Student protests...

So I missed the commotion over the peaceful protests at the Palais du Peuple on Feb 1 until someone posted the YouTube clip on my Facebook page, and my neighbor mentioned the same video later that night.  Frankly, news doesn't really travel in Djibouti, despite how small both the country and the city are.  Yes, everything effects you, however you don't immediately know why.

Yesterday, students were throwing rocks in the commercial district.  The high school faces the university, which faces... yes, me.  I got a phone call from a colleague indicating that there had been some violence I should avoid.  A couple hours later, my neighbor related seeing a mob running past her near the house, and away from the rock throwing incident that I had been warned about.

Today, the students are at it again and the Embassy warden is keeping us posted, so my news is a little more timely.  The story I've heard is that the exams results just came out. Of the thousands who took those exams, only a handful of students got passing marks.  So, the students attacked the university President, who is fortunately in good health.  Then, they stormed out into the streets where they began throwing rocks.  This, I have discovered, is how Djboutians express distress.  They are a stone-throwing nation.

Often enough, this rock-throwing disrupts local traffic.  Children lop rocks at one another; street youth pitch stones at passing cars.  Our 4-wheel agency vehicles cleverly flip U-turns at the first sign of danger, and turn back the opposite way.  This morning, my colleague unconsciously headed to the bank, and had that exact unexpected experience.

As for me, I will stay off the streets.  Although the disturbance is occuring in my neighborhood, I live and work in close proximity.  But, the four-day English Teacher Training which I was busily preparing has been postponed until the student strikes calm.  Quite logically, the Ministry would like to restrict the number of idle high school students in this area.