Amsterdam

is too good to be true: picturesque waterways, restored townhouses, tolerant Dutch people zipping around on their bicycles. I didn't make it to many of the museums-- too distracted by the endless bars, cafes, and coffeeshops. The average corner cafe has a wide-selection of Belgian beers on tap, smoked salmon and watercress sandwiches on thick brown bred, and homemade apple cake. Three or four of those establishments on a single block! With so many pubs to patronize, how can anybody be expected to get anything done? We ate (dad with college roommate at candlelit restaurant, at left below) and shopped (wide-eyed sister at bonbon-central, at right below).







I'm back in Busia now, dragging the odd feelings that come with rapid movement between sleek European capital and rural Kenyan village. Downtown Amsterdam vs. downtown Busia pictured below.

Holland

I'm on vacation in Amsterdam! I'm in heaven. I suddenly don't want to go back to Busia again. I'm going to stay in Amsterdam forever. More to follow.

Stephin Merritt on Project Song

I'm sick of thinking about global poverty. This article about Jeffrey Sachs pushed me over the edge. One billion people living on less than one dollar a day? I need to block that stat out until I can deal with it. Instead, I'm holed up in our office trying to forget that I'm smack dab in the middle of a community that fits that definition.

I'm entertaining myself with the new NPR music website. I'm not usually a big NPR fan. It's probably just a rebellion thing, because my parents always had it on in the car when I was little. But this new NPR music website is the coolest! They have music reviews, mp3s for download, musician blogs, live concert streams, and "project song" reports.

In Project Song they give a musician 48 hours in a fully equipped studio to write a song that is supposed to be based on a word and a picture. Stephin Merritt, the brilliant lyricist of the Magnetic Fields, wrote a song based on the word 1974 and the picture above left. You can watch a video of the creative process or hear the All Things Considered report here.

By the way, the Magnetic Fields have a new album coming out soon. They are also playing in NYC's Town Hall in February. I want to go if Lola or Yu will go with me.

New Look

I was just trying to change the margins for a quote on that last post, but the code in the template style box gave me a headache. I changed the whole template instead. I like the colors in the new template, but the margins are still wrong. The body text is too long and skinny, and the side bar is too fat. There's no going back though, this is my new look, at least until tomorrow. Does anybody know how to change the margins? Lola, where are you when I need you?

PLoS Medicine- Poverty and Global Health Issue

Check out PLoS Medicine's October 22nd issue on global poverty and human development:

We asked a wide variety of commentators worldwide—including clinicians, medical researchers, health reporters, policy makers, health activists, and development experts—to name the single intervention that they think would improve the health of those living in poverty. We also asked four individuals living in poor, rural agricultural communities in the Santillana district, province of Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru to give us their response to the question, “What do you think would do the most to improve your health and the health of your family?” (The four community members were Severino Rojas Poma, Mercedes Vargas Soto, Julián De La Cruz Chahua, and Martín Rojas Poma). Our October 2007 Editorial discusses this debate further.

Of note, now that I live outside the ivory tower, I appreciate PLoS's open access publishing. What's with medical journals charging $30 to download scintific studies that were funding by taxpayer money in the first place? This is just another hurdle for students, researcers, medical schools, doctors, and hospitals in poor countries that can't afford subscriptions to scientific journals.

PLoS Medicine believes that medical research is an international public resource. The journal provides an open-access venue for important, peer-reviewed advances in all disciplines. With the ultimate aim of improving human health, we encourage research and comment that address the global burden of disease.

PLoS Medicine (eISSN 1549-1676; ISSN-1549-1277) is an open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal published monthly online by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit organization. The inaugural issue was published on 19 October 2004.

Mama Chapati

sits right near our office every morning from about 6am to 10am.She makes these delicious things called chapatis, which are like a cross between tortillas and naan. When I walk past her on my way to work she shouts "Karibu Chapati," which I think translates to "welcome chapati," or maybe "you are welcome to chapati." My colleage at work said to to be careful of them, because apparently they "go straight to your hips." I buy one every morning nonetheless. They are definitely worth it.