I’ve been a Janis Ian fan since I was a teenager. When she recently put out a request for musicians, professional and amateur, to record her song Better Times Will Come, I thought it was a GREAT idea. I had no idea what it would turn into though. My goal was to make it relevant for Italy, so I asked Janis if I could translate the song into Italian. She graciously agreed.
Continue reading →I frequently say that we are “home bodies”. Joe and I can spend days at home, with just the two of us for human contact, and not be “bored”. But that is not really telling the entire story. In the US, we each had a car, and we could (and would) come and go as we pleased. I’d head out to shop for my Amazon business, shop for groceries, drive 20 miles to have lunch with friends, and Joe would do the same. In Italy we are more of a single unit. We rent a car when we want to do something that requires one. Yes, we go out independently. Hair salons, massages, yoga, a run to the store, or for me, an “aperitivo with the girls”, etc. But by and large, we are a single unit. We enjoy each other’s company. We have lived alone, without a car, in a town where everything is within walking distance. Together for four years. If any one has been training for a quarantine, it’s us! Thus, our loses might seem trivial to some people. And yet, we feel them deeply.
Continue reading →Day 40. So we’re officially MORE than a quarantine! Quarantena was a practice in Venice during the Black Death to hold ships in isolation before allowing passengers and crew to enter the city. Joe says he doesn’t even feel like we’re at anchor yet!
Continue reading →A friend recently reached out and said “you haven’t had any new posts in two weeks, are you okay?” Thank you for thinking of us. Yes, we’re doing just fine. I guess we’ve settled into our routine now so that “doing nothing” seems normal, and there isn’t a lot new to report. I HAVE been working on some fun stuff though, so here’s a post from my genealogy blog that might interest you!
Continue reading →I’m not crying! Who knew this would be so touching!
Continue reading →We received our first home delivery from Conad (supermarket) this weekend. Next week we will use Carrefour, as it’s the closest to us, but I couldn’t bear trying to make an order over the phone, and Conad had an order by email option. Today our local library posted the WhatsApp numbers of all of the places in our town that deliver. The two supermarkets, three butchers, the Polleria (who also has rotisserie chickens), a baker, a fresh pasta/gastronomia shop, AND the local brewery!
Continue reading →Today at 11:00 a.m., both churches and our town hall in the town center rang their bells as a “message of hope” for our residents. Many were out on the balconies watching and listening. Here’s a little video for you!
Continue reading →Today I watched the press conference with Mayor Andrew Cuomo of New York. For the most part, I saw his understanding of the situation to be so much clearer and more concisely stated that the Federal Government’s. I do have one beef that I’ll state up-front. I know when US officials say “we don’t want to be like Italy”, they really mean that they see our plight, and would love to avoid some of the consequences of not acting as quickly as you can. However, in reality, outside of maybe China, which is an AUTHORITARIAN country, Italy has actually done a pretty stellar job! I know that what they mean is that they would like to avoid the outcomes we’ve had in Italy, but they way it is said is highly offensive to me, because I think Italy has really taken the lead in understanding how serious this situation is, and has taken extraordinary, exemplary action in this crisis. You DO want to be like Italy when it comes to your dedication to stopping this virus. You just want to act more quickly, take lessons from what we’ve learned, and try to avoid some of the dire consequences of not acting quickly enough!
Continue reading →Today was a really good “virtual” day. I spent the day with a bunch of English speakers on Zoom – we had 22 people at one time (maybe more total, but never more than 22 on the call simultaneously). It’s a group of English speakers living in Italy.
Continue reading →Our Coronavirus journey began on February 11 when we landed back at Linate Airport in Milano. The death toll in China had gone crazy, and the first death in Europe had happened in France. Italy was on alert. As we walked towards the exit after baggage claim, we were screened by hazmat clothed workers with a touchless thermometer to see if we had a fever. Wow, we thought – that was unusual. The country changed dramatically in the next few weeks as millions were put in “restricted travel” for weeks, and ultimately the entire country went into quarantine on March 11, a month after we returned home.
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