Horsham student GRACE CAMILLERI was on Rotary Youth Exchange in Italy when the novel coronavirus took hold. Here, Grace shares her experience – including her long journey home – with The Weekly Advertiser readers.

 

Early March 2019, I decided I wanted to become a 2020 Rotary Youth Exchange student.

 I had several interviews and by the end of July I had been accepted into the program. 

I was sponsored by Horsham Rotary Club and given my first country of preference. 

I was told that throughout my year of exchange I would have the opportunity to learn the language, tour Europe, meet new people, stay with multiple families and make long-lasting memories. 

It was unprecedented to imagine that after only two short months in Italy, I would end up back at home in self-isolation.

My journey started on January 18, when I said my last goodbyes to my family and boarded a plane with my fellow exchange students – the first step in what was meant to be the best year of our lives. 

Upon arrival in Milan I was greeted by my host family and they took me to their home in Brescia, Lombardy.

My first three weeks in Brescia were blissful. 

I started learning Italian, making friends and seeing different parts of my new city. 

When I was not at school I was travelling around Lombardy and Trentino Alto Adige with my ‘family’, experiencing new things, including seeing snow for the first time and learning how to ski. 

At the start the coronavirus seemed insignificant, something like a joke. 

But by the beginning of my fourth week in Italy my school was shut down, along with most shops and clubs.

Three weeks after the schools closed, my region became a red zone and we were in complete lockdown. 

This meant no-one was to leave their house unless they were exercising, or shopping for groceries or pharmaceutical needs. 

At the time my host family and I were in another region on a holiday. 

It was late at night when we heard the news that lockdown in Lombardy would be enforced the next day, so we packed up and drove home straight away.

Throughout my two weeks in lockdown, the case numbers were rising rapidly daily and so was the tension in the house. 

I could see that doing work or school from home was becoming increasingly boring and stressful for each of my family members. 

Because of my lack of knowledge of the Italian language I had no schoolwork sent to me. 

This meant that the days went painfully slow, and each day brought worse news about the virus. 

The hospitals were in crisis mode; they were not equipped for the mass infection. 

The supermarkets were a sea of masks and gloves; the streets were empty, not a person in sight.

The estimations of a month of isolation turned into two, then three and eventually reached six. 

After a lengthy conversation both of my families and I decided that I should come home. 

This decision was extremely disappointing for me, but I knew it was the right thing to do. 

We contacted our travel agent and they began to search for immediate flights home. 

We were racing against time, trying to get me out before borders were closed and flights cancelled. 

On Wednesday, March 18, my Mum rang me, sounding very upset, to tell me that she could not bring me home and that at least three flights the travel agents found were getting cancelled as soon as they were booked. 

At this point my family in Australia was distraught, they felt useless for not being able to bring me back home. 

After a sleepless night for us all, a friend of Mum’s found a flight, and after sending the itinerary to the travel agent, it was booked.

I was set to leave on Saturday morning, March 21, with mask, hand sanitiser and multiple pairs of gloves at the ready. 

After some very sad goodbyes, my host mum drove me to the Milan airport, where she said goodbye and left. 

After that I was on my own. 

I was very scared to travel internationally by myself, being a minor, at 16. If I got stuck somewhere because of a cancelled flight I would be in real trouble. 

My initial flight was from Milan to Munich, then a seven-hour stopover in Germany. 

The airport was like a ghost town; all the shops were closed and there were barely any travellers there. 

After a long wait I boarded the plane to Abu Dhabi; there were only 20 people on the flight.

I had a short stop in Abu Dhabi, before I boarded my final flight, landing in Melbourne early on Monday morning, March 23, which was a huge relief for all. 

Having originated from Italy, my temperature was checked at Melbourne airport, and testing normal, I headed out to meet a member of my family.

We went to the car and drove straight home, where we are currently in self-isolation for 14 days.

Having been in Brescia, a northern Italian town at the centre of the country’s coronavirus pandemic, where the virus has killed more than 1000 people alone, I understand that self-isolation and social distancing is paramount if we are to beat this deadly virus.

The entire April 8, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!