story20573.xml

story20573.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2006-09-11

My father had a delicate surgery on September 09th, 2001. My family was pretty nervous about him. I was on that time studying at the university and working on a NGO in Peru, my country. So my schedule were not very rigid.

I wook up at 5.40 am on September 11th 2001, that day. I could not sleep at all so I turned the TV on. At that time, the daily news TV programms start in Peru. This day main issue was an strike of public transport service in Lima, so I decided to go to the bed again. It wasn't that important.

Three hours later I turned the TV on, again, and what I saw was so shocking.

It was an airplane crashing the WTC, live and direct. I can remember the words of the local reporter about it. He said that it was a world-scale tragedy. He barely talked when the second plane crashed.

I was confused, I could not understand it because a couple of hours ago the most important event in daily TV programs of Lima was the strike and not terrorist attacks in NYC or DC. Ten minutes after the second attack, I left my bedroom and went to my parents'. My mother was still sleeping. I woke her up and told to watch the TV, that US was attacked.

Then I took the cell phone and called my dad's bedroom at the hospital. I told him to watch the TV. He told me he was watching it since the very initial images the international TV programms were shown. "Ok -I told him-. See you later".

I hung up and the silence in my department was tremendous. My mother did not say anything, just kept watching the TV, so do I. Each one in our bedrooms. The images I saw that day will never be forgotten. Neither the silence.