Australian Mangoes

After writing yesterday's entry on black swans, which are unique to Australia and I absolutely love, I thought I'd continue by sharing a few more unexpected and extremely enjoyable Aussie "things." Today's delight, and that is no exaggeration, is the mango. I never expected to try so many kinds of mango, but between September and April, the grocery stores go through Kensington, Calypso, R2E2 (I don't know where is this Star Wars-like name coming from), Keitt, Kent, Pearl, Brooks, Honey Gold, and Palmer varieties. I call these "countless kinds" of mango. The hyperlink will help you figure out how yellow, juicy, sweet, and fibery is each of these varieties. My mouth is watering now (June is a mango-less month) and I can guarantee that if you like mangoes, you will be licking your fingers after eating each fruit, independent of variety. If you didn't care much about mangoes, like Tiziano, who thought their aroma was similar to that of shoeshine, you will completely revise your incorrect opinion and indulge in mango after mango, again, independent of variety. In early season or in years of small productions, one mango is up to $5, but when buying bulk (boxes of 15-20 mangoes) they are about $1 each. Size matters, too, because if you buy an R2E2 that can weigh about 1kg, one piece of fruit feeds "a village"! Since I do not have a picture of my favorite mango, I will include that of a family of black swans, cygnet, mom and dad! LOL!

Black Swans

I am not sure if any zoo in the United States or Europe has black swans, but I hope somehow you all get to see once in your life time such a special bird. They have the elegance of white swans with extra distinction given by the shiny, undulating black feathers. Black swans can be found only in Australia, but have been introduced in New Zealand and not so successfully in England. I haven't been able to find much information on their evolution and how they relate to the white European swans, but that is just one more intriguing aspect with which black swans fascinate me.

More on Healthcare in Oz

The first official things we did once landed in Oz as permanent residents, and I literally mean during the first 3-4 days, were to get the drivers license (picture taken and fat fee paid), get a taxation number, and get the Medicare (universal healthcare) card. So, we could immediately go see a doctor if needed to. I thought this was extremely admirable and it showed deep caring for citizens on behalf of the Australian government. It should be the same in all countries of the world. This is how this type of healthcare works. When I get sick, I call the local government-supported clinic and make an appointment. There are about 5 doctors and a Pathology collection room. I can request to see a certain doctor or, if my ache is serious and I need immediate help, the first available doctor will see me. Patients "belong" to the clinic, not to a GP (General Practitioner). It's hard to establish a relationship with your doctor, but if you always go to the same one that you like, you may be able to do it. Each appointment is 10 min or 20 min, if an annual or a more complex check-up is needed. Cost is $63, but I get reimbursed $39 from Medicare. The clinic submits the paperwork and money is put back into my bank account, which is registered with Medicare. Elegant and efficient. If I am not registered, I need to go to a Medicare office and get reimbursed. They are normally in large shopping centers and contrary to banks and most post offices, they are open on Saturday morning. The doctor can give me referrals for specialists or imaging, pathology, etc. None of these other places takes my private insurance, which is only good for hospital stays and a few "extras" but I'll tell you more tomorrow about private insurance. If I tell the GP that I am willing to pay out-of-pocket, I can be sent to a private office for imaging, where the wait is very short, reverse proportional to the price. If I rely only on Medicare, the wait is often so long I'm likely to die or forget I have ever been sick. The price is low and part of the fees are reimbursed by Medicare. Specialists also take Medicare, because private insurance covers only hospital stays. The fees are very high, but Medicare reimburses a certain percentage, and if someone reaches a certain threshold, they are reimbursed a higher percentage of the fees. Today's picture is entitled "Sharing a secret" and it was awarded a small prize by the Michael's Camera store in Melbourne in May. I am not sure if the two sulphur-crested white cockatoos were talking about Medicare...

Healthcare Adventures (1)

It happened again. I started writing today's blog entry on my iPad while driving home. It was about driving habits in Melbourne (I know, again!... but I can write a lot about this fascinating subject)and how I believe such habits are related to the culture of a place. But my blog theme changed after I got home and took Tiziano to the doctor. He injured his foot playing tennis three days ago. We went to the Emergency Room the following morning at a major medical center in Melbourne. Two hours later, Tiziano walked out with half a cast on his foot and a preliminary result of the X-ray. Nothing conclusive emerged, but because Tiziano felt something breaking/snapping in his foot, the cast was supposed to immobilize it until he had an MRI done and thus, doctors could figure out what was the injury. As you see, I didn't speak about treating the injury. So the following day we went to the General Practitioner, who read the final X-ray report and concluded what we knew, that an MRI was needed to tell us what happened with his foot. A $63 later she gave Tiziano the referral for MRI (Medicare will reimburse us about $40 of this fee). In a private imaging center, where neither universal (Medicare) nor private insurance are taken, he had the MRI of the foot done for a $295 out of pocket, non-reimbursable fee. Today, we went back to the GP to figure out how to care for this foot. Tiziano cannot use his right foot, so he has to be driven, needs help getting in and out of the shower, and clearly cannot do a lot of other chores. The GP read the MRI report to Tiziano, which said that he had a tear, some edema and scar formation in the fascia. She told him that she has never heard of such a thing and cannot recommend anything but a visit to a podiatrist, for whom there is no need of a referral. She didn't know any orthopedist either and she could not articulate any advice as to wether he should continue wearing the cast or not. Although he had no benefit from seeing the doctor, other than having a doctor read a few lines of text to him, he had to pay the Medicare fee of $63, from which you already know, Medicare will send us back about $40. Can a doctor claim she has never heard of a medical issue and still get paid? The Internet is full of references to fascia and torn plantar fascia stories, including scholarly articles on this subject. So this is not an issue a doctor can claim is rare. Why does a doctor not try harder to help someone injured (clearly unable to walk!) and instead sends them home without any advice? Does this sound scary just to me? What I do think is that healthcare is poor in this most livable place on Earth, but I may need a few more examples until I can draw the final conclusion... This picture is the print left by Tiziano, who walks now in one foot (left) due to a not so rare injury his doctor still has to learn about. I'm scared now.

Electric Current

I felt very lazy tonight because it's winter Down Under and days are short. It is officially cold (declared by meteorologists and most Ausies), but I don't conform with this belief. I think that if the mercury doesn't drop under the freezing point at least during the night, it's not winter, it's just the cold season. Right now the temperature drops to 6-10 Celsius at night and shivers (?!?) between 13 and 16 Celsius during the day. Native trees haven't lost a leaf, and moreover, some of them are in bloom, liked the Proteas. But I should not get caught into speaking just about this snow-less, bloom-full winter, since my goal was to speak of electricity. Yes, electric current is available at 220 Volts and to protect people from electrocuting themselves, all plugs have a tiny switch, the size of a lady bug, which has to be turned on only after one plugged the electric device. You may wonder why I wanted to write about this very simple device, but I think it is extremely smart. I confess to getting a 220-Volt shock when I was little in Romania and it felt quite threatening. It was a serious jolt, probably a tad milder than what a croc (the size of the one in the picture) could do to your arm. It is silly, but every time I plug something here in Oz, I smile as I flick the safety switch...

Feral Animal Species

I was surprised at how many species had been recklessly introduced in Australia. I will refer only to animals today, not plants. Maybe reckless is not the best word, and no word can ever simply describe the damage done by artificial introduction of animals into another established habitat. The following feral species wander over this beautiful country, destroying native species of animals and plants, contributing to land erosion, and spreading parasites: cat, deer, pig, goat, horse, donkey, European red fox, European wild rabbit, camel, cane toad and water buffalo. Deer, foxes and rabbits were introduced for the purpose of recreational hunting. Millions of dollars are spent every year to keep foxes away from protected areas with native animals. Rabbits chew rapidly through grass that would otherwise feed native species. Camels, horses and donkeys came to Oz very long ago together with the first explorers, helping them carry tons of supplies for mostly tragic expeditions. Water buffaloes were imported in the middle of the last century to supply meat for Northern settlements, but were later released in the wild. Finally, cane toads, the main characters of probably the biggest self-inflicted ecological disaster, were introduced in 1935 to control pest cane beetles, but had no natural predator in Oz. Now they are conquering kilometer after kilometer of land (they were introduced in the cane plantations of Queensland in the North East and are now present in Western Australia) after having already destroyed the habitat of many other species. The camel in this picture is one we saw on the side of the road somewhere close to Uluru, in the Northern Territory, certainly not in Africa...

School Stuff (3)

This blog entry is about sports, but not because kids here play sports that I know very little about. I confessed to that a few days ago... It's because there is a serious culture of sports in Australia. Kids play sports in school and outside, at clubs found in all suburbs, in dedicated areas around nature reserves, and in sports cents. We have an Aquatic center just 5 km away, which has a heated 50m pool outside, a 25m pool inside, a kiddie pool, jacuzzi, and huge wave pool inside. The gym is upstairs. It is both respectable and admirable that schools take sports extremely serious in this country. Most schools I know have at least an oval for cricket and footy (Australian rules football), and also a gym, basketball courts and sometimes swimming pools and tennis courts. Kids participate frequently in competitions and are taught to swim from a young age. Australia being populated mostly on the coastal areas, it is crucial that children know how to swim. Adults play sports, too, such as tennis and cricket. There are lots of leagues and clubs with members from the youngest school children to adults of advanced age.