So here I am sitting in Jakarta, snacking out of a packet of peanut M&M's. I recently discovered them at a shop and longing for tastes of home have been indulging a little bit. When an e-mail from a friend here in Indonesia pops into my in-box with the subject "If you have these at home DON'T eat them!" attached is a list of foods to throw out. All these foods have been tainted by milk products from China where Melamine was added in the processing of the milk in order to add protein to milk that is diluted. Essentially milk producers are cheating. They blame rising fuel prices and tightening margins. As they justify their behavior more and more children in China fall ill, some reports stating
as many as 53,000, and many die from eating tainted milk and baby formula. As I pop one more melts in your mouth not in your hand, taste of American goodness into my mouth I read the list and there it is...
M&M's.
But noooo, these can't be made in china? I scour the package written in about a dozen different languages, I peel back the Bahasa Indonesian label that has been stuck to the package presumably to meet some sort of national standard and underneath it find the words... "MADE IN CHINA". I remember once buying and American flag for the 4th of July and finding those words on the flag and laughing at the irony. But as the last M&M was melting in my mouth, I wasn't enjoying the irony anymore. Spit, spit, spit!
I already have food stats pretty well plugged into my head as far as calories, protein, fiber, iron, calcium etc... Call me lazy, but I don't want to have to think about my food in more detail than this. I don't want to have to look at the back of the package and guess what all those "other" ingredients are (Asia is notorious for adding MSG to any and everything) or look at where it is made then look up that country's social, environmental and regulatory record. And what about Mars? At what level are they responsible or will they "these were produced by subsidiary X for subsidiary Y" us to death, just as the Chinese dairies justified their actions with fuel prices and profit margins?
Oh forget it! I think I will go eat an apple... grown without pesticides, but sometimes with pests (ie worms), without wax but always dirty, individually wrapped in a little Styrofoam net to prevent bruising (but probably very bad for the birds) and imported from Japan. Japan's apple farmers are suffering from rising fuel prices as well... they have tightening margins... hmmm... I think I will just go eat an apple and not think about it.
Genevois art?
or perhaps just a representation of those in the banking industry?
your guess is as good as mine...
My favorite street corner.
IOMBA class of 2007/2008 last goodbyes... a moment together for the few that remain in Geneva before we embark on our next journeys in life... one day later I would do the same with the Washington DC contingent of IOMBA... hopefully more IOMBA reunions to come all over the globe :)
My first view walking the streets of Doha... steamy... my camera never really took to the hot, hot, humid weather.
The market area... seemed mostly closed. I stepped in one shop that was open and the first thing they asked is what I was doing there and why was I not at the mall, I told the shopkeep I wanted to see Doha and he said Doha was at the mall. 
I finally gave in and found my way to the mall (pictured here)... indeed, all of Doha was at the mall. I walked in and saw a KFC at one end and a KFC at the other... living in Europe it had been a long time since I had seen a KFC, but I hardly expected I the next time I would next run into such an American favorite would be in the middle east. Go figure...
The mall was full of western (European and American) brand shops like Esprit, Promod and Marks & Spencer, but also had some local shops like the one above. I was amazed walking around some shops I had been in only days previous in Geneva, they had the exact styles and fabric in their shops here except everything was long... long sleeved, long skirts, long capris. 
A view of the mall, great for people watching...
The ice skating rink on the ground floor as seen from the atrium. Hard to believe I was out in that sweltering dust storm... no wonder the few people out on the street kept telling me I was nutty.
Under construction: Everywhere we went new buildings were sprouting, what an interesting time to be living in the desert. 
It's a jungle out there!
...so tell the world how you feel
The Komodo Dragons guarding the sacred spring water (coming from below the cave)
Crazy little monkeys!
Cute little Monkey
What I can look forward to on the other side of the mirror at my next birthday...
Canine Yoga...it's all the rage
Some days feel like this for sure...
A wet monkey
Smoking is NOT cool kids! (not even incense)
The temple of dooooooom... (okay not really)
What I can look forward to in the mirror birthday-after-next
Another wet monkey...
How the monkeys got wet...
Ponderous Monkey
Zen
View of my room
View from my room
My usual view of Jakarta: from the back seat of a BlueBird Taxi
