Corona-tion

We are not allowed to travel from township to township. On the street everyone wears a mask. At the entrance of the supermarket they installed a traffic light: green = two people allowed to enter. At the entrance of another supermarket a guy is counting the visitors live, day after day, some job! All bars and restaurants are closed, but almost all have a (clandestine) backdoor opened for ‘take away’. The plant shop now also sells vegetables, to create some revenue. In the ditch along the road you’ll find wasted masks, next to tons of plastic and other waste. The Chinese shop puts a table in the door opening. The employee will get you what you want from the shelves behind him. There is still a large clientele for the numerous butcher shops (the Portuguese appear to have consumed no less than 117,4 kilos of meat per person in 2019!). But when you are in need of a towel or a pair of shoes, you have a problem.

Pajama working gear

During the long work days from home I allow myself regularly some fresh air from the balcony. There I see my female neighbors on the other balconies, also in their work day pajama’s, smoking a quick cigarette, hanging up their washing, yell their kids inside and crawl back behind their laptop screens.

Illegal

We take walks, almost every day. But it is hard to find a nice route when you live in the middle of a town. Last week we illegally visited the beach. There were not many people about, also due to the drizzle, so only a small risk for encountering authorities. But how great the enormous space and the thunderous noise of the ocean! And when the weather is finally kind, we drive to our plot, with the car full of garden utensils, chairs, snacks, a book, our wellies for the mud, sunscreen for my bleak nose and the necessary documents to prove that we really really need to travel from one township to another.

Hope

President Marcello and prime minister Costa appear on tv every day, for hours, to keep convincing the people about the urgency of the Covid regulations. The lockdown will last at least until after the Easter holidays, so we will have to skip another festive family get together. The GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) is constantly on patrol and enforces authority in this post fascist country. Of course there are also protests, from numerous groups and organizations, but these take mainly place in Lisbon. In these villages and towns people seem to be very acquiescent to accommodate to the restrictions. Of course people are completely fed up here as well. There are very scared people, and people that are careless. But altogether the restrictions do cause a fast drop in the number of contaminations. And hope is starting to gnaw on impatience. Like spring is starting to push winter aside. And we look at our mountain in the distance, where it al has to unfold. Really. Someday.

The Portuguese Corona-curve