Bye-Bye Spring Break

Well, Spring Break went pretty fast. It seems things are happening just as fast in the Middle East. Most of the attention is now in Libya on the western boarder of Egypt.

Things in Egypt have actually calmed down a bit and the Egyptian people are looking forward to elections in August. Wow! What an exciting time to be there.

My travel plans, however, will begin in Turkey and take me through Syria and Jordan to Egypt. While Libya is getting most of the attention, Syria has also become a bit uneasy as protests in the town of Daraa have escalated with the death of five protesters.

http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1848474.html

What are some questions you would ask of a high school student in Syria?

In the meantime, I’m still uncertain if I will be able to complete my travels this summer as they are currently planned so, stay tuned.

Map of Region and Some Questions

Tunisia, Eygpt, Jordan, Iran, Bahrain and now Libya and Yemen.

What started in Tunisia seems to be speading thoughout the region of North Africa and the Middle East.

What do these countries have in common?

How are they different?

Which of these countries have been considered friends of the United States?

What do you think will be our future relationship with these countries?

If I am able to follow through with my plans to travel in this region, how will these people respond to Americans like me?

Is it important for Americans traveling abroad to consider how they are representing the United States?

Things are happening!

Well, a lot has happened since I started this blog. Here at school, my students have gone to the regional Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) where they received several gold metals and will, once again, be going onto the state competition in Houston.



But, even more has been happening in the Middle East. I'm still not sure if I will be able to travel to the countries currently on my itinerary. But, if I do, it will surely be an interesting trip.



I'm hoping more of you (especially my students) will begin to follow my blog and post your own thoughts about my trip and what is now happening in the Middle East.



Much of the worlds attention has now been in Bahrain. How is this like what is happening in Egypt? How might it be different? How might this affect you?



Here's an article you may want to read:

http://owni.eu/2011/02/18/bahrain-a-different-wind-of-change/

A Shaky Start

While I started planning my trip a few months ago, I decided to wait before I created my blog. The last couple of weeks has caused me to wonder if I may need to change my plans. Nonetheless, I've decided it might be interesting to begin my blog now.

I'm hoping my students, fellow teachers, family and friends will join in on what should prove to be an very interesting discourse.

My plans have been to leave Dallas on June 30th; flying into Istanbul. From there, I will travel through Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt; then fly home from Cairo.

As I'm sure you all know, the recent unrest in this region has put those plans in question. I'm hopeful, however, that things will calm down by June; at least enough for me to continue with my next "Great Adventure".

So, I invite you to follow my blog and post your own thoughts as things develop.