First day of school

The table is set up at this corner because the children turn right here to get to the elementary school
The table is set up at this corner because the children turn right here to get to the elementary school.

Yesterday, Sept. 16, was the first day of school.  Nobody was happy, of course, even though the Veneto, along with Puglia, was the region that started school the latest (Alto Adige began on Sept. 7, but they have German DNA).

I’ve never investigated the reasons why the whole country doesn’t start school on the same day, and starting on a Wednesday seems odd, or at least asymmetrical, to me.  Then again, some of the post offices in Venice open at 8:15, and some open at 8:25.  Anyone for 8:00?  Certainly not.  To each his own symmetry, I guess.

This little sprite was in another neighborhood, heading off for her excellent adventure complete with backpack, mother, and grandmother.
This little sprite was in another neighborhood, heading off for her excellent adventure complete with backpack, mother, and grandmother.

This year, as in the past few, the neighborhood old people’s group (literal translation of “gruppo anziani“) organized a wonderful send-off to the littlest scholars to launch them into their first real day of school ever (they will already have had nursery school, but this time it’s serious). We didn’t stay to watch because we had to be somewhere else, but I have no doubt that, as before, each child was given a bag of presents — school supplies could qualify, as long as they’ve got that new-car smell — and given a heartfelt exhortation, and a warm round of applause.

But what was new this year was the sign they put up on the backdrop, the wall of the church of San Francesco di Paola.  We discovered it toward evening, and this morning it was gone.  I’d like to think that the wall will retain the warmth of the poster for quite a while yet.

"Viva' is short for "Evviva," which is a cry of joy and acclaim. I always think of it as "Long live" the whatever-comes-next. It is sometimes abbreviated to a big "W" (two V's, naturally).
“Viva’ is short for “Evviva,” which is a cry of joy and acclaim. I always think of it as “Long live” the whatever-comes-next. It is sometimes abbreviated to a big “W” (two V’s, naturally).
"Long live school, Long live culture, Long live all the children in the world."
“Long live school, Long live culture, Long live all the children in the world.”

 

 

 

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5 Comments

  1. I must be getting sentimental in my old age. The photo of the little sprite, and the poster on the wall of the church brought tears to my eyes. Evviva, indeed.

  2. ah, you see, one may get bored, fed up, p-d off, frustrated, angry and disgusted with the politics here, but…. there is always this social side… and this is why my ex-pat Italian friends get dewy-eyed and nostalgic about too….

    hang in there, Erla.

  3. I shared this with my classmates in my Italian class….one is an elementary school teacher.
    Beautiful slice of life from the City of My Dreams.

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