Did you see him? Comandante DiGregorio of Varazze, Italy, one of Alameda’s sister cities, visited recently and participated in the 4th of July Parade.

https://alamedapost.com/news/italian-chief-of-police-rides-in-4th-of-july-parade/

#apd #parade #alameda #JulyFourth #SisterCities #AfdChiefNickLuby #AlpicellaFamilyClub #MarilynEzzyAshcraft #ApdChiefNishantJoshi #ComandanteMauroDiGregorio #AlamedaSisterCityAssociation #InternationalPoliceAssociation #NationalLatinoPeaceOfficersAssociation

@jimt @mastodonindians are there any working #sisterCities #twinTowns in India
#mastIndia

Reposting my (long) #introduction since I’ve migrated to a new instance.

My career at BJC HealthCare / BJH included #antimicrobialstewardship; #infectiousdiseases #pharmacotherapy; #vaccines; #medicationsafety; #patientcare; #teaching; research; lots of administrative stuff.

Former editor BJH Tool Book on the #Dorsata platform.

Still doing human research review with the #IRB and #genetherapy studies review with the #IBC at #WUSM.

In addition to science, I believe in democracy, the important role of journalism, and a round Earth.

#LanguageLearning

My language learning journey started in jr. high school with #Esperanto, attempting to self-learn it from a public library book and short-wave radio. My #Russian and #Spanish are passable. My #French and #Italian are fading. Still a beginner at #Japanese. #Kanji is a slow death for me, but #bushido / budo and #Zen culture keeps me engaged. Putin’s war crimes convinced me to start learning #Ukrainian.

Russian sparked my interest in #ColdWar history and to volunteer for the St. Louis-Samara #SisterCities Committee, for which I’ve hosted Russian medical and cultural delegates in my home.

#Travel

In 2010, my language and Cold War interests combined with my hospital’s changing ETO retention policy got me to travel more internationally. In 2015, I completed my original travel goal of going to the last 5 Communist countries. In order of visit: #China, #NorthKorea, #Vietnam, #Laos, #Cuba.

My country count so far is only 33. Hoping to grow that during retirement. My 3 most remote places: Pyongyang and the DMZ, #DPRK; the Eastern Highlands of #PapuaNewGuinea; and Bayan-Ulgii, #Mongolia. Still need to visit 2 more continents - Antarctica and Africa. I’ve been to 42 US states, including AK and HI.

#Photography

I became a photographer early in my travels. My kit is a #Canon 5DM3, EF 16-35 mm; f2.8, and EF 70-200 mm f2.8 and #iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Currently, drawn to international #festivals. I’ve hauled my heavy glass to photograph the #Goroka Sing Sing (PNG); Kazakh golden eagle hunters (Mongolia), Aboriginal singers at the #DesertMob Festival (Alice Springs, #Australia) and Yabusame / mounted archers (Nikko, #Japan).

If you got this far, thanks for reading all of this. Here to learn, be social and feed my wide variety of interests.

Photo:

This #Kazakh #eagle hunter surprised the hell out of me by standing next to me as I photographed the competitors at the 20th anniversary of the Golden Eagle Festival. Taken at the base of the Altai Mountains, just outside Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia, about 100 miles/160 km from the nearly intersecting borders of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and China. October 8, 2019

3/6 #Russian sparked my interest in #ColdWar history and to volunteer for the St. Louis-Samara #SisterCities Committee, for which I’ve hosted Russian medical and cultural delegates in my home.

In 2010, my language and Cold War interests combined with my hospital’s changing ETO retention policy got me to #travel more internationally. In 2015, I completed my original travel goal of going to the last 5 #Communist countries. In order of visit: #China, #NorthKorea, #Vietnam, #Laos, #Cuba.