quote:

Originally posted by Jaycat:
Yeah we booked the earliest flight home we could get (Saturday) things are shutting down here. Most tourists have left. We are worried our favorite dive operator and other businesses wont make it.

Fingers crossed we get home w/o incident. First to Houston (Hobby) then Nashville. As of today, neither airport is screening, but we are prepared for a bad trip home. Then the self quarantine. I think we are eating top ramen for the next two weeks!

Check out the meal kit delivery services now, like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc. Can get 3-4 meals delivered right to your front door each week, and about $10 a serving. Might be able to have a week delivered right after you arrive.

A friend of mine flew in from Ireland on Monday morning, they asked if he went to Europe while he was in Ireland for 2 weeks (no), no self quarantine or anything, so I don't think you will have to since there are few cases in Mexico (reported anyways).

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by Jaycat:I think we are eating top ramen for the next two weeks!

Check out the meal kit delivery services now, like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc. Can get 3-4 meals delivered right to your front door each week, and about $10 a serving. Might be able to have a week delivered right after you arrive.

Shipt's business has exploded during this pandemic, as they offer a broader range of places that can be resourced from for groceries, alcohol, kitchen supplies and such. They are new so, certain areas may not have the service yet. Think of them as a Uber for personal shopping.

Amazon Fresh and Walmart Grocery I understand are overwhelmed...maybe that'll taper-off. Uber Eats, Door Dash and a few other restaurant delivery services are still functioning.

A couple of our friends in Oregon have just gotten back home after a vacation in Peru.

It might be interesting to find out how they did it.

We were just notified that when moving around Europe, only one person per taxi. So, when the crew has to get somewhere, a fleet of taxi's crossing the borders...

Doesn't sound like a safety improvement for anyone.

On the other hand, it's straight from the airport to the hotel room, no leaving the room. No room serivce, and can't go out to eat. Guaranteed weight loss.

There's an upside to everything. But only if you're standing on your head.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
A couple of our friends in Oregon have just gotten back home after a vacation in Peru.

It might be interesting to find out how they did it.

Some folks are stuck in Peru.

https://www.desmoinesregister....arantine/2880787001/

Iowans stranded in Peru say they are frustrated with U.S. embassy's lack of communication amid coronavirus quarantine

Dargan Southard and Hillary Ojeda,
Des Moines RegisterPublished 8:51 p.m. CT March 19, 2020 |
Updated 12:48 a.m. CT March 21, 2020

It began as an anticipated vacation for some, a promising mission trip for others. But now, with the coronavirus pandemic disrupting the world, all that’s left for Iowans stuck in Peru is uncertainty.

Amid a global freeze on international travel and mass quarantines, concrete answers on when these displaced people can return to U.S. soil — much less the Hawkeye State — remains firmly undetermined. Iowa natives and residents are scattered all throughout Peru, most notably in the capital city of Lima and the southeastern city of Cusco, hunkered down for now with what resources they have.

Peru's president, Martin Vizcarra, issued a 15-day nationwide state of emergency and border closure on Sunday. On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. military will be used to get out the 1,400 Americans stranded there.

But since Vizcarra's order, it's been frustration after frustration for these stranded Iowans.

" 'Martial law' is probably too strong a term, but we can’t physically step outside our hotel," said Robert Boyle, a Des Moines resident stuck in Cusco with his wife and 15-year-old son amid their Peruvian vacation. "There are police up and down the street. You can only go out to go to, like, the pharmacy or grocery store. If you’re out after 8 p.m. and before 5 a.m., I think you’re just pushing it.

"To me, that’s not much different than martial law. So that’s what is going on. And we’re lucky to be in a nice hotel."

In speaking with different Iowans stranded in Peru, a prevailing theme emerged regarding amenities and outside communication: All reported to be in staying in peaceful environments — whether that be in a hotel, condo or with a host family — but they say the lack of updates from the U.S. Embassy in Lima has been frustrating.

Such is the case for Dave Kapler, 71, a retired firefighter originally from Cresco currently stuck in Lima with his wife, Blanca — a Peruvian native.

Kapler doesn’t understand why the United States has delayed helping the hundreds of Americans in Peru when other countries have sent planes to the South American country. Meanwhile, the Israeli Embassy in Peru said Thursday that hundreds of Israelis are on their way home.

"The embassy here is completely unresponsive," said Kapler, who added that his phone calls often go unanswered and no one is available to speak with in person.

Boyle has had similar issues amid a litany of itinerary alterations. He and his family were originally scheduled to leave Peru via United Airlines on Sunday, March 22, only to have those reservations canceled and rebooked through Copa Air via Panama after being told United Airlines wouldn’t fly out again until May 4. Boyle said he also has reservations through Delta Airlines scheduled for April 4.

There’s also a possibility, Boyle said, that Colombian airline Avianca Air will offer a flight before then if the demand is high enough.

He received that update, though, from U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s office, not the U.S. Embassy in Peru.

It’s been radio silence,” said Boyle, who’s worked in various general management roles with John Deere for nearly 20 years. “Nobody from the embassy has come out and said anything. But we’re registered with the embassy. We’re registered with the state department. We’re registered with the Cusco consulate. We’re registered with the Peruvian minister of tourism. And nobody gets up and writes a quick email — ‘Hey guys, 15-day ban. Hope you can get out on April 1. Stay safe.’

“Nothing. What are we doing?”

Betsy Matos, 44, an Ames resident who arrived with her husband and two kids in Peru on March 12 and planned to leave Saturday, March 21, has experienced similar futility. After American Airlines and LATAM airlines told her all flights were booked Sunday night ahead of the border closure, attempts to contact the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Peru have produced little.

“We have received nothing from the U.S.,” Matos said, talking via Whatsapp from Cusco.

As things stand now, Matos said, she and her family will be able to fly to Lima from Cusco on March 31. Her sister helped her get a Delta flight from Lima to Chicago on April 5. Other airlines, Matos said, told her they wouldn't have flights until May.

Doug Svoboda, an Iowa resident currently staying with a Cusco host family, thought there might be a glimmer of hope when he heard airplanes taking off Thursday at the city's airport a half-mile from his location. But the flights were for Mexico residents, after the Mexican government reached a deal amid the Peruvian shutdown.

Svoboda, in Peru with his son for mission work, hopes to see his own country work out a similar arrangement. He's not optimistic for a swift response, given the runaround he and many others have already received.

"It’s really disappointing what we’re hearing from the embassy," said Svoboda, who had a connecting flight out of Lima scheduled for 15 minutes after the border shutdown was implemented Sunday. "Sometimes, the embassy will refer you to their webpage and say they have the latest updates there. But there really haven’t been any updates. Occasionally, you’ll get to talk to a person who’s a little more helpful.

"But to this point, the best news is that our state department is working to negotiate through talks with the Peruvian president."

Helping combat the frustration are social media support groups for Americans stranded in Peru. Groups on WhatsApp, Facebook and other platforms offer as much up-to-date information as possible, including places to refill medications, air travel rumblings, emotional support and more.

There's some solace in knowing others are experiencing the same turbulence.

Ultimately, though, the unknown of what's ahead and when normalcy might return remains a stressful situation for these Iowans.

"We’ll get home when we get home," Boyle said.

These people seem shocked that the Dept of State isn't keeping them up to date, or contacting them, or working for them. There seems to be this hollywood impression that traveling abroad as a US Citizen means something, or that the State Dept will ride in and save them. Only in the movies.

The novel corona issue has been known since December. By mid-January, the world health organization was holding an emergency meeting on the subject. This was known, and countries were closing borders then.

To be traveling as one watches the problem develop with every medical authority in the world warning, every nation reacting, is hard to fathom. To choose to leave the country as flights are shutting down, borders are shut, numerous countries on lockdown, troops are getting sent into streets, to know this and still choose to go, with airlines having stopped and travel unavailable...what the fuck?

One would have to be a goddamn idiot right now to take a cruise. Or book one. One of my sons has a girlfriend whose family is booking a cruise. They just travelled to another state to visit relatives, and that state is under order to "shelter in place." What do they think they'll be doing there? Going to ball games and movies? Stocking up at the local grocery store?

As for people who are entirely blind to world events and still choose to travel and then get stuck, and then are surprised that the government isn't or can't move them (on what?), what does one say?

Remember Warmbier, the college kid on a tour in North Korea, who came home dead? What parent sends their kid on a tour to fucking North Korea? Who chooses to do a cruise right now? What mental collapse does it take to choose to go on vacation abroad right now?

Anybody that travels with the notion that the Dept of State will save them is naive, blind, deeply foolish, watches too many movies, and has a very misguided idea of what it means to be a US citizen outside of the US. Anyone who does that during a global pandemic with the current state of affairs, sorry to say, is a bloody idiot.