Far be it from me to suggest that Turkish people like nothing better than a good crisis but I will never forget being told quite earnestly not to take the children to any parks in case they got bitten by a killer tick and died. Because, of course it would be much safer for us to wander round the non-pavemented roads filled with an over abundance of cars mainly driven by people whose only concern is getting from a to b in the shorter possible time (think Dukes of Hazard x 100,000). I mean, what's the alternative apart from sitting at home all day. Yeah but everyone knows that's not safe because thieves sneak into buildings when people inadvertantly leave the front door open and then hide under the stairs and wait all day for you to open your door so they can pounce on you and steal all your gold and cash because a cardboard box under the bed is the safest place to store all your most valuable possessions.
So, the first I heard of swine flu I was a little relieved because in my badly-informed mind, it was carried and spread by pigs. During the bird flu crisis we couldn't go anywhere near anything remotely feathered and a lot of people gave up eating chicken. Well, it's easy enough to avoid pigs round here, and as for giving up pork, well the lack of availability of it here means you don't have much choice. At least we'll be spared the media frenzy and subsequent hysteria of the general population.
Well it turns out there's as much of a pandemic here as everywhere else. Someone DIED of it last week. I've asked a couple of people I've heard talking about this death, whether the person was elderly or had a weak immune system but no-one seems to know. All we need to know is that someone died of swine flu and so we could all die, all 70 million of us.
One way of dealing with this hysteria, I mean pandemic, is to close all the schools (that have barely been back a month after the 3 month summer break) in the country in order to disinfect them. This closure is to take place tomorrow. The fact that I was only told about this on Wednesday (today is a holiday here), would really annoy me if I were a working parent. It sort of bugs me anyway cos I'll have a whole day home alone with both kids and anywhere I might take them to relieve the boredom and break up the day will be overcrowded with kids that should be at school.
All parents were also given a letter from the school pointing out how important hygiene is. It reminded us about handwashing and suggested we avoid kissing (I assume they mean the peck on the cheek greeting-type kiss rather than snogging), shaking hands and going to crowded places, which in Istanbul means everywhere apart from my own home and even that feels sort of claustrophobic when we have 'guests'. I'd also like to add to that list a few things that I see done all the time that really are unhygienic like the communal water glass, the communal salad, using your own spoon to serve food to a child (yes I mean MY child), and my biggest bugbear, leaving used tissues lying around.
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It's pretty much everywhere, the swine flu scare. My doctor says there are plenty of diseases around for years much more dangerous. It's media panic really!
I've heard no mention of swine flu at all in our area, which doesn't mean it's not around of course, just that people aren't talking about it.
And you're so right about the hygiene aspect as far as Turks are concerned. I think avoiding kissing would be the least of their worries!!
We got the killer tick story here too. Only 2 cases of swine flu in Bosnia to date, but they'll catch up shortly I'm sure....
I'm hoping that it is all hysteria, but I do worry occasionally that the hospitals here wouldn't be the best place to be if we needed it. Hmm, might just check on our health insurance just in case (cue new hysteria on my part!)
You beat me to the post. It's driving me batshit. I'm pretty sure every case of the flu, no every sniffle, is made out to be swine flu in the press. Any attempts to confirm information are met with blank stares. How could we not uniformly fear this most terrifying jinn I mean mikrop beyond all reason?
Is your bakkal selling surgical masks? Ours is.
And as a semi-working person, that last minute notification of half day Wednesday and no school Friday really pissed me off and pretty much fucked my schedule for the week. God forbid a woman here has a "real" job to take into consideration...
How do you suppose they've sanitised the schools? Did no one from the Ministry of Health bother to google swine flu and learn it doesn't survive outside the body for more than 4 hours? Oh, wait. That website is probably blocked for supporting evolution or accepting science over a load of superstitious bullshit.
My favorite act of hygiene is when someone coughs, sneezes, or blows their nose into a tissue, then touches my kid's hands or face with the mucous tissue hand.
Bitter, bitter Stranger.
Gaelikaa, are you getting the same sort of panic where you are?
Ayak, I suppose in a village there's a lot less moving around so you may be lucky. My sentiment on the salad thing has always been, well if everyone else does it and they're not constantly ill it can't be that bad. But now with the kids I have to be more careful. I have to admit to being fussy to the point of offending people when I was pregnant though 'no thanks, I don't want any of that meat' (that's been reheated more than once and left out overnight).
Fraught Mummy,be prepared, be cautious, be calm :)There was a wartime slogan in Britain 'Keep calm and carry on'. I find it a good mantra for my life here.
Stranger, I wish I hadn't beaten you to it on this one. I'm sure you'd have a more entertaining slant. I advise you to take up my mantra. It really works when dealng with the in-laws ;)
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