer able to decide about our activities ourselves, we are dependent on the good nature of the dear hosts, but also on the power of a foreign government. A situation that needs to be dealt with. As freedom-loving and freedom-used people, we cannot deal well with such circumstances. We were used to being valued, but this is no longer the case. Our over dimensioned self-esteem must be revised. A painful process.

Our values also have to be re-sorted. Greetings from Maslow, we are just falling from the top to the bottom level. It is more about survival than realization. Goods are only important if they secure our lives. What we already know today is that, if we can go back to our old life, we will change a lot. Interestingly, it is much easier for us than adjusting self-esteem and freedom.

It is also exciting to see how we humans get together in difficult situations. We get closer and feel safer in a larger community. The war generation, especially outside of Switzerland, has already seen it all, probably much more massively than we have so far, these thoughts are nothing new to them, but for us, who grew up as hedonists, they are painful.