Whitebait

For two weeks each spring the whitebait are running.  Whitebait is a juvenile small freshwater fish.  The larvae of these little fish wash down the river and into the ocean where they hatch and then move back up the river as whitebait.  The eggs are laid in the fall during the flood season in the river bank grasses.  The next spring tide causes the eggs to hatch into larvae and then are flushed out into the sea.  For 6 months they live in the ocean as part of the plankton mass.  The developed juveniles then return to rivers and move upstream to live in freshwater.  

As I ran along the river this morning, the men were parked and sitting on the docks fishing for whitebait.  Some fish alone and others in groups.   Jogging along it is mainly still with the men quietly enjoying putting their nets down and letting them skim the river for the fish.  Every once in a while I pass a car with the door open and the radio playing.  I turn and head into town and I see an elderly man from dancing class.  He tells me how it wasn't a good morning of fishing, he only got a handful of whitebait. 

I was given a container of whitebait this weekend.  We all looked though the plastic at all the little eyes.  They were small and looked like slimy little worms.  Everyone has been talking about fritters so I give it a go.  Basically a whitebait fritter is an omelet with fish in it.  After a few bites, we got over the eating of the whole fish thing.  They weren't too bad, but I can't say I will be ordering it next time I see it on a menu!

No Worries - Kris

Matthew's Farm

After getting home from school on Tuesday, Matthew asked if I wanted to come stay the night at his farm.  I said "yes" because I had never stayed the night at a farm and thought it would be fun.  So Matthew's mom drove us to his farm (40 minutes away).  When we got there we shot bees with bb guns (that's what they call them but they are air-soft guns) for a long time.  Then he gave me some gum boots to wear and some "farm clothes" to wear before we went down to the bee hives.  His mom drove us down to the bee hives (he has a lot of land) and Matthew brought his air rifle with him so we could shoot a rabbit.  Every couple of minutes on the way there we had to stop to look for a rabbit.  When we finally got there we could not go all the way up to the bee hives because the bees were buzzing all around them.  Instead we just looked around for a rabbit to shoot and Matthew gave me a shot with his air rifle, which was pretty cool.  When we got back to his farm he got out his two wheeler (dirt bike) and he road it around, then he let me have a try (I have never road a two wheeler before) it was really fun.  After that we just messed around inside his house then went to bed.  When we got up in the morning (6:00-6:30) his mom drove us back to his rented house in town (which is a couple houses down from ours).  At his rented house we had a bb gun war until we had no more bullets to refill our guns with then we had to go to school.

- Damon

The Two Baby Lambs

On Friday before school someone called my mom.  I wondered who it was and why they called, but of course my mom did not tell me who it was and why they called but she did tell me one thing - that it was a surprise and it was probably going to be more work for her!  Damon and Maddie were already gone to school by that time.  After a long day of school we finally got to go home, wait, did I mention netball practice???  Well that was first, and then to the surprise.  I was exited!  My mom said to get into the car and we could guess what the surprise was.  First Maddie asked if we were going to see sheep but she was wrong.  My mom said that it had to do with sheep, then I asked if we were going to feed sheep but I was wrong. After that Damon asked if we were going to see sheep get docked??  My mom just laughed and said "no"!  My sister finally asked if we were going to get sheep and my said "yes"!   And I thought it was really cool!   But then my mom said "we are going to probably get two!"  When we finally got there there were four baby sheep "baaaing"!!  They were so cute!  The lady who owned them was really nice and she let them out of the pen she had them in.  We got to pet them and stuff.  After we petted them for awhile she let us feed them and showed us how to do it!  It was fun feeding the baby lambs, Maddie fed one, Damon fed one, the lady fed one and I fed one. Then it was time to chose which ones we were going to take home.  There was a little one that we all wanted but we did not know which other one.  I wanted the next smallest one. She said "ohhh that one does not drink that well" but I still wanted him.  Damon and Maddie did not make any suggestions so we got that one!!!  After that mom took us to the store so she could buy stuff for them.  She went in and we stayed the car.  She got two leashes, a pink and a green collar for them plus she got the formula!  Each day we need to feed them at least three bottles a day!  The next morning we gave them a bath it was hard but fun! I love having lambs!!!

-Elena

Earthquake

Upon waking this morning Chad declared that I had experienced my first earthquake.

"Huh?"  I said.

"Don't you remember waking me up and asking me to stop shaking the bed?"

"Huh?"  I said.

"I said I wasn't shaking the bed, but you insisted that I was."

"Huh?"  I said.

"Then I heard Damon's bed hitting the wall.  You don't remember this?"

"Huh?"  I said.

I looked around the room trying to make sense of what Chad was saying.  Everything was in place.   Make-up bottles were still standing, maybe things had shifted but I couldn't tell.  I declared there was no way there was an earthquake because everything was fine!  Chad began doubting himself and commented  "Maybe I was having a dream".  We walked out into the kitchen, my Sigg bottle was upside down draining.  Triumphantly I said "There is no way we had an earthquake because this bottle would have tipped over very easily."  I gave the bottle a little flick just to make my  point.  We turned on the news just to see if Chad was dreaming.  Indeed at 11:25 p.m. a 5.9 quake had struck 10km southwest of Hastings at a depth of 30km.  The shake lasted about 20 seconds.  An aftershock of 3.0 was felt a bit later.  So what did that mean to us here in Wairoa?  From what I am hearing around town, "it was a good one."   A shake that woke people up and made them wonder if there were more to come.   The depth and distance softened the shake.  I feel a bit cheated that I didn't actually wake up and remember the shake as everyone else in town seems to have.  

No worries - Kris

The Dance

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to learn how to dance.  I have memories of Saturday evenings with my sister prancing around the family room floor in our long flannel nightgowns and pink curlers while Lawrence Welk, with conductor's baton in hand, took Norma Zimmer,  in her floor length chiffon dress, and floated across the dance floor.  My dreams have matured to Dancing with the Stars as my neighbor and I "knowledgeably" critique the stars from the couch.  My dreams came true when we moved here and Chad surprised me by taking me to dance lessons.  Dance lessons here are the social thing to do.   All levels gather in the College gym to practice and learn new steps.  Dancing is not as easy as it looks.  The first few weeks were very frustrating for both Chad and me as we struggled with how to handle two left feet, what direction to go, who was really leading the dance, trying not to step on the other person toes or just completely knock them over, and many other marital issues.  We have begun to feel more comfortable with how to move our feet to different types of music.  I am relaxing enough to realize when Chad is trying to move me in a certain direction.  I am beginning to feel the music.  

This past weekend we had our first dance.  The theme was the Wild West.  The day of the dance I was walking downtown with a friend and we ran into another girl from our class.  We excitedly exchanged notes on what we were going to wear and what we were bringing to eat.  You would have thought we were a couple of school girls getting ready for prom!  

That evening Chad & I arrived at the dance hall.  We put our food down and found some seats.  We began visiting.  Getting out there and dancing was something neither of us were feeling overly courageous to attempt.  We were saved by other people who had been at it for several years asking us to dance.  They were quite comfortable with just pushing us around!  The evening was quite social as we began to chat with the people in our class.  Norm (with whom I am dancing in the photo) shared stories with me of dancing with his late wife.  Dancing was their favorite thing to do.  It was quiet the rage in Wairoa during the war with 7 different dance halls to go to on a Friday night.

The night was over soon enough.  I am looking forward to this weeks class and learning more although I will never be a Norma Zimmer and all I wish to do is dance under the stars with my husband.

No Worries - Kris

Mooch

We did say that we would not have any animals here but... we do, we have a cat and we named him Mooch.  Mooch really just came to our door and adopted us!  His favorite place to sleep is right up by the fire where it is burning hot, but I guess he does not really care.  We do not know if Mooch is a boy or girl so we just call him a him!   Mooch sometimes sleeps with us but never, ever for the whole night.  By 5:00 in the morning he is most likely kicked out!  We will not let him stay in our bedrooms because by 4:00 a.m. he is one loud purring machine.  He will  snuggle up to us and just keep on purring so then we just make him leave!  Sometimes he is not doing that he is doing the opposite, playing, meowing or chasing something!  In the day time he is mostly just lying around, but if we are lucky (NOT) he will catch something for us, and when he does my mom is never pleased!

- Elena

Sometimes I kiss my patients...

I've had a few people ask what a day at the clinic is like for me, so here goes.

After doing rounds on the ward at the hospital, I go downstairs to the clinic that I work in. There are four practices in Wairoa, Three of which have one doctor each, and ours, which has two doctors. Our clinic is the "go-to" clinic for anyone who has no doctor, is down on their luck or has been kicked out of another practice.

One of the things I enjoy about the workday here is that the pace is somewhat slower.  My day is just as long, but there is no push to see as many patients as I can.  Less patients means more time with each patient--for the most part.  I do get called to the ward for emergencies, but these are not so frequent as to really cramp my style.

I won't bore you with the endless forms and bureaucratic compost I have to deal with as part of my routine (some of you do the same), but I will tell you that socialized medicine is not all fun-and-games.  I've met more than a couple people that have had to wait for months (a year or more at times) for surgery or for a simple appointment with a specialist.

One feature of the medical structure is called ACC.  ACC is a program under which all of your medical bills and up to 80% of your missed paychecks are paid by the government.  This also applies to non-Kiwis.  No wonder New Zealand's city of Queenstown had become so popular for extreme sports--go ahead, break your neck--it's paid for!!

The drawback is that there are people who take advantage of this program.  I've been here only 10 weeks and can't tell you the number of people who are not working, but "on a benefit" as they call it.  Unfortunately, human nature is such that some are tempted to complain of pain or disability that keeps them on benefit, but can not be proven or disproven with modern medical science.  New Zealand does employ some "ACC Police" who catch the occasional bloke on benefit for back pain carrying a 150# boar out of the bush or digging fence post holes on the farm.

All in all though, the system is not a complete failure, and there are many people who get care that otherwise would have no access whatsoever.  The very young, old and disabled often have special needs, and it helps me immensely that New Zealand has a program that lets me treat them all.

I've enjoyed getting to know my patients and learn from day to day the things I need to know to do good medicine in a culture that's new to me.  One of my first lessons was from Rafi (my partner), who told me "Don't lean on the exam table when talking to patients."  This was difficult and I still forget sometimes, but it's important because in Maori culture you never put your butt where your head or where food would go.  Sounds simple, but think about it--how often do you lean against the counter while talking with a neighbor in your kitchen?

I see people of all ages of course, but one thing I look forward to is seeing a couple of the older Maori ladies.  They are so kind and grandmotherly it makes my day.  They usually put their face next to mine, cheek-to-cheek and we kiss.  For a white boy from the cold North it was uncomfortable at first, but a nice custom once I got used to it.

Overall the day is quite pleasant, and with a steaming cup of joe on my desk and a raging infection sitting across from me I feel quite content for the moment.

- Chad