Peace Corps Volunteer Guatemalteca writes: Ok, so the swine flu...oh, sorry...H1N1 or something more scientific sounding like that...has reached Guatemala



A lot of Guatemalans sounded kind of surprised, but with all the people/stuff traffic between here and out nothern neighbor, I would have been surprised if it didn't get here. Although the nurses warned us of possible future outbreaks of bird flu and gave us an emergency dose of something in case of virul emergency (kind of feels like the bat-phone) swine flu was not in the PC medical (or anybody's) plans So, the Peace Corps has advised us to stockpile food in case of the worst case which would mean an in-house quarantine. I have decided to replicate my family's earthquake kit from days of old. My mom bought things like granola bars and spaghetti O's and other things that we normally weren't allowed to eat...C'MON EARTHQAUKE!!

Peace Corps Volunteer Guatemalteca writes: Ok, so the swine flu...oh, sorry...H1N1 or something more scientific sounding like that...has reached Guatemala

Thursday, May 7, 2009
This little piggy stayed home...

Ok, so the swine flu...oh, sorry...H1N1 or something more scientific sounding like that...has reached Guatemala. A lot of Guatemalans sounded kind of surprised, but with all the people/stuff traffic between here and out nothern neighbor, I would have been surprised if it didn't get here.

Although the nurses warned us of possible future outbreaks of bird flu and gave us an emergency dose of something in case of virul emergency (kind of feels like the bat-phone) swine flu was not in the PC medical (or anybody's) plans.

So, the Peace Corps has advised us to stockpile food in case of the worst case which would mean an in-house quarantine. I have decided to replicate my family's earthquake kit from days of old. My mom bought things like granola bars and spaghetti O's and other things that we normally weren't allowed to eat...C'MON EARTHQAUKE!! The good news was that when the earthquake didn't come in the following 3 years, we got to eat the chewy chocolate chip granola bars to avoid expiration....Mmmm...So the Guatemalan kit will include things like Chikys (chocolate enrobed cookies) and orange soda and pineapple pie and all the other things I shouldn't eat in Guatemala but would make me feel good about staying in my house 24/7.
I will also continue my ever popular Healthy Schools Guatemala mantra...lavate las manos lavate las manos lavate las manos...wash your hands wash your hands wash your hands...Nothing new in that department.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: May, 2009; Peace Corps Mexico; Directory of Mexico RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Mexico RPCVs; Peace Corps Guatemala; Directory of Guatemala RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Guatemala RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Medicine; Public Health

When this story was posted in May 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

April 19, 2009: Obama's Public Diplomacy Obama engages Students in Roundtable in Turkey 7 Apr To Rebuild US-Muslim Relations Obama Is Not Enough 26 Mar PC Model in Mexico sends Older Specialized PCVs 19 Apr Peace Corps Needs Top-Down Re-Examination 19 Apr Peace Corps Returns To Rwanda with 32 PCVs 17 Apr Read from "First Comes Love Then Comes Malaria" 16 Apr Does Mike Honda want to head Peace Corps? 15 Apr Paul Theroux promotes Responsible Tourism 3 Apr Vice President Biden Meets PCVs In Costa Rica 1 Apr Vote on Christopher R. Hill delayed by opponents 1 Apr Joseph Acaba makes First Spacewalk 31 Mar Petri Vindicated for Advocacy of Direct Loans to Students 30 Mar Mateo Paneitz devotes life to helping poor in Guatemala 29 Mar Read from "The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen" 16 Apr Drew Marinelli makes 6000-mile bicycle trip across US 28 Mar Senate votes to triple AmeriCorps' ranks 27 Mar Four Cycling RPCVs have been friends for 45 years 25 Mar Denice Traina Hopes Hives will Help Harrisburg 24 Mar "Expand the Band" brings Instruments to South Africa 24 Mar Maria Shriver testifies on her Father's Alzheimer's 24 Mar Charles R. Larson donates African collection to UT 23 Mar Read more stories from March and April 2009.

---

PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director Honduras RPCV Jon Carson, 33, presided over thousands of workers as national field director for the Obama campaign and said the biggest challenge -- and surprise -- was the volume of volunteer help, including more than 15,000 "super volunteers," who were a big part of what made Obama's campaign so successful. PCOL endorses Jon Carson as the man who can revitalize the Peace Corps, bring it into the internet age, and meet Obama's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011.

---

Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.

Read the stories and leave your comments.