I have seen many a picture of people wearing protective masks in connection with the swine flu, but I have never seen a single person wearing a mask first hand. When I walked past a woman wearing one in central Zagreb, I was stunned enough to stop in my tracks, turn around, and follow her with my eyes until she vanished in the crowd. Middle-aged, rather shabbily dressed, and slightly stooped, she tucked her head deep between her shoulders to hide the paper contraption as best she could. Light green and ridged, the mask was still perfectly visible. I shook my head in disbelief and started walking again. It took me a minute or two to realize that I had been living in the boondocks for quite a few years now. Protective masks like the one I saw this morning must be quite common in all the places where I had been living before moving to Motovun. The boondocks be praised, I guess.

Addendum (February 5, 2020)

On my last visit to the Croatian capital, which lasted an entire week, I expected to see quite a few people wearing protective masks on account of the new and deadly virus outbreak hailing from China. Coronavirus is its name, which dominates the media these days. Zagreb is not only the largest city in the country, but also a tourist attraction of world renown as of late. To my surprise, I spotted no more than three people wearing masks during my visit, and all three of them struck me as locals. In short, the epidemic that is currently shaking the world has not impressed the denizens of Zagreb. Not in the least, as a matter of fact. And I cannot but feel kind of proud of them. Congratulations all around!