Nov 15, 2017
TRAVEL IS AN ENDLESS PLEASURE
Arriving in a city after midnight brings with it exhilaration as well as trepidation, especially if it is Manaus in the Brasilian Amazonia. Brasil does not have a reputation for…
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.
Nov 15, 2017
GOOD DEEDS HAVE A LONG MEMORY: THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN FOR A REASON
It is a Sunday afternoon, I arrived at Miami airport as usual a little earlier to enjoy the ambience of being in the liminal world of travel and enjoy the…
Nov 15, 2017
SHABBAT SHALOM FROM A PARQUE NEAR MY HOUSE IN VEDADO, LA HABANA, CUBA
It is 5 pm on this Friday evening, 10 November 2017. The sun has eased its strength and squalls and the rain seemed to have left for elsewhere. I am…
Oct 15, 2017
OFFERING TOBACCO TO MOAI IN TAHAI IN RAPA NUI: A GIFT FROM MY BROTHER ARNE VAINIO OF MILLE LACS OJIBWAY
ARNE VAINIO, my Ojibway brother, was being honoured as the American Indian Physician of the Year 2017 at a meeting where I was one of the speakers. Our meeting and…
Oct 15, 2017
GRATITUDE, HUMILITY AND SACRIFICE FROM OMAHA COUNTRY TO SOUTH AMERICA
I am grateful for the kindness shown to me by the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; especially Ashleen BB, Wehnona S, Lorna S, Taylor H among the many others. Lately I…
Sep 15, 2017
YOM KIPPUR 5778 DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE
Today is YOM KIPPUR, the most important day in Jewish Calendar. I thought fondly of the other times, when and where I had been present to be with my fellow…
Sep 15, 2017
A LOVE POEM TO THE RESILIENCY OF CUBAN PEOPLE SUNG BY PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE
I had already left France and Belgium when the storm IRMA was pending and when I reached Doha in Qatar, it was evident that there would be no flight to…
Sep 15, 2017
Man wants one thing, the Nature wants another: A TRIP OF MISHAPS
I have been on the road for a while, in fact travel has become HOME and each stop a pleasant interlude before the next flight leaves for another destination. Usually…
Sep 15, 2017
TRAVEL IS SUCH A SAD PLEASURE
Travel is Such a Sad Pleasure The above sentence brings back several sentiments, first of all, on this trip: La Habana-Miami-Los Indios-Doha-Casablanca-Doha-Siem Reap-Kuala Lumpur and now to Quiberon in France…
Aug 15, 2017
COINCIDENCES ARE NOT COINCIDENCES: WE LACK THE INTELLIGENCE TO UNDERSTAND IT, SAY THE NATIVE INDIANS
I have just left Havana, Cuba after a few very special days with my best friends in Miami. It was delightful, everything went smoothly, considering the impact of the hardship…
Aug 15, 2017
MARRIOTT MARQUIS CITY CENTRE HOTEL IN DOHA QATAR: A STAY THAT BECAME A VACATION
A HOTEL STAY THAT TURNED ITSELF INTO A VACATION And that mood followed me to Casablanca. I love flying Qatar Airways; it means frequent transits through Doha. Before, I was…
Aug 15, 2017
A TALE OF TWO CITIES; NEW YORK AND DOHA, A GOOD METAPHOR FOR DECLINE
A TALE OF TWO CITIES: IN A MATTER OF HOURS. A GOOD METAPHOR NEW YORK AND DOHA To travel from Havana to Doha, one has to transit either in Miami…
Aug 15, 2017
CUBAN ENDOCRINE SOCIETY INVITES YOU TO THEIR ANNUAL MEETING. NOV 8-10, LA HABANA, CUBA
An excellent opportunity to Visit CUBA! An opportunity to meet Cuban Clinicians and Researchers. Topics covered are Endocrine Diseases as well as Reproductive Health in women with Diabetes. I am…
Aug 15, 2017
CUBA IT IS TIME TO VISIT THE TREASURE OF CUBA: ITS PEOPLE
It is a great pleasure for me to show my favourite country to visiting people. In the last year, I have had multiple visitors including some friends from my university…
Aug 15, 2017
HAVANA IS THRIVING DESPITE THE NOISES FROM YUMA: NOTES FROM AUGUST 2017
While the everyday life in Havana has been affected a little, especially for people with limited income, because of the pronouncements coming from Washington, the resiliency of the Cuban people…
Jul 15, 2017
WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE ON THE GROUND, NO ONE CAN BEAT THE UNITED STATES SERVICE INDUSTRY.
WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE ON THE GROUND, NO ONE CAN BEAT THE UNITED STATES SERVICE INDUSTRY. I had arrived in the United States from Qatar on the 16…
Jun 15, 2017
HAVANA THE MOVEABLE FEAST May 2017
My flight had originated in Charlotte and it was strange to be flying over Miami, from where my normal journeys to the moveable city of la Habana begins. It was…
Jun 15, 2017
TRAVELS IN MAY 2017 AN EXTREMELY GOOD MONTH OF TRAVEL USA CUBA EUROPE MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
31 May 2017 The last day of the month of May, a month of excesses. 15 flights all in First Class or Business Class North America, Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the…