How To Still Have Fun Indoors

FIVE WAYS TO FIVE WAYS TO STILL HAVE FUN STILL HAVE FUN WHILE STAYING WHILE STAYING INDOORS INDOORS

(because there’s you know ... (because there’s you know ... a pandemic) a pandemic)

BY SANTIAGO GAUGHAN

As the months during the COVID-19 pandemic drag on and the temptation to return to “normal” life grows, it is important to remember the limits we need to place on our trips outside to protect ourselves and others from the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over five million cases in the United States on August 13. As many still face the awful health, financial and unemployment effects of the virus, it is just as important as ever to maintain social distancing, mask up and stay informed about what we need to do to do our part in stopping the spread of the virus. Limiting close face-to-face contact with others is the best way to reduce the spread of coronavirus, according to the CDC, so here are five things you can do while staying indoors that I could think of that did not involve rhythmically smashing your head into a wall:

STREAM MEDIA

One way to distract yourself from classwork and COVID-19 is to consume media. There are plenty of free movies, web shows, television series and podcasts that are only a click away. If you don’t want to watch anything new, I would like to recommend opening a webcam and having a staring contest with yourself. Alternatively you could play rock paper scissors with yourself, but that will always end in a draw.

VIRTUALLY THROW A PARTY

It is important that we maintain social distancing where possible, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your friends online. There are plenty of fun things to do in a video call aside from just talking. PowerPoint parties, where each guest presents a PowerPoint over a niche interest they have, are a good way to show people funny stuff you are interested in. You could also have a karaoke session or play Jackbox TV games. There are a lot of reasons to get hopping mad about the current political climate, but there are luckily many ways to share your voice with your local representatives to make a difference. You can find your senators and representatives’s emails and phone numbers for their constituents to contact online. Our senators have different ways to email them, so look online for specific details.

LEARN TO COOK

If you want to learn something outside of school, then cooking could be the activity for you. There are countless video and written recipes online for whatever type of cuisine you may be interested in. However, if you would rather just read the recipes and look at cool food pictures instead of actually

cooking I refuse to judge you.

READ SOMETHING

Hot take: reading is fun! If you’re looking for some quality time by yourself, books are more solitary than video calls and can take longer to finish than movies. Check out your local, or UH library, online and browse the countless books and comics avail

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

able for free.

In conclusion, staying indoors is one of the easiest ways to keep others safe, assuming you have a place to stay. As we go outside for essential errands while COVID-19 continues to spread and many still face its effects on their health, job and homes, remember to wear masks and utilize other COVID-19 preventative measures to keep others from getting sick. We must act as a community in order to overcome this as a community.