Incredibly we made it to the end of 2020 🙆 and boy, hadn't we lived it, we wouldn't believe what we've been through these past months 😥
Despite all the difficulties and losses, 2020 also reserved us some good surprises and we feel particularly grateful for the small things we rediscovered.
Little we knew back in March what our future would reserve us, but as Italy is about to be declared 'yellow zone' we feel like this is our big Christmas present and are ready to celebrate 🎍
To sum up our last six months: the summer was rather easy going, life seemed to have come back to an almost pre-covid19 style. Many people suspect this is the reason why the Fall brought us a second wave. Italian schools and many offices were open but the testing system was overloaded and the infections surged. Yet 43% of the Italian covid19 cases were asymptomatic.
By mid-October we knew there would be some sort of lockdown to help save our Holidays 🎄, especially given that not everyone could do the regular flu shot to avoid their exposure to two viruses. More covid19 hospitals and wards were opened but all the other medical specialties, tests and surgeries have been set aside with tragic consequences for the population.
November arrived and put Piedmont in a red zone light lockdown together with 2 other Italian regions. People were could to go to work, the k1-6 classes were held regularly in school, while everyone else had to stay home. The government made a list of the new essential shops allowed to open and set a curfew at 10pm to keep people home. No family or friends visits, no restaurants, no coffee shops. However these last ones could do the take away and, finally decided to serve coffees and cappuccinos in paper cups like in the rest of the world 😜
Piedmont has requested 70 doctors and nurses from Israel and Cuba because the retired medical personnel doesn't want to come back to work and not everyone is tested regularly anymore. On a positive note, as doctors know more about covid19 patients are treated more effectively and 2021 is bringing us the vaccine.
Currently though Italy is still living waiting for the government decisions that are issued every two weeks: on December13th the whole boot will be a yellow zone to allow cross regional travels and cafés and restaurants to open at lunch.
This freedoms will last only one week though because by December 20th, Italians will be locked back down in their own regions, dividing families and keeping our ski resorts empty.
The economical downside is getting heavier and heavier and more and more sectors are being hit.
Still though, we are all looking at the vaccines with mixed feelings of hope - as we all long to go back to our old normal lives, and fear as we all wonder if we can, and up to what extent, trust them.
Basically, we have been living suspended between the stall of our orange zone and the hopefulness of the future, and when we look at the world, the situation isn't much better. Tutto il mondo è paese - the whole world is like a village: we are together in this! And with the same suspended feeling, we already know schools and ski resorts will reopen on January 7th, after Befana has delivered our stockings. By then it will be 2021 ... and the mere sound of those numbers gives us the thrills and infuses us with happiness and relaxation 💃
More than any other year 2021 will bring us joy! Joy for having made it, for having survived this pandemic, for allowing us to savor old tiny pleasures. When remembering our spring full lockdown, being able to stroll around town in November felt like magic 😅 The gelato take away was like a luxury and holding the cappuccino paper cup warmed up both our hands and hearts.
This time the past years we usually reviewed the good and the bad we went through. For 2020, we feel it is safe to say that we definitely lost a lot, but at the same time, we are also ready to turn the page and reset our lives in a more sustainable way.
Italian students and teachers are finding out how much they love going to class... yes, the Italian internet infrastructure hasn't improved yet and the government hasn't hired all the teachers our students needs 😓
Videochatting is fun but the physical presence and contact is irreplaceable, however, working from home showed us how much more efficient some of us can be.
As Italians age differently from other cultures, many think 'the future is now' thanks to the big technological potential they were forced to rely on (!). These are all aspects of our 2020 legacy. Sure we can't travel yet, but as soon as we can, we'll appreciate it even more because by now we all know what freedom really means. This is the word we choose to wish you a very happy holiday season 🎅 and an extremely joyful 2021 🎇
May you always:
- be healthy, curable, hopeful and resourceful
- be able to hug and kiss your dear ones
- savor the time you spend eating with friends and catching up over a cappuccino in a ceramic cup - it just tastes better 😉
- feel thrilled to walk around your city
- get excited for a concert and appreciate the magic of a movie theater
- be thirsty for adventure: curious to visit new places and get to know new people
Many of us had to think outside the box, amici rest assured the seeds you planted in 2020 will blossom and grow into a well-rooted tree 🌳
Many of us lost someone or something, amici, 2021 will make it up to you, it always does, Dante teaches us in his Inferno 👿 and nobody can deny we are all survivors 🙏
As unbelievable as it sounds, this is where we are supposed to be and just like the Roaring Twenties followed the Spanish flu, so are we projected to experience great times 🎊
Hang in there amici and get ready for the best!
2021 will be a great year 🍀🐞 and we wait for you right here in Turin 🎆
Tantissimi auguri di Buon Natale e di un fantastico 2021 💝
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