PART 1 – Introduction
Presenters: Esti, Lea and Linoy

The COVID-19 is a dangerous and terminal disease that was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
This disease was caused by the virus which spread all over the world. People got infected by air and touch. Approximately two million people all over the world died, because they didn’t follow the instructions provided by the doctors. These instructions included social distancing, wearing face masks and using sanitizers.
The virus affects  lungs and makes it difficult for people to breathe independently. It comes together with high body temperature, cough and pain in different parts of the body.
The coronavirus hit Israel as well. This year schools have been locked, we can’t meet our friends and we’ve been learning from home through Zoom.
People aren’t going outside a lot, only those whose work is supposed vital, which includes nurses, doctors, police officers and more. Many other  businesses, such as private kindergartens, malls and shops, beauty salons and barber shops, have been locked down and as a result people lost their jobs.
All over the world the economic situation has become really hard.

We chose to work on this project because we wanted to share and document this period of time,  the pandemic, and how it affected our lives. In addition, we  provided essential information to cause people understand a little bit more about the Corona and about  how we felt.

PART 2-WRITING TASK ONE: Interview with one family member about how this is affecting them.

An Interview with my Mom.
Esti: Mom, I want to know how your life has changed since the pandemic started..
Mom: What do you want exactly to know?
Esti: Ok, first tell me where you feel the biggest and the most challenging change.
Mom: I think that the hardest part for me was that suddenly my youngest daughter stopped going to school and started learning distantly. It is difficult to persuade her to learn on Zoom and do the assignments that her teachers give her. She is a pupil in the second grade and children of her age are not used to spending hours in front of the computer. I am not talking about the games. That is what they usually have no problem doing. In addition, there are no afterschool activities for kids and as a result they are getting bored and I have to entertain her. She doesn’t meet her friends, too and it causes social problems.
Esti: Wow, I couldn’t imagine that the issue is so complicated.
Mom: That is not the only problem I am facing these days. As you see, because of the lockdown, I was forced to close my clinic and it led to financial problems. My patients cancelled the appointments and as a result, I can’t earn money. I am not the only one in the country who is suffering from the same problems and I really hope that our government will support businesses like mine.
Esti: I understand that you and dad are experiencing hard times. I promise to help you as much as I can. Do you remember how we spent vacations and weekends before the pandemic started? It was so much fun.

Mom: Sure! You can’t even imagine how I miss those days when we flew abroad, went to the hotels in Israel, dined at the restaurants and watched movies in the cinema. I wish everything will come back soon and we will be able to live the routine life.

Esti: Me too, I want it to be over already. I am glad you shared your feelings and worries with me. I will do my best to make your life easier.

WRITING TASK TWO: Things you’re looking forward to doing when life goes back to normal.

Oh,Corona Corona,what have you done?
You have brought all the biggest troubles with you.You have hurt the country’s economy, people’s livelihoods, you have changed everyone’s plans  and even ,unfortunately ,you have killed many people so far.
Dear Corona,I only have one question for you!!
When will you go away??
I have already planned a lot of things to do,when everything goes back to normal and I want to share my plans with you .
First of all, my mom and I will drive to the beach in Tel-Aviv.I need to get some rest from school and home, breathe fresh air, watch the stormy waves, buy ice cream, eat properly in a restaurant and enjoy this fun atmosphere after a long time that everything was closed!
Second ,I miss Superland so much and I am already waiting for it to open. The moment it opens ,my cousins and I are the first to run there .We will ride the scariest and highest rides , scream out of fear and see happy people having fun . In the past, when our visit to Superland was coming to an end we usually felt very hungry because of all the thrilling things we did, so we  finished the day in the restaurant. This time I am planning to do exactly the same. We will definitely dine inside the restaurant and not order the take away food as it was used to do during the pandemic. We will share our feelings of excitement during the meal. I am sure it will be fun.
In addition ,I planned to fly to New York because my uncles live there. I haven’t seen them for a long time and I miss them so much.
Before the Corona, every year they came to visit us for a few weeks. Since the Corona started, we have been making video calls only and they always tell me how sad they are that they can’t come to Israel. But now, when the flights have finally come back, I want to surprise them and fly there.
In conclusion, Mrs. Corona , I have to say that I am counting the  days to see you out of my life.I am able to wait as long as necessary.

WRITING TASK THREE: Describe how you celebrated special events differently than you usually do due to the pandemic.

I have never thought and imagined to myself that the world would be in such a dire situation that it is impossible to go out from the house, go shopping , fly abroad, travel to different places in Israel and do other fun things we were all used to.
Our world has changed for the worse within a year. We aren’t celebrating holidays in a way we used to. These celebrations are possible only within your core family.
Every year we flew abroad and celebrated the holidays there. It was fun, there were songs, music and dancers around us. I still have photos, when we were in Paris. But, this year it is impossible to celebrate holidays as usual. This year we are celebrating in a boring and sad way because of the corona. My core family members are sitting around the table, eating a festive meal , watching TV and talking to my grandparents who live in Ashdod through Zoom. It is so strange. We have never expected that we wouldn’t meet my extended family and do something in general.
I really hope that the corona will pass soon and everything will come back to normal because I can’t continue this way when everything is closed ,I am going crazy!!!

PART 4–

I have finally finished the project with great pride!
I want to share how I felt, what I enjoyed most, what I learned and which new things I discovered.
I liked the best to work in a group,because the group members were close friends of mine and we didn’t just talk about the work, we also expressed our feelings, shared the impressions of the day and laughed. Our virtual meetings  motivated us to keep working and not giving up.
The part that I didn’t enjoy was the writing. I didn’t like it for several reasons. First,  it was not easy to write in English. Second, it took too much  time, because I checked every single thing that I wrote.
Part 3 was the most difficult.
In this part I had to present  my project to my teacher and  the whole class. It was a big challenge for me because I don’t speak English in my daily life.
Part 1 was the easiest for me, because we worked together and everyone from my group expressed her opinion, shared ideas, took an active part in the work ,so we finished the work quickly.
I think that my English has improved in the matter of reading,vocabulary,writing and speaking. In part 1,I read different types of articles about the COVID 19 pandemic in English and it helped me expand my vocabulary.
In part 2,I wrote a lot and I think it helped me in developing my ability to write in English. In part 3 I had to speak, so I had to overcome the fear  to present the project  in front of an audience. I started speaking loudly and had almost no mistakes because I had practiced.
In part 1 we divided the work between us. Everyone contributed to the success of the project. Each one brought impressive ideas to the work and did her part equally, without arguments.We were an excellent team!
Overall, it was fun, however I hope that next time the project will include more parts that require collaboration and

teamwork, and less individual work.

PART 5-

1:https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

2:https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1

3:https://www.clalit.co.il/he/your_health/family/Pages/coronavirus.aspx