Chronicles of COVID-19

Title

Susanna, Cork City

Contributor

Susanna

Subject

COVID-19 (Disease)

Coverage

Ireland; Cork; 2020s:

Date

25 April 2020

Language

English

Creator

Cork Folklore Project

Rights

Cork Folklore Project

Description

GENERAL PHYSICAL LOCATION RIGHT NOW

St Lukes, Montenotte

USUAL LOCATION

Originally from Italy

Q. 1 STAGES

I have been followed the unfolding of the spread in Italy firstly, as my friends and family are experiencing the lockdown. I have been dancing on what’s App with my 5 years old niece to distract her, since the lockdown in Italy is much more strict. Politicians are using fascist measures and language. It has been quite difficult to follow the news and talk with my friends stuck in very small flats with small kids all day. I saw the only documentary on the everyday life in Wuhan and I thought: sure, we are not a rule base society like the Chinese one; Italians translate their sense of democracy in "Don't tell me what to do". So, yes, I was not surprised to hear about the spread in the North, where the richest lives and where in the name of the lord of money nobody stops working. It took the death tool to skyrocket before serious measures were put in place. I have read absolutely anything I could find in English and Italian to understand how this virus was behaving. I am still doing it. It gives me a false sense of control over an uncertainty that I am struggling to accept. Other friends of mine are trusting anything their governments say, even if it disagrees with the same government scientific committee. They prefer to know the minimum, to lower anxiety and to start thinking about going back to normality.

Q. 2 EVERYDAY ROUTINE

So, I am a PME students and I had to learn a new platform online to teach remotely. It has been the most frustrating process ever. The dept. of education did not make ANY effort to support the students nor the teachers. Of 44 students I have, only 2 are following. The rest never logged in the portal. We called the parents’ home but they did not pick up their phones. I am a single parent, home-schooling. My son is a teen, so the first few weeks have been quite tough for us. At 14 he just got that good taste for autonomy that now he has to give up staying at home all day. He did not want wash his hands again; this is the only thing he can rebel against his mum now, so he drove me mad on purpose. Now he has adjusted to this new normality. It has been awful to work around the court access order with his father as the communication is quite bad. I had to be patient and sit down with my son day by day, negotiating all his requests and make sure he is ok with his homework. I am buying way more food than normal as he likes to cook and it is one of the things that keep him busy. Every day I am doing yoga online. Every morning at 10.30 or 11 and evening at 6.30 or 7. It is keeping me sane. The rest of the afternoon I write assignments for college and keep writing to the school of Education asking for the application form of a scholarship. I try to find every day the time for a walk after lunch. I go to the park. Late at night I call my friend Jo in Australia. I miss my friends greatly and strangely enough, we don't call each other. We just text every now and then. We had a zoom call for a birthday party of an hour. It was not that exciting. I don't like to sit too long but it was lovely to see the faces of the hosts.

Q. 3 GROUPS

I think that who is living in Direct provision now and in emergency accommodation is having a horrid time. More horrid than the normal horrid time they have there. I volunteered in all the direct provision centres in Munster and the way they live all together unfortunately does not allow social distancing. The centres are not providing masks or soap. I am also worried for all the nursing homes where the generation who survived the toughest years in Ireland is now left to die without the comfort of a dear person next to them.

Q. 4 WAYS WE TALK

I am using Facebook more than ever to keep in contact with the friends and relatives and I notice how much the sarcasm is helping people to get buy. Only with laughter we can get through this. As I am single and I live only with my son, it has been awful not to receive hugs from my friends. Every Thursday night, when my son is away with his father, go out and listen to live music. I am dying for a live concert right now. I have tried to find gigs online and I am now following the ones of DE BARRA and the music festival of Sligo. I don't know anybody I meet in the zoom calls of the festival but I like it. It reminds me a bit of the randomness of going out hunting for new faces to meet in Cork.

Q. 5 COMMUNITY RESPONSE

My friend Vera is organizing the making of masks for the direct provision centres. My friend Susan is sewing gowns for the hospitals and I am making masks for who needs them. I am proud to know them but I am very resentful towards the government that had the responsibility to provide personal protective equipment.

Q. 6 THOUGHTS AND PREOCCUPATIONS

How will I manage with the money? I left a job in December with the prospect to start again in April. Now I have barely what can allow me to put food on the table. No more than this, which is still privilege, but it will be hard to pay the bills.

Q. 7 SIMILARITY TO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

No Response.

Q. 8 CHALLENGES AND COPING

I can't sleep properly. I used to walk and cycle 3-4 hours a day and see people, talk to them. Now my body is restless so walks, yoga and playing with the dog are the cures.

Q. 9 THE FUTURE

I think this is the end of the world as we know it. REM was right. Politicians lost their faces this time and we will remember this. We are all understanding how the majority of the things we do every day doesn't serve any purpose but a system's purpose which does not reflect our values. I feel excited to know that this is probably the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. This is igniting a good fire inside of me.

Q. 10 IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT SPRINGS TO MIND?

No Response.

Q. 11 IN A NUTSHELL

Strange calm and surreal and weird silence is all around. We are challenging our minds every day through rollercoaster of mad fantasies and logics. We are trying to keep ourselves sane with the madness of keeping working remotely because our bloody capitalistic system is panting and they want to save it.

age

36-50

gender

Female