We are back in Ukraine and busy at work but there has been an interesting development since our arrival. The swine flu, also known around here as the Californian flu (which is a complete mystery to me) has put the nation into a bit of a scare. Things are slightly nuts. One of the cities east of us, Ternopyl (not Chernobyl), has completely been quarantined due to a number of deaths. Trains are not stopping there and I’ve heard that choppers are flying around spraying some sort of chemicals. Things in L’viv aren’t so bad but there is still plenty of worried folks. Most people are wearing face masks or putting scarves or over their mouths. Yulia Temenshenko, the Prime Minister, has decided put a three-week national restriction on public meetings, including schools, universities, churches, movie theaters, etc. Makes for tough campus ministry considering all the universities and colleges are shut down and many students have gone home. We will see how everything continues to transpire. I suspect it this is a bit of an overreaction. We are sure hoping the universities aren’t closed for three weeks, but we will see. We will probably continue our activities anyways, so take that swine flue!
Here are some L’vivians sporting face masks! I got some very straight faced, “what are you doing taking a picture of me looks” when I took these. So enjoy them!
Shannon posing so it looked like I was taking a picture of her...the lady on her left was not happy and trying to leave!
You guys are funny. How did all your church visits go? When does hoops start up again? Miss you both.
We’ve got the same H1N1 problems here in Mongolia…not quite 3 weeks worth (at least we hope not!) So far we’ve only had language classes since we’ve been here!
I think most of my class mates I’ve been working with have had H1N1. By God’s grace I haven’t yet had it. Maybe it’s alright to call it the “Californian flu” from what I’ve seen here in sunny – and sick – soCal.
Wow. Didn’t know that about lots of people in California getting sick. Glad to hear you are staying healthy Matt. Can’t imagine trying to catch up in Med school after a dose of the flu.