“I know that guy Osama Bin Laden is after you, why do you think?”
A young man we met a couple weeks ago asked us this question. We’re not sure whether it was a serious question or a half-joke. Considering he had previously asked Sara if she was a CIA agent it’s probably the latter. I was reminded of his comments, however, in the wake of this weekend’s events.
Bin Laden’s death is the most significant American event to occur since our arrival in South Africa, and it was interesting to experience it while being on the other side of the world. Many of you heard the news Sunday night and probably spent much of your evening glued to your television sets. The news came to us in the form of a phone call from Matt’s parents at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning. It was surreal news to awaken to, and about 15 minutes after the phone call Sara received a text message from her sister telling us the same news.
When we got out of bed at about 9:30 (Monday was a holiday, our lives aren’t that amazing) Matt immediately used our modem and signed onto the internet, where the news was plastered everywhere. We read about the celebrations in Times Square and at the White House. Facebook was littered with our friends’ (some more so than others) insightful comments. Over breakfast, we talked about Bin Laden’s death and its implications for our country’s future.
Then we got dressed, took a taxi into King William’s Town where we did some shopping, and surrounded ourselves with people seemingly ambivalent to the news. Had our cell phones been turned off, we likely would have gone through the entire day without ever hearing about million-dollar compounds in Pakistan.
Yesterday we bought a newspaper, interested to see how the South African press would cover Bin Laden’s death. It did indeed make the front page, but the article didn’t discuss the details of the attack or even make a reference to 9/11. Instead, the article was filled with quotes from South African intelligence experts who opined that any counterattacks would probably not be directed at South Africa but rather North America, specifically the United States. Pretty incisive journalism. You had to flip through several pages of the newspaper to read about what actually transpired in Pakistan or commentary on how Bin Laden’s death would affect the War on Terror.
Thankfully we have internet access at work . . . .
I know this blog entry is not that informative and probably not that interesting either. However, it was an experience for us to live through a major event knowing that it was receiving constant press attention back at home and everyone was talking about it. It’s difficult to articulate, but the experience made us simultaneously feel very connected yet disconnected from the United States.
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