anthrax anneversary
7:20 a.m. - 10.04.02
today is the first anthrax day.
i remember finding out about it last year at the cafe when i was in greece. of course that was the big conversation that night. the next day i was swimming topless in the medeteranian sea. while i floated in warm, liquid crystal, i saw war planes flying by. i immediately played the song in my head 'roads' by portoisehead. i, as well as the villagers and the tourists, knew something was brewing.
the next night (greece is 7 hours ahead) i got out of the shower and turned on the tv as i was getting ready for dinner. 'friends' was on in english with greek subtitles. i haven't watched that show past the second season, and i thought it was funny that i was catching up with the gang while i was abroad. ironically, ross got married to someone else, and rachel went to greece. in the episode, she just came back from greece. i was amused, and decided to postpone my preparations to meet a greek waiter named Yainnis for drinks, and sat in front of the tv and poured a glass of wine.
the next thing i knew, bush was on tv. it was afternoon in the u.s., and he announced that the attacks on afganistan have started. with the anthrax the day before, i was scared, scared, scared.
i walked up, then down the dirt road on the edge of the sea, to go into the village. i had only been there for 3 days, yet some in the small town already knew that i was the 'girl from the states'. i walked past dimitri's cafe, where he has a tv on the sidewalk. it was so crowded on the street in front of the t.v. i shuffled past, and then saw Yainnis standing in the doorway of the restaurant he works at. we didn't know each other that well yet, but he asked if he could hug me and told me he was sorry this was all happening.
he told me we were going to have a great time, regoardless of what was going on. he took me to his friend's bar / dance club. Yorgo, the friend and owner, did shots with us on the house. we all cursed bush. they all say that he thinks he's john wayne. some told me they like the states, admire the states, but hate bush. i told them what happened to my dad in vietnam and my opinions on the whole matter. i was telling them how scared i was for my future as well as my country's and the world's.
then, Yorgo told everyone to be quiet and gave everyone a shot on the house, in my name. he toasted to 'our friend from the states' then the dj played Don McClain's 'bye bye miss american pie'
i'll never forget that night.
right now, i'm getting ready for my trip to new york with my brother for the protest on sunday. my bro and i have never taken a road trip together. i'm excited about that. i don't know what to expect. i'm going to wear dad's shirt from vietnam, and pray that our brothers and sisters in our military will not have to suffer his fate.
i wrote this yesterday when the tv announced that we were dumping leaflets on iraq:
leaflets
if you saw paper dropping
from the sky
would you run?
or spit in the face
of a triple dog dare?
giving them a reason
if someone threw a piece
of paper out of the sky
saying you suck
beware
what would you do?
what would you do?
you would do
what we would do
punch him in his face
and make his brain explode
anthrax anneversary - 10.04.02
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