9/11 abroad

This is my first time being out of the country on the anniversary of 9/11.

8 years later, my mind is no less further from the stressful memory of that tragic day, when I was a senior in high school watching the smoke rise up from the city while standing next to my classmates in New Jersey.. But this day also usually brings positive thoughts of a nation united, a country who grew closer to each other and became prouder to be Americans. This is proven each year as the anniversary falls upon us, when American flags are waved, when those we lost are honored, when we come together to reflect, when we're maybe a little nicer to strangers because we know their thoughts are also wandering back to that fateful day we can never forget...

The past 7 anniversaries I have been in Washington, DC on the anniversary and have usually made my way to the National Mall for a ceremony. Argentina happens to be a little further removed from the situation so this year it's safe to say I am having a different experience... basically the complete opposite than I would be having in the states, since this day doesn't have as much significance here.

Although there are no American flags waving and I am on a different continent, my thoughts, and the rest of the expats' I'm sure, are with the states, and my mind can't help but drift back to the day that is still so clear in our memories.