Today, I live with a Muslim family, I’ve participated in the celebration of Ramadan, and I live in a country that’s 85% Muslim, but that calls me Foté. Fote ostensibly means white, but it also means “bringer of good”. I think I know more about Muslims now than I did ten years ago.
Ten years ago, I mourned the loss of the people in the buildings, and the firefighters and police officers who worked at the sites.
Today, I mourn the loss of life caused by the terrorism attack, by the resulting wars, and by the lack of healthcare given to those who toiled to save lives, identify victims, and restore order.
In Dubreka today, we held a small remembrance ceremony. At 12:46 pm, (8:46 am EST), we held a minute of silence. Then we discussed where we were that day, how the world has changed, and what the continuing tragedies resulting from that day have been. Then at the corresponding times, we held a minute of silence for the second plane and the plane that hit the Pentagon. We had candles and there was rain. It was nice to talk to other Americans about what it felt like and learn what it was like to find out all across the nation.
Before our little ceremony, we went to our regular cafe to get fried egg sandwiches (no mayo + onion + tomato = nommm) and two guys on a moto tapped my shoulder and said (as far as I could tell) "On te support." It means, we support you. Then when we arrived at the cafe, the owner, M. Barry, asked us if today was an anniversary. We said yes, it's the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and he nodded and said "Nous sommes tous humains". Other patrons sent their condolences and other signs of support and sympathy. This is the same cafe that's closed on Fridays by 1:30 pm because the owner and all his customers are at the mosque.
I felt more American than ever today, even with the cries of "Allah hu akbar" echoing through my room as I washed my hands for dinner.
that's some powerful stuff there mary. i saw this thing on the news where an american journalist went into rural afghanistan to ask villagers about 9/11 (sometime in the past year i believe). most of them couldn't even identify nyc and almost all of them had no idea that anything had happened. makes you think.
ReplyDelete