Tomislav Milunov, Vršac
My life in the age of COVID-19
The appearance of an unknown virus has affected all of us. In just a few months, we found ourselves in our homes and performed all our duties via computers. That was also my case.
The faculty amphitheater and the crowd were replaced by my room and laptop. Although it is a pleasure for a student to be at home, I felt fear because of what was happening both in the world and in my country and in my city. During the first days of the state of emergency, I was confused. I couldn’t understand the fact that I couldn’t go out and walk. It was strange to sit at home and watch lectures via video call or constantly correspond with the friends via social networks. Everything was completely different. Three days of emergency had passed and it was like that last forever. Time passed slowly. Seeing the city’s need for volunteers, I applied without any hesitation. The first day of volunteering was a bit like living at home. Calls arrived in small numbers. It also seemed to me that there were too many of us for so few calls. It has been less than a week since the number of calls increased. As the days went by, the amount of calls became bigger. Now the situation has become more serious. The virus took the first life in the country. My fear gets bigger, but my desire to save someone’s life overcame that fear. Buying groceries, medicines or going to the bank were just part of our activities. Visiting and helping my fellow citizens aroused a new feeling in me. A big „Thank you“ and a smile on the faces of the people I visited gave me a feeling of satisfaction. I was proud of the fact that I was doing a good deed. The first encounter was a bit confusing. People looked with distrust at the complete stranger who came to their door with a mask and gloves. They knew it was safest to stay in the house, but giving money for groceries to a complete stranger was almost impossible until that moment. After returning from shopping and the sentence that they don’t have to pay anything, with tears in their eyes, they told us that they had to repay us somehow. Of course, we did not see it that way, because we are doing this to help them stay safe and secure. Many people told me ” Take care on yourself”, “Thank you”, “Greet all volunteers”, “You are all wonderful children”. The smile and love they give me at that moment is not easy to describe in words. In the volunteer center, we took a short break for a meal with music, and then resumed our activities. I can freely say that in the two months that the state of emergency in my country lasted, I made real friends, met good young people who, like me, without a single moment of reflection or giving up, came every day and fought for the lives of our fellow citizens against the invisible enemy. There was also falling in love. Love in the age of the Corona as we popularly called it. None of us expected anything nice at such a difficult time. Unfortunately, the fight against this cruel enemy continues. I don’t know when it will end. But what I know for sure is that a friendship
Tomislav Milunov, Vršac
Moj život u doba korone
Pojava nepoznatog virusa uticala je na sve nas. U samo par meseci našli smo se u svojim kućama i sve svoje obaveze obavljali putem računara. Tako je bilo i u mom slučaju.
Fakultetski amfiteatar i gužvu zamenila je moja soba i laptop. Iako za studenta predstavlja užitak biti kod kuće, osećao sam strah zbog dešavanja kako u svetu tako i u mojoj državi i u mom gradu. Prvih dana vanrednog stanja bio sam zbunjen. Nisam mogao razumeti činjenicu da ne mogu izaći na ulicu ili prošetati. Bilo je čudno sedeti kući i pratiti predavanja putem video poziva ili se konstantno dopisivati sa društvom putem društvenih mreža. Sve je bilo potpuno drugačije. Prošlo je tri dana vanrednog stanja, a kao da je prošla večmost. Vreme je prolazilo sporo. Uvidevši potrebu grada za volonterima bez imalo premišljanja podnosim prijavu. Prvi dan volontiranja je bio pomalo sličan životu u kući. Pozivi su pristizali u malom broju. Činilo mi se i da nas ima previše za tako malo poziva. Prošlo je nešto manje od nedelju dana kada se broj poziva uvećao. Kako su dani odmicali, količina poziva je postajala sve veća. Sada je situacija postala već ozbiljnija. Virus je odneo prvi život u državi. Moj strah postaje veći, ali moja želja da spasim nečiji život nadvladala je taj strah. Kupovina namirnica, lekova ili odlazak u banku bili su samo deo naših aktivnosti. Obilazak i pružanje pomoći mojim sugrađanima u meni je budilo novo osećanje. Veliko hvala i osmeh na licima ljudi koje sam obilazio prožao mi je osećaj zadovoljstva. Bio sam ponosan na činjenicu da činim dobro delo. Prvi susret je bio pomalo zbunjujuć. Ljudi su sa nepoverenjem gledali u potpunog stranca koji im sa maskom i rukavicama dolazi na vrata. Znali su da je najbezbednije ostati u kući, ali dati novac za kupovinu potpunom strancu bio je gotovo nemoguć do tog trenutka. Nakon povratka iz kupovine i rečenice da ne moraju ništa da plate, sa suzama u očima govorili su nam da moraju nekako da nam se oduže. Naravno mi to tako nismo posmatrali, ipak mi ovo radimo kako bismo im pomogli da ostanu bezbedni i sigurni. Mnogo ljudi mi je govorilo “Čuvaj se”, “Hvala ti”, “Pozdravi sve volontere”, “Vi ste svi divna deca”. Osmeh i ljubav koju mi pruže u tom trenutku nije lako opisati rečima. U volonterskom centru smo uz muziku pravili kratku pauzu za obrok, a potom ponovo nastavljali sa aktivnostima. Mogu slobodno reći da sam za dva meseca koliko je trajalo vanredno stanje u mojoj zemlji stekao prave prijatelje, upoznao dobre mlade ljude koji su kao i ja, bez i jednog trenutka premišljanja ili odustajanja, svakoga dana dolazili i borili se za živote naših sugrađana protiv nevidljivog neprijatelja. Bilo je i zaljubljivanja. Ljubav u doba korone kako smo je popularno zvali. Niko od nas nije očekivao nešto lepo u ovako teškom trenutku.
Nažalost, broba protiv ovog surovog neprijatelja i dalje traje. Ne znam kada će se završiti. Ali ono što sigurno znam je to da prijateljstvo nastalo u teškim uslovima ostaje za ceo život.
