Four years ago today

Four years ago today. I was just over one month in the United States (in Berkeley, California), and just getting out of bed when the phone rang. It was my landlord. "Turn on the TV"--that was all he said. So I made my way to the living room and turned on the TV. CNN, to be precise. The first tower had already been hit. I will soon witness a plane smashing through the second tower on screen. And sometime after that, the unbelievable collaspe of the towers. I remember the phone calls coming in thick and fast from home: parents, fiancée, friends...and I remember reassuring them by reminding them that New York and Washington D.C. are exactly the width of one continent away from where I was. I remember the solemn look on the faces I saw on campus and in town that day--yes, even in Berkeley, California.

I remember thinking to myself: I live in interesting but tragic times.