back-to-school virus grounds us

Today marks one month since we've been back in Israel after our 2-year sojourn in home-town Toronto. Only a month?? My head seems to have stopped spinning (jetlag, heat, new school for kid, too many holidays) and I can hardly remember the "Canadian me" anymore. I no longer notice how Israelis charge through small spaces, whether walking or driving, as I've jumped right into the fray again myself. But I definitely have changed my driving habits: I'm no longer a speed-freak and am appalled at how dangerously fast people drive here. The frighteningly high traffic fatality stats don't seem to have any modifying influence on the volcanic pressure so many carry inside.

It's also a month since I've seen my 20 boxes of crap -- er, personal effects, and after spending half an hour on the phone with my very disorganized, laissez-faire shipping agent, it would seem that I've got maybe 2 weeks more to wait --IF there's no port strike, as is being threatened. He's not sure, but "probably" the ship with my container has already arrived at Ashdod; the trouble is, according to him, the shipping industry has yet to join us in the 21st century and computerize their data. Upon questioning, it becomes clear that he himself and his own little Jerusalem-based, one-person-doing-everything-most-of-the-time rinky-dink operation is the one who sees computerizing his business as a so-far-distant-as-to-be-laughable proposition. He's supposed to be coordinating international shipments and he's abominably inefficient. I won't be nasty enough to mention his name here, but I will not be recommending his services to anyone who asks.

It turns out that Friday in Daliyat-al-Carmel was a little ill-advised, as my 12-yr-old daughter was suffering somewhat with sniffles, headache and general malaise. It was a judgment call, and it cost me today when she woke up still not feeling well after laying low all day yesterday; I sent her back to bed instead of school. She slept another couple of hours, and was pretty well fine the rest of the day, so she's going back tomorrow for sure. It was a beautiful day, but I only escaped around 5 pm to go to the grocery store. The last time she and I were sick was exactly a year ago. In Toronto, I discovered a magical potion: EchinaceaSeal, a combo of echinacea, golden seal and other infection-fighting goodies. Taken at the very first signs of any virus, it works wonders. Like I said, I haven't been sick for a year, having nipped in the bud every cold that tried to catch me. Unfortunately, since I've been using the drops on all of us during our past, vulnerable month, I'm almost out of them -- there are more in my shipment -- and it will be a race to see if I can stay healthy till they arrive.