Hitting a new low Volunteers say

This is only my second blog post, seeing as I have only been here for two and a half months, but I want to be honest today. Things have not been great. With the lockdown, aka the zona rossa, which began two weeks ago, I have been stuck inside our flat most days. My volunteering project is compromised, because schools are closed and online lessons have begun. It is hard for me to take part in online lessons because I frankly can`t contribute much. We also don’t have WIFI at the flat so I would have to take the bus to the school every time there is a lesson. That would mostly mean a lot of waiting for me, since the lessons are spaced apart, with hours in between.

But missing out on the volunteering for three weeks, while being sad, would not be a problem, if our flat was decent. I have mentioned this last time and I will elaborate this time as well. When we moved into this flat in January our biggest concerns were mouldy spots on the walls as well as a clogged shower drain. From only having three working chairs to not being able to use the stove and a kettle at the same time (or the power will go out!), it already felt like we had drawn the short end of the stick when it comes to living conditions. It gets worse though! In the past two weeks I have seen a mouse in my room and we have spotted multiple cockroaches. It`s especially disgusting, when you consider that they live in / around the fridge. We have tried on our own, to our best abilities, to keep everything clean and any food closed off, but that`s impossible to manage inside the fridge. I just don’t feel like we are being taken seriously by InCo right now, nor are we receiving much help.

All these problems with the flat, plus basically being stuck inside all the time with nothing to do, has really dampened my mood. I look forward to us turning orange again, so that I may see more people and be away from this flat. These days I really appreciate going on a walk when its sunny, buying that ice cream flavour that looks good without knowing what’s inside or playing monopoly with my flatmates. They have literally been the best thing about this whole situation! If you have made it this far, thanks for listening to me vent, I did want to end this on a positive note. My time here has shown me again and again how privileged and fortunate I have been in life, because I was able to grow up in a clean house with a family support system always there for me. I am still grateful for the opportunity I have here in Trento during a pandemic even if some of the experiences are negative. Covid has hit everyone differently and I am thankful that my family has been healthy and mostly unaffected. Sticking to the rules is hard, but it seems worth it, if we get our freedom back.