Swine Flu!

School is canceled until October 4th due to swine flu.

You should all remember Egypt's initial reaction to the threat of swine flu, which was to slaughter all the pigs in the country. Here's an article about it: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25412517-23109,00.html. Of course, people cannot catch swine flu from pigs, and there were no reported cases of swine flu in Egypt at this time, but they killed them anyway. When I first heard this, I remember thinking, "Oh no, this is the country I'm about to go to?" The answer is: yes. Yes, it is. Apparently the Egyptian government was in part responding to international criticism regarding their ability to handle crises. Yeah, you sure showed them, Egypt!

From what I've gathered, the first reported case of swine flu came from AUC this past summer. They quarantined the Zamalek campus, just as one of our new campus dorm units is quarantined now. And now, just as over the summer, classes are on hold for a couple weeks. But AUC is not the only school affected by this. From what I've heard, all universities (and all schools in general?) in Egypt are closed until October. I understand feeling the need to do something about swine flu to keep it from becoming an epidemic, especially considering the sheer number of people in Cairo alone (about 18 million), but this is a bit ridiculous. Granted, closing schools makes more sense than killing pigs, but it's mostly frustrating at this point.

But, always the optimist, I'm sure I'll make the most of this break. Dana and I might go to Morocco for the rest of the month. I miss my host family there terribly, so it will be nice to see them, especially now that my Arabic is a little better. And Dana's never been to Morocco, so we'll do a bunch of the touristy stuff too.

Until then... skype me! My info is on facebook.
love, dooler