9/11

I know September 11^th is months away and the September 11^th that we all think of happened years ago, but I have a few thoughts I'd like to share. In the last couple months here in Costa Rica, I've seen multiple fotos, short videos and other media that show the Twin Towers (whole, burning, and an actual recording of the second plane crashing). And I must confess, it's been weird. I won't go as far to say that it is disturbing, but it's close. Costa Rica is obviously not the US. It was not affected near as much as the US was by 9/11 and it is more of a removed situation, so I don't think it affects them quite as much. (Think for a second-how much do we react when something terrible happens in another country? If it's a natural disaster we send money and people to try to help-and whether or not our help actually helps is a road I'm not going down- but most of us are not personally affected by the tragedy. And a week later when it's no longer in the headlines of the news, we completely forget about it.) I think we like to think it was a global tragedy, and I think there is a good argument for that, but it was clearly most tragic for our nation.

9/11 is now a nigh sacred day in the US. It is always going to be a remembrance of that fateful day in 2001. I'm pretty sure we can all still remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. I was in the basement hall of Edward Little High School (near the bathrooms by the cafeteria) on my way up to chemistry class. My friend Joel told me that planes had crashed into the Twin Towers and I thought he was joking. Then my friends Michelle and Alice came behind him and told me the same thing and I remember getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. It was awful.

That was now almost 8 years ago. If you were to ask me (especially before I came to Costa Rica), I would say we have pretty much healed and recovered from that day. Life has definitely gone on. I think it's fine and good to remember it, though not necessary to make it as sacred as some might-and I have no condemnation for those that don't do much to commemorate the day. But I was surprised at how raw I felt when I saw those images again. I don't even know anyone who died or did anything heroic. Maybe it was just that I was seeing history from my country while in another country and it struck a patriotic chord in me. But, visual things tend to have a greater effect over us than things we just hear. And we aren't at the point (if there is even a point we can ever get to) where we can see those images and not feel something sear our hearts. I don't know though...maybe I'm being an emotional woman. Maybe not. Just writing this is making images of the attacks go through my mind again and sending the shivers down my spine.

So, there are some thoughts for you from this girl who is afar. This post feels like a bit of a downer since it's serious. But, I guess you know I really do have some serious thoughts and I feel comfortable sharing with you here. Thanks for reading!