LOCKDOWN LESSONS
Tips from a Kiwi in Italy
As New Zealanders prepared for lockdown, my phone started pinging with messages from friends and family asking for advice on how to survive the situation. It would seem that, after almost three weeks of it here in Italy, I am considered an expert.
I am so relieved and proud of New Zealand. Relieved because my parents and the parents of those dearest to me will be so much safer now.
Proud because so many other countries are not making the hard decisions. All you have to do is look at the numbers. Four weeks ago in Italy, we had four deaths. We are now at more than 8000 (including 25 frontline doctors), with around 80,000 people recovered, deceased or currently infected.
Despite these horrifying figures, there are all sorts of ways people continue to look for loopholes so they can escape from their home, even for a few brief moments, as outdoor exercise has now effectively been forbidden.
To date, more than 120,000 people have been charged with being in places they shouldn’t. You cannot go out in twos or threes. Suddenly, taking the rubbish out is a blessed opportunity for a change of scene.
But, of all the excuses, the most used and abused is walking the dog as this is permitted, albeit with the caveat that it should be quick. Stories abound of owners inundated with requests to borrow their dogs, but perhaps nothing tops that of a chap from Sardinia who was stopped by the police during a check, only to discover that he had a stuffed dog on a leash.
There are some fantastic examples doing the rounds of Italian mayors lambasting those flouting the rules. Here are my favourites:
■ ‘‘Where are you all going with these incontinent dogs? Stay at home, you irresponsible idiots, you cretins!’’
■ ‘‘I watched someone having a lovely run up and down the street, accompanied by a visibly exhausted dog.’’
■ ‘‘I’m hearing that students are planning graduation parties. Well, we will send the police and we will send them with flame throwers.’’
■ ‘‘And all of you who are getting hairdressers to come to your house – what’s the point? Who the hell is going to see you? And, if they come to your house, you will have coronavirus in your hair instead of hairspray!’’
On a more serious note, I was due to have a mammogram next week, but it has been deferred indefinitely. Suddenly, it’s relegated to being a nonessential medical appointment. I share this as it illustrates how, if countries don’t tackle stemming the virus in a forceful, decisive way, there are consequences that go beyond older, weaker citizens dying. We simply must avoid contact with others so normal service can resume as fast as possible.
Here are some tips compiled by my husband Marcello and myself to help Kiwis get through the lockdown:
Embrace those painful jobs that you normally shun. The DIY jobs, sewing, gardening or other project you’ve been meaning to get around to. They’re about to become great ways to pass the time. I’ve defrosted the freezer, cleaned the oven, sorted the attic and finally downloaded more than 150 CDs to iTunes. Next up is doing photo books of the years 2014 to 2019.
Don’t find clever ways to get out. The community will start to turn on you as everyone becomes a vigilante. You’re all in it together and a rock-solid sense of solidarity helps. Resentment that people are ‘‘cheating’’ doesn’t help. No having a barbecue with your neighbours because ‘‘you’re all safe and not hurting anybody’’.
Smug Instagram-worthy photos of quarantine by the sea or with a beautiful view don’t help either. New Zealand isn’t as built-up as Italy, where perhaps 70 per cent of the population are incarcerated in small apartments with tiny balconies if they are lucky, but even in Godzone, not everyone has a big garden as a respite from four walls. I’d suggest going for irony rather than anything that could be seen as boasting.
It’s a great time to experiment with cooking. You’ll have time to try out those recipes that previously seemed too fiddly or time-consuming. I think it’s finally time to try making my own pasta.
Get creative with technology. Whether that’s doing an aerobics class, or group Skype or WhatsApp call, it will help foster a sense of togetherness. With my husband’s family, we’ve started doing a three-way video call, and those five minutes a day are the highlight of his parents’ day as they see us, their daughter, and grandchildren all ‘‘together’’. My family have decided to set a weekly challenge, which might be writing a limerick, coming up with a joke or a dance-off. We’re scattered over Italy, Carterton and Wellington, but the competition will be fierce.
Reconnect with people, especially those on their own or in a high-risk category. That sounds pretty obvious, but it’s easy to forget when in your own four walls with your family. One of the nicer side-effects of this situation is that communication has increased with people I don’t interact with regularly. Distant relatives, who I haven’t spoken to in years, have contacted me to find out how I am.
Ration your news consumption. It’s easy to get obsessed with every article that is shared on social media, but there will be so much scaremongering and fake news that it will do your head in.
Grin and bear it when it comes to first world problems. Some of mine, in no particular order, are the fact that we can no longer amble down to the farmers’ market, and the alarming preponderance of, ahem, lighter coloured hairs appearing now I can’t go to the hairdresser.
Obey the rules. There is no point in going through all this pain and sacrifice in a half-baked way. At the risk of sounding trite, our parents and grandparents spent years making sacrifices and having to change their lifestyle during the World War II. This is a war in its own insidious, invisible way, but we don’t have to worry about dying on the battlefield.
We have contact with the rest of the world, we can buy pretty much any food we want and, last but clearly not least (if the mad scenes of recent weeks are anything to go by), manufacturers are promising we won’t run out of toilet paper.