When I am not working I love live music (all kinds), performing surgery, sailing, hiking in the mountains, running, reading, scuba diving, wine, hanging out with family and friends. My main interest is simple: loving people and reducing global poverty.
I would like to meet Jeffery Sachs, John Prendergast, Paul Farmer and Robert Bach. I totally respect these guys. Also, I just like to meet new people. I am fascinated by people and their stories.
I like Indiana Jones, microbrewed beer, fencing, peanut butter, rock climbing, writing and scuba diving (in no particular order and not necessarily together). If you like any of these things--or none of these things--drop me a line and say hello.
View All Friends | View Blog | Add CommentThe above video is of me in the Sidamo coffee growing region of Southern Ethiopia. It was editted by Ryan Johnson as part of the Completing the Circle: Coffee program.
I love something from every genre of music, as is evident by the variety of stations saved on my car radio and MP3 collection. I am not going to list my favorite bands, you can ask if you would like to know. Instead, I am going to use this space to share some of the quote I periodically have on bulletin board in my office. 1) Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead (US anthropologist) 2) There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. - Henry Kissinger (diplomat and scholar) 3) How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. - Anne Frank
Motorcycle Diaries... it doesn't get much cooler than that. I am also a fan of:Waiting for Guffman (thank you Farm House girls), The Man from Snowy River, I Heart Huckabees, Beyond Borders , Mangal Pandey (Indian), Sahara, Love Actually, Interpreter, The Peacemaker, Terminator 3, The Red Violin, Indiana Jones (all), True Lies, Finding Nemo, Lord of War, Protocol, Lord of the Rings (all), Hotel Rwanda, Spanglish, Star Wars (all), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Balzac and the Little Seamstress (Chinese), Sleepless Nights (Egyptian), What the Bleep?, Entrapment, Meet Joe Black, Can't Hardly Wait, The Goonies, Proof of Life, Life Aquatic... stay tuned as this is an ever-expanding list.
Since I don't actually watch much television, I have decided that this section will be my international travel schedule. Current plans are as followed: Nicaragua (Mar), Ethiopia (May), Kenya, Uganda, UK, NYC, Denver (June), Switzerland, Serbia & Ireland(Aug). A couple epic adventures on the horizon: driving from Oregon to Nicaragua (5,000 miles), cross the Sahara from Morocco to Egypt, by motorcycle from Hong Kong to Nepal, and some others...
Mountains Beyond Mountains (by Tracy Kidder, a book about a hero of mine: Dr. Paul Farmer), The Alchemist (a incredible fable by Paulo Coelho), The Divine Pity (Gerald Vann), Blood Brothers (Elias Chacour), Contact (Carl Sagan), Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat), Icon (Fredrick Forsythe), Gulliver's Travels (Jonathon Swift), Celebration of Discipline (Richard Foster), Shiver (Nikki Gemmell), The Adventures of Miles and Isabel (Tom Gilling). Books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Love in the Time of Cholera (thank you Bryan Free). Books by Brian McLaren: A New Kind of Christian, The Stories We Find Oursevles In. Books by Michael Crichton: Timeline, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sphere. Books by Clive Cussler: Inca Gold, Raise the Titanic, Serpent, Sahara, Cyclops. I also love the poerty of Rudyard Kipling, E. E. Cummings, and Lord Alfred Tennyson.
My parents: My dad because he was in Iraq making the world a better place, and my mom because she is at home making our lives better. Also, my friends: Giovanni and Caroline because they have each quit their boring office jobs to take a risk and pursue their dreams. I cannot forget Valerie, that saucy X-pat, artist, full-of-attitude bar owner, who makes travelers feel at home everyday. Another hero of mine is my patron saint, Panteleimon, for reminding me what that practice of medicine is all about.