Matador Network's Blog, page 832

Maldives reopening to tourists

The Maldives is the latest destination to announce that it will once again welcome international travelers. Starting on July 15, the island nation will welcome visitors to resorts, marinas, tourist vessels, and tourist hotels on uninhabited islands. Tourists will not have to quarantine, be required to present a negative COVID-19 test, or have a minimum length-of-stay requirement. Upon arrival, you can expect to fill out a health card and make frequent use of your mask. If you’re experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, however, you will be required to take a test at your own expense.

Accommodation must be booked in advance at a government-registered property, and during the first phase of reopening, tourists must spend their entire visit in one establishment — i.e., you can’t move between different hotels. Guest houses and hotels on inhabited islands, however, will have to wait until August 1 to reopen.

The Maldives closed its borders in March and suspended tourist visas for the first time in 47 years. For more information, check out the Maldives’ reopening guidelines.

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Portugal won't welcome US travelers

As it seems increasingly likely that United States citizens will be barred from entering Europe for the foreseeable future, Portugal has been a ray of hope. A few weeks ago, the country announced that it would be opening its borders to international tourism in June, and suggested that US citizens would be allowed in without the need to quarantine. Since then, however, the true state of affairs has become clearer. Along with the rest of Europe, Portugal’s external borders are closed until June 30 and will only open if the US shows Portugal the same courtesy.

While Portugal does seem more willing to welcome US travelers than its European neighbors, the country is operating on the principle of reciprocity. That means that, in theory, US citizens could travel to Portugal on July 1 without the need to quarantine, but only if the US allows Portugese citizens to travel to the US without any restrictions.

In a statement from the Portugese government obtained by Travel Off Path, the rules state that while flights to the US, UK, Canada, and Brazil resumed on June 15, those citizens would only be allowed into Portugal with no restrictions if those countries showed reciprocity to Portugese citizens.

The details are still somewhat vague, and the situation is changing daily, but for now it looks like travel to Portugal is not yet in the cards.

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Stop calling durian stinky

The first time I tried durian, I was 13, sitting in the back of my maternal grandfather’s van as we drove around Manila. He had moved there with his wife, a Filipina woman, and their young son, and this was my second time visiting. Someone might have vaguely mentioned the smell of durian might be off-putting, but what I recall the most is hearing that durian is the most delicious fruit in the world — that what I was about to taste would change my life forever. So when a relative handed me split open fruit so I could scoop out the custardy insides, I wasn’t focused on the smell — just the briefest whiff of funk from what I recall — but that indelible flavor: nutty, tangy like vinegar, reminiscent almost of melted cheese, followed by the creamy sweetness of a banana. Others, I think accurately, have compared its flavor to whipped cream, caramel, and garlic.

In other words, nothing like how a recent New York Times article about fruits native to Southeast Asia, which focused on Thailand, described durian. Not “deep, dank rot” (durian), not “bland mush” (dragonfruit), not an “exercise in disappointment” (mangosteen), and certainly not “yummy” (rambutan), the weakest possible word to describe the complexity and depth of the fruit that grows in this region. As food writer Osayi London points out in a series of Instagram stories breaking down the New York Times article, these subjective statements don’t appear in an op-ed but are presented as foundational and factual in a news story.

I’m a quarter Indonesian. My father immigrated to the United States from Holland; his family fled Jakarta after the Netherlands acknowledged Indonesian independence in 1949. By coincidence, I have family friends who live in Bali (which considers itself a separate entity from the mostly Muslim rest of Indonesia), so I’ve had a few opportunities to return to Southeast Asia in adulthood.

Treks through outdoor markets on these visits were common. Here, women carry massive bags of blue and pink flowers, which are placed inside trays folded from palm leaves to create canang sari, daily offerings made by Balinese Hindus. Purple, red, green, and yellow produce is piled high in plastic baskets. I visited a market in the mountains that sold palm-sized baby rabbits in cardboard boxes.

What I remember most about these trips — besides the sweltering summer heat, the garden overrun with frogs outside the guest house where I stayed both times I visited, and the intricately patterned sarongs we wore everywhere — is the fruit. In particular the slices of lime green unripe mango sprinkled with salt, tart enough to make your cheeks literally pucker, which street vendors sold in plastic bags from mobile carts. And the fresh coconut, so cloyingly sweet and rich, drunk first thing in the morning straight from the broken shell.

Photo: Curioso.Photography/Shutterstock

The awe-inspiring vibrancy of Southeast Asia is rarely the subject of mainstream Western food writing. A quick Google search found that durian has been described as smelling like “a bunch of dead cats,” “pig shit,” and “sewage mixed with gasoline.” For me, the comparison of Southeast Asian food with rotting things and garbage stings the most. Talking about the food in this way reinforces the Western idea that the region is just open sewers, stray dogs, and dirty kids running barefoot through the streets. These ugly and narrow ideas about the home of my ancestors make me shudder — and to see these sentiments echoed in the New York Times is beyond disappointing and disrespectful.

Here at Matador Network, we’ve done it too, publishing stories in the past that call durian “weird” and parrot claims that an entire plane was grounded in Indonesia because of a “stinky” batch of durian. While intentions weren’t malicious, these editors didn’t think critically about how that language further stereotypes a region that is already associated, especially in the minds of white people, with being dirty, impoverished, and even primitive. Whether you think durian smells or not, and even I can’t deny it has a pungent odor, this framing is racist.

Why don’t we read more about Southeast Asia’s diverse and complex relationship to religion, its temples and ancient ruins, its love affair with decadent coconut and mango desserts in Western food and general interest publications? I suppose those topics would require more research than simply writing that durian stinks and calling it a day.

Writers and reporters need to ask themselves why they insist on othering food that is unfamiliar to them personally. There are millions of immigrants here in America for whom that food is not foreign. So who are these characterizations for? Perhaps they only serve white people who would rather remain comfortable in their belief that Southeast Asia is some “exotic” (another word I hate) and dangerous land, nothing like “civilized” America — where we eat meat tubes slathered in industrial yellow and red sauce on our national holidays.

It is imperative that writers covering this region and its cuisine approach it with the reverence, curiosity, and open-mindedness that it deserves. Lazy writing about Southeast Asia is actively harmful. It pushes a cuisine that for 655 million people is an everyday fixture of life, not the strange and bizarre food the New York Times would apparently have you believe it is, even further to the margins in the Western imagination. What it deserves is the depth of understanding and nuance afforded to French cheeses — which, by the way, could be described in just as stinky terms.

White supremacy has clawed its way into every conversation and story about the food cultures of people of color. Our job as writers, but also as readers, is to call out and uproot that language everywhere we see it, and to demand that people of color and their cultures are no longer belittled, exoticized, and erased when there are so many opportunities to instead celebrate and uplift them.

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BIPOC summer camps

Most summers, millions of US children head off to spend a week, a month, or the whole summer attending camp, where they’ll enjoy the restorative power of nature, learn new skills, strengthen friendships, and hopefully build upon a lifelong relationship with the outdoors. The problem is, these camps are not representative of the country as a whole.

“Only about four percent of campers in America identify as Black or African-American, even though we make up 13 to 14 percent of the population,” says Angelica Holmes, who runs Camp Founder Girls in San Antonio, Texas. “There are a lot of barriers and gaps in access.”

The camp was established nearly 100 years ago as a “the first historically Black summer camp for girls” and reopened last year under the umbrella organization of Black Outside, which seeks to bring Black youth from San Antonio into the outdoors.

Welcoming children of color

Photo: Camp ELSO/Facebook

Holmes says that growing up she was fortunate to twice attend camp through her church, funded by a donation. Her weeks at camp were some “really important and really formative experiences” in her life — trying new things, seeing herself as a leader, and pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. Even there, though, Holmes says she felt “othered.”

That was also the experience of Sprinavasa Brown, who co-founded Camp ELSO in Portland, Oregon, which uses the natural world to educate and encourage kids from underserved communities. Brown says that growing up she appreciated camp but was often the only, or one of two or three, person of color there.

For Holmes, Brown, and others Matador spoke to, spending time outdoors is a privilege that shouldn’t be reserved for only a certain segment of the population. They want to make available to more children the benefits that can come from being outdoors and spending time away from home in a new setting. And they want to do this thoughtfully — in an inclusive environment where BIPOC children can find peers and mentors who look like them.

For Holmes, whose camp is primarily intended for girls from San Antonio’s historically Black East Side, one value of Camp Founder Girls is it’s a place where the girls who come to camp can feel safe and be themselves.

“These girls can rarely feel safe and free and giving them that room is really just a powerful and emotional experience … I think a lot of people who are not Black or are not in marginalized groups don’t understand the importance of having a safe space,” says Holmes.

The healing power of nature

Photo: Camp Founder Girls

Beyond the feeling of security that the girls can feel when they are together with peers and counselors who look like them, time in nature can improve wellbeing. As Brown of Camp ELSO notes, plenty of studies show that time spent outdoors reduces stress, lowers heart rates, and decreases blood pressure. Brown says Black and Brown youth especially need this relief, yet have fewer opportunities to get it.

Rue Mapp says the healing power of nature is a central tenet of Outdoor Afro, the group she founded to “change the representation and narrative of who gets outdoors and who leads outdoors.” Outdoor Afro is not a summer camp but rather a network of Black leaders and participants in the outdoor space who validate the outdoor experiences Black people are already having and to encourage more of them.

Mapp says that following the stress of the Ferguson situation, where protests over the killing of an unarmed Black teen were met with a militarized police response, she led a hike to the Redwood Bowl near Outdoor Afro’s Oakland, California, headquarters.

“The nature of the Redwood Bowl was healing,” says Mapp, contrasting it to the hard streetscape of the city. “There were no police in riot gear there … That was a moment of clarity for me on the healing power of nature. We laid down our burdens down by the riverside.”

Building self-confidence

Photo: Camp Founder Girls

When you feel safe and can savor nature’s curative balm, you can learn and grow. At Camp Founder Girls, the four pillars are strong, brave, creative, and confident. Holmes, who is an educator by training, enjoys teaching the girls that being brave doesn’t mean having no fear, but rather being able to push beyond their comfort zone when they feel nervous or scared.

The girls may challenge themselves on a ropes course, or go on day and night hikes — which Holmes says occur within the context of considering Black history and what hiking meant for their ancestors. The camp last year took place in Texas Hill Country and the older girls went on an overnight hike, sleeping in tents, and summiting Enchanted Rock. For nearly all the girls, these were first-time experiences.

“They may be apprehensive at the beginning, but I love seeing those walls come down. I love seeing them find something that they love … or getting over their fear of bugs and spiders,” says Holmes.

Building confidence was a big part of Dionne Ybarra’s motivation when she created The Wahine Project in Pacific Grove, California. Ybarra grew up in a “classic Mexican family in an all-Mexican neighborhood” about 20 miles inland from the ocean by the agricultural area of East Salinas, California. She remembered outings to the beach as a child where she was taught to fear the ocean. Even though she married a surfer who taught their children to surf, she says she was still “terrified of the water.”

It was only after getting divorced in her 30s that Ybarra chose to face her own fears of the water and learn to surf. But she realized that there were no other Mexican girls in the water, and very few girls at all. She decided she wanted a way to give these girls an opportunity she did not have when she was young.

While at first the focus of her summer and weekend camps was on surfing, today it is more about creating comfort with and a passion for the ocean, so that “no one has to feel intimidated by the sport of surfing.” Surfing could come later, and it has, says Ybarra.

Opening new horizons

Photo: The Wahine Project

The point for Ybarra, who is now remarried, is to open horizons and to boost self-assuredness through tackling what from afar can look like a daunting endeavor. Surfing, says Ybarra, opens up a world for the Brown kids from East Salinas that “they didn’t know they could be a part of.”

“[Surfing] is glorified in mainstream culture, and they see it glorified, and they see that it looks like one identity,” explains Salinas. She says that when the kids in her program meet their Mexican instructors and stand up on a board, she sees some of them realize, “‘Gosh, I can do that kind of stuff. I can get over this fear. I can move through that fear,’ it shows them that’s just one barrier. And when they can see that, then they can move it over to the next thing in their life.”

At Oregon’s Camp ELSO, the focus is on using the outdoors to learn more about science. Brown says that growing up she was the only girl like herself in her science classes, and that in high school and even in college, teachers tried to discourage her from pursuing her academic passion. When she became a parent, she became even more aware of the limited opportunities to foster BIPOC kids’ curiosity in the sciences, math, or technology.

Environmental stewardship

Photo: The Wahine Project

Camp ELSO was founded as a way to address both the lack of opportunities for BIPOC kids to get outdoors and stimulate and encourage a passion for STEAM fields. At the same time, Camp ELSO aims to build environmental stewardship among its participants.

Brown says that while plastic in oceans or droughts in foreign countries can feel very far away, there are very real environmental issues that disproportionately impact communities of color, such as the inequitable placement of toxic landfill sites. Brown spoke of environmental justice, which focuses on the impacts of environmental degradation on underserved communities. This was a concern shared by everyone endeavoring to strengthen BIPOC people’s connection with the outdoors.

“People of color and the Hispanic communities are more at risk for all the negative aspects of climate change,” says Ybarra, of the Wahine Project. But she added that it’s harder to build a connection to nature when the opportunities to do so are “being withheld from them.” When the kids in her program see dolphins and whales and learn about the stresses on ocean environments, they become more invested in taking care of the environment, she says.

These camps all rely on financial assistance to make the camp available for many of their members — offering tuition at a sliding scale or even free access to the program, and making up the cost difference either through donations or through full tuition payments from those families who can afford it.

Camp is just the first step

Photo: Camp ELSO

This means that in many cases these kids are coming from family situations where it may be difficult to replicate the outdoor experience once they get back home. And a week out of the year may not seem like enough to change a life. The question then becomes whether a week is enough to set children on a course to embrace and include the outdoors in their life.

For Rue Mapp at Outdoor Afro, the focus on the outdoors has to start with the family and must include and validate the ways that Black people already engage with the outdoors, whether these are tailgating, fishing, or enjoying city parks. For Mapp, success comes when someone participates in an outdoor activity organized through Outdoor Afro leader and then opts to do that again on their own; a prospect that is more difficult for children to do. Yet she concedes that a week at summer camp can be enough to light a spark in kids that will persuade them to include nature in their lives in the future.

And that is just the point of these camps. Brown says she cherished the outdoor aspect of camp, even as she missed seeing faces like hers. Ybarra wishes it hadn’t taken a failed marriage to finally brave the waves she’d seen since she was a child. Holmes says that going to camp as a child was like a fluke; the whole concept was foreign and unknown to her, and yet she is grateful for the experience and its lasting impact. She imagines how much more fulfilling it would have been if her mentors and peers had looked like her.

“I wish I would have had a space like this to go,” says Holmes of Camp Founder Girls.

If these stories are any example, it shows that even a short week outdoors can be transformative. And if not that, it can be a small step along a journey towards environmental stewardship, seeking nature’s healing powers, and reclaiming one’s rightful place in the great outdoors.

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6 Korean drinking traditions

In Korea, drinking is an essential element of socializing. It’s an important way to strengthen bonds between friends and unwind from the stress of everyday life, and work colleagues consider an invitation for a night on the town a compliment. It’s understood that, after a couple drinks, you’ll transform into a social butterfly, chatting up your colleagues and friends and maybe sharing a secret or two.

One reason drinking is so popular in Korea is simply because alcohol is so cheap — soju is almost always the beverage of choice, followed closely by beer. The drinking etiquette that accompanies social outings, especially with colleagues, reinforces social hierarchies in Korean society and is designed to encourage excess drinking.

If you want to immerse yourself in the Korean culture, you should know how they drink. This treasured set of rules isn’t so much strictly enforced as it is strongly suggested (especially in modern Korea). Many of these traditions might feel like stodgy rules to outsiders, but in truth they point to much deeper cultural norms of respecting elders and being polite and generous to your friends and colleagues. In Korea, drinking is about so much more than getting drunk. It’s about solidifying friendships and showing appreciation to your colleagues. Here’s what you need to know before embarking on a night out in Korea. Hope you like soju!

1. In general, accept the first glass of alcohol you’re offered.

If an elder offers you a drink at any point in the night, Korea’s cultural hierarchy demands that you accept. But, in the strictest sense, refusing a drink from anyone is the height of bad manners. Denying the drink could insult your companions and put a damper on the evening. That’s why drinking in Korea has a reputation for debauchery: Anyone can offer you a drink at any point, no matter how much you’ve already sipped, and you’re pretty much expected to accept without even batting an eye.

If you’d prefer to not become inebriated, your best bet is to graciously accept the first drink you’re offered. If you don’t want to drink any more after that, say so upfront, and your new friends won’t be offended.

2. Never pour your own drink.

Subtle gestures of respect are paramount in Korean drinking culture, and one of the most significant is never pouring your own drink. Though it might seem like a slightly outdated concept to foreigners, this is the rule you’re most likely to see observed at Korean barbecue restaurants or at the noraebang, a Korean-style karaoke room (where typically only beer is served).

When pouring someone else’s drink, especially an elder’s, hold the bottle with both hands. If your companion sees that your glass is empty, she’ll likely refill it immediately in an effort to be polite, so you can rest assured your glass will never be empty for long. But if you need a break or don’t want to drink anymore, you can leave your glass half full, because only empty glasses will be refilled.

3. Respect your elders.

As you may have noticed already, so much of Korean etiquette — both in and outside of the drinking realm — revolves around showing deference to our elders. Remember, an offer to end the workday over drinks with a superior is considered a high compliment. Of course, if you’re just visiting Korea, you might not have as much occasion to go out for drinks with your boss, but these rules also apply to an older relative or traveling companion.

Here’s what to keep in mind if you’re determined to follow tradition (though that might get harder the more soju your companions pour in our glass): If an elder offers to pour you a drink, you can either stand up or kneel (observe your surroundings to see if others are sticking strictly to tradition or if they have a more relaxed attitude). Then offer your empty glass with both hands (usually, people hold the bottom with their left hand and the side of the glass with their right hand). Once the elder has stopped pouring, you can return to your regular position, but don’t drink until the elder in question has raised her own glass. Once she’s said “Cheers” or, more likely, “Gunbae,” turn your head away from the group and then take a drink.

Yes, it’s a complicated dance meant to convey respect, so don’t stress getting it right on your first try.

4. Finish your shot.

Photo: galmegi/Shutterstock

While shots might signal a wild night in the US, in Korea, taking shots of soju is about as common as taking a sip of water. One study found that, in Korea, “drinking behavior [is] often one-shot at a time rather than drinking a little sip.” A Euromonitor survey from 2014 revealed that the average South Korean drinks 13.7 shots per week, which is more than Americans, Russians, or the British. That might seem like a lot, but soju has a mild taste and lower ABV compared to liquor, which might account for at least part of the Korean obsession with soju shots.

Given that taking a shot sets the tone for the night, the first shot of soju that you’re offered should be downed in one drink. Luckily, you don’t have to shoot every other glass of soju offered to you — and there will be a lot of them. You can slowly sip any soju that appears in your glass after the first shot, and remember that if you want to stop drinking, just leave the glass half full so it isn’t refilled.

5. Drink with friends.

In Korea, like many countries around the world, most social occasions among friends involve alcohol. As anyone who has had a glass or two of wine will tell you, alcohol makes people talkative, energetic, and honest. In an essay on drinking culture in Korea, writer Tammy Cho explains that in Korea in particular, “drinking is seen as a social lubricant for South Korea’s overworked business employees and students.”

That same study on drinking behavior referenced above found that “drinking culture in Korea was characterized by more social drinking than by drinking alone at home.” It’s not that drinking alone is necessarily looked down on in Korea, it’s just that if you want to understand how Korean people relax, unwind, and blow off steam, hit the bars with a big group of friends rather than venturing out by yourself.

6. Expect to eat.

Anju, or drinking snacks, are an integral aspect of Korean drinking culture. Salty, savory snacks like pretzels or popcorn are usually offered at bars. Platters of fresh fruit sometimes accompany soju cocktails, which are often infused with fruit as well. But like almost everyone who feels hunger pains in the midst of a night of drinking, Korean people crave fried, greasy snacks. French fries. Fried chicken. Spicy fried squid and octopus. All sorts of delightful snacks to help soak up some of that soju. If you’re hosting a party at home (or wherever you’re staying), you should definitely be prepared to serve a plethora of anju. Or if you’re going out on the town, bring your appetite, because most Korean people don’t relish a night of drinking if it doesn’t incorporate platters of spicy, salty snacks.

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Beekeeper suits social distancing

Restaurant staff wearing hazmat suits as a safety precaution sounds like overkill, but beekeeping outfits in a botanical-themed bar might be the perfect balance of safety and absurdity. In London, the staff at Mr. Fogg’s House of Botanicals is donning protective beekeeper suits to safely (and hilariously) interact with customers.

Photo: Mr Fogg’s Residence/Facebook

The bar was inspired by the fictional travels of explorer Phileas Fogg, of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days novel. Mr. Fogg’s House of Botanicals houses Fogg’s fictional collection of exotic flora from his travels around the world. So it makes sense to promote safety and stay on theme with beekeepers’ suits in a bar packed with plants and decorated heavily with flower patterns.

Photo: Mr Fogg’s Residence/Facebook

Photo: Mr Fogg’s Residence/Facebook

Charlie Gilkes, the co-founder of the bar, says, “Now more than ever before, people will need spaces that spark a sense of escapism and imagination. We do not want to welcome visitors back into sterile spaces that feel like airport security, and we are acutely aware that people won’t leave their homes to sit in a perspex prison. Hence, why we’ve come up with a series of playful solutions to new measures, which will be woven into our customer experience and hopefully may even enhance it.”

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Rhode Island will drop ‘Plantations’

Following an executive order by Governor Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island is dropping the later part of its name in an effort to distance itself from its controversial history.

Rhode Island is officially known as the State of Rhode Island the Providence Plantations, and now, on state documents and websites, the “Providence Plantations” part will be axed. The state is removing the reference to show its support to the Black community and the fight against systemic racism, and to acknowledge its own part in the country’s troubled history.

“We have to acknowledge our history, that’s true,” said Raimondo, “but we can acknowledge our history without elevating a phrase that’s so deeply associated with the ugliest time in our state and in our country’s history. We can’t ignore the image conjured by the word plantation. We can’t ignore how painful that is for black Rhode Islanders to see that and have to see that as part of their state’s name.”

Although the state’s official name will remain unchanged for now, the issue will be voted on in November. Legislation has been introduced that would put the name change on the ballot.

State Senator Harold M. Metts championed the legislation. “The word ‘plantations’ conjures extremely painful images for many Rhode Islanders,” he said. “Whatever the history of the term is in Rhode Island, it is an unnecessary and painful reminder of our nation’s racist past.”

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Segway vehicles no longer produced

Using a Segway as your primary mode of transportation was never cool, but the occasional Segway tour while exploring a new destination did have its merits. Now, Segways are about to become relics of the past. Segway has decided to end production of its original two-wheeled vehicle after nearly 20 years, due to a lack of demand and a history of safety issues.

The vehicle was plagued by problems from the start. The initial price tag was $5,000, which was too steep for many consumers. Because the rider had to be balanced at a certain angle, Segways also proved difficult to ride, and often resulted in crashes and injuries.

The most high-profile Segway accident is certainly the death of Jimi Heselden, owner of the company, who died at age 62 in 2009 after he fell off a cliff while riding the vehicle. The very visible collision between athlete Usain Bolt and a cameraman on a Segway in 2015 during the World Championship didn’t help the two-wheeler’s reputation either.

As of July 15, Segway manufacturing at the Bedford, NH, plant will cease, 21 employees will be laid off immediately, and 12 will stay on temporarily to handle warranties and repairs. Five employees, however, will remain to work on Segway Discovery scooters.

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Gabon to decriminalize homosexuality

On Tuesday, Gabon took a major step forward when its lower house of Parliament voted to decriminalize homosexuality. In doing so, Gabon became one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reverse the law that made homosexuality a crime. The initiative was backed by 48 Parliament members, while 25 abstained and 24 voted against it.

Although passage by the lower house is an encouraging sign, the bill must still pass the upper house of the Senate before the law is taken off the books and homosexuality is officially decriminalized.

Gabon is one of 73 countries that considers same-sex relations a crime, with a punishment of up to six month in prison and a hefty fine of over $8,500.

The law criminalizing homosexuality in Gabon was passed just last year.

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NY, NJ, CT visitor quarantine

Although US travelers are eyeing Europe’s border reopenings, we should also be turning our attention inward as certain states begin restricting travel. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut just issued a joint travel advisory Wednesday that requires people visiting from states with high COVID-19 rates to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. The quarantine will apply to states with a transmission rate of over 10 per 100,000 people, or 10 percent of its whole population, on a seven-day average.

“We have to make sure the virus doesn’t come in on a plane,” said New York governor Andrew Cuomo. “We worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down, and we don’t want to see it go up.”

As of Wednesday, June 24 at midnight, travelers coming from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Texas would be required to quarantine upon arrival at one of the three states. In New York, if you’re found to be in violation of the quarantine, you could be subject to a fine of $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 if you ultimately cause harm by infecting others.

According to governor Murphy of New Jersey, “It’s the right thing to do, it’s the common sense thing to do, it’s the responsible thing to do.”

The new rules may sound strict, but the tri-state area was once the epicenter of the pandemic in America and isn’t eager to reclaim that designation.

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