Back to School

For a couple of weeks now Milan has been getting busier. I dare say that traffic and crowds feel almost pre-Corona. In any case, I have not seen the city like this since February. What’s post-Corona is the mask wearing. It’s still mandatory in all closed spaces. Also, I would say about 50% of people in Milan still wear masks outside. Of course, there are plenty of mask holes. This is a global phenomenon. Just like the asshole, the mask hole knowns no border.  You know those people who wear the mask only on their mouth or think that in order to be heard when they speak, they need to casually slip the mask off to spew some words accompanied by droplets into the air.  I confess I give more thought to droplets traveling through the air than I like to admit. The other day I had a mild altercation with a woman who insisted on sitting next to me on the metro, even though there are big, quite impossible to ignore, stickers that say, “don’t sit here” on the seats. When she plopped down next to me, I gave her a dirty look (and those who know me, know my looks can kill) and she became incensed, pulling out her phone to show me some evidence of her right to sit there. Of course, she was also wearing her mask only on the mouth. I ended up getting up and walking away from her, choosing the path of least resistance.  In general, that has become my attitude in these times. Let’s just follow the rules. They might not always make sense, in fact, they often seem pretty odd, but let’s just do as they say. Certainly, wearing a mask is better than not wearing a mask. Also, it has benefits. First of all, on a sunny day if I forget my sunscreen it’s not a problem. I am protected from dangerous UV rays and premature ageing. Second, people think I am younger than I am because my face is covered and thirdly, I can easily walk past people who know me without being recognised and avoid having conversations I am not in the mood for.  I call that a triple win.

 Today, Italian schools reopened for the first time since February. Correction: some Italian schools reopened.  Months of preparation have gone into this reopening, though at times it has felt like more like months of debate about reopening and not months of preparation for reopening. One big topic has been the nationwide acquisition of new single desks (Italian schools traditionally have desk blocks) to allow for social distancing. In many cases these desks have not been delivered and children will have to sit on a chair (without a desk) during lessons. Masks are not obligatory in classrooms (assuming a minimum of 1-meter social distancing) but have to be worn everywhere else. A debatable decision, when we know that the virus spreads through droplets and aerosol, which can travel many meters and are released by talking. There will be some kind of mask distribution in schools, though it’s unclear where, how and if. School cafeterias have to serve single portion meals with disposable cutlery.

 Not all schools were ready for the reopening, some will wait until after the election/referendum (taking place on September 20/21: if a school is being used for an election, it would be too complex to have to clean the school twice before and after the election). Indeed, in seven regions schools stayed closed for a few more weeks for various reasons, including the election but not only. And so, schools are reopening in fits and starts (or as they say here in Italy, “a macchia di leopardo” which means in “leopard spots”, though I like to think of it in terms of leopard print, which sounds terribly chic, though it isn’t meant to).

 My children, who go to a private international school went back on September 1st. It’s been a big adjustment.  Are they happy? Mostly, I think. They have to wear masks all the time, unless they are outside in recess with the appropriate distancing. Technically they should have two surgical masks per day, but no one seems to check that they are switching masks. Their temperature gets checked before getting on the school bus and before entering school, and for lunch they have assigned seats. In choir, they have to sing with a mask. They are also playing sports (without a mask). So far so good. Let’s hope it can last. Cases are going up again (according to yesterday’s bulletin +1.458 cases for a +0,5% increase, with Lombardy still the region with the most cases), but we are far from France and Spain where daily increases are currently around 10,000 or Israel, where they are getting ready for another lock-down.

 In closing, you may have read that Silvio Berlusconi, former Italian prime minister, head of the right leaning “Forza Italia” party who infamously held “bunga bunga”  sex parties, has joined the ranks of powerful political figures (Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro to name a couple, but here is a more exhaustive list of politicians and celebs, in case you are interested in such trivia)  who have contracted the virus. He caught Covid-19 on the island of Sardinia in August, as did a few other rich and famous folk, whom I won’t mention because they took up way too much media space already. Well today he was released from the hospital and he, a man who has always boasted about his superhuman health (and exceptional virility, need I say), declared the virus has been the biggest threat to his life, to date.  If you had any doubt Corona was serious business, let it be Silvio’s story that convinces you.  And that’s all today folks, I shall be back with more regular posts from here on out.