On Saturday, March 21, the government issued strict directives that would ensure that people stay at home for at least 15 days to ensure that the virus does not spread. The virus, known by the code COVID-19, has taken the world by storm, requiring countries to close schools, places of worship and public spaces, with governments asking people to stay home as they situation is managed. Social distancing has become the order of the day and as Rwanda National Police mentioned on Monday, people have to take the government guidelines serious and consider staying in their homes –not even visiting friends or neighbours is allowed. Spending 24hrs at home, let alone 15 days, can be extremely boring and hectic for some people, much as people are required to work from home. For many, life seems like it has come to a standstill, for others, it is time to bond with family members and children. If you are feeling bored with lots of time on your hands, here are a few things you can consider doing with your time to entertain yourself. Take online courses There are a variety of platforms that offer online courses, but eDX (https://www.edx.org/) and Coursera (www.coursera.org) are recommended. However for certificate, you will need to pay a certain fee but the course are accessible for free. Give it a shot. eBooks/audiobooks/ podcasts Most people love the idea of reading physical books, holding the hard cover or paperback in their hands and feeling the crinkle of the page but it will be difficult to find an open library in the current circumstances. So it might be about time to go digital. Recently, Kigali Public Library granted free access to its digital library. Goodreads, manybooks.net and other platforms too have eBooks that can be accessed anytime on any smart gadget. For the listeners, audiobooks-which are slowly becoming a thing- are the best option. There are apps like audible, audiobooks and many more that can help with that. That also applies to podcast lovers, or those who want to try. Google podcast, for example is free and one of the best podcast apps to use. Learn a new language The most efficient way to learn a language is through practice. Forget the 2-year-old downloaded PDFs or books that are gathering dust. Duolingo has proved to be one of the best language teaching apps worldwide. It has reading materials, practice through speaking, stories, and much more tools to teach someone a language. Alternatives include, Babbel and others which offer online language course. Note that most these charge an affordable fee for a certain period. Take yoga classes on YouTube Adding Yoga classes to the list would help you maximise your time and gain fitness and wellness. This time, all the excuses about work, busy days and family or friends events are not valid anymore. Using Youtube, yoga classes could help to kill the boredom and keep one in shape especially now that you can spare some time after working at home. In these difficult times, an activity to relax one’s mind and body amidst all the stress and uncertainty can come in handy. Loosen up a bit, relax and try to make the most of the time. As the saying goes “do not take life too seriously, you won’t get out of it alive.” Hit that mat make the moves, meditate, let your soul gravitate, you will not regret. Videochat like you’re in high school again In these difficult times when everyone is thinking about life and the impact of COVID-19, our friends and family need us more. If you have relatives in countries hit by the New Coronavirus, this is the time to reach out. Don’t let social distancing get in the way of interacting with your loved ones. Try to video chat with your friends and family and talk about everything. Encourage those who need some encouragement, laugh, reminisce and have a bit of fun. Nearly all social media platforms have the option of video call. If not familiar with them, consider WhatsApp, which is the easiest of all. While on a call, try to add another person to make it more fun or to make it simple, create a group of your friends then tap the call button. Try karaoke and sing your heart out Karaoke is a form of detox; a way of singing out all the weight over the shoulders and let the soul become free and fly around. Singing has that effect. Now is the perfect time to do it especially in self quarantine when nobody is watching and judging. You will be surprised the magic it can do. To do that, sing karaoke or check on the Internet for smile apps. It is just what you need to relax and rewind and take off that stress. Don’t wait to do it in the bathroom alone. Stream movies/ Listen to Music Some movies will be released early on streaming apps. Those include, “The Way Back,” featuring Ben Affleck “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” marked the return of the DC Comics villain Harley Quinn (Margo Robbie), if horror is more your style, “The Invisible Man” The faith-based film “I Still Believe” and so many other films. Netflix, a movie streaming app is your friend in this situation. However due to limited access based on location and subscription requirements, you may want to try google play movies & TV. If subscription fees don’t allow, you have a lot of free music to listen too using Audiomack for example. This might also be the time to explore some local music –from Kinyatrap to latest releases to ‘Karahanyuze’, the classics you haven’t had time to listen to. Local Djs are also offering to play for audiences for free on Instagram live. Only an Instagram account is needed to enjoy the music. The DJs include some of prominent ones on the local scene such as DJ Toxxyk and DJ Marnaud, who have decided to put a smile on the faces of many who feel bored at home. Play phone games New forms of interaction are coming to life. Gaming is slowly catching up with other normal ways of human interaction. For example instead of inviting someone to chat on say Whatsapp, people nowadays extend the invitation to play on plato-an app that combines chat and gaming with over 30 group games. Available on playstore and IOS, it has a variety of games to choose from including chess, pool, hearts, toon blast, candy crush, to name but a few. Once on the app, one can also meet other new people.
