HERMOSILLO, Mexico - When we arrived at the Panteon Municipal, the largest cemetery in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, a back hoe was digging massive quantities of earth for all the tiny coffins that will be interred here. Dozens of chairs were being set up under a canopy for the many parents who lost children in the terrible ABC Day Care Fire Friday afternoon. Undoubtedly, this is one the saddest days for the people of Hermosillo.

An unidentified mother collapses with grief on the coffin of her child on Sunday in Hermosillo, Mexico.

One of the first people to arrive is 34-year-old Evangelina Terrazas. She walked several miles to the cemetery with her four small children. We found her sitting in the shade of a small tree, her children dressed in their Sunday best. She cried as she watched one of the mothers collapse with grief at her child's gravesite.

The child was buried yesterday, a day after she was killed in the terrible day care fire. She was 2-year-old Paulette Daniela Coronado Padilla. Her mother, Maria Jesus, sat with Paulette's older brother, staring at the wilting flowers that covered the grave. The family played Paulette's favorite song, "Las Divinas," from the car stereo. Maria Jesus sobbed as she described her youngest child, a happy girl who loved to dance. She said she had placed her child in day care so that she could run a struggling cafe. She never imagined that the kiss she gave her when she said goodbye Friday morning would be her last.

Evangelina, who watched Maria Jesus, held her 4-year-old and told me through tears that even though she doesn't know little Paulette or her family, her heart aches for them. "Even though we're not related, even though we don't know them, we cry for them."

Indeed, everyone is crying for the children. Hermosillo is a city in mourning.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Sunday morning outside the Metropolitan Cathedral a sign reads "NO MISAS" - no mass.

The plaza outside the cathedral is virtually empty, the normal large Sunday crowd of tourists and worshippers seem to be following the advice of government officials, to avoid large crowds.

Police outside a Mexico City cathedral trying to keep worshippers away on Sunday.

We met Carla Casas, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-20s. Carla was scheduled to be confirmed at the 8am mass. She showed up wearing a mask and told us she's very afraid that she and her family could get sick.

"I heard that people are dying 48 hours after getting sick. I'm very concerned" she told us.

Carla also said she thought the "swine flu" originated from the United States. We've heard the same story from several other people who say they heard that from the Mexican media.

Not everyone we've talked to is scared of getting sick.

One young man, a university student, said he thinks the government is going too far by closing schools and other events.

Across the city, police and members of the Mexican army are handing out masks to people on the streets. There is a clear sense of tension here as people wait to see what happens.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Twenty-two thousand people from all over the world, gathered in one conference center for a week. All of them have different takes on the AIDS epidemic, and all of them are keen on making their points of view known.

It's like being a kid in a candy store for a journalist. All these people, all eager to talk to you, all vying for your attention as a representative of the global media.

But that's what makes covering an AIDS conference so difficult: How do you sort through all the information, all the public relations pitches, all of the staged events to get to the story?

In the space of three days, I've talked to prestigious scientists, sex workers from Thailand, proud parents of gay teenagers, hard-working community outreach workers from Bolivia, earnest activists from France, nervous press officials from the Mexican government, eager sales reps from the pharmaceutical companies. All have a story to tell, but I only have a few minutes a day to get all those stories out.

"It is a bit of a circus, isn't it?" asked the head of a major non-governmental organization as we prepared to do a live interview. I had to agree - but then proceeded to be amazed at how she shifted from that rather blasé remark into a perfectly executed 30-second quote about the essence of her organization's work in HIV prevention.

For me, the challenge was in attempting to do the same - distilling all the information available into perfectly executed and well-informed short reports on the essence of the gathering. After all, everything usually boils down to one essential message.

Gotta go. A group of drummers and dancers - AIDS activists from Pakistan - is threading its way toward me, and is headed straight for our camera.