Nov 15, 2017
A JEW ALONG THE AMAZON: FRIEND OF THE TICUNA AND LOOKING FOR JEWISH HISTORY
Within the course of one month: I was in Iquitos in Peru, Manaus in Brasil and Leticia in Colombia. Every where I went I met and made friends with the…
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.
Oct 15, 2017
RAV KOOK AND BOUNDLESS LOVE. BREAKING THE FAST 5778 IN MIAMI
It was Yom Kippur and I was on my way to Miami to be with my good friends. We broke the fast together. The hours we spent chatting was an…
Oct 15, 2017
MEDICINE AS A METAPHOR FOR SOCIETY: A COMMENT ON THE BOOK BY HILLARY CLINTON
MEDICINE AS A METAPHOR FOR SOCIETY Until the end of the last century, the dominant metaphor for Health was Religious/Spiritual. Body is a temple, health is godliness or saintliness. Even…
Oct 15, 2017
MINNESOTA MON AMOUR : A NEW LOVE IN MY LIFE
This country is immense, and most of us just touch small patches of it. I cannot claim to have traveled it well rather than in patches: Florida, Texas, Nebraska 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…
Oct 15, 2017
MY RAPA NUI FRIENDS : MEMORIES AND ANTICIPATION
I renewed some old friendships and made some new friends in Rapa Nui It was lovely to celebrate a shabbat, inviting some Rapa Nui friends.
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
MEDITATING ON THE MEANING OF DESIRE
A young medical student from Cuba asked me: I explain, I understand that the more we want something, the more likely it is to happen, so tell me, I must…
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…
Sep 15, 2017
SIEM REAP IN CAMBODIA : TWO DAYS TO CHILL OUT
Most people come to Siem Reap, to base themselves there for three days to visit the largest archeological ruins in the world, Angkor. I have been to Siem Reap three…
Sep 15, 2017
A VERY BRIEF STOPOVER IN KUALA LUMPUR
It always feels good to arrive in KL, a city I have grown to like since 2008 when I met a dear friend on my flight to Siem Reap! Over…
Sep 15, 2017
THE CHANGING MOODS OF QUIBERON ON THE BRITTANY COAST
This is my favourite spot in France, so far. France is a beautiful country and I have seen just a small portion, perhaps I will get a chance soon enough…
Sep 15, 2017
SOHEIL NAFISI, AHMAD SHAMLOO AND SOME SWEET MEMORIES
I am in Quiberon, Brittany, France where the night has fallen and the rain gone into hiding and the cote sauvage or the wild coast back to its unrelenting rhythm.…
Sep 15, 2017
JE SUIS JUIF ESPAGNOL SONG BY ENRICO MACIAS ALGERIA MADE HIM A REFUGEE IN FRANCE
I have flown this route many a times, and each time I pass over Constantine, I cannot help think of the Algerian Jews made homeless and made into refugees by…
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
A JEWISH ANTHROPOLOGIST IN THE LAP OF ARAB LUXURY IN QATAR
I am beginning to understand Qatar a little bit and I like it. The Qataris, native to this desert peninsula with a long history dating back to the beginning of…
Sep 15, 2017
A TED MED RESEARCH SCHOLAR IN DOHA: HERE IS A GOOD TED TALK TO MAKE YOU THINK OF ARAB WOMEN DIFFERENTLY
For the past two years, I have been a TED MED Research Scholar, vetting the speakers to the annual TED MED conference. It is a very satisfying task, and the…
Sep 15, 2017
SHIMON PERES:always remain Jewish and ensure the Jewish people always remain.
There is a beautiful recounting of the wonderful friendship Shimon Peres had with the French PM who on the last night of his stewardship before being thrown out, made concrete…