Beware the salami ...

The first week of the school holidays is almost over, and the kids have been having a ball.
So far, they’ve been swimming, dancing, and roller-skating (you should see the bruises). They also went ‘indoor camping’ at vacation care. Oh, and they’ve had a quiet day at home after C. was violently ill one night – from both ends. Poor kid. And poor me who had to clean up all the mess. I kept them both inside and quiet the next day as a precaution.
It’s been a sad week too, with all the natural disasters occurring around the world. The Samoan earthquake and Tsunami, in particular, hit home. As some readers know, we’ve booked a family holiday there in November. But it’s not just that. Many Samoans live in New Zealand, and have family there. And its proximity to NZ means its not just a popular holiday destination, but that Samoans are like family to this country. Quite a few Samoan kids attend our school, and I can’t help wondering what all this means for them and their families. It is unimaginable what they must be going through.
Friends have asked if we’ll still be taking our holiday, and I guess, we’ll have to wait and see. If, like the Thai people after the Boxing Day tsunami, the Samoans want foreigners to visit and help them rebuild after this tragedy, we’ll be happy to go. I just feel so sad for those who have lost family, homes, income and even the clothes on their backs, that it would be silly to worry about a holiday.
I feel doubly blessed because we had wanted to be in Samoa this week! We’d tried to book for the school holidays, but it was way too expensive, being peak period. So we waited for a better deal, even though it meant we'd have to take the kids out of school for a week. I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if we had been there as we’d hoped.
On a lighter note, there have been some funny things to happen this week.
One morning, H. asked me if we were going to get salami. Yes, I told her, we’ll get one when we go shopping. “No a BIG salami,” she said. Okay, I said. We can probably get a big one. “No, a really big salami that will wash over us and take us away!” she said, all wide-eyed and concerned.
Of course, she meant tsunami, and was worried about what she’d been hearing on the news. Bless.
What was really funny, was, when the whole of New Zealand was on a tsunami alert, and some areas were being evacuated, a percentage of the Kiwi population decided to go down to the beaches and wait for it. And they say Aussies are mad! Click to see the NZ Herald's gallery of the Kiwi Tsunami-watchers ...

House calls

I'm constantly amazed at the differences between the Kiwi health system and our own.
Having blogged before about the pros and cons of healthcare, there were more surprises this week, after I contracted that particularly nasty Swine-Flu-like virus.
Apart from the vigilant measures taken at the GP surgery, where masks and gloves were donned and handed out with abandon, I'm amazed at the follow-up I've had since my last visit. Yesterday, the nurse rang me to ask how I was feeling, and the GP himself phoned today to make sure I wasn't any worse, and to remind me to drink my fluids and take my tablets. Considering, we often have to wait days to even see our (admittedly wonderful) GPs back home, it's amazing service.
As the Kiwis would say, Sweet As.
As for that flu? Husband and I are still struggling on, and the kids, so far, have stayed healthy. If anyone has any cures they want to share, I'd love to hear them!
At this rate, I'll be fixing up a pot of Mum's Witches Brew For Flu before long - lemon, honey, paprika, garlic, ginger and hot water.
It may well work, but I don't think anyone will want to be near me anytime soon...