Efforts: for sleep and peace

2:17 AM.  Severely jet-lagged.  Still.  Listening to my "Go-to-sleep" mix on iTunes hoping it will work the same magic it did for me freshman year at Denison.

So, instead of tossing in bed with a million thoughts running through my head while smelling the smoke in my hair each time I turn, I thought I would jot a few thoughts down here.

Recently, the eye of the media is focused on Egypt and the protesting in Cairo's Tahiri Square.  As you are probably aware of, Egypt isn't alone.  The exasperated act of a young merchant in Tunisia seems to have triggered the uprisings across the region which are broadcast daily.  Jordanians have joined the trend, and have taken to the streets each Friday for the past four weeks (peacefully).  They want reform within the government.  They are tired of the poor economy, and the ridiculous poverty rate.  Corruption is too common and too evident.  King Abdullah II works to meet the demands of his people and on Tuesday he disbanded the government and fired the prime minister.  He met with the Muslim Brotherhood - a political group heavily involved in the politics here - to discuss the prevalent issues.

The winter rains started this week as well, two months late.  Though the numbers were smaller, the weather didn't stop several hundred gathering downtown this afternoon.  The changes made are a step in the right direction - the people were listened to.  However, the new Prime Minister Bakhit, has already served a term.  The people know him, and they don't see him adopting the reforms they want to see.  Alongside this protest, Jordanians rallied in support of their Egyptian brothers.

This afternoon, I sat with my host family to watch the news cover Egypt, Iraq (a new country to join the list of protesting nations) and Jordan.  However, keep your eyes on the developments in Lebanon, and the tremblings in Sudan, among other nations.  There are also stirrings within the West Bank and Gaza.  And finally, my pet nation, Syria, called for a "day of rage" (to quote al-Jazeera) via social networks (which are banned in the country).  But today's protests in Damascus never happened, not surprisingly.  The country's secret police are too strong, and it is probably for the best that nothing did happen as that could have been very ugly, in more ways than one. 

Lifehouse - please put me to sleep.  It's going on 3AM and classes start Sunday.