Midway through our project the world was brought to its knees by the Coronavirus pandemic reminding everyone of the fragility of life. As we all watched our personal and professional lives change, flip upside down, become increasingly difficult, or maybe increasingly easier, everyone in the project was touched by the pandemic’s reach. The virus has led to global shutdowns, enforcement of social distancing protocols, and has reconstructed how the world operates. Its effect has touched many people and in several different ways. We wanted to make a designated space to share our experiences through poems, art, stories, thoughts, feelings, etc. Expression and creation are key elements to folklore and the nature of processing through the human experience. So, we hope that you will share your creations too! Add it to the comments below!

During a Zoom meeting with both Oregon and Romanian participants we showed off our protective face masks.

What are Your Experiences and Creations?

Anna, University of Oregon, Nursing Major (transfer), Undergraduate Student:

“Medical professionals already have daunting pressures of caring for the sick, but are facing unprecedented challenges right now with the current global pandemic. I am thankful for the nurses, doctors and other health workers for putting in the countless hours and risking their own lives to care for our communities, world wide – while lacking many of the necessary supplies.

I, however am a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) at one of the local hospitals in Springfield, OR. I work in a Cardiac Surgery unit, so I have been lucky to continue my normal shifts while not interacting with any COVID-19 related patients. Luckily, Oregon is been one of the states with a fairly low amount of cases, in regards to the rest of the world. My next goal in life is to become a Registered Nurse to care for my community even more.”

 

Diana Ghita, Romania Student: 

“During this time I had the chance to spend more time painting and did this my teacher thought I should share it with you. What about you? Do you have any hobbies that you are practicing during isolation?”
“This photo may seem inspired by the pandemic situation, but I made it last summer before the covid situation started. I just found something similar online and tried to recreate it. Maybe I predicted something? I remember feeling a little bit anxious while I was painting, mostly because it had such a complex chromatic composition and it was one of my first paintings with higher difficulty.”

“The second photo is actually a portrait of my friend, Daria. I wanted a real life model, so I had asked her to pose for me. It was fun doing this painting because I told Daria to have a serious expression, however, we couldn’t stop laughing. Someone had mentioned it looked like someone in a waiting room of a doctors office and it is open to interpretation! I decided to position Daria like this so I could see her hands more clearly and that would be the focus point of the painting. In my opinion, as an artist, it’s important to show that you can paint different body parts, which I try to do throughout all my paintings to continually become better.”

 

Jeremya, University of Oregon, Folklore Undergraduate Student: “I am grateful that my family and friends are healthy. I am thankful to be living in Eugene, Oregon, USA where I have access to fresh air, nature, and locally grown produce. I wish good mental and physical health to all globally.”

 

Iris, University of Oregon, Folklore and Public Culture Graduate Student: 

 

Rose, University of Oregon Masters of Nonprofit Management Student and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies Student:

“Covid-19 has challenged me on many levels. My husband, daughter and I have been sequestered together since the March 23rd order from the governor to “Shelter in Place”. My husband is a massage therapist and so has been totally out of work the whole time, which has been nerve-wracking, to say the least. Meanwhile, my school work has gone online and my daughter has been home from daycare. It just so happened that my class load was particularly heavy this term in terms of large scale cooperative projects which means that I am in Zoom meetings for a lot of the week. The problem with so many meetings is that they take up a lot of the time that you could be using to get projects done so in all the hype to stay connected and have face time I am loosing a lot of the time that I would be using to get my work done. This is stressful and anxiety provoking. I have been battling anxiety and chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic headaches because of all of the stress and the screen time, and body aches from sitting too long in a chair at my desk and wrist aches from too much typing. I miss my friends, I miss going out and being in the world without having to wear a mask. I miss parties and restaurants and going to classes. I am sad for the people who are graduating this term, including my own cohort, who will not get to say goodbye to each other in person or have a proper graduation ceremony and then entering a terrible and emaciated jobs market. I feel glad that I decided to stay on for another year. I am sad for the high school seniors who are missing out on a real senior prom or a real graduation. I am sad for all the people who don’t have the social safety net under them and who are suffering because of the loss of income. I am sad for my daughter every day who still really does not understand why she can’t go to school and see her friends. I hate not knowing when this will end, that is the hardest part I think, the not knowing. If they could say “we will have a vaccine ready by December and delivered to the population by January”, that would be preferable to all of this waiting and not knowing if this will be the new normal for another few months or another year…”