Just before my Twitter feed (heavy on Syrian/Arab news sources) was overwhelmed by the developments in Gaza, I saw reports that the Baramkeh campus of Damascus University was being evacuated. I also saw reports that shelling is hitting the Omayyad Mosque/Old City in Damascus.
In better news, I got an email from a former student of mine in Damascus, letting me know that he's ok. I was almost sure that this particular guy was either (a) fronting up some unit of the FSA, or (b) dead as a result of (a), so it was nice to hear that he's alive and well-ish and trying to finish up university (!). Two days after I got that email, I saw that his area of Damascus was hit by a car bomb. He wrote me again to let me know he was still ok. What made me laugh/cry was that within the same email message, he complained about the damage and casualties of the car bomb...and also the ophthalmology exam he was going to have to take the next day. Talk about adjusting your normal.
I have a few Syrians in the classes I'm teaching this semester. Nobody ever told me I'd have to teach college study skills to students whose homeland is being ripped to shreds, students who skype their relatives in Syria and the gunfire in the background is audible. These are students who sometimes look stressed and tired in class to the point where they put their heads down on their desks, and I don't know if they stayed up late playing video games or if they stayed up late worrying about the safety of their family members. I try to check in with them regularly to see how they're doing. I hope they know that I care, even if I don't know quite what I'm doing, either. Like I said, no one ever taught me how to deal with this.