In the words of Anthony Bourdain “Vietnam it grabs your heart and once you love it you’ll love it forever and you must keep coming back”. Well I loved it and I went back. Four weeks ago, I returned to Vietnam for a personal visit to reconnect with colleagues and friends. After, being away just […]
Author Archives: bobmcgarry
April
01
Thank you!
posted by bobmcgarry
Well it has been 3 months since I returned from Vietnam and I have been struggling on how to close out this amazing experience. Then last week I saw a phrase by Dr. Seuss that I found very fitting for this post. This has truly been a life changing experience and I want to thank […]
January
06
Comrades
posted by bobmcgarry
One of my first blogs was titled “Comrade”, the blog referenced a trip that I took to Sapa with my colleagues Chad and Mohamed. I would like to expand on that blog and share my personal reflections on my PULSE comrades in Hanoi. Comrades seems appropriate for 4 guys assigned to spend 6 months on special assignments in […]
December
18
Vietnam update!
posted by bobmcgarry
The last few weeks have been crazy but I wanted to just give a quick update on my adventures which took me from Vietnam to Thailand, back to Vietnam then off to Cambodia and Laos. Bangkok Thailand– SEAP (South East Asia Pacific) meeting for CHAI. This is the leadership meeting that I have been coordinating. […]
November
24
posted by bobmcgarry
Happy Thanksgiving….being away from home makes this Thanksgiving special which on surface may sound negative, but in reality it is positive, being away makes me appreciate what I have more, being away from the family makes me appreciate them more. The tradition of Thanksgiving is not observed here in Vietnam…but for me I think they […]
November
16
Happy Birthday!
posted by bobmcgarry
Check Da Lat off the list- Da Lat is a beautiful small town of about 250K people located in the Mountains in Southern Vietnam. Popular for the pleasant cool year round weather and it’s French charm. Da Lat is renowned for its orchids, roses, vegetables, fruits and flower-growing industries. They had the huge open market […]
November
07
WOW!
posted by bobmcgarry
In my last blog I mentioned the Top 10 places to Visit in Vietnam and my goal to complete the list….checked off # 7 this weekend “Mekong Delta”. These are small get a way’s after the usual long week at work…..8:00-6:00 Mon-Friday so it’s a nice break which is how my weekend in the Mekong […]
November
01
Kindhearted!
posted by bobmcgarry
The people of Vietnam are so warm and kindhearted! Found a list of “Top 10 Places to see in Vietnam” according to touropedia.com. I have been to 6 already so I set a goal to hit all 10. My Son #9 on the list was my trip for the weekend. My Son was only 45km […]
October
21
Proud/Change….
posted by bobmcgarry
Last night during my evening workout I reflected while on the trend mill , two things occupied my thoughts: Proud– Proud is a GSK theme song that energizes me every time I hear it. Basically the central theme is “What have you done today to make you feel PROUD?” Change – One of the core […]
October
06
Proper Care
posted by bobmcgarry
Last week I had the opportunity to do some field work in Saigon. The goal of our visit was to learn firsthand from several private providers and pharmacies about TB treatment. You may recall from a previous post that approx. 40-60% of TB patients seek initial treatment from a local pharmacy. This is understandable as […]
September
21
It’s just a Bánh mì sandwich
posted by bobmcgarry
So what is a Bánh mì sandwich? For starters Bánh mì is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread. The word is derived from bánh (bread) and mì (wheat, also spelled mì in northern Vietnam). Basically, it’s a baguette and one may say represents the French influence in Vietnam. The Bánh mì sandwich is […]
September
16
It’s just different here…..
posted by bobmcgarry
In this post I want to share a bit about my assignment with the Clinton Foundation. We are focused on helping improve access to care for patients with TB (tuberculosis). TB the second leading infectious disease cause of death in Vietnam. TB is an airborne disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis and […]
August
17
I am so fortunate……
posted by bobmcgarry
It has been a couple of weeks since my last update and a lot has happen….the US Little League team from Wailuku Hawaii won the Intermediate World Series by defeating the team from South Korea, the Summer Olympics started, although they do not cover the Olympics on TV in Vietnam ….I had the opportunity to visit […]
August
01
If it looks good eat it!
posted by bobmcgarry
One of my favorite TV shows is “Bizarre Foods”. The host Andrew Zimmern often closes with show with the phrase “If it looks good eat it”. Vietnam offers a smorgasbord of great foods, some Bizarre but that is a personal thing. I am finding myself looking beyond the food and focusing on the people behind it. For example […]
July
20
Comrade
posted by bobmcgarry
As I write my weekly blog I just finished reading my colleague Chad Morgan’s blog outlining the fascinating weekend we had in Sapa a small farming community on the China/Vietnam boarder. Chad has a way with words so I will not attempt to describe our experience and welcome you to read Chad’s blog at: https://gskpulsevolunteers.com/2016/07/20/those-are-not-the-right-shoes/ I would like to add […]
