Solitary Confinement

I admit that I was one of those people not taking this virus thing seriously plus I’m not one to live in fear. I thought people were exaggerating and it was all being blown all out of proportion. Up until the Sunday before the confinement restrictions, I was out and about and spent the whole weekend out socializing as people were scared and had stopped going out. I had plans to go to the museum that Sunday but woke up to the news that all museums and movie theatres had been closed for one month in an effort to keep people from being together and spreading the virus. Despite this, I went to a shop with a friend Sunday afternoon, at which point I realized just how empty the streets were. I then ended up going to Aperitif with a few friends where we were not only very close to each other but even shared plates, though I did make an effort to not touch other’s food.

It really hit me that Sunday evening as I was heading home and saw the streets deserted. I finally wondered what the hell I was doing out when everyone was obviously home. The next evening, they announced that the entire Italy would be considered a Red Zone and is under quarantine. We are to stay home unless necessary. I thought I’d be fine – I always have a stack of books I want to read, movies and TV series I haven’t watched, things to just ponder about, yoga to do…but in practice solitary confinement, imprisoned in our homes basically, is not an easy thing at all.

Day 1 I still went to work but no students, only administration and management were in the school to start setting up distance learning. Day 2 I had a full day at work as well. Wednesday I finally stayed home and enjoyed remote working. I got to cook pasta for lunch and ate on my terrace under the sun. Wednesday evening, they strengthened the restrictions and closed down restaurants, bars, and shops, which had been allowed to stay open until 6 pm since Monday. We are now not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. If we get caught out, we must have a self-certification declaring why we are out and it must be a valid reason or we get a hefty fine and can supposedly even get arrested. At that point, I really began to worry and thought I’d stay home and not go into work the next day to play it safe. But when I woke up the next morning with a clearer mind, I realized I needed to go in to get some things if I was to be working from home for the following three weeks. I ended up working a lot that first week, maybe even more than usual, and was bummed I hadn’t had the chance to do any of those things I’d thought I’d get to do.

By day 5, people were really missing contact. Italians are so used to socializing, being close, hugging and kissing – probably even one of the reasons they’re in this mess to begin with – this is a shock to their system. People started coming out to their balconies to wave hello to others, sing the National Anthem, and hang up their Italian flags. One country united by this epidemic. The next day, they planned, by word of mouth, to come out to their balconies two different times during the day. The first one was at noon to give an applause to all those working hard in the hospitals to get the country out of this. The second time at 6 pm to sing – it was quite a show. As Sunday rolled around, they once again planned a gathering, this time in the evening at 9 pm for everyone to turn on their phone flashlight so that the country could be seen from above to remind the world that Italy was still alive.

https://www.facebook.com/msantisi/posts/3276188212411086

I’ve had a lot of philosophical and psychological type conversations with a lot of people these days about the effect this lack of contact has on people. We are constrained to our homes, seeing only those we live with, whether it’s family, a partner, or just roommates, while others live alone and have to weather through this all on their own. We are relying on technology, which fortunately allows us to chat and even video chat with friends and family helping us get through this. It’s a moment to reflect and think about what’s most important in life. One student of mine said that we each have our own lesson to learn from this experience, which I thought was an interesting idea and I hope everyone is giving this some thought.

I think this experience is making us realize the importance of face-to-face contact and that contact through a screen is not the same. I hope this will get people to use social media less once all this is over because there’s such a hunger right now to see dear ones in person and give them a hug. Personally, this experience is reminding me of the importance of people in our lives.

There are so many things I miss but the ones I miss the most right now are….

People in my life (physically of course)
Human contact in daily life (not through a screen or text)
Going for a walk
Going to the bar to get a coffee
Seeing friends for a drink or to grab something to eat together
Going to work
Chatting with co-workers during breaks
The city

Day 9: Here quarantine has become a part of normal daily life. We work from home, we’re secluded, isolated, put on masks and gloves to go do groceries and wait in line to go in the supermarket….just normal life.

Doing online lessons and being stuck home, I’m tired of sitting. I’m jumping off walls, almost literally. I’ll start jumping out of nowhere, or randomly move into yoga poses or even break into dance suddenly when a song I love comes on. I’ve started up smoking again because, well…I don’t think I have to explain why but I don’t see the harm in a cigarette a day for now even though I know it’s not the best thing for my lungs right now.

Nonetheless, I am one to always try to find the positive in every situation, no matter how negative it is, and there are actually quite a few things I’m enjoying at the moment. I’ve developed a new routine to give my days structure. I still wake up early – fortunately I have early lessons to help me stay disciplined – get dressed and set up my work station for the day. At lunchtime, I cook and have lunch on my terrace to step away from work and get some fresh air. The days have been mostly sunny making it a very pleasant break. Then, I make coffee and sit back in my “office”.

Working from home is more casual, but the downside is that I feel I’m always connected to my job. To help with this, at the end of the day I “close shop” and put my laptop and all work related things away. I believe it’s important to do this.

The atmosphere is calm and I’m somewhat enjoying the peace and quiet, a silence you can only find in Rome in the middle of August when everyone is away on holiday. I’m hoping this will get Romans to calm down a bit and come out of this a little less anxious, even though I doubt it’ll last.

I’m enjoying all the time I have to relax on my terrace and sometimes up on the rooftop just admiring the scenery, thinking, reflecting. I usually have music on, and I’m reading, studying, and writing a lot – it’s a very productive time.

However, with each day it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay positive while we see the numbers continue to increase rapidly and images of bodies piling up waiting to get cremated or get a coffin and a proper funeral. The World Health Organization has now declared this a pandemic and distress over the long term effects are spreading. Fear for our health, the number of people dying or suffering, the health care system capacity not being able to handle this, children that are having to attend classes from home while dealing with the stress the current situation brings, people being low on work and potentially losing their job, the economy crashing, and our psychological well-being as we learn to cope with this.

As I’m writing this, we are now on Day 11 and still every evening at 6 pm, people come out, play loud music, and often sing, every day a different song. It keeps people’s spirits up and reminds us we’re not alone even though the eerie silence outside in this normally loud, chaotic city makes us feel like we are.

It has just been announced that Italy has now overtaken China in the number of deaths due to this virus – 3,405 deaths in Italy alone making it the country with the highest number of Coronavirus deaths in the world. This is difficult to swallow even though it had been predicted this would happen because Italy took too long to take measures.

The most alarming problem we’re facing at the moment isn’t only that hospitals are overcrowded and the health care system is in danger of collapsing, but that people are STILL not taking this seriously enough. There are too many people out in the streets, too many people still violating the restrictions and getting stopped daily. Everyone MUST stay home!

So for those of you in the States reading this: Don’t make the mistake we made. Take this seriously. Avoid crowds, wash hands, stay home if you can, listen to all the precautions.

For those in Italy: stop going out if you don’t need to.

RESTATE A CASA!!