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Local families keep eye on news out of Mexico

DELAVAN — It doesn’t matter where someone’s homeland is or what language they speak.

When the World Health Organization says “pandemic,” it’s serious.

It took Julian Garcia a couple seconds to search for the English he wanted.

“Preocupación …,” he said. “Worry. I have worry for the whole world.”

Garcia owns Acapulco Delights, 235 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan. While at work Thursday, he said he’s talked regularly to family members living in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

His family is fine, he said, and no cases of the virus had been confirmed in Guerrero, he said Thursday.

Another Delavan business owner, Saul Arteaga, said the local community’s concern matches the worldwide concern about the swine flu.

Arteaga owns Southern Wisconsin Interpreting and Translation Services, 110 S. Third St., Delavan. He and his staff work with clients who need English interpreted into dozens of languages.

“People’s concerns reflect what the nation is thinking, what the nation is doing,” Arteaga said.

An interpreter’s job often takes him or her into hospitals, Arteaga said. On Thursday morning, he and his staff members talked about how to interpret American Sign Language for people wearing facemasks, he said.

In the quiet time before Thursday’s dinner rush, employees and customers sat watching Spanish news reports about the virus on the television at Buena Vista Tacos & Seafood, 239 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan.

Waitress Alejandra Rangel said her mother and siblings recently canceled plans to visit family in Morelia, the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán.

The virus hasn’t been found in Morelia, either, Rangel said. But in frequent phone conversations, family members report that police patrol the streets, handing out masks and information to people who are out and about, Rangel said.

Anna Hernandez, who owns the business with her husband, Rene, spoke through Rangel. Hernandez said relatives in Mexico report a sense of precaution as people try to stay healthy “just in case it does get there.”