For
the first time since we were allowed out in our allotted time slots to
exercise, my bike ride was free of sightings of Child Viral Assassins forcing
their purile way into our adult hours.
The weather is getting progressively more
summery and people are walking with a new jauntiness in their steps. The building of summer structures on the
beach carries on apace and there is increasing evidence of shops and
restaurants getting ready for whatever the ‘New Normal’ Season is going to
offer.
Both Spain and the UK seem determined to
get kids back to school before the end of the summer term, and I share the
apprehension of teachers in wondering just how safe they and the kids are going
to be.
I read through the proposed precautions
that one infants’ school was going to take and I was impressed by the
thoroughness of the procedures, but also noted how much was dependant on the
cooperation of parents in, for example, bringing pupils to school in timeslots
and washing all of the pupil’s clothing at the end of the day. Meals would be provided by the school, no
packed lunches allowed; no school materials would come from home; no artefacts
made in school would go home; kids would be taught by a dedicated teacher and
they would associate only within their teaching group. Are these rules general in the UK? Do they follow governmental guidelines? Are they any governmental guidelines? There are too many questions about how all of
this is going to operate, with the very real fear than any slip in the
precautions will result in illness and death.
Then there is the testing and contact
tracing elements. As the government has
been much less than honest about their targets and have been creatively
duplicitous about ‘meeting’ them, what faith can we have about their professed
care for teachers and pupils?
What is going to happen to a stretched
system when the inevitable infection occurs?
Classes will not be able to be amalgamated. If a class has a ‘dedicated’ teacher, what
happens if that teacher is absent? In
fact, I will stop there because the questions are multiplying in my mind and
the answers are not easy. Or cheap.
Some beaches in Barcelona have been opened
up for sunbathing and recreation, though the TV pictures that we were shown
indicate that physical distancing is an inhibition that seems to disappear with
clothing.
I do worry that a coastal resort like
Castelldefels will become a hotspot for viral infection as we go further into
the good weather and more people come to our beach. As Barry Island was to Cardiff, so
Castelldefels is to Barcelona – one of the seaside resorts for a day out, easily
reachable by bike, car, bus and train. And
the beach is the place where inhibitions are loosened, where relaxation is part
of the experience, and where irksome rules can be ignored.
It does not bode well.
The
‘live’ theatrical presentation this evening was A Streetcar Named Desire, a Young Vic production. The action took place on a constantly turning
revolve as it was a production in the round.
The filming was uncharacteristically inept, or you could say that the
filming actually shared the interrupted sightlines of the live audience. Whatever, I found the blocking out of the
action from time to time irritating.
I was not ‘with’ this production and found
many of the characters under-acted, with Stanley being particular difficult for
me to take. Blanche was the clear ‘star’
of the production, but I felt that much of her performance was caricature
rather than character study.
Having said that, I enjoyed the production,
though I would much rather have been in the audience! The set was excellent and the production
brought out the humour of the piece as well as the tragedy. A thoroughly enjoyable depressing experience!
From
today the wearing of facemasks is mandatory in public spaces where physical
distancing is impossible. Although their
use in ‘sport’ is not required, I think that it will be necessary to carry one
whenever I go on my bike rides just in case.
