At the beginning of the coronavirus crisis when Italy went into lockdown, we reached out to our friends, staff and guides there to see how they were handling the abrupt change in their lives. They shared stories, photos and videos of their life in quarantine.
Marella, who lives in Reggio Emilia and writes for our blog, sent us some of her thoughts, which we are sharing below. While the total lockdown is over, life in Italy is not back to normal. The second wave in Italy is far-reaching and severe, and restrictions on movement are in place in most parts of the country. Because of this, many people remain at home most of the time and Marella's thoughts from April are still relevant today.
The Shades of Quarantine
The historical moment that we are living forces us to remain in our houses to be safe, while those who wear white coats and badges work so that the situation returns to normality as soon as possible.
For the wonderful human world, it is a moment where we need to invent a new routine and this change in recent weeks has given unique emotions to the virtual world; here are some of the most relevant contributions due to the quarantine in Italy.
It seems that inside each of us hides a cook. This is seen from the number of photos representing pizza and bread that invade social media from the morning to the evening. Maybe for the first time also the Italians will get fat.
Among the most appreciable qualities of the Italian people, I like to emphasize their inventiveness and their ability to make light of heavy situations.
The imaginative masterpieces that have been published deserve a museum that shows the art of playing down also the quarantine, as well as remaining among the most important requirements to face life in general.
Among the challenges that this virus is making us face, it seems that there is a 24-hour living between wife and husband.
The unanimous response is that those who will pass this quarantine without divorce then will be able to face anything.
Obviously generosity is not missing, but we like to do it with style and therefore we can say that in Italy we produce masks signed #giorgioarmani, respirators #ferrari, sanitizing gel #bulgari, white coats #prada; the list is much longer and the names must not replace the doctors and nurses who do 12 hours in an emergency, but we hope that in this forced pause you can also know that even fashion is made of people.
Let's go to the important things. Yesterday I was listening to my neighbors from the window, I heard a crucial topic for the season: the preparation of the garden. Housewives have started to be concerned about being late in planting tomatoes. I want to reassure you and tell you that even in the month of April you can plant tomatoes and then continue to make pizza ...
Today I had the chance of attending a friend's degree proclamation and I was moved because it is beautiful to see that even if we are stuck at home, life continues and boys and girls who today graduated must continue to feed their dreams.
Culture has been important to fill our days: comedy, music, cinema and poetry are essential to fill even only one hour of the day and maybe find answers to those questions that, for a long time, we have avoided.
Read also Italians Singing from their Balconies while Locked Down.
It would seem that history serves as a warning not to commit the same mistakes. In a world that runs almost at its maximum speed, we can no longer have any excuses and the only attitude to keep is to commit yourself to respecting the world and ourselves more and try to make a difference. If this happens then this quarantine will have taught something to humanity.
A special dedication goes to healthcare professionals who having been saving lives for long before the quarantine and who must receive all our respect. The only hope is that after this bad history we will learn to hold the right people in high esteem.
What has your experience with social distancing and spending more time at home been? Share your thoughts below.
