Quarantining Abstinently

While writing this article, I am halfway through my quarantine at the hotel in Taiwan. According to the new law, I have to quarantine for two weeks here, then another week at home. I was in the United States for 88 days and just came back to Taiwan a week ago. It was not easy to come back and be without local fellows. I needed to stay in the hotel and isolate for 15 days. It was not easy at all.

While I was planning my trip back to Taiwan, I was so anxious. As a member of FA, the most important thing for me is having my abstinent food for each meal while at the hotel. I learned in this program to take an action instead of living in my head. First, I contacted the hotel and asked what they serve. Unfortunately, even though the hotel fee included three meals a day, I was not able to eat anything they served. Of course, I was frustrated, yet I didn’t give up. I asked my Higher Power for help and learned I could get the food that I needed delivered.

I had never used a food delivery service before, so I spent some time doing the research. I picked a few restaurants that could accommodate my food plan and contacted them for more details. I was doing the math. How much money would I have to spend on food for two weeks? Oh, wow! It was a lot of money to get delivery for every meal. I was trying to get canned food to save money. Unfortunately, most canned food in Taiwan has sugar in it. I had to let go of financial insecurity. I know that my abstinence is more important than anything. When I had leftovers, I put them into the mini refrigerator. In Taiwan, hotels don’t provide any microwaves. I don’t like to eat cold food, so I made a call to an FA member and asked for help. She told me that I can take the food from the refrigerator a few hours ahead of my mealtime and leave it beside the window to warm it up a bit. It worked!

Life in the hotel is like a criminal living in prison, with only a tiny window. I can’t even walk out of my room! I am grateful that there are FA virtual meetings. I can see my FA friends on the screen and get my recovery. Thank you, God, for the video calls to connect with FA members around the world. That allows me to smash my isolation and get a lot of support.

I am so grateful for the FA tools, other FA members, and God’s company to help me get through the quarantine. If I am willing and choose to be abstinent, I can be abstinent no matter the circumstances.