Follow the bad but also the good news!

(This morning, high up on the hills with a fabulous view and the sun)

I am a news beast. I watch and listen to the news during the day to keep up to date with the news around the world. I used to work as a librarian with a television and radio news broadcasting company. The bug stays with you.

Being in lockdown again and with time on my hands I am feeling more and more anxious whilst processing/hearing/reading the enormous amount of news about the Corona virus. And I live on an island with a relatively small amount of inhabitants and I do not work at a hospital or in another job that deals with Covid-19. I am not living in a big city. What the people who work with Covid-19 are feeling and going through I cannot imagine. What people feel and go through living in a big city, without work and living in a house without much freedom to move, I cannot imagine. The implemented rules harm people economically, in their privacy and it upsets their daily routine. Here on Skopelos we are better off, we have this vast space around us. We can escape and seek places that can calm us down. We can be pretty sure that next summer there will be some income from tourism.

In Greece and especially in Thessaloniki the hospitals that treat Covid-patients are full and there are hardly any beds in the ICU units. The Greek government hopes that after the two weeks lockdown the amount of Covid-19 patients will have reduced significantly. More and more people take the opportunity to take a rapid test to make sure if they have the virus or not, many times because they are taking care of older parents or because of their work.

(Morning pictures, view over Skopelos and the Stafylos area towards Evia)

Tomorrow it is the 17th of November. A historic and painful day for the Greeks. Exactly 47 years ago a massive demonstration against the military junta in Greece ended in bloodshed. The Athens Polytechnic University uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.

The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta revolt and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17 amongst others with a tank crashing through the gates of the Polytechnic University.

A short video about the 17th of November uprising

As of today and the next four days the Greek government has forbidden any rally’s that usually take place on this day in the whole of Greece. More than four people cannot be together in a group. Anyone that wants to leave wreaths and flowers at monuments can do so in accordance with the police. In Athens a huge police force will be in place to keep the situation under control. Many Greek political parties have protested against the measures. They want to be able to peacefully demonstrate. They say it is against the law to forbid demonstrations.

Things have also changed concerning the pre-school and elementary schools. Greek authorities have announced their closure as of today for at least two weeks. Special education schools will remain open. The children will have lessons via the internet every afternoon. The Greek government is not very concerned about the virus being amongst the pupils but more about the crowding of parents and grand parents when bringing and dropping of the students at school.

The night curfew went into effect on Friday, banning all circulation between 21.00 hours in the evening and 05.00 hours in the morning with the exception of work- or health-related movement and walking a pet close to home.

Talking about pets. This wonderful home we saw on the way to the monasteries. Custom made for cats we think. Only a very small dog will fit in this house. Water is available and I assume this animal lover who made this also leaves food behind there. A great initiative.

Bad news will always be around. We need to make an effort to keep seeing the positive news and make it part of our day to keep going! Make a positive move by yourself. You can do it! An aunt of me is reading a book from a writer that I have read too. I am sending her the second book in the sequel! A friend of mine send me a news clip about a 22 year old man from Guinee who plays really well football. He was staying in camp Moria on Lesbos. A couple saw him playing football and made it possible for him to stay in Greece and start playing with the Greek football club Panionios.

Stay safe, stay well, stay positive