The craze of the swine flu has died down considerably. When we go to town we no longer see people wearing the masks or taking special precautions.
The flu gave us a chance to think about what we would do in a pandemic situation; it was an interesting exercise. Would we cut ourselves off and not receive any guests? Would we receive guests and have a period of quarantine? How would we quarantine people who go to town to get supplies? Would visitors be able to leave and return?
Luckily, in this case, we did not need to carry out any strict plan in response to the virus. We did ask our volunteers to stay at the Bosque and limit day trips, and we did ask two volunteers who were coming from Mexico City to delay their trip. Our actions were in response to a situation that was unclear. But responding to the flu and thinking about what measures to take was an interesting situation for us to consider. Living in the middle of a forest, and having a very large supply of dried goods and drinking water, gives us an opportunity to isolate if necessary.
While the flu scare has dwindled, the results of the scare are pretty devastating for Mexico. Tourism is down, language schools are closing, and Mexico, which is already considered a dangerous place by many foreigners, became even more taboo. We’ve lost somewhere between 5-10 volunteers for this summer.
We hope, as the flu becomes more history than present, that people will start buying their tickets again to visit this wonderful country. And hey, buy them now, because tickets are cheaper than ever!
And we’ll be waiting, unquarantined and open to visitors, here in our forest, for you!
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