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FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION 1 1 2009 VIVA FIDEL VIVA RAUL VIVA PUEBLO CUBANO DE LA ISLA.. VIVA LA HABANA..
SEPTEMBER 7TH OH POBRE BARACOA..
Friday 25 July: i will be watching an annual Pow Wow of a tribe in a remote area of the mid section of USA and on Sunday 27th, I will be in Paris..nice to be able to take on various skins..
11 june 2008. In Paris, leaving for Miami, San Francisco and Havana. You cannot imagine how much I miss Mi Isla Rica, mi Cuba, my little Island and my dearest friends..
1 april 2008 Los Angeles Airport. waiting for the Qantas Flight to Melbourne. Cuba seems very far from here, but it does not have to be far from your heart. I think of my friends who are there and in the months of absence, I will be in close touch with them.
Looking through my calendar for 2008, I see that I will be shuttling between the two moveable feasts of my life: Havana, Cuba and Paris, France..described as the original moveable feast by a lover of Havana, Ernest Hemingway..
there would be of course occasional stops in Miami; two trips to Cairns in Australia; two trips to Siem Reap in Cambodia to help organize a Diabetes Clinic...and welcome unexpected destinations..
4 March 2008 Just arrived in Paris from Havana.
What can I say about Havana, except that it touches every part of your emotions. I love being there, my circle of friends are growing into a very large one..ha how nice..
Pleasantly surprised at the good quality of food to be had in Havana these days: Artechef, run by teachers at the chef school within walking distance of Melia Cohiba and Havana Riviera; La Roca in Vedado with its excellent combination plates which may include a delicious flan; Los Nardos with its romantic atmosphere serving up creole food.
What i noticed is that the majority of the people eating at these restaurants were cubans, not jiinateros in the company of tourists or excess cubans from outside but regular cubans who work and live in cuba. It pleased me to no end.
Changes and expectations are in the air with the new government in place. one of the earliest changes would be the ease with which cubans would be able to travel, whether other governments would facilitate this by giving them visas is another issue altogether. increasing the value of the cuban peso from 24 to 1 cuc to either 20 to 1 or 18 to 1 if they are lucky is also in the cards. Increasing the value of labour by increasing the salaries. Only an economically naive individual would claim or boast that the salary of cubans is only 15 to 20 cuc per month..that person does not know Cuba or the underground economy of the developing world. I have noticed prosperity all around in the recent months. Plenty of room for change and improvement of course. But we will still send doctors to 69 poorer countries, will educate 13500 poor students from latin America and 5000 from Africa to become doctors and go home to help their people. There is a price for all these somewhere...Andres Oppenheimer who in 1991 proclaimed in his Book, the final hour of Castro ( which was to last another 17 years), recently proclaimed with his materialistic, selfish north american oriented surrealism that the cuban revolution was not worth it. May he prove to be as right as he was in 1991 about Fidel.
Transport has improved much, all the buses that ply the provincial routes are new chinese made ones, comfortable. Telephone service has improved tremendously.. digital service. The speed of email remains at 42.6 kbps for cubans, I dont know what speed it is at hotels.
All in all, a good time to come to Cuba. This last week Havana was full of tourists, mostly from latin America and Europe and on the day I left for Paris, the airport was so busy with arriving and departing passengers: a 747 belonging to Virgin Atlantic and another one belonging to Air France arrived almsot simultaneously.. Lacsa, Taca, Copa, Click, Mexicana, Bahamasair come and went.. in addition to Cubana de aviacion of course..
so come, enjoy this moveable feast that is Cuba..

I am not a great fan of travel guides or travel magazines but recently i have come across a magazine which really suited my tastes: MONOCLE. as it says it is a brif on global afairs, business, culture and design. I highly recommend it
I dont remember when it started, but must have been early enough in life, this lust for books and places to find them.
Melbourne was a good place to scrounge for books, remember lots of little bookstores near the university.
in Tokyo there is a street that sells used books but very rarely you could get good used books in English
While a student in London, Foyles was a favourite haunt and also the book fair at Hay on Wye?
Books and Books in Miami and the owner Mr Kaplan are institutions on their own right
In omaha, jackson street booksellers never disappoint me, always something or other to buy there, long lost in memory.
Powells in Portland is a destination in itself, i have spent up to one week in that bookstore, reading writing drinking coffee and buying books.
There are small book shops of note: one in san antonio, one in soldier, iowa in the middle of nowhere. of course, la habana never disappoints a book lover, since you can also meet the people who wrote them.
In Yangon there is a street close to downtown where old books are sold and it is a surprise to come across to some rare tome on burmese life and well worth the look
in Bangalore, without doubt it is Premier Bookstore, I cannot respect any one who lives in Bangalore and has not visited this bookstore and chatted with the owner. a nice cup of coffee from the government store across the street await you.
Add to this list a second hand bookstore in the main street of Vermillion the home of University of South Dakota. I got a few books on a recent stopover there.
On a visit to Bangalore, a stop over just to visit Premier Book Store, I needed to buy an extra bag for all the books I bought at the bookstore. I will post a list under Bangalore pages...

December:2007: Paris to Cennai to Saigon to Siem Reap to Cochin to Bangalore to Mumbai to catch the nonstop to New York to Miami to Tucson to San Antonio to Miami to Mexico city to Merida where I hope to end this wonderful year 2007. My Friends, Food and Far East can be read on my blog. the coming trip is just to see friends scattered around the world.
January 2008: Started the year off in Merida Yucatan Peninsula Mexico, then to Miami and then Los Indios, long flight from Dallas to Narita on American Airlines connecting to Northwest to Singapore to catch a bus to KL. Three days in Brunei reliving some memories, on to Siem Reap. In one day from Siem Reap to Cennai transiting in KL, JHB and Sin. One day in Cennai and another in Bangalore to visit my faovurite Bookstore. Bangalore to Bombay on Kingfisher and then Virgin Upper Class to London and a rather rushed connection to Paris. Happy to be Home in Paris..

While in Bangalore did consult a Pundit, and he advised that difficult times are ahead until May of this year, so I will concentrate on travelling until May and then concentrate on other aspects of life, as the stars begin to shine upon me in May!!!
9th Feb to London for the weekend and on 11th to Miami on Virgin Upper Class. To Havana and Back
March: Paris.
April: Australia Malaysia Cambodia Malaysia
May/June/July the usual pond hopping
August Cochin
September Los Indios
I am very much looking forward to my next trip: Paris on Air France, to Malaysia on KLM, to Cambodia on MH, ? Yangon, to Melbourne on MH, across the Pacific on QF
Invited to give a lecture in Cochin in December

I am an Australian, from South Caulfield in Victoria, but have been associated with Baracoa and Cuba for a while now. I hold the position of Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the University of Havana Cuba (I also have academic appointments in London and USA).
I have lived in Brunei, Australia (Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane), Sweden, England, USA, Jamaica and as you can see have visited more than 100 countries and territories.
But as Alistair Reid had mentioned, however we may search, we may not find the place for ourselves, but the place will find you. I had come to Baracoa many many years ago with a good friend of mine, in search of rare palms of this region and it was a love at first sight, reminding of the many atolls that i had visited in the area of the world that given me the legal nationality. Since then i have grown with the city and friendships that have evolved. I am not an apologetic for the local government or the false cultural representatives or the american and mulattos who come to parade themselves as Taino Indians in Baracoa. But this village of Baracoa is so full of gentle people, maintaining a rhythm all of its own, marginalized from the history of the rest of Cuba. Recently a friend of mine, from the Research Institute of Foreign Ministry presented her doctoral thesis about the history and marginalization of Baracoa from the rest of the country since 19th Century. For majority of the people in Baracoa, this marginalization suits well their lethargy imposed upon them against their will by the authorities.
Favourite Country in the Americas: Cuba
Favourite Country in Asia: Myanmar
Favourite Country in Africa: Ghana
Favourite Country in Australasia: Australia OF COURSE
Favourite Country in Europe: France OBVIOUSLY
Montreal, Miami, SF, La Habana, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Merida
London, Paris
CapeTown, Zanzibar
Cochin, Malacca,Yangon
Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns,Suva

I am unashamedly addicted to good food, will travel great lengths for it. Refuse to eat bad food even if I am hungry (dont touch Pizza, Hamburgers etc in USA for example). Like wine (malbec, torrontes, southern wines) for more than health reasons.
I have eaten well throughout my travels but bad exceptions stand out: Namibia, Ghana, unfortunately in Cuba except in Baracoa, places I have to be in USA where Native Americans live.....
Best Airline Food flying long distances:
in Business Class, Continental is hard to beat. MH and SQ. Delta has a good wine selection
was not impressed with Business Class: Air India, Emirates, JAL. Air France does it with style, the food on a recent flight but nothing short of excellent
Virgin Upper Class is also very good. Peiper HiesDeick Champagne, lovely chenin blanc from RSA, Salmon etc etc..
Lovely to visit Premier Bookstores in Bangalore, one fo the main reasons I like to stop in that city of noise pollution and pretention: Books recommended by mr Shanbagh and brought over to this part ofthe world include:
The Indians , a Portrait of a People by Sudhir Kakkar
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Speaking Havoc: Social suffering and South Asian Narratives ed: Ramu Nagappan
David Leavitt: The indian clerk about the brilliant Tamoul mathematician Srinivasan Ramanujan
Time Treks: The uncertain furture of old and new despotisms by Ashis Nandy
Front line Pakistan; zahid Hussain
Culture and Public Actionedited by Vijayendra Rao and Miachael Walton
The ugliness of the Indian Male by Mukul Kesavan
Without Mr Shanbagh's help I would have to wait for months or even years to hear about them. He has such an eclectic taste and he helps others by stocking books no other book store ..This is one of the best.. anywhere int he world..

I am changing skins, from Teh Tahrek (milky tea brought into Malaysia with the Indian rubber tappers a century ago) to Champagne ( Piper Heisdeick Reserve Brut 2003). Idlis, Roti Canai has given way to Salmon and Broccoli Quiche..

Menu on this flight:

Malabari Prawns and tamarind seed sesame potato

Salmon served with potato wedges, pumpkin, asparagus and leek sauce

Praline Kulfi Icecream

An excellent wine; Senga Chenin Blanc, Coastal Region, South Africa 2007.

In just nine hours, 7 40 pm Paris Time ( it is 9 55 am there now), I will be landing at London Heathrow on this flight from Bombay Airport.

Centuries and memories are left behind.

Now planning, executing and feeling comfortable in the skin of my choice: the western professor, the doctor anthropologist.

Thanks to those welcomed and bid adieu in Siem Reap,Kuala Lumpur, Madras and Bangalore and welcome to the hugs and kisses waiting in Paris, Miami and the Americas, especially in Cuba..

There is a great travel book called

Saddest Pleasure

About an American who moved to Ecuador who describes his bare bone travel through South America

And he begins his introduction with the following quote:

Travel is the saddest of all Pleasures..



I toast you with this glass of Drambuie with Ice..



Sudah Yehuda

Heart is in Paris

Soul is in Cuba

The Passport is Australian, for this wandering Jew.

A young Arab French girl with a visible bulging belly and her hair dyed blonde serves me a glass of house wine. As happens in the evenings, a pianist is belting romantic, moody melodies on his piano in the hallway surrounded by restaurants of these very modern office complexes, La Defense. Friday evening. 7 pm. I have my baguette ready, so what if I am not home yet, I can wish you all a Shabbat shalom. Next Friday night, 8 June, I hope to be lighting the candles at the home of Sister Jackie in Miami, on 16th June, I will be with sister friend Dar in Yakima, Washington and on the 23rd, as the sun goes down with the Havdalah Service, I will be flying from Houston to Paris, and by the next Shabbat or thereabouts I should be on my way to the most Buddhist of the countries, Myanmar. Such is the life of this modern day wandering Jew!
Paris is a delight to the eyes. I am not talking about the classic and modern architecture. While my little island of Cuba offers, along with Brasil, the most sensuous of human beings, Paris has an elegance I have not seen elsewhere, not even in my beloved Buenos Aires! This city has the best dressed black people on earth, lithe and dignified; eat your hearts out, Cape Town, London and New York!! People are more overweight than before, but the French are the least overweight of all Europeans (20% compared to 45% in the UK and around 65 % in Australia and USA), but it cannot be Calories, Fat content or the extra alcohol. Lunch today was two pieces of steamed fish, Merluza, with a citron sauce on a bed of steamed vegetables, a salad of Leek in cheese, rice with thick sauce, some haricots, and then a healthy chunk of Roquefort cheese, to be consumed BEFORE, mind you, eating the fruit salad. Minimum time for lunch is one hour, but it usually stretches into two, perhaps there lies the myth of calories and overweight, the French take time over their lunches, in the USA, at some of the clinics where I work, they allot a mere 30 minutes for lunch, enough time to gulp down some preserved food, fatty and highly toxic!! I believe, it is not what you eat that matter, how you eat it, with whom you eat with, how slowly you eat your food and the relaxation at the table. If you don’t have time to eat, don’t eat, but don’t use it as an excuse to gulp down poorly prepared food! In fact, for one of my patients, I wrote down a prescription, One hour for Lunch to be permitted, if she wishes her to remain healthy. I think of the many delightful meals prepared by my younger brother friend Shimon... Always a pleasure, schmooze, endless chatter, glasses of wine, conversation and a good coffee to follow. Always a pleasure, Shimon… I look for ward to the Chupah, you and Avital in Haifa, with your parents Shmulik and Nava, in October...

I am thinking of the person that I have continuously known for the longest period of time, my younger brother Ricardo. How I wish I was sharing this Shabbat with him in Sde Bkr, in Eretz Israel. Soon enough, Brother. My brother Eliyahu’s eldest daughter, a classic mizrachi American beauty, 11 years old, is counting the days she can set off for her first international trip without her parents, to Paris, nevertheless, arranged by the French School she attends in Portland. My brother and his wife would pick her up at the end of her stay, at the end of this month, my Asian brother who is far more comfortable in Kobe or Cambodia will have to be finding out for himself the beauties of this city...
Reading a wonderful book at the moment, currently devouring Indian literature in English, Pankaj Mishra, Amitav ghosh, Terun Tejpal and this author, Shashi Tharoor, a former UN undersecretary, of Cochin origin, born in London, now lives in New York. This book is a positive analysis of he character of his country INDIA (the title of the book as well) of which he is so proud of. (He speaks perfect French, I saw him on French TV when he was in Paris to celebrate, the Indian Book week). I highly recommend this book as it explains, from a very liberal point of view, what it means to be an Indian, not the hollow bombastic, narrow minded hollers you hear in the writings intended for the west. The other books by Indian writers in English, recently read include
Pankaj Mishra The temptations of the West Excellent chapter on Indira Gandhi and her mishandling of the corrupt political establishment of India.
Terun Tejpal The Alchemy of Desire. This has to be one of the more exquisite romances from India, human and passionate
Amitav Ghosh The hungry Tide. Exciting story set in the Sunderbans region of Bengal. Having a doctorate in Anthropology, Ghosh weaves into his tale, bits of information, lying deep in the archives. Typically, how did the Irrawaddy Dolphin get its name?
Reading shashi Tharoor’s explanation of cultural identity, following that, I have claim to Malaysian and Australian Nationalities (but only hold Australian nationality), I could define myself thus for others (since they seean Indian when they look at me!)
An Australian Jew who is at home in many parts of Asia: Brunei, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia who calls Baracoa, Cuba home but lives in Paris, France, works with the Indigenous people of America.
To that I add,
The above person cares about you, who will be reading these notes of a wanderer, as this quiet Shabbat begins, sitting at Paradis du Fruit, a post modern café in Paris, where the waiters are remnants of Algeria, Pondicherry and Jaffna and Saigon..
I miss my little island, Cuba, very much, and the untold genuine affections there, can’t call them or chat with them on line or enter into regular communications with them by post, but the tenderness is there.
On this Shabbat, welcome to some new friends from Ljubljana and Warszawa, hello to my friends from the Malay peninsula and the islands, my Kickapoo and hocank sisters, an old friend LMS, other friends in Miami, San Antonio, BA, SP, La Habana and elsewhere, our circle of love grows bigger and bigger…
So, dear friends, brothers, teachers, sisters, lovers and others…
Welcome to this world within a world, we are living a Dream, dreaming of itself (said the Jhu!huasi from !tsumkwe in the Kalahari)…
Welcome to some dear friends from Havana, one from Baracoa, one new friend from KL....life goes on.