Dec 15, 2017
GRATEFUL FOR 2017 WITH ITS WONDERFUL JOURNEYS
I am recuperating nicely from the last trip in the tranquility of my sisters home in Miami, while she is away with her family on Caribbean cruise. This last trip…
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.
Dec 15, 2017
WHY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018, WHY NOT, GRATEFUL FOR AN EVENTFUL 2017
Some one from Cuba: I am supposed to pretend to be happy at this time of the year! Advertisements from Malaysia to Qatar to Miami all inviting you to have…
Dec 15, 2017
RAFIQ AN HONEST TUK TUK DRIVER POSSIBLY THE ONLY ONE IN FORT COCHIN AS RECOMMENDED BY THE TRIPADVISOR
I forget how often I visit Fort Cochin, but I do know that I am often here, on my way to or from South East Asia or Europe. The Auto…
Dec 15, 2017
FIDEL IS WELL AND ALIVE IN FORT COCHIN
Cochin is one of the few places in Asia that i do not have to explain to people the actual location of CUBA. Not only Cuba well known here, a…
Dec 15, 2017
FORT COCHIN FOODIE SCENE IS GETTING BETTER FARMERS CAFE FACING PARADE GROUND
I have a photograph of Cochin taken in 1932 when it was literally a backwater village. Backwaters here in Kerala has another connotation which commemorates the birth of Cochin in…
Dec 15, 2017
I HAVE NEVER FELT SO HAPPY ARRIVING IN COCHIN FROM BRUSSELS 22.12.2017
The Abu Dhabi airport was covered in a dense fog that delayed the flight to Cochin by 4 hours but I took advantage of this delay with a prolonged sleep…
Dec 15, 2017
IN PRAISE OF SUGAR AND WHY NOT SALT
In Praise of SUGAR No one would be caught writing, In Praise of SALT, then why is an Endocrinologist who is socially committed to prevent Type 2 Diabetes and improve…
Dec 15, 2017
HAPPY HANUKKAH FROM A MUSLIM COUNTRY, MALAYSIA KUALA LUMPUR NIGHT 1
The Muslim and Arab countries of this world turned 900 000 Jews who had lived there long before Islam became the adopted religion of those countries, into refugees. Many of…
Dec 15, 2017
NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND UPPER PENINSULA: BEAUTY WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE PEOPLE
In recent months, I have met people with whom I immediately clicked, they are such good representations of the North American generosity, open mindedness and kindness. It was even amazing…
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…
Nov 15, 2017
A DOCTOR WITHOUT BORDERS WITH A GROUP OF INDIGENAS SIN/SEM FRONTERAS/FRONTEIRAS
What is the nationality of this man, who is saying his Shabbat Brachas in a Moslem country with a glass of wine (sorry it was a white wine from South…
Nov 15, 2017
THE TWO MUST DO THINGS IN LETICIA, COLOMBIAN AMAZONIA
Leticia in the Colombian bit of the Amazon River was left out of the riches of the Rubber Boom that made Iquitos in Peru and Manaus and Belem in Brasil…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…