Item
Marc Carolla and Niccola Lutri Oral History, 2021/09/21
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Marc Carolla and Niccola Lutri Oral History, 2021/09/21
Description (Dublin Core)
Marc and Níccola talk about their personal experiences win COVID-19 and quarantine discussing family, mental health, and personal anecdotes.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Creator (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
Podcast
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Health & Wellness
English
Home & Family Life
Collection (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
09/21/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
10/01/2021
06/02/2022
07/21/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
09/21/2021
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Marc Carola
Níccola Lutri
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Níccola Lutri
Marc Carola
Format (Dublin Core)
audio
Coverage (Dublin Core)
2020-2021
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:07:10
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Níccola Lutri and Marc Carola talk about their experiences with COVID-19 and being in lockdown with their families. They touched on how their mental health declined during lockdown as well.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Marc Carola 00:00
I'm Marc Carola, and I give consent to be interviewed.
Níccola Lutri 00:03
I'm Níccola Lutri, and I also give consent to be interviewed. It is September 21, 2021, and the time is 2:45pm. And today, Marc and I will be talking about COVID-19 and our experiences with quarantine over 2020 and 2021. So, Marc, did you know anyone who got COVID?
Marc Carola 00:22
Yeah, I had a couple friends who got COVID. And only one of them had bad symptoms.
Níccola Lutri 00:28
What were the symptoms?
Marc Carola 00:29
He had a really bad fever. And he also couldn't smell or taste.
Níccola Lutri 00:34
Jeez, I can't even imagine that, like, I got sick over quarantine. And it wasn't COVID, I did get tested. But at some point, I made my mom come in with a spoon of hot sauce just to make sure I could still taste.
Marc Carola 00:46
Yeah, I get that. How did you react when school shut down? Did you think it would only be for two weeks.
Níccola Lutri 00:56
So when school shut down, it was like a really weird day that day, like the last day before. Because all the teachers were confused. And all the students were confused. And we were like, okay, like, what do we do now? But I didn't think it would just be for two weeks. I honestly thought it would just be fair, like, maybe the end of the year, but I didn't think it would go into like our senior year. It was tough, kind of because like you didn't realize that that was gonna be like one of the last times you saw your friends in person. What about you? What did you think?
Marc Carola 01:26
Um, well, the way the world was like reacting to it, we kinda all knew that was gonna be more than two weeks. So we prepared for a year long shutdown.
Níccola Lutri 01:38
Yeah.
Marc Carola 01:38
I don't think anyone thought it was gonna be short term.
Níccola Lutri 01:40
You thought it was gonna be a year?
Marc Carola 01:41
Yeah.
Níccola Lutri 01:42
Just right off the bat?
Marc Carola 01:43
Yeah.
Níccola Lutri 01:44
I had a friend who well, he wasn't really a friend. More of an acquaintance, sat next to me in Spanish class. But right at the beginning on the last day, at the beginning of quarantine, he was like, yeah, I've been preparing for this for years. At any given moment, my family has a year's worth of supply for our entire family in our basement. And I was like, yeah, that's smart. But what? Do you have a year supply worth of food?
Marc Carola 02:14
Well, when when the news started, you know, going around that other countries were going through this,I think everyone just started running to the stores and packing the half with as much as they could.
Níccola Lutri 02:25
Yeah, with the whole toilet paper thing.
Marc Carola 02:27
And waters.
Níccola Lutri 02:29
That was wrong. What else? How did your family react to COVID and quarantine and everything?
Marc Carola 02:36
I mean, they were pretty paranoid in the beginning, no one was really going out. They were paying for groceries to be sent to the house. They were wiping down everything. Again, the house was like stocked with waters and pills and everything like that. So yeah, it was pretty serious in the beginning.
Níccola Lutri 02:57
My family bought a lot of soap. Big soap family. And we weren't allowed to get takeout because my dad was convinced that there would be like COVID germs in food. Which is really upsetting because I love Chinese food. But not that that has anything to do with COVID. But my dad is a physician, so he kind of freaked out when this happened. And he was doing all the research he could in any article that he could find. And then he would report everything back to us. And you don't really want to know because you're staying in the house one way or another. But that's how my dad reacted. How did quarantine affect your mental health?
Marc Carola 03:48
In the beginning, I was fine. But after the months it was like it was weird not seeing friends and just seeing, you know, family for like, days on end. Yeah, I got pretty lonely, you know, a couple of months in. That's pretty much it. What about your mental health?
Níccola Lutri 04:13
Definitely had a decline because I couldn't see my friends. So it was difficult to just kind of only interact with my family. And I tended to just pretty much stay in my room too.
Marc Carola 04:25
Yeah same.
Níccola Lutri 04:27
It was also difficult because like you weren't going outside as much, and like I don't know about you, but I had like a lot less fresh food in my diet, which affected my mental health. Like I was eating ramen today. Which I mean, it was good. It wasn't good for me. It was yummy, though.
Marc Carola 04:49
I feel like doing the same thing every day just gets kind of weird after a while.
Níccola Lutri 04:55
Yeah, it was rough. It was like all those days kind of muddled together.
Marc Carola 05:00
Every day was the same.
Níccola Lutri 05:03
At least it's not anymore Marc. We made it. Not really. But we're making it.
Marc Carola 05:08
Almost.
Níccola Lutri 05:12
Yeah, I don't know, I feel like quarantine was really rough for everyone. There was no one who really kind of like, benefited from it. I think a lot of people though had a lot of like emotional mental growth, even if their mental health kind of declined. Like, I feel like myself, I was able to kind of grow as a person. I did a lot of like, self exploration, which I thought a lot of my friends had also gone through, like you come into quarantine as one person and came out another, which I feel like it's common for a lot of people. What about you?
Marc Carola 05:45
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I was more like, independent after. I feel like I changed.
Níccola Lutri 05:55
Yeah. I feel like I was also more independent. Yeah, any finishing thoughts, Marc?
Marc Carola 06:03
Did you have any memorable story from quarantine?
Níccola Lutri 06:07
You know, what Mark is a matter of fact, I do. It was the very beginning of quarantine. And I would like to say that my family thinks I'm the healthiest of them all. So, you know, not to brag or anything, but they sent me out to the grocery store. And I was panicking because like germs. So I was like standing in the middle of the grocery store, like about to cry because I didn't want to touch anything. But I had to come home with paper towels, and I did make it. So I think that's something I'll always remember about quarantine.
Marc Carola 06:37
I feel like I just had like a lot of, I feel like I had a lot of time with family.
Níccola Lutri 06:42
Yeah.
Marc Carola 06:43
We had nights where we would just watch movies. I feel like that was just something that reminds me of the quarantine times.
Níccola Lutri 06:52
Yeah. All right. Well, it's been lovely talking to you Marc. And I'll see you again sometime soon. Hopefully.
Marc Carola 07:05
It was nice talking to you.
Níccola Lutri 07:09
Okay, bye.
I'm Marc Carola, and I give consent to be interviewed.
Níccola Lutri 00:03
I'm Níccola Lutri, and I also give consent to be interviewed. It is September 21, 2021, and the time is 2:45pm. And today, Marc and I will be talking about COVID-19 and our experiences with quarantine over 2020 and 2021. So, Marc, did you know anyone who got COVID?
Marc Carola 00:22
Yeah, I had a couple friends who got COVID. And only one of them had bad symptoms.
Níccola Lutri 00:28
What were the symptoms?
Marc Carola 00:29
He had a really bad fever. And he also couldn't smell or taste.
Níccola Lutri 00:34
Jeez, I can't even imagine that, like, I got sick over quarantine. And it wasn't COVID, I did get tested. But at some point, I made my mom come in with a spoon of hot sauce just to make sure I could still taste.
Marc Carola 00:46
Yeah, I get that. How did you react when school shut down? Did you think it would only be for two weeks.
Níccola Lutri 00:56
So when school shut down, it was like a really weird day that day, like the last day before. Because all the teachers were confused. And all the students were confused. And we were like, okay, like, what do we do now? But I didn't think it would just be for two weeks. I honestly thought it would just be fair, like, maybe the end of the year, but I didn't think it would go into like our senior year. It was tough, kind of because like you didn't realize that that was gonna be like one of the last times you saw your friends in person. What about you? What did you think?
Marc Carola 01:26
Um, well, the way the world was like reacting to it, we kinda all knew that was gonna be more than two weeks. So we prepared for a year long shutdown.
Níccola Lutri 01:38
Yeah.
Marc Carola 01:38
I don't think anyone thought it was gonna be short term.
Níccola Lutri 01:40
You thought it was gonna be a year?
Marc Carola 01:41
Yeah.
Níccola Lutri 01:42
Just right off the bat?
Marc Carola 01:43
Yeah.
Níccola Lutri 01:44
I had a friend who well, he wasn't really a friend. More of an acquaintance, sat next to me in Spanish class. But right at the beginning on the last day, at the beginning of quarantine, he was like, yeah, I've been preparing for this for years. At any given moment, my family has a year's worth of supply for our entire family in our basement. And I was like, yeah, that's smart. But what? Do you have a year supply worth of food?
Marc Carola 02:14
Well, when when the news started, you know, going around that other countries were going through this,I think everyone just started running to the stores and packing the half with as much as they could.
Níccola Lutri 02:25
Yeah, with the whole toilet paper thing.
Marc Carola 02:27
And waters.
Níccola Lutri 02:29
That was wrong. What else? How did your family react to COVID and quarantine and everything?
Marc Carola 02:36
I mean, they were pretty paranoid in the beginning, no one was really going out. They were paying for groceries to be sent to the house. They were wiping down everything. Again, the house was like stocked with waters and pills and everything like that. So yeah, it was pretty serious in the beginning.
Níccola Lutri 02:57
My family bought a lot of soap. Big soap family. And we weren't allowed to get takeout because my dad was convinced that there would be like COVID germs in food. Which is really upsetting because I love Chinese food. But not that that has anything to do with COVID. But my dad is a physician, so he kind of freaked out when this happened. And he was doing all the research he could in any article that he could find. And then he would report everything back to us. And you don't really want to know because you're staying in the house one way or another. But that's how my dad reacted. How did quarantine affect your mental health?
Marc Carola 03:48
In the beginning, I was fine. But after the months it was like it was weird not seeing friends and just seeing, you know, family for like, days on end. Yeah, I got pretty lonely, you know, a couple of months in. That's pretty much it. What about your mental health?
Níccola Lutri 04:13
Definitely had a decline because I couldn't see my friends. So it was difficult to just kind of only interact with my family. And I tended to just pretty much stay in my room too.
Marc Carola 04:25
Yeah same.
Níccola Lutri 04:27
It was also difficult because like you weren't going outside as much, and like I don't know about you, but I had like a lot less fresh food in my diet, which affected my mental health. Like I was eating ramen today. Which I mean, it was good. It wasn't good for me. It was yummy, though.
Marc Carola 04:49
I feel like doing the same thing every day just gets kind of weird after a while.
Níccola Lutri 04:55
Yeah, it was rough. It was like all those days kind of muddled together.
Marc Carola 05:00
Every day was the same.
Níccola Lutri 05:03
At least it's not anymore Marc. We made it. Not really. But we're making it.
Marc Carola 05:08
Almost.
Níccola Lutri 05:12
Yeah, I don't know, I feel like quarantine was really rough for everyone. There was no one who really kind of like, benefited from it. I think a lot of people though had a lot of like emotional mental growth, even if their mental health kind of declined. Like, I feel like myself, I was able to kind of grow as a person. I did a lot of like, self exploration, which I thought a lot of my friends had also gone through, like you come into quarantine as one person and came out another, which I feel like it's common for a lot of people. What about you?
Marc Carola 05:45
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I was more like, independent after. I feel like I changed.
Níccola Lutri 05:55
Yeah. I feel like I was also more independent. Yeah, any finishing thoughts, Marc?
Marc Carola 06:03
Did you have any memorable story from quarantine?
Níccola Lutri 06:07
You know, what Mark is a matter of fact, I do. It was the very beginning of quarantine. And I would like to say that my family thinks I'm the healthiest of them all. So, you know, not to brag or anything, but they sent me out to the grocery store. And I was panicking because like germs. So I was like standing in the middle of the grocery store, like about to cry because I didn't want to touch anything. But I had to come home with paper towels, and I did make it. So I think that's something I'll always remember about quarantine.
Marc Carola 06:37
I feel like I just had like a lot of, I feel like I had a lot of time with family.
Níccola Lutri 06:42
Yeah.
Marc Carola 06:43
We had nights where we would just watch movies. I feel like that was just something that reminds me of the quarantine times.
Níccola Lutri 06:52
Yeah. All right. Well, it's been lovely talking to you Marc. And I'll see you again sometime soon. Hopefully.
Marc Carola 07:05
It was nice talking to you.
Níccola Lutri 07:09
Okay, bye.
Item sets
This item was submitted on September 21, 2021 by Níccola Lutri using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: http://mail.covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.