lundi 12 décembre 2016

BOOKS AND TRAVELS OF AN ITINERANT ENDOCRINOLOGIST

I am reading an interesting book, Where the Earth Ends by John Harrison about his travels in Tierra del Fuego. I am spurred on while reading the book, having been to Tierra del Fuego only once and also only to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world. But I did have a chance to learn about the Indians who greeted Fernao de Magalhaes on his arrival to these shores. The Yamana
The Yamana are no more, their sonorous metaphoric language carefully preserved in books while the compilers paid trophy hunters one pound sterling each to bring back a count of dead Indians, a bow will do as no proud Selk'nam would part with his bow.
I want to visit Punta Arenas in Chile. Not far is Puerto Natales and I met a young mestiza from there studying Medicine in Cuba 10 years ago, Paulina by name, whatever happened to her I wonder.

If any one would like to wander around Ushuaia or Puerto Williams or Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales, please let me know.
The other book on the table is the history of India under the Dutch, the many far flung towns and villages with Dutch influence and of course the most important one being Cochin in Kerala, India. From a Jewish point of view, under the Dutch jewish merchants flourished and to this day you can see their residences, David Hall of David Rahabi and houses of Ezekiel Rahabi in Jew Town in Cochin. Many of the buildings along the backwaters running into the sea at Cochin one can see Dutch influenced buildings including the Aspinwall building and also many of the churches with a distinct dutch touch. 

Today , 12th December is the inauguration day of Cochin Biennale which would run until the end of March, 2017. I was lucky to participate in 2015 and I plan to do so in 2017.
The first days of February, my favourite airlines, Qatar Airways would ferry me there from Bruxelles and take me back a few days later to Miami.
https://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/
The other book on the table by the bed is by Murakami Haruki, the perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, from Japan. His peculiar way of writing, which slides off your skin is very attractive to me. I fondly think of the year 2005 when I travelled to Japan 9 times, mostly in the company of Chisako and I remember the times when I had met a Japanese traveller, Noriko in Rapa Nui who had completely transformed herself when I saw her in Toyama.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to Japan, its cuisine and its ethics and the people and the country side, its cinema and its books.. Arigato Gozaimasu.

I am always thinking of travelling.. isla de mallorca? zanzibar? always attracted to the exotic and islands.. I want to go back to Malaysia which feels like home to me, I would love to be back in Siem Reap with my brother, a chill out place of a town with good food, cheap alcohol and relaxing massages.
In the next three months, I will be in Cuba three times, in Bruxelles at least twice, France once, Cochin once and of course my dear Miami, to schmooze and enjoy the bay of Biscayne with the youngest of brothers.

ah well 
tem saudade por tudo.

2017 hopefully would see the reentrance of Australia into my travel orbit..
Melbourne where once I walked along the streets searching for that particular fragrance of flowers.. 

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