The big news of the week is SWINE FLU!!! It's managed to get into Mongolia very suddenly.
It was around Wednesday/Thursday when I started hearing about some new suspect cases and folk were looking worried. I turn up to school on Friday and the teachers are definitely worried and I hear that at least two schools in our district are now closed, and more closed in other areas of the city. It get worse as the day goes on and there is a large queue outside the school nurses room, children are vomiting in the corridors and we're having to send several kids away to the nurse as they develop temperatures and turn all pale and sweaty and scared.
At this point a teacher sends me down to the cafeteria to buy a face mask (which is damn uncomfortable and hot to wear, but it feels necessary at this point).
It look pretty likely at this point the school will be closed, unfortunately. I'm still hoping that the situation has been blown out of proportion due to the fact that everyone's scared by it.
Just in case folk reading this are worried, I did come prepared and I have all the appropriate drugs with me so I'm in no danger at all. I have kept very quiet about the fact I've got the drugs though; I've told no one at all since they seem to be either limited or non-existent or ridiculously expensive over here and everyone seems to be buying vitamins as the best available thing (the prices for vitamins in the chemists mysteriously rocketed in the past couple of days- can't believe people would actually take advantage of this situation in such a poor country. Guess that's my naivety showing and I'm realizing how lucky we are to have the NHS back home).
Hope I don't get it though, its utterly evil feeling even mildly ill abroad.

On a better note, next week I should be going on my expedition next week so I'm really looking forward to getting away from the pollution, dust and noise of the city (some people started some major sounding construction work outside my window at 10pm last night, s'crazy).
Still might or might not happen depending on general health and the weather.
If it does go ahead I'll be spending a few days having day-trips and coming back to the city at night and then spending two or three nights with a rural family (yay! a ger experience!) with some horse and camel riding.
I'm also getting the impression that I'm the only person on this trip, I don't really mind that but it will be a nice surprise if I find there is another volunteer or two there (fingers crossed).

And more good news, I'm getting two hours knocked off my Friday workload! Wohooo! I don't mind my hours (now between around 20 and 25 hours a week with the 2 hours knocked off) but Fridays are utterly exhausting (I found out yesterday that one teacher had phoned the director as she was worried about how tired I was looking. How embarrassing, but it just shows how kind and caring these people can be).