Social Connecting in Italy's COVID Hour


Based on experiences in China, South Korea, and Northern Italy, the epi projections present Tuscany at the front end of about a week to ten days of exponential increases in COVID-19 reported cases and deaths . . . We are one week into life under the national decree. In the coming week we'll get the report on how well we did.

Yesterday (Sunday) our practice of physical distancing was not without social connections. The weather was great, so we could fling open windows and air out the house. We heat by wood --- very efficiently-burning fireplaces, but still, days like this are a great opportunity to avoid any respiratory aggravation.

Neighbors on the hillside were out doing tasks on their land; lots of vegetable gardens getting dug. We don't have land, but will be co-gardening with a friend up the hill. We took an afternoon walk up to pay a visit and survey the plot, and then a the three of us wandered into the woods to walk the dogs. It was social. It was good to have the connection. It was implied that all of our time together would be outdoors and the 1 meter distancing was natural.

But, our social calendar was packed.

We had to scurry down the hill to meet up with our neighbors for another walk up the hill and into the woods. Those weekly walks are important as the four of us coach each other in our Italian and English learning, while sharing stories to get to know the history of our new home and each other a bit better.

After three hours of hiking, we got ourselves home to set up to host a Virtual Aperitivo with about 20 of our friends from around Lucca. Thank goodness for those years of struggling at work with how to pull off "passable" video conference events! We gathered on Zoom for a half-hour, everyone with their chosen drinks and little nibbles on the table. Most of the folks had never used Zoom, so there was some fumbling play to sort out the technology. There was lots of cross-talking, but more like what you would experience when guest arrive at your house at the beginning of a dinner party (Aperitivo!). Boy that half hour went fast. It was really good to see each other's faces, to share some laughs and some practical information (e.g. how are things working at Esselunga). The experience also cued some folks into the possibility of using conference calls to connect with others.

After that, we settled in for dinner and some Netflix.

At nine, we shut out all of the lights and went out onto the terrace with our smart phone lights on to wave to neighbors on the hillside and around the world. I'm guessing this is quite a different event in the city than here in the countryside, but it was nice to wave to the few folks who were out there a half kilometer, or so, away. We've yet to meet all of the people who live around us, but in this small, faceless gesture conveyed in the dark and through distance, we connected with some unknown neighbors and got a bit of a sense of who they are and a light shone on their values.

Even as we find ways to make accommodations to this moment of extreme public health risk and social disruption here in Italy, social connectedness and the beauty of this hillside push through.

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