swine influenza...taking the country by storm.

Swine Influenza has forever changed the way things are done in Mexico. Or at least it seems like things will forever be changed. This week has been full of surprises and scares as swine influenza sweeps the nation with its nasty results. Being a resident of this country during this historic scare, it is only right that I write a bit about the current events.

Walking down the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico will find you staring into the eyes of hundreds of people who have covered their mouths with the encouraged "facemasks". We like to think of them as SARS masks. It's a sea of blue and white faces as you look around the neighborhood. Whether the people be in the line at the fruit market, riding down the street on their motorcycles, or taking their kids for a walk, nearly every single person is sporting a mask.

Going to the grocery store yesterday to stock up for a few days made me remember the scare of Y2K. There were numerous families running around the store filling their carts as fast as they could. The amount of milk people were buying looked as though it would last them a month. The store didn't seem able to keep up with the high demand as the store was looking more and more bare during the 30 minutes I meandered the aisles. (masks were also in use at the store!)

All schools in Mexico have been closed down until May 6th. Everyone is encouraged to stay home and stay put. It really is a bizarre experience and the only thing I can connect it to is......this sounds weird.....a snow blizzard. It is as if we have had a huge snowstorm and are stuck in our homes. We play games, we watch movies and we sit around. We are basically sitting ducks, waiting for the storm to pass. But it is beautiful outside, there aren't flakes falling from the skies, the roads are sitll drivable and people aren't out shoveling the sidewalks.

Rather, people are out raking the leaves, yelling greetings across the street (we have been told we aren't supposed to greet anyone up close), and wearing masks as if the germs are the snowflakes falling out of the skies. It's a surreal experience being stuck in the middle of the madness.

And at this point, there's really not much to do except wait for this storm to pass.

And wear a face mask.