Half our bags got taken at the airport. Ugh. Hopefully we can either get them released in to Bali or get them back when we ar returning to the US.

We’ve hit a bit of a snag and had to halt operations to file a bit more paperwork. What we’ve done so far – the systems, paperwork, organization, team structures – has been extremely effective and is definitely a reproducible model. More info to follow.

Got our first bag held hostage at customs. Argh. The rest have gotten through okay.

It’s been a while since I’ve traveled through Beijing – 4 or 5 years – and while the city is fundamentally the same it seems to have grown even more polluted and crowded. There are many more “foreigners” here than there were before. By “foreigners” I’m not referring to Westerners but to Chinese from other parts of china. It is like NYC being made up of mostly people from Charlotte or San Francisco. Very strange.

In addition, the smog here is unbelievable. On landing a thick fog covered the airport. It had a yellow hue and smelled of burning plastic. Those elements did not fade as I headed towards the city center, they intensified. I can feel the soot lining my nasal passages. The taste of dry soot coats my teeth.

Dead trees line the highway leading to the city. Cars spewing smoke everywhere. The throngs of people look bleak, devoid of hope, sick.

The Wangfujin area is much more built up than it used to be, sporting a giant mall filled with empty shops. Everything smells like burning plastic.

The people however are as kind as always. A bit of a tough exterior to get through, then so nice and kind it really warms one’s heart.

As usual, it took forever to get through customs. I am going to stop complaining about NY and its various drawbacks in terms of efficiency. Beijing takes the cake. The most frustrating thing about it is that there is no apparent reason for things to take as long as they do. It just happens as if it’s an unspoken agreement between bureaucrat’s and their unwitting victims – this will take exactly as long as is humanly possible without inviting more paperwork, movement, or involvement of a superior. Ugh.

Who says there are no Jews in China?

A very lackluster meal at Spicy Grandma’s in Beijing

This morning I’ll head to Seoul and after a brief (2hrs 40mins) layover head out to Denpasar. I already have 3 meetings set for the first 2 days…

Ps – I only brought a fleece jacket and it’s the middle of winter here. I wonder how I’ll cope with my two day layover in Japan in January…

pps – special thanks to Jen Resnick for the photos

On our way to Bali again – only this time in style! A group of affluent and influential locals got together and formed a “Yayasan” for us (we would call it a foundation). A wonderful and kind enterprise that will help us reach many more impoverished people.

We are tripling the number of sites we are working at, and hoping to double the number of patients seen.

I’ll be out of NY until Jan 9th.

Happy Holidays to all, and a great New Year!