Apparently we’re back in strict lockdown. Once again.

I didn’t know we’d relaxed… Okay, actually I did notice some shops which had been closed were open again but with very strict limits on numbers in the store etc etc. And curfew went from 9pm to 10pm. Now its back to 9pm curfews and everything closed. Again.

You know, I really don’t get this bulls$%t. I mean are all governments as stupid as this one or is it just Greece?

We seem to be doing a bang up job of the whole COVID19 thing, bouncing around from lockdown to free for all ‘come here for your holidays cause we’re safe’ then back to total lockdown, from restrictions to curfews to whatever.

***(added later cause I knew I’d forgotten something and it came to me late last night): Schools are to open, restricted hours of course, but kids are going to school while shops are to close again from Monday 4 January. These measures are in force till mid January when they’ll look at the situation again. How does that make sense? This yoyo-ing back and forth like we’re playing ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ and restricted opening hours? Obviously corona virus is only contagious between certain hours of the day…

In the first phase of COVID19 Greece was the shining example of what to do in a pandemic. The greek government put the country in strict lockdown, all but necessary business were shut, where possible people worked from home or else didn’t work and the government promised assistance (whether it did or not, I don’t know, I’m still waiting for unemployment benefits since I stopped working), schools were shut down and online schooling was introduced. No curfew but bars and restaurants were closed so there was nowhere to go. And the country had incredibly low COVID19 cases… although, to be fair, not many tests were being done either. Still, very few deaths, especially when you compared Greece to neighbouring countries.

Then, in all its wisdom, the government decided to open borders in order to rescue the economy. So they said they’d allow only people travelling from other green countries to enter Greece. With tests done at the border plus quarantine. Then it was a free for all, everyone could come to Greece for a holiday it seemed, barely any testing or quarantine to be seen. Over summer no businesses did well, everyone struggled, lots chose to stay closed as the cost of being open was more than they would make…

Why open borders at all? Make Greece a shining example of what not to do in a pandemic. Sigh. If they’d just kept borders closed for a full year it would have been so much smarter. Then they wouldn’t have had to lock us down again. Business could have opened and stayed open, people could have gone about their lives with restrictions and care. Is it really better to open places up then shut them down than to keep them open but keep borders closed?

I understand why the curfew – when shops and cafes closed at 10pm in summer everyone would go hang out in large groups in parks and have house parties. So they introduced curfew to stop that. Then we went into full lockdown and all movements have to be announced via sms again, with the appropriate reason for the outing otherwise you just stay home.

Its frustrating.

As you know, I don’t mind it. I don’t go out much anyway though I do miss meeting a friend for a coffee now and then or a drink once a fortnight at a cafe. I’m mostly fine with lockdown, barely even inconvenienced. I have my interests and I live on an island so I can walk on the beach every day. This just seems so fruitless.

Anyway, this has been on my mind today cause I took mom to Parikia to see her sisters and walked and made calls in order to stave off boredom. Everyone I spoke to said the same thing: Why open borders which was always only going to lead to another lockdown? And I felt frustrated for people locked in apartments in big cities, those with health issues who daren’t risk going out, stuck within 4 walls with nothing to occupy them cause not everyone has creative hobbies like I do.

But enough depressing thoughts. Here is progress on my fish project…

I must confess (so you don’t think I’m a genius all the time – I’m only a genius most of the time) I had planned to paint the fish with colours… soft washes of colour like I do on the marble paintings… but it looked hideous so I went with a flat grey colour. I’m ok with that.

I gotta get going now. Eric is using my forearm as a bed and its making typing into a weight workout for my arm.

z