30 January 2011 (Sunday) India - Chennai

The flight in, and oh wow, India  We started the flight over a sea of clouds, but ran into night pretty quickly, and all we could see of eastern Europe and the Middle East were the lights of their towns and cities.  The lights over India were different though; instead of appearing as one concentrated blob or as a threads spreading out from an epicenter, they were spread in patches all over the landscape. Until we reached Chennai, which looks like a monstrous orange tumor spreading past the horizon.  As we got lower the layout of the neighborhoods was visible, and they wound around like any suburb of Boston or Chicago, but the lights were still orange, making the whole thing feel off.  It tried to take photos, but alas my camera and airplane windows (at night) do not get along. And waxing poetic about city lights just goes to show how bad my cabin fever was.   Our hosts greeted us at our hotel with flower garlands and sandalwood incense, and at 3:00am no less. We all missed breakfast the next morning and spent most of the afternoon shopping. I think some of us bought too much just because of the newness (and relative cheapness) of everything. The fabrics, colors, patterns, and feel, really are fantastically beautiful though.  The air on the streets smells like rotting plant matter, humidity, and various spices that change as you walk past store, houses, and rubble. The food is soupy and spicy, and sits noticeably in your stomach. Seven of us ate at a tasty north Indian restaurant tonight, and everyone ordered something different so we could all try everything.   And when I walk along the streets, besides watching my footing (the sidewalks are largely crumbling), listening for cars (there are no lanes here), dodging auto rickshaws, motorbikes, trucks and other people (only rule on the road -- the bigger object gets right of way), besides staring at the palm trees, rundown buildings, signs in round curving script I can't read, I think about the infrastructure (I blame my father). I want to tear this city to pieces and see where there electricity comes from, where does their sewage go, where do the minerals for concrete and asphalt, the water and the food come from? Those thoughts haven't gotten very far though. When I don't pay attention to my feet the potholes bring me back without mercy.  Pictures: clouds from the airplane the Chennai airport international terminal at 2:30am lunch, after being mostly eaten Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

28 January 2011 (Friday) Switzerland - Basel

Laundry

Laundry laundry laundry laundry . . . The past two days have consisted of laundry. I hung a clothesline over my bed that has been almost strangling me every time I get out of bed, but shirts, socks, and underwear must be cleaned!!

We did a synthesis session today. I really enjoyed the opportunity to connect some of our site visits, readings, and classes. Too often we have these great presenters or site visits, but don't have the chance to connect that experience to anything else. 

We had two days of farewell lunches, yesterday at a delicious Turkish restaurant, and today a couple of us went to a nice ramen restaurant. Yum yum, and they even had pumpkin ice cream!!

I'm including a (rather bad) picture of the Puppenhaus Museum. We visited there on Museum Night last week and it was probably the most fun of any of the ten museums we dashed through (we got to take a picture of a sumo wrestler, haha).

The itinerary for tomorrow, up at 3am, bus to Zurich, arrive at airport 5am, then 7am flight to London, 9am flight to India, land in Chennai 1am. Nervous, nervous . .


Basel - Turkish restaurant

Basel - Puppenhaus Museum

Basel along the banks of the Rhine River

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26 January 2011 (Wednesday) Switzerland - Basel

Field work in Freiberg We spent the day talking with Germans about their health care system so we can do a comparative analysis of Switzerland, France, and Germany. A number of the people we spoke to explained to us that Freiberg is a homeopathic mecca in Germany, although only one person we met actually utilized any homeopathic medicine. It was a lot of fun to be able to wander through Germany a little. We were sort of amazed that there was such an obvious difference in the atmosphere compared to Switzerland. The Swiss feel more polished, and their obsessions with quality of life is evident all over. Frreiberg was more hard-nosed than that, a little less utopian.   I haven't mentioned our hostel yet. Of the three we've stayed in, between Boston, Geneva and Basel, this one is by far the nicest. The hostel, called Jungendherberg is a wonderful juxtaposition between the outside, which is 19th century factory, and the inside, which they remodeled a year ago using recycled sheets of industrial steel and plywood. The whole effect is very stylish, and it's been a wonderful stay. The honeymoon is over. Everyone's beginning to feel the wear and tear of travel, and the blues of culture shock. India couldn't come at a better time to save us.  Pictures- the hostel in Basel: and Freiberg: Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

24 January 2011 (Monday) Switzerland - Basel

It's been a bit of a rough start for this blog, my phone deleted the posts from the first part of the trip, so now we're almost two weeks in. Essentially, I'm just hoping this blog can help friends and family keep connected while I mostly ignore email and Facebook.

We were in Geneva earlier last week and  are currently tramping our way through Basel, Switzerland (and by virtue of Basel's prime location on the tri-border of Switzerland, France, and Germany, we have succeeded in making our presence known across the  border as well). Basel is a beautiful town, with an excessive amount of museums, and its own little cathedral, Munster.

Our schedule for this program is pretty crazy, but people haven't lost too much energy or passion yet, and our speakers and site visits are fascinating. What I'm enjoying most though are the little things -- hot chocolate for breakfast, riding the tram to class in the morning, narrow cobblestone alleys (perfect shortcuts when you can't feel your nose anymore), and delicious schnitzel in every sandwich store.

Photos: Basel Street and Munster (Basel)

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19 January 2011 (Wednesday) Switzerland - Geneva

We arrived early on a quiet Sunday morning. Not that we were quiet, being a bunch of Americans, but most businesses are closed on Sundays so Geneva was quite peaceful. It was totally apparent to all of us that we were in a different country as we road into the city from the airport; the architecture here is quite elegantly European and the city is actually clean. Sundays also seem to be family time. As we walked along Lake Geneva, starved and hunting for an open cafe, we saw dozens of babies and dogs. Truly dozens. And some of us began to consider kidnapping they were all so cute . .

Monday, we hopped on a bus to the WHO before the sun even rose. The Executive Board, the main governing body for the WHO was beginning their 10 day long yearly meeting, and we were able to watch the first hour and a half, which included Margaret Chan's opening address. She is a very frank speaker, but besides the usual, 'what we've accomplished this past year' she actually said, "This organization has a limit, and we have reached it. We need to consider downsizing," and "Not all of the failures have been due to lack of funding." In light of the financial crisis this makes some sense and many of the bureaucratic critiques of the UN and Chan this makes sense, but most directors wouldn't come anywhere near admitting it.  Anyway, her speech was pretty much everyone's favorite part of the day.

After getting back we headed off to a department store searching for some chocolate, and were presented with aisle upon aisle of heaven. They have a bunch of cute cow themed tins, and the prices aren't bad. Swiss chocolate, yum yum.   

Tuesday was more presentations from a number of provocative speakers. I think the one our group had the hardest time with was the speaker from the International Committee of the Red Cross. His presentation was really dynamic, but the level of neutrality necessary to for the ICRC, where you have to be able to treat both homicidal dictators and victims of genocide without taking sides, is kind of hard to swallow. I guess Americans aren't generally the most diplomatic of folk, and we're raised to always have an opinion, so the ICRC's mandated doesn't come easily.

The fondue restaurant we went to for dinner on Wednesday had live music, and a great ambiance. The food was pretty good too, especially the chocolate fondue for dessert (of course).

Wednesday, more presentations. I feel like we're here to be talked at, however thought-provoking the speaker or topic. The UN perspective has been really fascinating though, and I'm glad we got to spend so much time here.

Days are pretty long, wake up between 6 and 7 and we may not get back ‘til 5 or later from site visits, group activities, etc. It'll be interesting to see if we keep this pace throughout the whole program.

I'll stop babbling now, I've been writing this entry over the past three or four days. We're off to Basel tonight . . .

   

Pictures- Lake Geneva and Full moon over the WHO

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Web Assistant's Note: Here is a quick snapshot Lizzie forwarded from goodbyes in Boston:

IHP 2011 Spring-One Health & Community Orientation was thrown a curve ball by an unwelcome winter weather visitor: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/26470833/detail.html Or as the IHP web site called it, "...a flurry of activity..." http://www.ihp.edu/page/updates/