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!

I’m off to bali again to try and set up a foundation. We’ll see how it goes.

So, what have I been so busy doing for the last two years?

2005/2006 – Sabbatical (Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Africa)

2006 – Design training program for Acupuncturists & Chinese Medicine practitioners

2007 – Implement course at the Seattle Institute for Oriental Medicine

2007/2008 – First field trip (Bali, Indonesia)

2008 – Second training (NY)

While I was away I got this idea (with nudges from lots of people – Ted Bissell, Dan Bensky, Paul Karsten, and Craig Mitchell) to try and bring Chinese medicine to areas in the world that had limited access to Western health care. The idea was based on my experiences while traveling in the developing world on my sabbatical. I saw everything from a dislocated kneecap, TB, leprosy, and of course lots of malaria. I could see a future in which my brothers and sisters in Chinese medicine could be on the forefront of the battle against disease, poverty, and suffering. A future in which where there was a catastrophe, you would find us. Where there was a war, you would find us. Where there was economic injustice, you would find us. Given that acupuncturists on the whole are an unruly bunch, I thought there would be no shortage of interest in a project like this.

(more…)

which has heretofore remained a secret, and until i get time to write about it, will remain secret, has been a great success so far. even given our 50% casualty rate. you can read all about it on dan and jen’s blogs. many small miracles, a few major ones. all in all very good work by everyone on the team.

i’m sad for karen and sara who were both floored with illness at the beginning of their trip. sara has recouped well, and hopefully karen is not far behind her.

Karen Kraft was finally diagnosed with typhoid. she’s been sick for a week or so. Sara Beckner was also sick for a bit, then she got better and has been caring for Karen. Mark, Sara’s partner, has been great in caring for them both.

there has been a bit of an outbreak of typhoid in ubud. 3 people at bumi sehat are down, one even had cerebral edema from the typhoid. 2 people from idep (another ngo) are also down. one was the guy i worked with in aceh after the tsunami, ade.

most people have been hit pertty hard, except ibu robin lim – the director of bumi sehat – she’s been getting treated every day (usually she’s harder to coral the a scared chicken. and you know my chicken stories…), but i guess she was weakened by the typhoid and couldn’t run as fast as usual.

let’s start here. since i’ve been crazed with organizing, logistics, and treating patients, i’ve had no time to write. instead i will put links to other team members that have been updating their blogs regularly.

Dan’s Blog

Jen’s Blog

Karen’s Blog

i don’t have Sara’s Blog info yet, but i’ll post it when i get it.

The Global Acupuncture Project – this is taking an enormous amount of time.