EB, a fascinating read, and a welcome respite from the usual General threads bemoaning our first world problems.
i fully relate to your decision to stay. i have spent some time in the past in a similar situation, Lebanon. the resilience of the people who chose to stay and carry on living amidst such complexity is imo far more admirable than the pettiness of those who chose not to. the latter generally lack perspective. they have never comprehended the challenge of remaining civilized in a barbaric environment. they will often happily complain from the safety of their keyboards about having to endure such "gross injustices" as signs being written in foreign languages on some of their streets (ignoring the fact that they expect English signage at every airport or hotel they will ever visit), but usually have no comment, idea, or compassion for those whose daily trip to the supermarket will sometimes be dictated by where the fighting is taking place that day, or whether there are any supplies at all.
freedom was never won here, not on our own soil. it was a gift, and as such, it is taken for granted. no so for most of the rest of the world.
given the lack of compassion expressed on a daily basis on these threads, one has to wonder whether the emotional maturity of a country is even possible without some sort of struggle as a catalyst.
we are truly the lucky country, and typically, the children of such fortune are spoilt by how easy we have it.
keep up your posts. maybe one or two might gain a better insight into how the other half live, and question the depth of their own existance.
