Sepetember 11
I know that everyone is probably doing these posts today, but that's not going to stop me. Mainly because I think that my Sept. 11 experience was quite unique.
Many of you who have spent any time around me will have heard me talk about the Mimili Immersion Trek I went on in year 9 and in year 10. It is a trip taken by a small group from the school and also a small group of student from other school, from Melbourne and Sydney etc. In four wheel drives and mini buses, we make the 12 hour trip to Marla, where we stayed overnight, them made the 3 hour trip into the winderness that is Mimili, a tiny Aboriginal community situated just inside the Northern South Australian border. The trip is an amazing experience, I honestly couldn't have nicer things to say about it. We spent 4 days in the Mimili community, sleeping under the stars (FREEZING!!), hanging with the kiddies, learning about local folklore, painting and gathering with the women (Honey ants are yummy!!) and generally exploring. After our time here, we drove on to Yulara, the resort type facility closest to Uluru. It was awesome, more sleeping under the stars, and finally a SHOWER and toilets that FLUSH! Plus we got to see Uluru at sunrise, onw of THE most beautiful things you will ever see. HOWEVER, after the sunrise trip in 2001, we were in the mini bus on the way back to camp, when one of the other mini buses stopped us in the other direction, telling us that the twin towers had been bombed. We drove back to the camp and put on the radio, our only form of news. As the reports started rolling in we could do nothing but stand there in shock. One of the girls in the group burst into tears as her father was a pilot and quite often flew to America, we had no idea whether he was scheduled to fly that day. As we packed up in a dazed state, we wondered what it was like back in sleepy Adelaide, whether Australia was in any real danger, and what this meant for us. We made it to a nearby service station that had one pay phone, for aver 40 of us, and a tiny television which we crowded around, and what we saw shocked us.
To make things worse, a small group of us were reading the Tomorrow When the War Began series, about a group of teenage guerilla's fighting against an invading enemy. Suddenly it didn't seem so distant, suddenly it seemed alive and real, and possible. Yes we were 14 and 15 year old kids, but we were scared, and worried, and in the middle of nowhere, felt totally alone. The four army tanks sitting outside the service station didn't help either, and just made our imaginations even wilder. Needless to say, none of us slept that night, we were up until all hours talking about what might have happened... and watching people fall out of cars (we were still 14 year olds, stuff like that was hilarious, even with terror impending)
So, that's where I was and what I was doing on that day 5 years ago. When I think of it like that, it seems like only last year, but then I think that since then, I did three more years of highschool, made and lost friends, sat exams, turned 18, graduated
had a rocking Schoolies time, got accepted to and started uni, fell in love,
sat more exams, had very long holidays with an awesome road trip, started second year uni, sat more exams, and here I am. 5 years later. When I think of it like that, alot has happened in five years. Still no closer to finding the evil genius responsible for the 9/11 attack, but no more fearful than we were that day.
Many of you who have spent any time around me will have heard me talk about the Mimili Immersion Trek I went on in year 9 and in year 10. It is a trip taken by a small group from the school and also a small group of student from other school, from Melbourne and Sydney etc. In four wheel drives and mini buses, we make the 12 hour trip to Marla, where we stayed overnight, them made the 3 hour trip into the winderness that is Mimili, a tiny Aboriginal community situated just inside the Northern South Australian border. The trip is an amazing experience, I honestly couldn't have nicer things to say about it. We spent 4 days in the Mimili community, sleeping under the stars (FREEZING!!), hanging with the kiddies, learning about local folklore, painting and gathering with the women (Honey ants are yummy!!) and generally exploring. After our time here, we drove on to Yulara, the resort type facility closest to Uluru. It was awesome, more sleeping under the stars, and finally a SHOWER and toilets that FLUSH! Plus we got to see Uluru at sunrise, onw of THE most beautiful things you will ever see. HOWEVER, after the sunrise trip in 2001, we were in the mini bus on the way back to camp, when one of the other mini buses stopped us in the other direction, telling us that the twin towers had been bombed. We drove back to the camp and put on the radio, our only form of news. As the reports started rolling in we could do nothing but stand there in shock. One of the girls in the group burst into tears as her father was a pilot and quite often flew to America, we had no idea whether he was scheduled to fly that day. As we packed up in a dazed state, we wondered what it was like back in sleepy Adelaide, whether Australia was in any real danger, and what this meant for us. We made it to a nearby service station that had one pay phone, for aver 40 of us, and a tiny television which we crowded around, and what we saw shocked us.
To make things worse, a small group of us were reading the Tomorrow When the War Began series, about a group of teenage guerilla's fighting against an invading enemy. Suddenly it didn't seem so distant, suddenly it seemed alive and real, and possible. Yes we were 14 and 15 year old kids, but we were scared, and worried, and in the middle of nowhere, felt totally alone. The four army tanks sitting outside the service station didn't help either, and just made our imaginations even wilder. Needless to say, none of us slept that night, we were up until all hours talking about what might have happened... and watching people fall out of cars (we were still 14 year olds, stuff like that was hilarious, even with terror impending)
So, that's where I was and what I was doing on that day 5 years ago. When I think of it like that, it seems like only last year, but then I think that since then, I did three more years of highschool, made and lost friends, sat exams, turned 18, graduated
had a rocking Schoolies time, got accepted to and started uni, fell in love,
sat more exams, had very long holidays with an awesome road trip, started second year uni, sat more exams, and here I am. 5 years later. When I think of it like that, alot has happened in five years. Still no closer to finding the evil genius responsible for the 9/11 attack, but no more fearful than we were that day.
posted by Caity | 8:36 PM
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