My head is still spinning (what’s new here, you might ask).

Well, today Pádraig, Pat and I went into a super market. One of those huge ones. We walked down the isles, looked at stuff, bought a bit of food – and felt like having a glimpse at the life most people lead.

It was a very strange excursion out of the protection of the apartment not just onto the street but into a brightly lit supermarket full of people. At the beginning, I did not look at anybody, avoided eye contact, felt really awkward. What do people think when they see the three of us walking down the road, go shopping?

It was a bit like how I think many teenagers feel: everybody is looking at them, judging their appearance, their movements, everything – and as a result they really start not just feeling but also moving around in a really awkward way.

But then I decided: this is the beginning of a new, normal, every-day life, with Supermarkets (for starters) and many more and different fun-occasions. It’ll be as busy as ever and there won’t be time to worry about what other people say, think, and see.

Pádraig liked it: going out, being amongst people, seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling – thousands of impressions we had been taken for granted.