Hunkering Down

M/S "Ryndam" won't be landing in Guaymas today

I was all set to go to Guaymas today for the Calimari Festival and to watch the landing of the Holland-American cruise ship M/S "Ryndam." Cruise ship arrivals are big events on the waterfront since it only happens here a couple of times a year. But...¡que lastima!...the Calimari Festival, a motorcycle meet and the cruise ship landing have been cancelled because of the flu scare.

There are no reports of flu here on the Sonoran coast, nobody's walking around in cubrebocas (masks), except in the supermarkets where the workers have been wearing them for years. But schools and daycare centers are already closed, and now it's been decided that the cruceros should bypass Guaymas, Mazatlan or any other Mexican ports. I wonder how the passengers feel about that. I remember sitting on our boat looking at the shore and longing to step on land and go exploring. Lines from the song "Wooden Ships" come to mind.

Gringo in Paradise accurately points out that this blow to tourism in Mexico, on top of the well-advertised drug war reports and the fallout from the US banking fiasco, will have a crushing effect on the economy and thus bring about an increase in crime. I wouldn't want to be working for a business that relies on tourism, such as a restaurant, or a dive shop or even a bar (though I suspect there may be an increase in cantina clientele pickling their sorrows). Or a working mother trying to find care for the niños.

It's my favorite time of year: warm enough to enjoy being outdoors, with refreshing breezes and cool nights. The madness of Semana Santa is over, there's plenty of room in the hotels, airline rates are reportedly reduced, and traffic across the borders is minimal.

I'm not losing any sleep over the risk of an epidemic, though I notice I'm washing my hands more often. In the States, stores are running out of liquid hand cleaner. In Mexico City, people are staying home and keeping busy wiping down their telephones, door handles, even their windows with disinfectants. If they can't cook, they go to restaurants that are still preparing food al llevar (to go).

In La Gloria, a major pig farming area near Mexico City, a little five-year-old boy named Edgar Hernandez has achieved notoriety for having been the first reported flu victim. Edgar's fine now, by the way, and enjoying more than fifteen minutes of fame, with visits from numerous scientists, fumigators who sprayed his house, doctors, even the governor himself.