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Our Viking China cruise continued to three port cities I had never heard of before.  The Chinese government seeks to increase tourism, and our cruise is one of the first collaborations with the Chinese government and Viking Cruises.  The ship's staff is 100% Chinese, and the entertainers are all Chinese.  So this particular cruise is different from the usual Viking multi-national staff.

Our ship, the Yi Dun, is named after the first Chinese commercial ship launched in 1872, the Yi Dun.

Having visited India at least fifteen times over many decades, I’ve made friends among the musical community that has enabled me to book events in advance of my visits, filling the two short weeks with musical opportunities.  Another enabling factor is my decades-long study of Indian (Hindustani) classical music, starting in 1975 at Ali Akbar College in Marin County, California.  My knowledge of Indian music has enabled me to collaborate with Indian musicians in both classical and jazz-fusion-world-music concerts...

This blog describes a visit to ancient Petra and a conference of Middle East Nurses United in Human Caring.

Last week, Susan and I attended a one-day regional conference in San Francisco, hosted by the University of San Francisco Medical Center in their brand-new facility, which just opened this past February.  More about the conference in a minute…But first, what’s wrong with American healthcare?

For the third year in a row, Susan and I attended the conference Middle Eastern Nurses Uniting in Human Caring. This year’s title was Human Caring in a Time of World Crisis, a theme chosen almost a year ago, before the most recent war between Israel and Gaza, before the hideous executions by ISIS, most recently of a Jordanian pilot burned alive. . . 

Four years ago, Susan and I toured Jordan for the first time. Through the internet, I hired a driver/tour guide based on an ad from a Jordan tour company. This driver, Mazen, met us at the airport holding a sign with our names on it. Spending hours together with him in the car that first year, we became close friends with Mazen. We have hired him as our tour guide during our three subsequent Jordan visits. Mazen has invited us to his house twice for dinner with him and his wife. Both he and his wife speak enough English to get to know each other well enough to cement our friendship. . .

Murano is famous for its unrivaled glass designs. Burano is famous for its historic production of lace as well as its brightly colored buildings. Below are samples of both islands.

Twenty-four years ago Susan and I began our healthcare careers with the goal of bringing music into hospitals to create healing environments. This led to the development of the C.A.R.E. Channel, a 24-hour channel that provides peaceful music and beautiful nature images. 

This blog presents photos from one of India's most beautiful states, Kerala, home to tea plantations, houseboats, and Kathakali dance.