McMahons in Confinement: Perspectives from Week 4-Diary of a Day

6:30 am– It is cold, in the 30’s Farhenheit, and I am wide awake. I open our bedroom balcony doors and step outside to assess the street, feeling the cold breeze. I start my shopping list: I want olive oil, lemons, a bit more meat, some fresh fruit and vegetables, and I add the one item on my list that is the reason I am willing to brave a long line at the big grocery store 3/4 of a mile away- printer ink! It may not seem urgent to others, but not being able to print out my menus, or even the thought of not being able to print things out has bothered me for over a week. Kevin gives me one of the two masks we brought back from Maryland two weeks before and I try it on for show, then I stow it inside my jacket. I get our rolling cart, which we’ve already fixed a few months ago with a wobbly wheel. I take my self-signed declaration that is now required whenever we venture out, indicating my intention of going grocery shopping, and out I go.

Mask fits- ready to venture out!

The walk is surprisingly pleasant. No cars drive by but the buses continue their scheduled routes with virtually no passengers onboard. I pass a few dogwalkers, some coming out of their apartments practically in pajamas. No one speaks and if you pass anyone, it’s at a distance and without any acknowledgement of the other person at all. Other than the dogwalkers, no one is on the street except for me.

Empty Streets on the Way to the Grocery Store

I get to the store in record time. The store opened at 7:30 am and I think I’m in luck- there appear to be only 8 people in line at 8 am, a far cry from the day before when we walked by and the line was almost 2 city blocks long (which is why we abandoned our shopping trip the day before). Alas, as I get closer to the store, I realize that unlike the previous day when the line extended along the street that I was walking, today the line wrapped around the back of the store and I would say there are about 45 people standing in line, about 6 feet apart from one another. The front of the line has over 90 percent of the people wearing masks. I decide to wait and use my mask once I am in the store- I get in line without a mask and lo and behold the next 5 people behind me also don’t wear masks. My personal view is that the masks are used as much for psychological comfort than for protection- one doesn’t need a mask when standing over 6 feet apart from others outside, provided no one is coughing or sneezing. Masks are in a huge undersupply and the medical professionals need them, so this concept of hoarding masks is troublesome. Plus, I have no idea where one can get the masks- there are none to be found.

9 am– I am in the store and shopping with purpose. No strolling around. The number of people allowed in the store is highly controlled and I get my items and check out. The checkout line is only one person deep. There is no shortage of anything to speak of, although the supply of Double Zero flour which is basically all-purpose flour used here for pizza and bread, is a bit low except for enormous 3 kg bags. There is only one container of the printer ink we need, which bothers me (it must be the feeling others have when they only see one bag of toilet paper)- I pick it up and feel thankful that I at least got the one pack of printer ink.

As I checkout, the clerk barks something to me as I try to hand him my customer card. I tell him I don’t speak Italian very well ( I know how to say THAT in Italian….), and he nicely asks me where I am from and becomes pretty nice when I tell him I am from America. He apologizes for the inconvenience but they have installed these large plastic barriers between him and the customer, with a little cut out hole where you are supposed to slide your customer and credit cards onto a ledge and then he is supposed to pick it up with his plastic glove. I had broken protocol by going past the plastic barrier as I was packing my groceries and attempting to hand him the card around the barrier.

As I gather my groceries (conveniently including some additional bottles of wine, Coca-Cola, milk and other heavy items loading me down), I realize to my chagrin that the plastic bag inside my jacket containing my mask is gone! Kevin is going to kill me, I think. I text him the bad news, gather my groceries, and begin the slow walk back to our apartment with bags on both shoulders and the heavy cart being pulled with a slowness that denotes its weight. I know that Kevin is going to scold me for the weight and amount of my groceries, but I feel better knowing that we are restocked for another week of confinement.

10 am– It takes a while to unload the groceries and then I have a few exciting things in store for me.

Little Room for Stocking Up!

The night before, I had started the process of making my first loaf of sourdough bread, using a yellow flour from Sicily called Semola Rimacinata. I found a recipe using this flour online from a blog called mydailysourdough.com and I prepared the starter for this bread the night before. I was filled with excitement over making the bread today. http://mydailysourdoughbread.com/100-pane-di-semola-rimacinata-back-sicily/

11 am- The starter is prepared, so I run a few loads of laundry because the sky is clear. With no dryer, you gotta make hay while the sun shines! I fix our lunch, tidy up the kitchen, and try to read a little of my book by Michelle Obama when I have a moment.

1 pm– It’s after lunch and we fall into our typical routine before Kevin returns to his teaching schedule. We pull out our cards of Monopoly Deal and Kevin proceeds to beat me 3 times in a row. As the loser in that competition, it’s not fun!!!! I decide 3 losses in one sitting is enough for me- no more!

3 pm– We have heard from others around town that the police have been driving by and blaring on their loudspeakers that all should stay inside. Well, we finally hear it from our apartment. Kevin and I head out on the balcony and listen to the muffled words. Our neighbor is also on his balcony, and he is one of the few in our building who speaks a bit of English, so I ask him if they are saying to stay inside. Yes, that’s it.

I call Mom for a long chat, and then I take a warm bath and prepare the bread and dinner. Pork chops, brussels sprouts and a delicious salad later, and we are ready to roll. Oh, and an aperol spritz for good measure.

6 pm– We break from our activities and listen to the daily press conference. It takes a bit for the news to sink in, but it sounds like the leaders are saying that the death toll has not risen higher than the prior days’ death toll. Wait- is that good news? It’s still a high number but we think that is a slightly positive report. You can’t believe how that little bit of news lifts our spirits ever so slightly. We settle down for dinner and watch our daily bit of mindless TV entertainment. You’ll never guess what it is!

7:30 pm– Our routine is now to watch about 3 episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air starring Will Smith. We are watching these episodes from the start of the series, and I will confess that this is all me. I just want and need something totally mindless and brief, to distract us from the day’s worries. Kevin begrudgingly watches with me, asking at some point if I want to play more cards (NO THANK YOU-3 CONSECUTIVE LOSSES IN A DAY ARE ENOUGH FOR ME), and we clean up the kitchen and prepare for another silent evening with no outdoor noise. Our day is done.