Evidently in medias res...

Evidently I am a bit in la-la land...

I just had a call from my friend Gary, and I had an email from my dear Aunt Dot. "Um, John-O, are you watching the news?" Gary asked me.

No, I was finishing a blog entry and working on my syllabi for February.

I quickly go to the website for the NYTimes and find this:

"Thousands of protesters gathered in Jordan, but Yemen and other restive locales in the Middle East stayed relatively quiet Friday as the region’s focus turned to Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, where tens of thousands staged an unprecedented challenge to the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

“It has blown up in Egypt,” read the front page of Al Akhbar, a leftist daily newspaper in Beirut. “Today, all eyes are focused on the mosques in the land of Egypt.”

The collapse of Tunisia’s government and the escalating protests in Egypt, long a pivot on which events in the region turn, sent shock waves across the Middle East, where activists have looked to their examples for inspiration in bringing about deep reform. Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, the most influential Arab satellite channels, broadcast nonstop coverage of the demonstrations and clashes in Cairo, from morning until well past nightfall.

“This is a moment, and we’re definitely going to see change,” said Laith Shubailat, a veteran dissident in Jordan, which has been beset by its own protests this month.

Thousands took to the streets there Friday after prayers in peaceful demonstrations. In central Amman, many of them chanted, “We want change,” with banners and slogans decrying high food prices and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai."

How embarrassing that I need to check the news when evidently I am in the middle of things.

I have been on campus this weekend, but no one has been talking about it, but I wanted to assure family and friends that I am all right. I am fine. I will find out more but have not heard a word on campus about what is happening evidently in Amman and so therefore think everything is managed competently.

Given that a few minutes ago I published a blog entry about my peace-of-mind state over signing my letter of intent, it is good to be watching and attending to the real world as well.

Thanks for the concern, and all appears to be under control...

I will head into Starbucks in Amman to see what I can learn...