Catching Covid Abroad
What it was like to recover from Covid on another continent and not know when I could return to the USA
FUN FACT: Did you know that if you get COVID while traveling outside of the United States, you are not allowed back to the USA until you test negative? IF you didn’t then now you know.
I found out that I was COVID positive at the airport, getting ready to catch my flight back to the USA. Lisbon, Portugal, was the last stop on my European adventure and I knew very quickly that Lisbon was not for me. I go into more detail about why in my paid subscriber follow up but just know that it’s a great city that would be perfect for many people that aren’t Shayna. Plus my hostel was a 4 floor walk up (that was not advertised as such) and my nerve-damage was not enjoying that at all. Two days before I found out I was COVID positive, I took a COVID test and visited a doctor, just to be safe. The COVID test was negative and the doctor reaffirmed my suspicions that I probably had a chest infection. But alas, turns out that was wrong.
Finding out that I was COVID positive was quite the shocker so I immediately called my mom. Together we made a plan for me to stay at a Radisson hotel near the airport for one night so that I could make a plan as to where to quarantine for the next week. I also talked to a representative from my airline (TAP Air Portugal) who definitely watched my cry for 2 minutes and then changed my flight to a week from that day without charging me.
While at the Radisson I was able to find a relatively inexpensive hotel that was right next door to a grocery store and was a 15 minute bus ride to the airport. I stayed there for 6 days and macgyvered my way back to health. None of the medicines that I had bought while in Europe helped to alleviate my discomfort. The only things that actually helped were the Jamaican family recipes for medicinal teas that I made in my hotel room. Slowly, the phlegm in my lungs started to lessen and go from an infected yellowish color to clear, and my stuffy nosy began to clear. There was still an annoying cough (that has almost entirely disappeared now) but that was manageable. I just needed to test negative so I could get back to my apartment.
I had brought a box of 4 COVID tests with me from the States that was now down to 3. My flight back to the States was on a Friday morning. On Wednesday, I tested positive. On Thursday night, I tested positive, but the line was barely visible. I know that it was still technically a positive test but it gave me just enough hope to not immediately reschedule my flight. Also on Thursday night, I felt my temperature spike slightly in my sleep and then my nose cleared permanently! I woke up very early on Friday, ate a bunch of fruit, finished the tea and cleaned the hotel’s kettle in my room, packed my bags and hoped for the best.
Now at the airport, you can get a monitored COVID test and an official letter stating your COVID status. It usually costs some money but in Lisbon it wasn’t too expensive (20 euros, as opposed to Costa Rica where it was 60 USD). I gave the nurse a powerpoint version of what my situation was and asked if she thought that a week was enough time to test negative. She said that it varies from person to person.
“I’ve seen some people test negative in 3 days, others can test positive for a month or more.”
I immediately broke out into a coughing fit because I could NOT stay in Portugal for an extra month. After we finished my swab, I sat outside and started looking for long term Airbnb rentals outside of Lisbon, just in case. After scrolling for 30 minutes, I got the best email of my life. I opened the attached document and read “Negativo.”
Once again, I called my mom and confirmed that she could pick me up from the airport. She said “of course” and I was off to get my bags checked!
I learned a lot from getting COVID abroad. I learned that I’m much more resilient than I thought I was. I was reminded that folk medicine is still real medicine. I learned that I can trust my gut without question. And I learned that the USA really isn’t for me. One of my clearest memories from being in quarantine was opening up TikTok and the first video I saw was talking about how there were 3 mass shootings in the USA in the last 24 hours. I closed the app. Being out of the USA for longer periods of time is such a detox from the constant trauma that overwhelms me as a Black person living in the USA. I can trust the police officers I come in contact with when I’m abroad. I can trust that people who shoot me in broad daylight because I’m Black and happen to be in a supermarket. Obviously racism and anti-Blackness still exists everywhere but the constant fear of being murdered anywhere, at any time, doesn’t exist when I’m not in the USA.
So
I learned what I needed to learn. Saw what I needed to see. And genuinely had an amazing time in Ireland and Germany (two countries that I’ll definitely visit again). Will I visit Portugal again? Probably, but only as a short term tourist and probably not Lisbon.
If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them :)