The southern hemisphere

I am writing you all from the Southern Hemisphere, more specifically the town of Sumenep on the island of Madura just north of Java. For all you who haven't been, this hemisphere is not that much different than the real one. Only three hamburgers have tried to eat me.

The Southern Hemisphere does have a surprising amount of Oberlin graduates though. The day after arriving in the SH I was joined by 7 other Oberlin grads on the slopes of Mount Bromo. I think this would be a good band photo.

After four of this reunion departed for Yogyakarta, Sarah Jesse Emily and I decided to give volcanos a rest and hit the beach. Volcanos are cool and all, I really love them, but I don't love to smell them. You miss this in postcards and textbooks. Thus, we headed to the little traveled island of Madura instead of the Ijen plateau. Lonely Planet calls the towns well kept and the beaches passable, and as a result we are the first foreigners to stay at our hotel since 2005. And the beaches? Well:

They're so happy to see us that someone in the office of tourism is inviting us to dinner in his home tonight. This is why the Lonely Planet doesn't have all the answers.

Discussion question: How does one acknowledge all the problems in the world without living their lives in eternal stress. Just because I acknowledge the state of the world doesn't mean I should have an unhappy life. I think many liberals have this problem. How do you deal?