While we were in the US: the end of 2020

While visiting the US for the holidays, the first time since the pandemic started, hearing news about what was going on back in Europe was alarming. Cases continued increasing and restrictions kept getting stricter. By the time the holidays came around, rumors started circling around that stores and restaurants would be forced to close for a period of time in order to control the spread of the coronavirus. This made us so grateful we were in the US with minimal restrictions and with our family, than stuck at our flat in Bergamo, Italy, alone for the holidays.

New rules

The new restrictions were taken into effect on December 4th and would last until January 15th. The objective was to prevent the further spread of the virus by discouraging gatherings and parties during the Holidays as celebrations may further spark new cases. Curfew was also in effect from 10pm-5am. Travel into Italy, depending on where from, required a 2 week quarantine. Non essential travel between zones was prohibited. This was the reason my family and I were turned away at the Milan airport and almost lost our flight when we were leaving to the US in November.

Italy changed its tactics on battling this pandemic after we got hit hard with the first wave, around March 2020. Now, in the fall of the same year, regions were divided by color zones depending on how many cases each region had. Red (high risk), orange (medium risk), yellow (low risk), and white taking into consideration risk factors such as number of positive cases and space available in hospitals.

Red, the most restrictive, prohibited movement to other zones and only essential movement including going to work, taking kids to school, or for health reasons. The last two years of middle schools and all high school students were sent home for distance learning. Museums, bars, pubs and most stores were closed; malls were closed on the weekends. Orange, medium risk, more movement is allowed within your town. Restaurants and pubs are closed, but shops are open. Schools remain open, but open senior high school students were sent home. Yellow, restaurants and bars are open until 6:00pm and any restrictions are those made nation wide. Malls remain closed on the weekends and movement can be made only to other yellow zones.

What kept happening was that people would get tired of being under restrictions and once their region was moved into less restricted zones, movement continued and numbers would rise again. It was this back and forth for a while, until the vaccine started getting a big push and that’s when we started to see numbers of positive cases start to be more controlled. This meant we were starting to see the end of what was a long and sad two years.

No restrictions at all

When we arrived back to Italy, after having been in the US since Thanksgiving, it was so hard to go from no restrictions to strict rules. You could hardly tell the world was in the middle of a pandemic back in the US. Masks were not required inside if you were vaccinated. Now, how would you know if those not wearing masks were vaccinated or not? So the majority of people were not wearing one and no one could ask for your proof of vaccine. While here, because of everything Italy went through, we were in strict conditions.

Being back in Italy was a rude awakening; the pandemic was far from over. It reminded me that there was still so much we didn’t know about this virus. Luckily, a vaccine would soon be ready!

Here we go again!

By the time March came around, kids were sent home and we were starting remote learning again. A third wave was hitting! This time, we were so good at it, we never skipped a beat. It was unbelievable that one year later, we were in the same position again. How could it be? By this point, I was so ready to go back to the US. Coming back was hard, knowing we wouldn’t see our family again until summer. We were planning on visiting again to meet our new nephew. It seemed so far away and every day seemed exactly the same as the previous one.

The vaccine couldn’t get here soon enough! Italy was very slow with issuing it. We had Pfizerm Astra Zeneca, Moderna, and Johnson. The elderly got it first, then it made its way with younger people. It started in March, but it was so slow and numbers were not showing any signs of slowing down. Italy had to do something quick or we would be in this lock down for much longer. Slowly, as more and more people got vaccinated, numbers started to decrease.

After Easter break, schools opened and we were able to return to school. The school year hung on and we were able to finish the year with in school instruction. We had another US trip to look forward to. We would be spending the entire month of July between visiting our family in Miami and NC. When we would return to Italy in August, we would be bringing my in-laws with us to spend the month with us and we had BIG plans.

Check out our summer 2021 adventures here:

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