The H1N1 virus is here for real. We are told not to use the word swine, this according to the WHO. We are to refer to the virus as Influenza A (H1N1) or, in Dari, eech yak ahn yak.
A website alerting the Afghan population tells us that: (1) All kindergartens, schools, vocational training institutes, higher education institutions will be closed for 3 weeks as of 2 November 2009 (will students here be happy or disappointed I wonder); (2) All gatherings in wedding halls, public baths (Turkish Baths), and other public indoor areas are forbidden (this will make for some unhappy brides, grooms, families, and most of all those in the business of weddings); (3) Indoor Sport Matches are forbidden; and (4) Greetings with hand shaking, hugging and kissing should be avoided.
The latter is already quite restricted here when you are not a close friend or part of the family. We are all trying to be more like the Japanese, bowing to each other or nodding with a hand on our heart. There are many habits to be broken, a good reminder that change is hard if you have to do it yourself and much easier if you can just tell others.
We had an all staff meeting to discuss health, hygiene and flu shots. It was done in Dari, including the slides, giving me plenty of opportunity to practice my reading skills and enlarge my vocabulary. I was happy to hear that alcohol-based hand sanitizers are OK for Muslims to use. I have a small bottle strategically placed on my desk for all sneezers, no matter what their religious persuasion, including myself.
In the meantime I am anxiously following Axel as he makes his way over here. I am using Flight Aware to track the plane from Atlanta to Dubai but after Gander it stopped tracking so I only followed him for about five hours into the 13 hour flight, a piece of information that has not changed in many hours. This in itself is a little scary. I had forgotten what it feels like to have loved ones in planes, being the one that is usually in a plane myself.
I hope to see an email from him from Dubai to put my mind at ease. It’s nice to know he is near.
Sylvia's Journal 
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