On another note

I have never had so much fun going to school. Except maybe kindergarten, or when I begged my mom to send me to pre-school. Cause they had snacks. And good songs.

But, this is just bliss.

Everyday we have class is a competition for who will get there early. Just to open the door. Someone starts water for tea and coffee.

And, now that we are comfortable with each other, the customary kisses, hugs, genuine affection as we all filter in. Groggy, ready for more.

Topics of discussion?

Methodology

Ethnography

Participant Observation

Witchcraft

Mythology

Metaphor

Language

Cultural relativism

Magic

Human daily practices

Kinship

Cultural collateral

Descent systems

Applied theory

Marxist theory

Structuralist theory

Functionalist theory

Spiritual practice

Sexual practice

Biology

Nurture

Nature

Symbology

and we are just scratching the surface.

And, now that we are comfortable with each other, the theories are immersed in realities. The biases emerge, and the understandings. Muslims sit by Christians, pacifists by militants. Traditional by experimental. And the field work, RIPE with information... the day to day life in Bali, Thailand, Ethiopia, tribal custom clashes with education and modernization, the feuds of what constitutes a culture. We all love to just listen to the other.

And, a break in the day means a rush to see who can take care of what, what can take care of who, who can connect with who. Shouts across the room. Hey! I haven't talked with you yet...

It is bliss to be in a room full of caretakers. We all take care of the other. It is in our nature.

How does this get left behind in traditional classrooms? Can we teach this?

And then we dig back in. Someone has a theory, a quote, a question. Who has the answer? We offer every meaning.

Our passion lies on our sleeves. We offer open armed assistance to understanding. Ourselves, the other. Just being.

*

But the classroom does not contain the lessons...

It is Saturday night, 1:03 am, and a feast is being prepared in the kitchen. Ramadan ends tomorrow with suikerfeest, a big tradition. But everyone is filtering in... Latin Catholics with Confuscionists, Buddhists. We all can wield a knife and help to chop vegetables. Learn a few words in Indonesian, Dutch, and Spanish. We can live and eat and work together, and laugh throughout the night on the eve of ritual.

African dancing, and Thai dictionaries. We can drink it in, if we are willing. Take out the trash. Help each other out.

In community we find communality. The commonness of experience. We learn that openness to experience is all that is necessary.