Escaping the Swine Flu

Escaping the Swine Flu
April 28, 2009 / South of the Border Wordpress
http://southoftheborder.wordpress.com/

I had written earlier about how much Mexicans love their pork but little did I realize what a big deal swine could become in this country.

.

Leaving the apocalypse is pretty much how I felt yesterday as I hopped on a taxi to the airport. Everyone we passed by was wearing masks, and even my driver had one on despite the intense heat. It does get a bit steamy in those masks, I’ll tell you. At the airport, masks were required attire, as in the fashion statement of the century. Military guards were passing out questionnaires asking if you had any symptoms and recommending you not to fly that day if you felt the least bit sick. Did I mention I had a sore throat that day? Not exactly making me feel any better…

To top it off, an earthquake hit just as I was arriving at the airport. I didn’t feel anything, but apparently people were running out of buildings in Mexico City. Although it was a minor earthquake, people are still reeling from the big quake of ‘85 that killed over 10,000 people and left the city in ruins. I couldn’t have picked a better time to leave. The mayor was talking about stopping all activities in the city, including public transportation, and classes and all major events have been canceled for the next ten days. I was going to cover Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for The News and even that got postponed. After I heard about that, I had no real reason to stay behind, and found out that due to new airline regulations for Mexico travel it was free to change my flight!
.

The local alt weekly The Hook, where I previously interned, should be running a story about me so be sure to check it out. As for now, I am safe and sound in Charlottesville, VA enjoying the amazing spring weather, friendly folks, and ordinary pleasures like drinking chai tea from my favorite mug and taking a real shower with more then a trickle of water.