How to Pass Time in Quarantine, continued

To continue this week’s theme of passing time in quarantine, here are three more responses from Tbilisi, Kyiv, and Moscow.

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

I am working remotely and adapting my previously in-person class for online delivery has been a lot of work. I have also spent more time than usual cooking—trying to make the most efficient and delicious use of the products we have at home. So far, we have actually been eating better than usual. I’ve also been reading, but not as much as I had thought I would. We have a Nintendo Wii, which I have been using to get some exercise to clear my head. To be perfectly honest, I also spend a lot of time on Twitter waiting for updates. I haven’t gotten bored yet.

Boxes taped to the floor encourage social distancing practices in Kyiv, Ukraine

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukraine has been in quarantine for 30 days at the time I am writing this. I’m actually fairly busy with my freelance work as a translator and editor, and was already quite used to working from home! I am working on the translation of my 3rd book for Awesome Heritage. Work on the magazine I edit also continues, The Ukrainian: Life & Culture. But there are a lot of hours in the day, so I’ve also rearranged closets and furniture, potted and repotted plants, and done a lot of cooking and baking. And I am going to finally tackle khachapuri, thanks to an American friend in Kyiv who is using the quarantine to launch his cooking channel!

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

I have a ton of work. I can’t even get to much of what I have planned.

In the film industry, a lot of projects have had to be put off, and that’s true for us at Okapi Production as well. We had planned to start filming our first feature film in the beginning of May, but now in our best case scenario we’ll start at the end of the summer. Instead, while we’re staying at home we have increased our activity on social media and launched our YouTube channel. Since we’ve been doing casting calls for a year and a half we have a large base of contacts among active children and parents across Russia and the CIS.

Several regional television channels (Moscow region, Kuzbass, Rostov, Krasnodar, and others) have noticed our videos and we are now doing social advertising for them for free.

Since we’ll be working remotely for at least another month, I have started to write some new scripts for our children’s television program “Bad Advice from Helpful Kids.” We are learning a new format: not in the studio but via teleconferencing. The theme suggested itself: how to entertain yourself at home. Thus, I am extremely busy with video production work. But I still have a few articles planned for a scholarly volume at the Tomskaya Pisanitsa museum. Basically, there’s no time to be bored or depressed!

<<Next week, May 11, our participants will be sharing some book and film recommendations to help you pass the time!

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