In Xàbia, as in the whole country, we remain confined to our homes to stop the expansion of COVID-19, but how are Javienses living abroad living it?
In Bergen (Norway) you are currently living Carmen Bolufer, chemical engineering student. He moved there to finish his Degree and the pandemic has caught him away from home. He considered returning when cases began to emerge, but Bolufer preferred to stay in order to finish the course there. "I thought about going back, but the situation here is much better than in Spain."
Although classes have been suspended, the stores are closed and there are hardly any cafes and bars open, people can go outside and that has been one of the keys for Bolufer, a sports lover and great triathlete, to decide to stay. "Here I can go for a run, for a walk ... I have much more freedom than if I had returned to Spain." But also, Bolufer wanted to finish the course here and be able to do his Final Degree Project.
"I find it incredible what is happening in Spain"
Carmen is in Norway but she does not lose contact with her family and friends and the situation seems incredible to her: “I speak with my sister and my mother, I do not believe what she tells me, thankfully I am here and I do not have to stay locked up at home".
Bolufer lives in a student residence where there has been a case of coronavirus and some colleagues had to quarantine, although the strong security measures they have established are working. “Everything has happened very quickly and many students out of fear have decided to leave. More than half of the residence is empty ”, he explains.
"Keeping the safety distance here is easier because they are not as close as we are in Spain"
In Norway there are currently around 2500 cases, more than 70.000 tests have been carried out and as long as these figures are maintained, no more restrictive measures will be taken.
In addition, as Carmen explains, in Norway maintaining a safe distance between people “is quite simple because here people are colder and there is not as much contact as in Spain we have a closer personality. Also, the sun hardly ever rises and people don't get that much. " As an anecdote, he tells us that last weekend the sun did come out and the streets and terraces were full "but because it was something so extraordinary that people wanted to go out."
In a month, if the pandemic does not advance in the north, Carmen will return to classes and the laboratory and will be able to finish her career and her adventure in the Nordic lands.
