“Lock-down Diaries” is a series featuring different members of The Citizen newsroom as they go about their day while under the shelter-in-place directive.

Farhad Golriz
March 29, 2020
Berkeley, CA

10:00 a.m.
I wake up still feeling tired. My stomach is rumbling. I decide to put my phone down and go back to sleep.

11:55 a.m.
I woke up for the second time. I immediately grab my phone to check what I missed since last night and just continue to stay in bed till everyone else wakes up.

12:15 p.m.
A while after just relaxing in bed, I do a group call with my best friends in London and laugh a lot and have a great time talking to them. We talk about how all our summer plans have been changed. I feel extremely sad and heartbroken that this is the first summer in years that we may not see each other. At the same time, I am hoping that around June or July the situation will improve, and we’ll be allowed to travel again.

2 p.m
After getting off the phone, I help my dad to make waffles with homemade whip cream. It’s my favorite, even though we use coconut flour, which is not my favorite. When making the mixture, we accidentally use hot milk, which becomes a disaster. To me, it was a relief (no more coconut flour!) but also felt bad that we used all the ingredients and had to do everything from the beginning.

4 p.m
We finally have a lunch meal of waffles with bananas, blueberries, whipped cream and maple syrup. Wow, was I hungry.

Once I finish my food, I see that there were some messages from The Citizen (our student publication) Signal group, which I look at. Not seeing all my classmates has me thinking about how we will have to wait till next semester to see each other. Honestly, not being with the people and community I was used to makes me feel bored and lonely. I decided to go to my room and watch some Netflix to pass the time. I found a very interesting show called Dirty Money which is about all the different scandals and dirty incidents that have happened in the United States.

Once my episode finishes, I feel knowledgeable about how easily people cheat each other and how dirty it can be to get to the bottom of the real truth. It makes me feel unhappy but also interested in how there are so many different scandals all over the world.

7 p.m
All of a sudden, it is time for a light dinner which was a salad with mixed greens. It’s good but not enough for me to feel full. I decided I will make myself some pasta, and since my sister saw I was making some, she asked me to make a bit more for her to have as well. While eating my pasta, we play a card game with my dad and sister. My dad wins after losing the previous night.

When the game ended, I got up and went to the restroom to brush my teeth and get myself ready for bed.

11 p.m.
It was a relaxed and simple day. I am praying this situation gets controlled as soon as possible so that me and my family and everyone else can get back to normal life without being scared about getting sick.