Feb 15, 2023
A MOST PLEASANT 14 FEBRUARY. DIA DE LA AMISTAD AS WE SAY IN CUBA. A DAY OF FRIENDSHIP
Today has turned out to be a very pleasant day.. I do not pay much attention to the Valentine's Day hype in the West but in Cuba this day is…
Stories
Field notes from the road
Medicine, culture, travel, food, healing, and human stories from my archive. Start with a trail, search for a memory, or move by year.
Roads, meals, clinics, and human encounters.Archive into inquiry
These field notes are not only memory. They are the ground from which my new field inquiries begin.
The current inquiry follows one trail through the archive: food culture, metabolic health, Indigenous knowledge, and Suriname.
Feb 15, 2023
REMNANTS OF THE JEWISH MELLAH OF AZEMOUR , MAROC/MARRUECOS/MOROCCO
AZEMMOUR , city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. In the 15 th century Azemmour was a free city with 20,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,500 were Jews, mainly occupied as…
Jan 15, 2023
WHERE ARE YOU FROM ORIGINALLY? WHAT IS YOUR NATIONALITY ?
This is a question I have heard all my life. The divergence of my body (asian) and mind (post renaissance Europe) and soul (indigenous) confuses many who are used to…
Jan 15, 2023
WHERE IS MY CUBAPASION ? WHERE IS THE GHOST OF THIS MOVEABLE CITY
Cities evoke a nostalgia in me . My own home city of Melbourne always reminded me of the fragrance of the flowers that i use to sense as I walked…
Jan 15, 2023
BLUES EYES UNCHANGED AND IT IS MINUS 17 DEGREES IN KHORASAN PROVINCE IN IRAN
It was Minus 17 degrees Centigrade in South Khorasan Province and someone or other had invited the family for tea and cakes for the afternoon. Would you like to come,…
Jan 15, 2023
MAJESTIC HOTEL IN TUNIS : A PIECE OF HISTORY TO RELIVE
A CENTURY OF HISTORY In 1913, when its construction was completed, the Majestic Hotel, then, unique Palace of the capital, was the property of René Kisraoui. Commandeered from November 1942…
Jan 15, 2023
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR AND IGNORE THE LISTS AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. .. CHUCK AWAY YOUR NEW YEAR LISTS, BUCKET LISTS ETC
One of the favourite pastimes in the western world is to predict the weather or repeat the drastic prediction made by slender, flimsily clad "certified meterologists" (whatever that is ).…
Dec 15, 2022
TRAVEL GUIDES/COMPANION NEEDED FOR THE FOLLOWING CITIES .. 2023
Anytime I see a List of places to visit in 2023 or something similar, I know those are the places to avoid. Yahoo Lists are hopeless written by people who…
Dec 15, 2022
IF WE APPRECIATE AND BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT WE HAVE, OUR HAPPINESS WILL MAKE OTHERS HAPPY
My UmonHon Indian teacher, Pierre said to me, appropriately after I had hurried to the Clinic of the tribe, without much attention to the blue skies, and an eagle following…
Dec 15, 2022
WHO BROUGHT FUFU TO BARACOA ? THE FRENCH FROM HAITI IN MY OPINION
WHAT IS FUFU ? FUFU is a food of African origin, which arrived with the slaves to the Caribbean region from West Africa. The slaves were forcibly brought over to…
Dec 15, 2022
WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE A PROJECT IN LIFE, YOU AGE PREMATURELY AND DIE. .. VOCE E LINDA CAETANO VELOSO
I have always been fond of reading, the habit of looking through second hand bookstores and bouquinistes have followed me in my travels ..Powell's of Portland.. River Seine.. Tokyo.. Carlton…
Dec 15, 2022
HELP! NEED A PSYCHIATRIST TO CURE ME OF DROMOMANIA
I am absolutely in love with my language, once i realized its intricacies, nuances as well as its analytical nature and the abundance of words. There is word for it,…
Nov 15, 2022
DOUBLE TREE BY HILTON IN KUALA LUMPUR. THE PLEASURES OF THE EXECUTIVE CLUB ON FLOOR 34
An elderly gentleman, kind and soft spoken with a son in Sydney who is an accountant took me from the airport to the hotel Double Tree by Hilton in Kuala…
Nov 15, 2022
TOMORROW YET TO BE BORN IS A COLLECTION OF TODAYS NOSTALGIA.. AUTUMN LEAVES FOR PENELOPE, VIENTE ANOS ATRAS
I was still at university when I listened to a jazz pianist playing this melody Autumn Leaves Did not realize at that time, many years later I would be listening…
Oct 15, 2022
LA HABANA TO NICARAGUA AIRFARE IN ECONOMY CLASS IS 3500 DOLLARS WHY AND WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING FROM ?
Vuelos a Nicaragua Salidas desde La Habana. Cambio de avión en Santo Domingo. Desde $3.499 Theses tickets are sold by a travel agency in Miami for Cubans who want to…
Sep 15, 2022
MI POBRE CUBA.. A VISIT BY HURRICANE IAN .. NO ERES BIENVENIDO, SR. IAN
In CUBA we try to be hospitable to visitors but this one, from the Sahara, Cabo Verde Islands and the Atlantic, a certain Sr. IAN was not welcome. The entire…
Sep 15, 2022
AS AMERICAN INDIANS SAY WE ARE NOT CLEVER ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THINGS HAPPEN. SHANAH TOVA 5783
An alarm was raised about a possible Hurricane approaching Cuba, so I decided to leave for Miami. There I was sitting at the noisy International Departure terminal of Jose Marti…
Sep 15, 2022
WE NEED TO THINK OF QUALITY OF LIFE WHEN YOU THINK OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE OUR COMFORT ZONE LIVES IN THE WEST
I have had a wonderful trip to France, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia; two developed and two developing areas of the world. I have been lucky enough to visit Marrakech often…