walking to school every morning i pass a taxi stand (this is about the length of one block-just one curb- and at the corner is a little shack where the dispatch, normally a kid, sits and watches a big tv), and every morning i see some strange movie, normally dubbed or subtitled from english. at 6am or so, the tv i see is usually the last thing on my mind, but i always glance at it as i walk on past.
today, as i was coming to school, i saw something i thought i would never see on mexican news. blacksburg, va. virginia tech. massacre.
almost all of my students today asked me where i was from again. had i ever heard of a uni in virginia called virginia tech?
the questions that people often ask, regarding the usa and its proclivity toward violence, begin again. this time, however, i do not feel so separated from the questions; i do not have the same sort of detached perspective i usually do when i answer them. i saw some pictures of the campus today, mainly of police and wounded students. i have not seen the campus in about 4 years, and it was sad to see it the way that i did. i hope that if anyone reading this knew someone on campus that day that they are ok. i guess there is not much else to say.
1 comment:
Will,
I have been blessed to suffer very few tragedies in my life. It might be hard for you to imagine the full effect of this event being so far away. As cliché as it may be, a part of me died on Monday. I lived in Blacksburg for 5 years. You and I roomed together for 3 of those years. Its place that I have always remembered fondly, that has shaped me into the person I am today. Then this happened. The media coverage has been oppressive and photos staring down the killer’s gun barrel are all over the TV and internet. The whole event just really hit home for me, and I will be wearing my VT shirt tomorrow, praying for those who lost their loved ones.
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