Corona in Cortona… Isolation in Italy…..Covid Chronicles … Part 4
Tues 17th — Friday 20th Days 7,8. 9 & 10… getting used to it.
Tuesday 17 March Day 7
Prince Charles has got it… somehow you wouldn’t expect that, but I guess he mixes with a lot of people. Still, a bit of a shock. Apparently the Queen is fine.. of course… I think she is made of British steel and granite.
A friend in Australia asked me the other day how the Italians were taking lockdown. Italians are notoriously independent minded, and I am sure that the mayor of Naples was once quoted as saying that the traffic lights were for guidance only; or was it the dotted line down the centre of the road? Italians are also extremely sociable. Whilst the average Brit might search out a nice deserted beach, most Italians love to crowd together on the same beach, cheek by jowl.
So how does social distancing and lockdown work here? Having seen almost no one for over a week, it’s a little hard to tell. I would say they are being very British about it, but sadly that would no longer be a compliment. So instead I would say, that at least round here, everyone is being very Italian about it, rather stoic. I would describe the mood as, ‘non ci lamentiamo’, a phrase used a lot locally, which I guess translates as, ‘can’t complain’.
I went down into our small town of Camucia to the Post Office. I didn’t want to, but there was a registered parcel to collect. It was a mild, sunny day and about 7 or 8 of us waited outside the post office, everyone politely checking who was last in line, and everyone staying several metres apart; not in a line, but sort of scattered around in the carpark. I felt a bit uncomfortable as I seemed to be the only one not wearing a mask. Originally, I understood that actually masks don’t really do that much good unless they are the properly fitted hospital kind. But when in Rome…. I tried to tie my scarf around my mouth and nose; it wasn’t a good look, I looked more like a bandit come to rob the post office! It also had the effect of making my breath go up behind my glasses… so they steamed up and I couldn’t really see where I was going. Next time I go out I will take my mask, although, becuse of my ridiculously small head that doesn’t fit very well either.
Random thought… lots of talk about helping out the self employed in Britain. I was self emplyed once upon a time, so I am so pleased. But how are burglars going on? They cant apply for aid. And everyone is staying at home. On deserted streets, they would look very suspicious indeed trying to rob a shop. Just wondering…
Back at the Post Office… after 10 or 15 minutes it was my turn to go in… its quite a large space and three people could go in at once, to be served at one of the three windows. I handed over my slip, and he went off to find my parcel; then he came back and checked on his computer; then he consulted with a colleague; finally he told me that my parcel had been sent up to the Cortona office. I asked why, when my slip clearly stated Camucia. He didn’t know. So, I said, ‘if I go up there now, I can collect it?’ ‘No’, he said, ‘the Cortona office is closed.’ ‘Oh, when does it open?’ ‘No, it’s closed.’ It turns out that it is now closed until the whole epidemic is over, no one is there, and there is nothing to be done. I decided to go to the supermarket, but when I arrived I saw about 15 people waiting outside; not really that many I know, but I decided I couldn’t be bothered.
We haven’t had any panic buying around here, and I feel very sad when I hear how the British are carrying on. I have two little shops just down the road, one attached to a bakery, and the other a local family farm shop, so I suppose I am very lucky. Apart from the rule that there can be only three people in the shop at a time, and everyone wearing masks and plastic gloves, nothing much has changed. I spoke to a friend in Rome, and he said that he was still food shopping at the market, which seemed a bit strange, but apparently everyone was keeping their distance. And of course, in Rome we have people singing from their balconies, I would like to see that.
The Brits are at it too — the video of the family singing ‘One More Day’, that is doing the rounds, reduced me to tears.
Wednesday 18th March… Day 8
We now have a second version of the form to be filled in and carried with us at all times when out of the house. It is much the same as the previous one, it’s just that we agree that we have seen and understood the rules. I dont’ understand why they are not introducing something like this in Britain.
I hear that there are many people in the UK, and probably here too, who are finding it hard to sleep. I can imagine that if you are trapped in a flat all day, every day, that could easily be the case. I had terrible problems sleeping, back at the end of last year. And happily, by coincidence the solution presented itself to me. Someone sent me a free Audible book, and I was hooked.
As it happened, it was Stephen Fry reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories.
He has a lovely low voice, very easy to fall asleep to. So, I take my I-pad to bed, and start listening, setting the period to 20 or 30 minutes. II am generally asleep before the period is up. If I wake up in the night I just continue, and if I am still awake at the end of the period, I re-set it. Once, when I thought I was sleeping really badly I calculated how many hours I had been listening that night. It turned out to be four, and that meant that I had slept for four hours, much longer than I imagined. Of course, it’s a little trickier if you share a bed, but head phones would solve that one. And if you don’t have Audible? Then just go to the BBC radio ‘Sounds’ site online… there is any number of wonderful dramas there…. detective, historical, sci-fi, etc etc.
Thursday 19th March… Day 9
I am sure there are many worse ways and places to spend a birthday… in fact I am sure many others who have a birthday today are far worse off than me… ill, in quarantine, worried about loved ones, in war zones, starving… so I most certainly do not feel sorry for myself. The gift I am giving to myself today, (as if I needed any more gifts from life), is to not make myself do anything. My ‘to do’ list is huge, but apart from the daily dog walk, I am planning total relaxation. As it’s my 65th birthday, being somewhat brassic at the moment, I could wish for my pension to start paying out today, but it seems I have to wait to be 66 for that. Ah well, lucky to have a pension, I guess.
Friday March 20… Day 10
It’s the birthday of one of my good friends today… she is doing a Skype virtual birthday aperitivo party with several of her friends here in Cortona. Thank goodness for technology. I really would struggle without my wifi — awful as it is by most people’s standards in much of the rest of Europe. I cannot really stream tv any more in the evenings, as everyone is using the internet. Last night though I discovered that between about ten to eight and nine o’clock I get a signal that’s just about good enough. Why? Well the Italians are all eating their evening meal of course! Things have changed a lot in my 14 years here, and shops and businesses now generally close at 12.20 or 1pm, (rather than midday), for the lunchtime break But most still close, and don’t reopen until anywhere from 3.30 to 5pm depending on the type of business and the time of year… so you have to know all these things if you plan to go afternoon shopping.
I daresay it is different in the bigger towns and cities, but we are relatively rural around here. There are increasing numbers of shops which open for at least part of Sunday, and most of the supermarkets now stay open for most of Sunday, ditto the larger DIY stores. It used to be that on a Sunday, around 2pm, it was as quiet as you can possibly imagine, no one on the roads — silence. In fact, I was thinking just yesterday, that the way my road and the local areas are now in lockdown now, it is pretty much how it used be on a Sunday. Woe betide you if you were a smoker, because not even the bars were open, and if you couldn’t find a machine, (which didn’t just eat your money and give you nothing), then who knew how long you would have to wait. The petrol garages still close for lunch, and also on Sundays, but at least we now have self-serve. You used to have to pay by cash, but now it is even possible to pay with a credit card.
So, things have changed and are changing here in Italy… which leads one to wonder how will the world have changed at the end of all this. For many people it will undoubtedly have changed for the worse; I do so hope that there will be some good that comes out of it all too. More peace and less frenetic rush? More appreciation of nature and how we need to protect and support it? More love and sense of community? We can but hope… and try…
