9/11 remembered

September 11. The day that changed our world. Where were you then?

I was working at the British Embassy and was in the kitchen having lunch with a couple of colleagues. We were in pretty good spirits because a lunch appointment had fallen through and so the yummy sandwiches and stuff that had been bought were ours to consume.

Here in Iceland, the British Embassy shares premises with the German Embassy, and the second-in command at the Germans’ came rushing into the kitchen to tell us that a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I can remember the moment of confusion, of going from some banal type of banter to trying to absorb this information. I remember thinking it was probably just a small plane, and that it must have been an accident.

We jumped to our feet and ran upstairs to where they had the live CNN broadcast on. There it became awfully clear that this was no small plane but a passenger aircraft. Watching for a bit, we returned downstairs, and I called EPI on the phone. As we were talking, I heard the news spreading like wildfire around the office that another plane had landed on the second tower. I thought it couldn’t be true – someone must have misunderstood. But then EPI started hearing it, too. I went online and sure enough there was the news, confirmed.

It was an afternoon of absolute confusion. Not knowing whether to continue with the day’s plans, or to drop everything... and do what? My afternoon included an appointment at Morgunblaðið, which at the time was Iceland’s main newspaper, and at 5 pm there was a cocktail party at the Embassy that I had to attend.

Not knowing what to do, I decided to keep my appointment at the paper. Just as I pulled up in front of the building, the 2 pm news came on the radio. The south tower was collapsing. It was unbelievable – too huge to fathom. I went inside, and naturally the entire editorial office was in an uproar. Standing inside, I watched on TV as the north tower collapsed also.

Needless to say, that meeting never happened. I went back to the Embassy and in a daze we set about canceling the cocktail party. I remember that we were all feeling very nervous, not knowing whether the UK would be hit next, and indeed if we were even safe inside the Embassy. Not to mention the fact that the American Embassy was located just down the street. When we’d finished making the necessary calls, we simply went home. I laid in front of the television under a blanket and just watched in horror for the next few hours. I was so glad when AAH came home from school – it was the sort of day when you just wanted to hold your loved ones really close. That awful day that we knew would irrevocably change the world.

So as America, and the world, remembers the terrible events of 9/11 five years ago, here in Iceland we have chequered weather – looming dark clouds in the distance, but sunny spells right above us. Allegorical, perhaps. The forecast is for rain today, at least in the west, and our current temps are 11°C. The sun came up at 06.38 and went down at 20.09.