Yuliana Quiroz 
RGV – A family trip set for a religious pilgrimage, still ended up being a test of faith, but not in the way they planned it would.
Alex Garrido, UTRGV’s director of digital marketing, alongside his five family members ended up being trapped in Spain after the COVID-19 situation worsened overseas with the government declaring a national lockdown.
“It came to a point where we had nowhere to stay, we had no food to eat, we couldn’t find an establishment that was open,” said Garrido.
He says, fortunately, they were taken into a hotel by a couple as they continued to look for flights to come back home.
“Flights just skyrocketed in price. They were thousands of dollars for each flight and this is a large family. We would get a flight, they would cancel it,” he continued.
As restrictions tightened, Garrido says they found a flight leaving from the city of Madrid on March 17, which was originally something they were trying to avoid since half of Spain’s COVID-19 cases were in that area.
“We, oh my goodness, we barely made it, otherwise we’d probably be stuck over there,” said Garrido.
He says his family took extreme precautionary measures wearing face masks, constantly washing their hands and monitoring face touching especially since Garrido’s 78-year-old grandmother was traveling with them.
“She does suffer from… every time she gets sick from like a cold or the flu, it’s a major event for her,” he said.
Garrido says they are now all in self-quarantine as recommended by the CDC and have not displayed any symptoms of the virus.
“I have experienced tiredness, but nothing out of the ordinary: no sore throat, no difficulty breathing, no high fevers, I’ve been taking my temperature twice a day,” said Garrido.
He says he’s very fortunate his family made it back home and wants everyone to think about loved ones and community before making the decision to go out.
“Right now, for the safety of the community, please take care of yourself,” he said.
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