San Francisco newlyweds stuck on honeymoon in Sri Lanka

San Francisco newlyweds John and Michelle Senyard is stuck on their honeymoon in Sri Lanka in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the NBC Bay Area reported.

The couple landed in Sri Lanka on March 17. Two days later, their plane tickets home were cancelled.  Since then, the military has taken over the streets and the government began imposing irregular curfews that can last for days. Just buying groceries can now be a full-day ordeal.

“We're actually calling it a ‘supermoon now,” jokes Michelle, who was supposed to fly back home to San Francisco with her husband three weeks ago. “It’s definitely been a rollercoaster.”Michelle Senyard said.

“There have been a lot of times where John has had to hold me and say, ‘hey, we're gonna be okay.’ And I don't totally believe him, but I kind of have to because I have no other choice," said Michelle. “I only have one person in this entire country that I can really lean on,” she said, looking at her new husband.

John and Michelle recently found a flight that could get them back home, but they worry that option may be riskier than staying where they are.

“We're looking at over 45 hours of travel,” said John, adding that they would be sleeping in airports and have “layovers through some of the worst coronavirus infected cities, and I think our immune systems would just be crushed after all that.”

“I historically get sick every single time after travelling long hours,” said Michelle. “And so I think that's what really made our final decision, was that in terms of our health, we would definitely be more at risk,” she said. 

While they wait, John and Michelle have managed to return to their jobs - remotely. John, an account executive, and Michelle, a social media manager, both work for San Francisco-based tech companies, but while sheltering in Sri Lanka they are currently 12.5 hours ahead of their teams back in California.

“We're basically starting our workday at 6 p.m. and then ending our work night at 2 a.m., our time,” said Michelle. “It's definitely been a weird a weird feeling.”

On days when the curfew is lifted, the couple often wakes up around 5 a.m. to make their way around town and gather whatever food and supplies they may need for the next few days. Determining when the curfews begin and end, however, isn’t always easy.

“There's a ton of fake curfew news,” said Michelle. To separate fact from fiction, they go online. “They actually have a local app that goes through all the news sources and verifies the real ones and then puts the rest in a fake news column,” John explained.

“We stood...almost six hours in really brutal heat and had to visit several different locations,” said Michelle, about their last trip out to buy groceries.  “After all of that, we came back to our hostel and then washed, cooked, cleaned and then right went right into our work schedule.”

“Go to sleep, then rinse, and repeat,” said John. The couple relies heavily on instant coffee -- the only caffeine available.

“For most people, the new normal includes a lot of things that were part of your past...the grocery store, it's the same store, it's the same food. You see the same neighbours...and I think emotionally, one of the toughest things for us has just been that literally everything is different here,” said John. 

Back in Sri Lanka, John and Michelle aren’t planning any daring getaways - yet.  They pass the time cooking, working remotely, and making funny videos for family and friends back home.  

“This is kind of like my mom's biggest ‘I told you so moments’ I would say in her entire career as my mother,” said Michelle, who added that family and friends at their wedding tried to persuade them not to travel.  “This is definitely not what we anticipated at all,” said Michelle. 

The couple’s original airline has rebooked them on a flight home to San Francisco on May 2, but John and Michelle worry that flight will inevitably be cancelled just like their first flight. For the foreseeable future, the newlyweds plan to make the best of their time abroad, spending many hours working together and entertaining one another while sheltering in a tiny hostel on a small island more than 9,000 miles from home.

“This is definitely the longest time that we've ever spent together,” said Michelle.

“Like a 100% together all the time,” said John. 

“Being able to be here...has been quite the adventure and I'm choosing to be grateful for it,” said Michelle. “We're really learning how to be partners.”