COVID-19 City Tales: Amsterdam. “This virus is temporary so just take it as a break from your busy life. Imagination can strongly change your mindset”.
Johana, 28, Front Office Agent, The Pijp. Not in quarantine.
Firstly, can you let me know if you are self-isolated or quarantined? How many days has it been?
I would say quarantined but not really. I only was really really stuck at home from the 18th to the 25th of March.
Are you spending it alone or with company?
I spend it mostly with my roommate Jaime from Mallorca, we are the 2 of us at home. During the weekends I see my dutch boyfriend so I am never alone.
How are you coping with confinement?
Honestly, I only felt this confinement the last few weeks of March and the first week of April. The city was super empty, the topic of every single day was about Corona, about their jobs and sad feelings. I started feeling exhausted. Thank god I took action and started putting on a side all the pessimism. On the other hand, April felt like a month of sort of holidays but without stressed human beings and tourists on the streets. Although I have to say that not all days were good. I had really bad days in which I woke up crying, with anxiety, with a lack of emotions, I had fights with my boyfriend, and so on. So in my experience, my advice is firstly not to panic, just say to yourself that everything is going to be fine, that this virus is temporary so take it as a break from your busy life. Imagination can strongly change your mindset. Just start enjoying all the things that you didn’t have time for or didn’t think about to do on your normal daily basis, but without planning, just with the flow for your own personal growth.
Describe the area where you live. Did you know your neighbours much before this happened? Has your relationship changed since this started?
I live in the city center of Amsterdam, The Pijp neighborhood is called, where the Heineken museum is. The Pijp is the hip area so it is full of fast-food restaurants, vintage stores, vegan places, small Dutch clothes shops, a lot of terraces for a cold beer, and the Albert Cuyp market where you can buy fresh fruits and veggies for a really good price.
My street is quiet, I don’t see so many people walking by. I know my neighbors but I don’t have a close relationship with them. Of course when we cross, we have a small chat but nothing else. We are actually pretty international so I would like to mention them by nationalities. On the ground floor three Dutch friends, first floor a Dutch guy who is a friend of the guys I mentioned before, second floor two girls from English native countries, third two Peruvian siblings and the last one Jaime and I from Spain.
Yes, my relation with Gina, the Peruvian girl above me got a little bit complicated. When everything started, Jaime and I had the idea of playing loud music in the evening and dancing for an hour as we were in a club. Unfortunately, the Dutch houses are made of wood and you can hear everything. She got upset and I got a few messages from her telling me to stop the music and behave. She couldn’t understand that in times of corona we were behaving like animals so she asked for low music and quietness as they also spend a lot of time at home.
What was the last thing you did before isolating?
Well, I stopped working officially on March 18 (late compared to other companies) so three days before that I went to a hot yoga class which I enjoyed a lot and I had brunch with my friend Andrea in a super cute place called Dignita Hoftuin.
Do you miss the outdoors?
I am grateful that I have been able to be outside every time I want since everything started. Due to the visits to my boyfriend's place who lives on the north side, I have been cycling almost every weekend around the empty city and parks.
Do you agree with the way your Government has handled the crisis? What would you change?
Yes, I think It has been handling pretty well. Dutch people are smart and realistic. Actually about mid-April, so 2 or even 3 weeks ago, the government gave the order to open bars, restaurants for take-away service and all types of small shops with a maximum of 3 people in them with 1.5 m distance which I think it’s great. Life goes on and we have to keep going, this time with caution but moving. The world cannot completely stop because of a pandemic.
Do you think this will have positive consequences as well?
Definitely, we can see it already in social media how nature is getting better and more beautiful but of course, the positive consequences will depend on us as human beings as well.
Lastly, tell me something new you’ve learnt about yourself during isolation.
I always tell to myself that positivism and happiness are the keys in these days to move forward strongly but also super important, I have learnt that IT IS OK to ACCEPT the loneliness, fear, melancholic, sadness, rage, cause at the end, feelings are like a roller-coaster, they come and go and I have to accept them in any time they come to me and be happy for them as well.
