As I mentioned, after putting on a great show at our news conference the U.S. Ambassador invited us to his home for a September 11th memorial service. I don't think I was the only one to accept his invitation with the ulterior motive of discovering where an ambassador lives. So, we dressed in our Sunday best and marched our way out to the American Embassy in Ankara.
The embassy staff scheduled the memorial service to coincide with the timeline of events of September 11th as per Eastern Standard Time; they had a staff member deliver her own beautiful renditions of "TheStar-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" prior and in between a ringing of a bell to signify each of the four plane crashes from that morning. A U.S. Marine color guard unit lowered the flag to half-mast in honor of the those who lost their lives ten years ago.
I don't know if it was the singing, or the Marines, or even hearing the words of the U.S. Ambassador, but in that moment I had a few personal revelations. Typically, I have a tendency to judge those who blindly proclaim that America is the greatest country ever to be established. I can't help but think, "Really? On what evidence are you basing this claim? In what context and in what contest are we the best?" People just seem to say this blindly, and that's fine. I have nothing against national pride, it's an amazing and unifying force that human beings have developed over time.
On further reflection, when the tragedies of September 11th occurred, I think my twelve-year-old self (and subsequent past versions of myself) viewed those events merely as tragedies against humanity in general. I am aware that they were violent acts taken against our country, of course, but I don't think the synthesis of these two ideas has ever hit me as bluntly and with such emotion as they have today. Maybe it's because I'm now a part of a program that aims to bridge cultural differences and turn the closing of those cultural differences into cultural understanding and exchange. Maybe I buy into the Fulbright Program's publicized goals too easily and that I want to believe that what I do in the next nine months in Turkey might have the slightest infinitesimal difference in the world. Call me naive if you'd like, that's fine. But standing on the well-manicured lawn of the American Ambassador's house, I realized that I missed home and that no matter where I am in the world, I will always miss home. I know it shouldn't take four thousand miles of distance to make me feel pride in being American, but it certainly helped. Standing there with fifty other Americans away from home made it feel a little more like home, and it made me feel proud that from four thousands miles away, we could not only recognize a tragedy ten years in the past, but a tragedy that truly revived Americans' pride in their nation. Being there with fifty strangers and feeling that bond of being an American with that, that made me proud. It makes me proud that such feelings can exist among strangers and it makes me proud that I am hear with those strangers trying to change things in the world. While I miss home, I am proud of what I am doing here. I am proud to be from a country that has given me the opportunity to do something with the next nine months of my life. I hope I make my family and my country proud. I am proud to say that I got choked up at the sound of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." I'm glad to be in Turkey on behalf of the United States and I truly hope I do good here.
On a lighter note, the next day I visited Gençlik Park in Ankara with a few friends. It contains an amusement park and, if I'm not mistaken, the park is lit up all crazy-like at night. Of course, I was there during the day, but it was still super pretty!
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| Not pictured: the park lit up at night. |
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