All is well in a wintry Siena

  Although that opening reminds me of that -probably apocryphal- headline: 'Small Earthquake in Peru. Not many dead'. 

But the fact is that today I have not been angry at all. It has been a good day. 

It strikes me it was easier to write in Djenne: Africa was so full of extreme experiences that having just a nice, ordinary, day was always out of the question. Extraordinary events kept tumbling over one. It did suit me, although it was exhausting. But here I am, in beautiful Italy which has a reputation amongst other European nations for being charmingly chaotic- believe me, on the Richter scale of Chaos it  barely registers a tremor...bureaucratic, yes, but it seems to work and I am still, after spending twelve years in Mali, in awe of buses that arrive on time even if there is only one person on them; or, for instance, of having received a letter here with an invitation to a give a blood test in a national drive to prevent bowel cancer. How did they even find me?? Amazing. So, here I am, in Siena, in a well ordered, functioning Europe, (yes- notwithstanding the continual Covid threat, in comparison it IS!) and I  continue  being amazed.

The sun keeps shining in Siena and the students are out in force having passed their finals, wearing their laurel wreaths and celebrating on the Campo with friends and family- the narrow streets are echoing with a song celebrating the new Dottores and Dottoressas. There seemed  to be an awful lot of them I used to  think- until someone explained that a Dottore here is not someone with a Phd, but someone who has a passed their  first degree. And here are some happy successful candidates this afternoon:

                      

Siena has  a very ancient and venerable University  of course, and the final exams seem to be spread throughout the year, if one is to judge from the frequent celebrations.

And last night, being a good Swede, I felt I ought to take part in some sort of Santa Lucia celebration. This is the only saint we kept in Sweden after we became Lutheran- she, the harbinger of light, was too important a saint to throw out... we felt we still needed her when the chill winter creeps up on us and the winter solstice looms...

So, I walked across town  to the tiny beautiful little church of Santa Lucia, a Baroque pearl, were most of Siena seemed to be thronging outside- as much for the Christmas sweet market, which seemed to stretch for miles,  as for the mass, which was officiated yet again by that famous Cardinal Lejudice , and much over subscribed. I only managed to get in before they decided to bar the way. People are being good about wearing masks here- including the clergy, which makes it even more difficult for me to understand ... 

Siena feels alive with Christmas spirit- everyone is out shopping and I cannot really get very serious about anything apart from planning Christmas when Jeremiah, Davide and Pia are coming! 

 It is nice to be so childish that I am still mad about Christmas!