Day 32 of lockdown in Italy: Good Friday and it felt like every other day. It's business as usual on Good Friday in Italy, unlike other countries where it is a public holiday.
Miss S ended up in bed with us in the middle of the night which meant neither Gigi nor I slept for the rest of the night. He eventually relocated to her bed and after she got up I managed to sleep a bit.
So today, in an effort to ensure we get a better night's sleep I took her out for an hour long walk. We hiked down the back road of the village to the ancient laundry area where the local women would wash clothes. The babbling brook, green grass and warm sunshine saw us linger and enjoy the moment. Two locals dressed in exercise gear jogged by, eyeing us up and down.
After teaching two classes I cooked Thai food for dinner. Miss S has just now finished a Zoom meeting with Brownie friends in England, playing a game of Easter bingo. She commented about how they all have accents! Thanks to Karen for including her.
While I was teaching, they did a gym session and played cards. Gigi had the dining room table covered in his laptop repairs so we ate lunch in the lounge room. We turned on the TV for the first time in weeks. Every ad break included the public announcement about lock down for Coronavirus and very often there was a rolling reminder at the bottom of the screen to stay at home, wash hands, only go out to buy food etc ....
Gigi has managed some sort of fix for his laptop but isn't convinced about its potential longevity. At least now I think he recognises the importance of backing up to the cloud.
Miss S has created a basketball hoop out of pipe cleaners and a piece of cardboard and balls out of screwed up paper today. She spent ages shooting hoops in the dining room. She can make almost anything out of paper and some sticky tape. This kid is nothing if not inventive, creative and innovative. I wonder what happens when we run out of paper?
I feel unbelievably tired. An hour of sunshine and walking outside has certainly done the trick for me. Let's hope Miss S has an easier time going to sleep tonight.
I've been reading about people getting invited to Easter parties in Portugal, travellers in Australia who have packed up and headed off for the long weekend and others who are determined to celebrate Easter traditionally. It just seems completely unthinkable to be doing anything other than making hot cross buns, cracking open the one enormous chocolate egg in the house and video chatting with a bunch of people all weekend.
Oh, and we might go for another hour long walk in the sunshine!
Day 31 of lockdown in Italy: For the first time Miss S has declared she was bored today. I'm not sure when she had time to be bored but there you have it. I think part of the problem is that she's strained a muscle in her leg she she's not inclined to dance, bounce, walk or go downstairs to the gym.
I failed to report that Gigi managed to get his laptop working again last week. The bad news is that today it has died again. We just can't catch a break with technology at the moment. The thing about technology is that when it IS working you just take it for granted instead of appreciating it.
Miss S and I went down the main street wearing masks today catching some sunlight to buy some fruit and vegetables. Our little local grower has increased his prices since the lock down started and what would have cost me about 10 Euro today cost 14 Euro. They are no doubt feeling the pinch with less people shopping for fresh produce and more people relying on food that has a longer shelf life.
The Italian government is about to extend the lockdown until 3 May. Uuufff ahhh. If you're from Campania you'll get it. Christmas is quickly approaching at this rate.
105 doctors have died in Italy from COVID-19 and the media are also reporting that 28 nurses have died.
The local authorities are preparing to beef up the lock down controls with the Easter weekend upon us. Like elsewhere in the world this is a religious celebration and a time of family festivities when people hit the road and travel to celebrate together. No doubt some people will decide to visit family this weekend but they are very likely going to find a road block or police check along the way.
We of course have big plans. The chocolate egg will come out for Sunday morning if I can get Gigi to wait that long. I might pull out a hot cross bun recipe and have a crack. We'll go for an Easter stroll around the village, being sure to avoid anyone else we see on the street. And I'm hoping to have a lot of video chat sessions with friends and family.
Apart from Gigi's failing laptop drama, the day has passed peacefully enough with lessons, eating and I don't know what else.
You must log in to post a comment.