ACA Part I, Swine Flu Part II

I decided to leave the house today, which is kind of a big deal. It’s not that my house is that much fun, it’s that not-my-house isn’t. There isn’t really anywhere interesting or particularly pleasant to go, so mostly I end up at grocery stores, hardware stores, and the local paint shop. Just “going out” isn’t much fun either, not between the terrible air pollution, the litter and burning garbage, and the horn honking of men driving by. On that last point, apparently I don’t look 8 months pregnant from behind. Or maybe men here just aren’t that picky. In any case, when I don’t have groceries or hardware to buy, I have to devise reasons to get out. Today’s reason: visit ACÁ. http://ggs.com.mx/aca.html

ACÁ, Asociacion Comunitaria de Autosuficiencia, is a local NPO that fosters community self-sufficiency through organic agricultural training programs. It sounds like a fantastic organization, and my plan is to go there, discover amazing organic produce, and convince them to let me work there too, probably as a volunteer or maybe an intern. If it takes a while to convince them, I might just hang around a lot for a while until eventually someone let’s me get involved.

I’m pretty much beside myself with shock that this exists here. It’s the kind of organization I (half jokingly) told myself I wanted to start down here myself. To find something already here, and working, is wonderful. I’m excited to discover them.

So I left the house by 8:00 this morning, because the day rapidly becomes insufferably hot. I was disappointed when I finally arrived in Jaltepec (a small town between San Juan Cosalá and Jocotepec) and discovered that they hadn’t opened yet. I considered waiting around a while, but my need for sanitary facilities motivated me right back home again. Hooray for pregnancy! I might try again tomorrow.

I decided to walk there and back, because mostly the only exercise I get is going up and down the house staircase and my frequent trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Once I’m out of San Juan, I can walk along the ciclopista, the bike path, that runs along the highway. I’m a big fan of the ciclopista. Even if it’s regularly blocked by sand, gravel, horses (both with and without riders), goats, cows, firewood-laden burros, four-wheelers, mopeds, backhoes, men carrying large tree limbs, and the occasional parked vehicle, the concrete divide between me and drunk drivers makes up for it all and is the reason for my fondness.

I hoped to see something entertaining on my way, to share with you all, because I so often do encounter something wonderful, but as I was prepared with camera today, nothing presented itself. Here, though, is a shot of my route, which includes, from left to right, the paved highway, my friend the concrete divide, the ciclopista, and litter.



Here, too, is a picture of Lake Chapala and the mountain on the other side.



Meanwhile, as you’re probably aware, swine influenza is spreading in Mexico, and throughout the world, too, I hear. I don’t know what the popular sentiment is in the US, but down here, people are pretty scared. That’s probably because only Mexico has experienced swine flu mortality so far. Last I heard, there are 149 deaths suspected to be caused by swine flu. For some reason, the virus seems more severe down here.

The federal government has ordered all schools in the entire country closed, at least until May 6th. Many of the restaurants, bars and nightclubs in the country have joined the libraries, museums, and theaters in closing. The biggest sign that this is being taken quite seriously is that soccer matches have been closed to the public. Some big games have been played without a fan in the bleachers.

Yet, many still attended mass yesterday.

So far, there are no confirmed cases in my state of Jalisco.

In other news, Mexico City, home of most of the swine flu cases in the country thus far, also suffered a 6.0 earthquake this morning. No great damage was suffered, but that offers yet another reason I’m glad I don’t live in the capital.