Greetings from Mykanos.
It has been a while since my last Letter, and this one was to be done in May, but then May sort of flowed from April and blended into June, and well, you know how this state of suspended animation called ‘lockdown’ operates.
Originally, lockdown started here on March 25 and was due to end on April 13. It was extended to April 27, then to May 11, then to May 25, then to June 1, then to June 15, and currently is expected to end on July 1.
It is more seriously observed here than in the UK, US or Australia, but then Australia is in a different situation, having so far weathered the onslaught very well indeed. I fervently hope and pray that continues to be the case, and Australians don’t relax too much or forget that Covid-19 continues to be a lurking, all too present threat. The impact the virus is having on the UK and the US depresses me very much.
We are still living under the ‘pico y cedula’ regime, with only one member of the household being permitted to go into town, on the day that corresponds to the last digit on their cedula (National ID). Cafes, restaurants, bars, brothels and cantinas are still closed, but all other shops can open until 6pm. Lina, our friend who owns La Siria café, where we like to have coffee and pastries, or enjoy breakfast, is baking cakes and pastries for take away, and other food outlets are doing likewise.
The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia Lopez, instituted a different system, ‘pico y genero’, based on sex: men allowed out one day, women the next. Instead of having to ask to see an individual’s cedula to confirm the number corresponds to that specified for the particular day, the police merely look for men out on women’s day and vice versa. This caused controversy in the case of transgender people, who had to choose one gender and stick with it. Again only one person is allowed out to go shopping and attend to essential matters. Interestingly, it was observed that more people tended to be out on the ‘women only’ days. It seems men didn’t like food shopping.
I thought about this on my only time through the front gate since March 10. Adriano and I went to Pereira, to get some art supplies for him, some vegetable seeds for the ‘huertas’, and some of our favoured food items, such as olives, goat cheese, and Extra Virgin olive oil, which are much more limited locally. I enjoyed the car trip very much, and being reacquainted with the panoramic views of mountains and valleys and rivers and plains.
Pereira was very civilised … very few people and very little traffic. Quite a few restaurants were open, but only for takeaway. The front doors, or the front terraces, were taped off with waiters standing by to take orders.
Getting into Homecentre involved social distancing in the queue, having temperature checked, passing the ‘pico y cedula’ check to ensure we could be out, having phone numbers recorded for tracking and tracing, disinfecting with hand sanitiser, and then maintaining social distancing in the store. Masks were obligatory, both inside and outside.
At Price Smart, a huge US discount warehouse, which, perversely, is quite upmarket and relatively uncrowded, only one person was allowed in per membership card. Usually it’s two. I ended up sitting with all the other partners who were not allowed in. Most of them were husbands who seemed quite happy about not having to push the trolley for the wife, and were much more comfortable drinking coffee and chatting to each other about the lack of sport.
That was in late May. My next trip out will be in the next few days, down into the valley with Adriano to buy Tilapia fingerlings for one of the fishponds. In time they will grow into fresh water finned produce for customers, and delicious ingredients for us: fried, baked in banana leaves, or raw as ceviche Peruano.
We are very blessed in our particular state of isolation and quarantine. Not only do we have a spacious house, big gardens and an entire farm over which to roam should we wish, we also continue to sell coffee and plantain. It is business almost as usual; the nation must eat and the world must have its fine Arabica coffee. Moreover, it is not just the nation we are feeding. We are doing quite well feeding ourselves and our friends as well. The huertas are producing more than enough vegetables to accompany the duck, chicken, goose and pork. We also have citrus fruits, avocados, papayas, bananas, mangoes, plantain, guanábana and pineapples. We often provide friends and employees with assorted fruit, veggies and duck and chicken eggs, although sometimes the vegetables can prove more exotic than we expected. Alvaro, who works here at Mykanos, had never seen broccoli before, let alone eaten it, but he was game and declared it good.
The pineapples are proving very useful.
Originally police were checking cedulas to see if people were out on the right day but they have now been replaced by soldiers who have a checkpoint, at the entry to Anserma, where they scrutinise everyone heading into town.
Being farmers we can go anywhere at any time in our jeep, but Adriano prefers the car and a couple of times he has been ‘out of order’, when going into town.
One day he forgot to take his cedula and the soldier, aged about 19, told him to go home and get it, which he did. Another day, which was not his appointed day, he had to go to the bank and the soldier on duty, deciding he was a mature, sophisticated person in a nice car, let him go to town anyway. On the way back, he thanked the solider for his helpful attitude, told him about the less helpful dealings he had with the soldier’s colleague, and gave him some soft drinks he bought in town as a “thank you”. The next time he went to town, the original soldier came to the car and apologised for causing him inconvenience when he forgot his cedula. Adriano forgave him and asked him, “Do you like pineapples?” The young soldier answered, “Yes, very much”, and Adriano gave him a pineapple.
It seems the word has got around. Adriano is now greeted effusively by the troops whenever he goes to town, designated day or not, and the soldiers get pineapples as a reward. I know it sounds like graft and corruption but we are just looking after the young men who look after us.
Anserma itself is a different town, strangely quiet and devoid of people in the street. Normally it is teeming, and it is impossible to walk more than a few yards without someone hailing you, greeting you, trying to sell you something, or wanting to chat. We are still virus free, Gracias a Dios, although yesterday a woman from Pereira visited Anserma, and after she left developed symptoms and was diagnosed positive. We hope she didn’t interact too much with too many locals.
In any case there is a curfew between 6pm and 5am, and for this weekend, a holiday weekend, the ‘ley seca’, or ‘dry law’ has been invoked. No alcohol to be sold or consumed in public, after 6pm yesterday, Friday, until Tuesday morning.
A drastic anti-Covid measure you might think, but no, it is because Sunday is Father’s Day. Well, the whole weekend is Father’s Day, similar to Mother’s Day in May, except that Mother’s Day in Colombia has traditionally been famous as the weekend that sees the worst domestic violence and most killings of the year. Families get together, drink too much, and well, you can guess the rest. It’s a bit like Christmas in the UK but more passionate and dangerous. As a result, no alcohol.
This holiday weekend, apart from hosting Father’s Day, celebrates The Feast of the Sacred Heart. Last weekend was Corpus Cristi and next weekend is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. That’s three ‘puentes’ (bank holidays) in a row. Residents of Bogotá would normally escape to country houses and holiday spots in their hordes but this year they are banned from leaving the city to avoid potential spread of the virus to neighbouring towns and states. Police patrols and roadblocks will be checking who is on the road and miscreants will face heavy fines and their cars being impounded. That’s life under lockdown.
Fortunately we have a bottle or two of Chilean Carménère in the wine rack so we salute you with the traditional Colombian toast … ‘Salud, Dinero y Amor’ (Health, Money and Love) … and pray you stay safe and well.
Love from him and me
Barry
