What were your first thoughts when COVID was declared a pandemic and lockdowns were imposed?

Dra. Aliah: I was confused and apprehensive. I didn’t think I would ever experience any type of pandemic in my lifetime. It felt surreal at first until people I knew became infected and even went into critical condition. That’s when reality hit that we really needed to follow the health protocols. I was mostly on duty during the lockdown. Fortunately, the hospital I worked in wasn’t as busy with the influx of patients, since COVID admissions were transferred to a designated facility here in Davao that was prepared to care for them.

I’ve heard that you were on duty as a doctor during the pandemic lockdown. What story of hope can you share at that time? and what made you push through and continue your profession as a Doctor despite the risks?

Dra. Aliah: I was on one of my many duties during the pandemic, but I wasn’t directly or intentionally exposed to COVID patients. I do remember one patient who we did an emergency surgery on for an ectopic pregnancy. Internally, she was bleeding profusely so we had to act quickly, correct her hypovolemia, and at the same time provide safety measures to the rest of the surgical team as we had no idea whether the patient was COVID-positive or not. We managed to stabilize her and she was eventually discharged, making full recovery. These scenarios often make our job worthwhile. Reminds me of the reason I needed to be present despite any fear I had of getting infected.

What would you say was the silver lining to the pandemic? and why?

Dra. Aliah: I believe this pandemic if anything, made people realize the importance of human interaction, since we couldn’t have any of it. We are indeed inherently social beings who naturally cling to what is familiar and what is familiar is face to face conversations, social gatherings, daily outdoor activites, conferences, and celebrations. We all miss this now, but at the same we became creative by using social media platforms to connect with the world. We can still be social beings in isolation. Communication is very important. It keeps us sane. It gives us hope, that one day we will be able to freely hug our loved ones without fear.

How long have you been together before getting married? Can you share the story of how you two met and how it started?

Patty and Sam: We were together for four years before getting married. We met in 2016 at a close friend’s wedding, but nothing happened of it since we were both busy and dealing with our careers (we were both starting new jobs at the time). But a few months down the road, as we started hanging out more with the same set of friends, our relationship progressed. It just developed naturally since our circle of friends was close and hung out a lot with each other after the wedding. Destination weddings tend to do that to people—bring a group of friends closer to each other!

Your wedding was held during the lockdown. But what was the original plan? Were you thinking of postponing the wedding altogether? How did you two decide to go ahead with the wedding?

Patty and Sam: We originally decided to get married in a simple, family-only church ceremony and have a bigger, more grand beachfront reception in Bohol (in some way, a tribute to where we first met). However, when the pandemic happened, we realized that we needed to change our plans completely. We decided to push through because of practical reasons, but also because we were very sure about wanting to get married and not delaying it any further.

Like all the couples who had a rough year for their dream weddings, what were your struggles planning for your wedding?

Patty and Sam: On the financial end of things, it was rather challenging because there were already downpayments that were made that we couldn’t get back. And we had to cut the guestlist every single time there were new COVID restrictions, so it was tough trying to coordinate everything when things kept changing. Lastly, we wanted all our friends and family around, it was a bit sad to not have everyone complete on our most special day as a couple. We couldn’t even do a Zoom wedding because signal was bad inside the church.

As newlyweds, what would you say were some of the struggles you faced early on? How did you adjust with your married life, especially being together pretty much 24/7?
Patty and Sam: Looking back, these things were very minor, but since we shared a work area (and still do), timing calls and meetings were quite the challenge! But over time, we’ve adjusted to the constant presence and each other’s own work-related noise and activities (haha!).

Photos courtesy of Patty Mendoza and Sam Paler

What were your first thoughts when COVID was declared a pandemic and lockdowns were imposed?

Carissa: First, I was concerned about the people who had no choice but to go to work to provide for their family. Moreso, the employees that we have in the hotel. I felt so lucky that I could do my work remotely at home. It has truly taught me how to count my blessings.

Take me through what happened when the lockdown was imposed. What were your first thoughts? How did you feel at the time? What were your struggles at that time?

Carissa: Initially, I was enjoying it because I had a lot of rest and sleep! And even if I worked long hours, I can just plunge onto my bed without worrying about driving and dealing with traffic. Months went by, the anxiety of uncertainty grew on me, particularly when businesses were struggling at the peak of the pandemic.

There are too many to mention. But generally, it was the monotonous life at home for many months, unstable business environment of the hotel industry, plus the social media wars that were going on. It was a struggle to find mental balance in the middle of the pandemic.

Despite all of these, what story of hope can you share at that time?

Carissa: That God is always present and never fails to provide. I also realized how important teamwork is in these times of uncertainty. At the height of the pandemic, our hotel was really struggling how find business to keep it afloat. We counted every booking as a blessing. We worked together as team and were open to accomplish tasks outside our job description to ensure that the hotel was running and operating smoothly. Happy to share that the hotel is doing well before I left for Dubai.

Can you tell us more on how you were able to work now in Dubai after your experience here in the Philippines?

Carissa: To be honest, my move to Dubai just started with a single prayer. I was simply asking for a direction in life. Lo and behold, after sending out resumes to different companies from different locations, I got a call from a company here in Dubai. Things unfolded so fast and easy that I left Manila to Dubai barely a month after I signed my contract with that company.

Photos courtesy of Carissa Gomez