Special Report: Swine Flu

I took the bus to Mexico City on Friday to meet my friend Amber at the airport.  I noticed that in the bus station in Cuernavaca, all the workers and some of the passengers had masks on but I didn't really think anything of it because on high pollution days, this is normal.  Arriving in the Mexico City airport, there were more people with masks on and it seemed a little more than was normal.  I still didn't know why.  Later, we saw on the news that it was the Swine Flu.  The next day, Reed came to meet us and we went walking around the Zocalo.  We noticed about 1/2 of the people with masks on and the military on corners passing out masks.  We made a decision to come back to Cuernavaca the next day instead of waiting until Monday.  The next day, we walked to the Metro station and Reed and I noticed how quiet the streets were.  This was at about 1pm on a Sunday.  Usually, at this time, the streets are crowded with people!  It seemed a little more than strange.  Additionally, when we were waiting for the Metro, there were only a few people on the platform and on the trains.  It seemed like a Sci-fi movie!!

Anyway, we are in Cuernavaca and doing fine!

A little information:

The country of Mexico has a population of about 112 million people.  1200 cases of swine flu have been reported with 103 deaths.

They are handing out information about the flu at all major events and places.  They are handing out free masks on the street.  Major events have been cancelled.  Schools are closed for the week.  The information about the flu is running on every major TV station.

I feel like the Mexican government is handling this VERY well.  No worries, we will be careful!