As a single post relating to day of the dead last year approaches 1000 hits (and climbs google image’s page ranking for “dia de los muertos”), it’s time to prepare for this year’s go-round.
Pan de Muerto is in the panaderias (though I’ve only had one loaf), skeletons abound (though far less in Chicago than DF), and I’ve slowly begun setting up an ofrenda here at home. It’ll be a first; hopefully no visiting spirits will be offended.
Will post a photo in the future.
My good friend Colleen, fellow Fulbrighter and a talented writer to boot, was published in the New York Time this past Sunday. The topic? While Mexico City has returned to post-swine flu normalcy, a month ago was a far different story…
Congrats, Colleen!
…of all this swine flu stuff. Hopefully not sick with all this swine flu stuff.
Anyway, two more funny links on swine flu and then I officially stop paying attention to it, at least for a day or so.
First US death:
“‘This is obviously a serious situation, serious enough to take the utmost precautions,’ Mr. Obama said” – NYT
Flu reaches Chicago?
“A probable case of swine flu has prompted the closing of a North Side elementary school for at least two days” – Chicago Tribune
First identified case, a 5 year old in Veracruz, but still no closer to finding the source:
“I was very bad” – Edgar Hernandez, NYT
“We have more questions than answers,” – Dr Miguel Angel Lozana, Chicago Tribune
Knee Jerk Reaction of the Day:
“Egypt, for its part, began a mass slaughter of all 300,000 pigs in the country in an effort to fight swine flu – although no cases have been reported in the country.” – BBC
Best summary of atmosphere in Mexico City in a single quote:
“‘The customers are scared stupid – they don’t want to go out,’ said hairdresser Esther Gonzalez” – BBC
Once this is over, can I get a t-shirt that says “I survived Swine Flu! DF 2009″?
I enjoyed getting Northwestern’s public health program email about swine flu today. Funny to read about ‘taking precautions’ where you are actually in the center of the outbreak rather than hundreds of miles from the nearest identified case.
Comedy Central’s take on Swine Flu
Got quoted (along with Mari) in the suburban Daily Herald today. They decided saying that I live in Chicago wasn’t acceptable (it’s the suburban paper…) so they stretched and pretended Rockford was suburban Chicago.
Having a “survivor’s meeting” tonight, i.e. planning to have a beer on the roof with some friends. DF buddies, feel free to join.
Source of the Swine Flu identified!
Bad news: It’s spread too much to be contained! CDC is recommending against unnecessary travel. Nobody is really that sure what is really going on with the number of cases in Mexico.
Good news: It’s way less dangerous than bird flu. WHO is still cool with Mexico travel. You can still eat bacon.
Economic crisis, drug wars, swine flu, earthquake… it’s been a rough time for Mexico City as of late. Apparently us Fulbrighters haven’t been the only ones making apocalyptic references (though perhaps the only ones doing it jokingly):
“I’m scared,” Sarai Luna Pajas, a 22-year-old Mexico City resident, told the Associated Press news agency.
“We Mexicans are not used to living with so much fear, but all that is happening – the economic crisis, the illnesses and now this – it feels like the Apocalypse.” - BBC
On a more positive note, however, here’s a little more Vincente Fernandez with a popular cantina song called “Estos Celos” (roughly “This Jealousy”). (EDIT – The actual video was disabled, so here’s the same song with some random weird performance, which only makes it better)
Now that Mexico City is in full end-of-the-world lockdown mode thanks to the swine flu, various rumors are starting to swirl through the population. While I can’t claim to have heard the majority, I’ve definitely heard several, ranging from “believable” to “possibly started by a highly delusional psychiatric patient”.
A sampling:
1) “Mexico knew about the swine flu far earlier than official word came out, but chose to delay making it public because Obama was visiting.” - 9/10 on the believability scale, i.e. likely. It’s certain that Mexico government officials knew something about the flu prior to late last week; they’d been tracking an uptick in cases since late March. The real question is did Obama’s visit affect their decision to take public action? Quite plausible. Swine flu is, after all, nearly as contagious as Hope.
2) “The narcos are behind this because it keeps the soldiers busy (handing out masks etc)” – 3/10, i.e. quite a stretch. While I’m sure the narcos aren’t complaining that the Mexican Army’s #1 priority is guarding the Metro against coughing people, I really doubt that a bunch of hick drug-runners found a way to release a potentially deadly virus on the city for their own benefit.
(unrelated, there was an earthquake just now…)
3) “More doctors have died at IMSS (social security health system) and others have now refused to go to work.” – 6/10, i.e. outside possibility it’s true. While their may be cases among doctors, they are the first in line to receive medicines and are closely monitored due to their contact with patients, making them far less likely to die. What’s more, the disease has only been confirmed as killing 20 or so people so far (though another 50-60 are suspected) out of 1,400 cases, so despite the panic, it’s not particularly deadly. Finally, while there might be a small number of health care workers who are avoiding the hospital out of fear, I’d like to keep a little higher opinion of our profession and say most experienced doctors aren’t going to run away from their job because of the flu. (EDIT: looks like I spoke too soon, they are now saying 149 people have died of suspected swine flu, all between 20-50 years old)
4) “The US army released the flu in preparation for a coup d’etat and martial rule, with concentration camps being prepared for the infected.” 0/10, i.e. bat-shit insane. No further comments necessary
“I know all of us will die one day, but I want to last out the week.” Servando Peneda, NYT
“People are being strongly urged to avoid shaking hands, and the US embassy has advised visitors to the country to keep at least six feet (1.8m) from other people.” BBC News
While every news outlet seems to have different tallies of the number affected by the swine flu outbreak, they seem to agree that over 1000 infections have been confirmed, and somewhere between 60 and 80 deaths may have been caused by the virus. What’s more, cases are said to have been identified in New Zealand, France, Spain, Israel, and various states in the US, primarily among recent visitors to Mexico. Reacting to the emerging spread of the virus, as well as possibly trying to blunt criticism that the government took too long to act, President Felipe Calderon pushed through an order giving the government expanded emergency powers to deal with the spread of swine flu. Even the Catholic Church has gotten involved, allowing its worshipers to listen mass over the radio.
As the international news gets more panicked and dramatic, life in Mexico City gets more boring. Soccer games closed to spectators, museums and theaters closed, restaurants and bars shut down, and even Starbucks closed for business for the week. My options for the day are A) sit in the park wearing a mask, or B) hang out at home. As I opted for B yesterday, I would be pretty excited if I could find a mask for A.
As you’ve likely seen on various news sources, an unusual form of swine flu has broken out in Mexico City and has killed around 60 people to date. While the public health education in me says this is a big deal, the practical numbers side of me says that in a city of 20+ million people, in a country of 100+ million people, more people died in car crashes during the same time frame. In any case, the city is cancelling school and events and half the people on the street are wearing hospital masks, hoping to cut off the virus’s spread.
So far, the only effect the flu outbreak has had on me is preventing me (and all other fans) from going to the Pumas-Chivas soccer game on Sunday afternoon. Instead, we’ll all just have to find somewhere with a good TV to watch the game.
GOYA! GOYA! Cachucachu rah rah! Cachucachu rah rah! GOYA! Universidad!
Once again, my name confuses:
And gift money has beautiful buoyancy. Fulbright Scholar Caley McIntyre, Weinberg ‘05 grad, is currently enjoying the benefits of the grant – and a slow economy – while researching health insurance issues in Mexico. “It has in a perverse way been incredibly helpful,” McIntyre says. The general economic collapse has had the effect of weakening the peso against the dollar and, as she is paid in dollars, the exchange rate has translated to a 20 percent raise in her stipends. “It feels odd to be benefiting from a financial meltdown, but I can’t complain too much about extra pesos in my pocket.”
Alexandra, if you somehow end up seeing this, don’t worry; I’m both used to and entertained by the confusion. Good article otherwise!
