email426.xml

email426.xml

born-digital

email

unknown

yes

2002-08-19

Hi Rachel,

Wow, I'm so glad that you're OK! I never realized how close you were living
to the Pentagon - I'm not familiar with that area and DC anyway. But I'm
glad your father came to pick you up because it must have been pretty
harrowing for you since you live so close to the area. It's a good idea to
get out of there for awhile due to traffic, etc. I was in Baltimore
yesterday morning when I first found out about all of the tragedies.

Yesterday morning was very strange because I started my first class at 8:30
a.m. but exactly at 9 a.m., there was a fire alarm at Johns Hopkins in my
building so we all evacuated of course and fire trucks came to the campus to
look for fire, but they didn't see anything so we all went back inside to
resume class. Then after my class let out at 10:15 a.m., my interpreter,
Holly and I got out of the classroom which was situated across the hallway
from the student lobby where they always have a TV there. There was a huge
crowd of about 100 students/faculty watching the TV and Holly and I were on
the outskirts of the crowd and Holly was trying to hear the TV so she could
tell me what was going on. Finally, she told me that the World Trade Centers
were bombed (that's what she heard from the students, not the TV) so we were
shocked but I had another class at 10:30 a.m.

So we went to my next class at 10:30 and the other students in my classroom
really didn't have a good idea of what was going on but then the professor
came in and led all of us in an impromptu prayer and he basically apologized
for the world we live in and cancelled class and put the news on the huge
auditorium screen (it's like a theater screen) and Holly and I stayed for
about 30 minutes to watch the news - she interpreted for me. We were both
just shocked because they showed the footage of the plane actually going into
the second tower and the reaction of the other students was really bad. One
girl just started crying because she had family & friends who worked there
and she was just distraught. After about 30 mins, Holly and I left and there
was another lady who just collapsed in the hallway because again, she had
loved ones there.

Holly tried calling Josh for me on the pay phone but I didn't have enough
money for the long-distance call (I don't have a calling card) so I left to
go back outside and go to my car. I got about 10 pages from Josh on my
Wyndtell telling me to come home and not go to work at WRAIR (Walter Reed
Army Inst. of Research). So I went home and it took me 2 hours to get home
because everyone was trying to get out of the city of Baltimore.. it was just
sheer panic and the drivers were CRAZY! My parents also emailed me to my
Wyndtell so I paged them back to tell them I was OK and to let them know
where I was, etc.

Rachel, having the Wyndtell was the best thing that happened to me yesterday
because I could get in touch with EVERYONE - my parents, my husband and my
boss because Josh has another Wyndtell but my parents and boss don't so I can
email them instead also through the Wyndtell. It works like a charm and it
really is important for emergencies like yesterday. I didn't go to work
today because all Federal offices were open, but with a liberal leave policy
which means we don't have to go in if we don't want to. Ha.

But anyway, yesterday, Josh and Jonathan (Pollack) got out early from work
and Susan's office closed because she works at the U. of Maryland so the 4 of
us got together and we spent the rest of the day (and night) together at
their house...we really needed to be with other people because the entire day
was so surreal. Oh, well.

Take care and let me know when you're going back to DC? What about your
classes? I don't have classes at Hopkins in Baltimore on Wednesdays, so that
was lucky on my part. I have a normal day tomorrow and will go to Balt. for
classes and then go to work in Silver Spring, MD.

Talk to you soon,
Erica

received 9/12/01 7:43 pm

Re: I'm OK