September 11th

I feel like I should say something special regarding today and its rememberances. Last year, I did that in my email home. This year, I just really feel removed from it all. When I think about it, I remember the day and the horror of the days to follow. The pictures that were shown over and over again, that I still can't watch. The stories of those who died and those who survived.

And I'm sure that there are memorials being shown on TV and happening all day, all over the States today. But over here, there is nothing. Last year, there was an expectation that terrorists would choose the 11th on which to attack the military or other Western influences...but this year, either we've all realized that terrorists in Iraq don't really care (or know) about the national holidays or other special days from other countries and so we're not concerned, or I just haven't heard about anything. Last year, there was a moving memorial service given by some of the NY firefighters who'd left NYC for their patriotic duty over here that was shown on CNN, but this year, I don't know about anything happening.

And it's not that no one here cares...it's not that at all...everyone who doesn't think that it was a Jewish conspiracy thinks that it was a terrible, terrible thing, and very much different from the ideals of mainstream Islam (Shia'a _or_ Sunni)...it's just that it didn't touch the people here like it did us at home, so it doesn't enter their thoughts unless someone else brings it up.

And for those of us who were touched by it in one form or another, the days here often seem so like the day(s) in the movie "Groundhog Day" that it's sometimes difficult to remember special days.

But even though I'm far away and feel very removed, I remember.