Swollen Eyes, Dancin' and Monkey Morality

I had to admire my host sisters. The dance club was 4/5 empty. They had imbibed not a drop of alcohol but they set out to dance and dance they did. I wish I could have admired them from afar. Three people, the base-intensive stylings of Mr. Timberlake, and a big old dance floor. If only the fog machine had been more proactive in creating a hazily anonymous ambiance.

One of my students had swelling under his right eye. It looked like an ingrown under-eyelash, or one of those lovely deep painful pimples. When I asked him what was up, he said that he must have looked at something unclean. I wasn't sure I understood. So he made some odd hand gestures and then settled on the example of a dog peeing.

I chuckled, my cultural sensitivity caught off guard by what seemed to me to be a quaint explanation. And that is why it is hard to have discussions about o-so-many topics with my students. Our underlying assumptions about reality are completely different.

Biological Origins of Morality this is an interesting article that overviews a discussion about the origins of morality. I think it is hard to defend a universal objective moral truth. What does it matter to the infinite cosmos if one human kills another? Do we pass judgment on single celled organisms for destroying one another? An insightful way to examine morality is to ask, why? The answer is usually that unregulated behavior leads to instability which is bad for the group (even though it may be advantageous to the individual in the short term). It does not make morality any less important though. We are what we are and there is more escaping that. Also, social bonds of friendsship or love are fairly easily explained rationtionally, but that does not mean they are any less significant. Considering why we think the way do however, can help us avoid tragic folly.

I am struggling with going to grad school. All and all it sounds like the experience will be similar to IPE at UPS. That is to say, flexible and drawing off of many disciplines. But by borrowing from so many disciplines, in someways it can lack discipline (structure). IPE did not give me any special technique that makes me employable. But it does give an excellent and adaptable approach to examining many problems. JSIS offers much of the same but more indepth and focused regionally.

Is it possible to specialize as a generalist in today's world?

So it seems that (and the language emphasis) plays to my personality. So far the IPE-type style has worked out pretty well for me. The lack of a defined alternative also tilts me toward school. And Seattle/the Cascades. Finally, I am reminded of a bit of mountaineering wisdom. Sometimes a decision and corresponding action is better than indecision and inaction. Sometimes (most often) you have make a decision based on incomplete information and only vague knowledge of what lies ahead. After all, it would not be a decision if the best option were obvious.

Finally, I am approaching 10 days left in Kyrgyzstan. Today is a national holiday and an excellent reminder of why I will be relieved to arrive home (with no regrets). (It Would Seem) Everyone in Kyrgyzstan has a family. Everyone has plans. Everyone in Kyrgyzstan has plans with their family.

I confess to being tired of being an observer.

But I know that my affinity for Abroad will continue to stretch me between some sense of "home" somewhere in the US and the sense of personal growth I get from moving out of my comfort zones. I would rather be a little dissatisfied now and then than comfortable and bored.