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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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February
2006
Volume
10 - Number 1 |
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A Personal Perspective from Afar By Alexandra Katsikis Everyone remembers where they were the morning of
September 11th. I was already finished with half of my day at the US
Consulate in Florence, Italy where I was interning for a couple of months.
That afternoon, I was in the process of helping the Consular General finalize
a temporary passport for one of the many US citizens whose passports were
lost, stolen or just misplaced.
In the days following September 11th, a passport, that small booklet, came to stand for much more. Not because of the strict rules put in place - since losing a passport post-9/11 meant an even more rigorous process of proving one’s citizenship - but because that small booklet meant you were an American. It was proof of your US citizenship. It was your ticket home and only tangible connection to the US. To lose it, meant that you no longer had a concrete way to prove your US citizenship. No longer having that passport in your possession, makes one feel even further away from home. Davide, one of the Consulate security guards, came running into the Consular office. He talked very fast and seemed very excited compared to his typically reserved nature. He asked me to get the Consular General. Evidently, something had just occurred in New York. The Consular General and all of the Consulate staff ran into the waiting area - where the only television in the Consulate was located. The citizens waiting to be helped, the Consulate staff, and the security guards, all stood in silence being consumed by the images on the television. As we stood there watching the smoke billowing up from the towers, the distance between family and friends back in the US and our current locality over 4000 miles away was very apparent. The outpouring of support and solidarity on behalf of the Italians was overwhelming. Italian friends that I had met while living in Italy called me to offer their sympathy. Flowers, cards, poems and other tokens of support lined the front entrance to the Consulate. I kept one note in particular. It read: “A chi si e' svegliato pensando che fosse un giorno come un altro e ha preso un aereo, una metro', un ascensore. A chi non e' tornato a casa. E credeva in un mondo megliore. Alle famiglie in lacrime, ai miei amici, e fratelli americani - questo dolore e' di tutti noi perche' noi siamo anche l'America, e io voglio ancora credere in un mondo di fratelli.” Translated as: “To those who woke up thinking this was going to be a day like any other and caught a plane, the subway, an elevator. To those who did not come home. And believed in a better world. To the families in tears, to my American friends and brothers – this sorrow belongs to all of us because we are also America and I still want to believe in a world of brothers.” People across the world felt that this was not only an affront against the US, but against all citizens of the world. A sense of global camaraderie was unmistakable during the days and months following September 11th. The support and affection shown by the Italian people helped expatriates, such as myself, cope with this tragedy. Americans were told to maintain a low profile and remove or hide any signs of American patriotism, such as flags on backpacks. We were not to flaunt our nationality, nor “act like an American.” However, like many Americans abroad, far from my homeland, I had an overwhelming desire to do just the opposite; to wear my passport, hold it in the open as one would a badge of honor. This feeling of patriotism, wanting to protect my people, my country, was the way many Americans dealt with this disaster. The further the miles, the greater the desire to preserve and protect. |