(an abridged version of an email I sent to my family in the US)
Ciao, Family!
Apologies for the mass mailing, but I’ve gotten several inquiries from family members about our situation here in Italy, so I thought I’d send out a note to everyone to let you all know that we’re fine and healthy here in Italy.
As most of you know, Mary Pat and I are in Cortona, Tuscany, where I was to be spending February, March and April teaching for the University of Georgia’s Studies Abroad program here. Last weekend, however, the University made the decision to send the students home because of the coronavirus. It was probably the right decision for the students, who are now back in the US at their homes.
It was very sad to have our students head home after just one month of their scheduled 3-month study abroad experience. They were just getting solidly comfortable here in this little Italian hill town and were really starting to get engaged in their coursework. We are now making plans to transition some or all of their courses to an online environment – fairly easy for me with digital photography, and my colleagues teaching art history and women’s studies – a little harder for the ceramics, painting, drawing and printmaking profs to figure out.
Although we had the option to leave with them, Mary Pat and I have decided to stay put here in Tuscany until our planned departure date in late April. We have come to love Cortona in the 6 years we’ve been involved with the UGA program here, and we feel safe here in this small Tuscan town, set on a very steep hill with an Etruscan wall dating from 700BC surrounding it.
The media reports that you may have seen about the coronavirus in Italy would have you believing that people are falling down sick in the streets – that is NOT the case. Italy was out in front of the virus and because of their excellent nationalized healthcare system it’s easy, fast and free to get tested for the virus here. Because of that – and because they are transparent in reporting their data – it appears as though Italy has a much higher concentration of coronavirus than other countries. As of March 2, Italy had tested 23,345 people, the U.S. had tested 472 people. If you test more, you’ll report more cases.
As of this morning when I went to the local bar for a coffee, this town looks, acts and feels as it always has – no change to the daily routine other than exchanging the traditional “kiss-kiss” or handshake greeting for an elbow bump. There has been no hoarding of supplies, so far as we can tell – the little supermarket nearby still has everything we need..
So, the bottom line from us here is that life is good. We’re washing our hands, still spending time Cortona’s main piazza about 50 feet from our front door, still going out for coffee and aperitivo with friends, etc. We’re looking forward to the Good Friday procession, where effigies of saints from all 10 of Cortona’s churches are paraded around town in a candlelight vigil.
We’ll be back in the U.S. sometime toward the end of April – perhaps a little earlier than our planned 4/26 date.
Love,
Jeff & Mary Pat