The terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 served as the single most significant event of my time in America from September 2001 until April 2002. Upon returning from Saudi Arabia on September 1st, I had originally planned on staying in the US for only eight weeks and then going back to Saudi Arabia for another English teaching gig somewhere within the Kingdom. September was supposed to have been a time of whirlwind travel across the USA and Canada to see friends and family a few days here and a few days there before retraining my sights on the Middle East. 9/11 changed all that. I was in Ithaca, New York on that horrible day, and in order to memorialize the event I have decided to post several emails that I had sent out in the days just after the attack. They include my first response to inform people that I was OK, a restatement of my travel plans, an email of messages from friends around the world, and a story about nearly being nabbed by Canadian border patrol on September 13th! In the end, I gave up my short term desire to return to Saudi Arabia and decided instead to see what the American response to the attacks would be, where they would take place, and if World War III would break out. I rearranged my entire travel schedule and took a one month detour to Wisconsin to stay with my sister andand grandmother, visit all my family out there, then fly down to Texas, up to Vancouver, Canada, down to Portland Oregon, then finally on to California where I stayed for several months with my parents as I began my job search anew. Finally, I returned to Saudi Arabia in April 2002 and I plan on staying in the Kingdom until Spring 2004, that is, providing no more drama breaks out across the region or the United States. I tell ya, life in the 21st Century ain't all we were led to believe it would be. Whatever happened to global peace and flying cars?!? Daniel 11 September 2002

Date: Tue, 11 September 2001 Subject: Safe in Upstate New York

This is just a quick note to say that I am safe and sound in central New York (Upstate New York) several hundred miles/kilometers away from New York City and Washington DC and the terrorist madness currently unfolding there. I was scheduled to drive up to Buffalo, New York today although I have postponed that for the time being so that I can "wait and see" what develops further. At this point all I can think about is how happy I am that I departed Saudi Arabia before all of this madness broke out since it probably would not the best thing to be in the Middle East right now should any sort of Middle Eastern terrorist link be made with the plane crashes and downing of the World Trade Towers. My thoughts right now are with the good friends I made while in Saudi Arabia regardless of *what* they may be (Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Arab, Western, Asian, etc.) and I hope that our national leaders are able to not allow this situation slide into something the world might later regret. As I get information from my friends in the Middle East and their perspectives of these events, I shall forward them on to you as well. Take care, Daniel

Date: Thu, 13 September 2001 Subject: Travel plans, err, travel cancellations

Howdy, Daniel here. This is a quick email to the people included as part of my travel itinerary in the upcoming days and weeks which will serve as an update. I am currently staying in Buffalo, NY with two friends of mine whom I met while in Japan (Debra and Brian). I was planning on departing to Wisconsin on Friday, but my flight on September 14th from Syracuse, NY to Chicago has officially been cancelled. According to www.united.com my flight from Chicago to Madison is still scheduled to depart, but for some reason I imagine that is not going to happen, not to mention the fact that my Syracuse-Chicago flight has been cancelled so I have no way to get to Chicago to make the connection. Therefore, preliminarily, I am planning on staying in Buffalo Friday evening the 14th and then driving out to Madison, Wisconsin on my own on Saturday. I will probably arrive early-early morning on Sunday. AmyLynn, could you please send me directions to Lodi and Grandma's address starting from Chicago. My original plan was to be in Madison from the 14th until the 19th. Dad, I have no idea what the status of my flight from Madison to Dallas is going to be on the 19th and so I can give no information to you on an ETA. I was then scheduled to fly out to Los Angeles on the 23rd, but of course I have no information on the status of that flight, so AmyD, I have no clue about my ETA. Babs, thanks for inviting me to stay in Ithaca with you on Friday night, but I think I'm going to stay here in Buffalo because it's much closer to Wisconsin. AmyLynn, thanks for the offer to drive up to New York to pick me up, but like I said, I will probably drive out to Wisconsin on Saturday myself... that would be easiest for everyone involved (although I would love to see the inside of your ritzy new car!). Tiffany, as you can imagine, I have no clue when I'll be up in SF, but I will do my best to get up there as quickly as possible as soon as this whole transportation nightmare starts normalizing again. Lori, I'll see you once I'm in Wisconsin! :-) Mom, I'm still planning on being up in Paradise sometime around early October so it may work out that I can take care of the pets after all! Well, I think that's all for now. In essence, I have no concrete information to give anyone at the moment, but I am positive that you all fully understand. I tell ya, this attack on New York and Washington really *has* changed everything... it's amazing... I hope all is well with you! Daniel PS: please feel free to email and brainstorm with me regarding my itinerary and what have you. I will need to contact the airlines tomorrow to see if they can give me any additional information, but just like everyone else, I'm sure they have none so I won't be holding my breath.

Date: Thu, 13 September 2001 Subject: Border crossings

As I believe I have shared with most of you already, I am currently in New York State visiting friends I have living in the area. I was in the town of Ithaca on the day of the terrorist attacks and instead of driving to Buffalo, NY later in the afternoon as planned I remained in Ithaca to wait and see how events would develop throughout the day. Well, as it turned out no further attacks were carried out and I figured it would be safe enough to drive to Buffalo in western New York on the 12th where I have been for the last day and a half. Since airplane transportation is a total disaster across the entire United States and my flight from Syracuse to Madison, Wisconsin via Chicago on the 14th has been cancelled, I decided to make myself comfortable here in Buffalo since I'll be here for at least an extra day and thus decided to do a little sightseeing at Niagara Falls. I drove up to the Falls and stopped first at the American side to view them and then drove out to the Canadian side, accompanied all the while by a friend of mine (Brian) whom I met while working in Japan and who is also visiting staying with my friend Debra who lives in Buffalo and whom we both met while working in Japan. In any case, Debra had to work today so Brian and I went up to the Falls on our own and figured it would be no big deal, despite the securing of borders due to the attack in New York City and Washington DC. WELL... I must have been full-on hallucinating when I thought that crossing the border into Canada would be a drama-free experience especially after such a horrific terrorist attack had been wrought on New York City and DC just 48 hours earlier. Allow me to recap the experience: Driving my red four-door rented 2001 Ford Focus up to the booth on the American side of the bridge connecting the United States and Canada at Niagara Falls, I stopped the car and was instructed to turn off the engine and produce identification which Brian and I quickly did by handing over our American passports. After asking us a few questions about our nationality, where we were living and what we were doing in New York - being residents of California - I was instructed to open my trunk, just as all crossers at the border ahead of us and around us were being instructed to do (a bit strange for exiting the USA, actually). So I complied and the trunk of the car was briefly looked through (by American patrol agents) and after a somewhat superficial search, we were handed our passports and told to drive on over the bridge toward the Canadian booths on the other side of the bridge. After waiting about 15 minutes in a line of cars, we made it up to the Canadian booth where I was greeted by a rather burly Canadian border patrolman who didn't particularly feign any sense of happiness or politeness in doing his job. Just like we had been instructed at the American booth, the Canadian patrol man asked us to shut off our car engine and produce our identification and open our trunk. Of course that is exactly what we did. At this point, the patrolman started scouring my and Brian's passports seeing that we both have stamps inside from countries all over the world, and in mine there were recent stamps from nations with plenty of Arabic script all over them, i.e. Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The patrolman retained our passports and suddenly started searching our trunk although I could barely see what he was doing except through a little crack between the base of the back window and the trunk lid reflecting in the rear view mirror hanging from the windshield. At that point I knew that there was something somewhat amiss since I had Arabic script on several pages of my passport and on several things in my back back in the trunk and that because Middle Eastern connections are being made with these New York terrorist attacks, anyone with any remote connections to the Middle East would be an instant suspect. "Start your engine," the border patrol man commanded, "and drive directly to the covered parking area 15 meters to your left, park your car, and step out of the vehicle." He did not return our passports and instead gave us what looked like a carbon copy restaurant tab with some special handwritten code on it which we then handed over to the next set of agents who met us once we parked the car. "Step out of the vehicle, sir," the new border patrol man commanded, a man about 5'11" (180cm) tall with short cropped dark brown hair, tan skin, and sizable arms. Then he said, "Open your trunk. I will now perform a thorough search of your vehicle." "Good God, is this absolutely necessary?" I thought as he began the search, reminding myself all the while that this is apparently the price we all must now pay if we want improved security on our borders. Then to my left a border patrol woman with long brown hair walked up to me and said, "Sir, whose vehicle is this?" "It's mine. It's a rent-a-car from Syracuse." Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Sir, please produce your rental agreement," at which time I gave her my paperwork and she disappeared off to some obscure location where I assume she did a background check on the vehicle. Meanwhile, the search of the trunk began and the main items in the trunk were my and Brian's backpacks along with a tube of posters I had purchased while in Saudi Arabia, all covered with Arabic script and one instructing how to kneel and pray properly according to Islamic tradition. As the Arabic script was sighted by the patrolman I saw a sparkle in his eyes light up as well, as if to say, "I think we've got a suspect here!" The man then opened the front pocket on my backpack (the backpack containing my laptop computer inside the main compartment) and inside the front pocket was a smorgasbord of Arabic effects from Saudi Arabia for Mr. Man to feast his eyes upon. As he opened up my personal-documents travel-pouch the first thing he saw was my Saudi Arabian driver's license which has a bad picture of me covered in scores of Arabic script. "WHAT'S THIS?!?" he demanded. "It's my Saudi driver's license." "When were you in Saudi Arabia?!?" he demanded. "Last year." "How long were you there?" "Exactly one year." "Exactly one year, sir?" "Yes, exactly one year, sir." "What were you doing there?" "I was working for an English language teaching institution as an English teacher, and before that I was working in Japan as an English language instructor as well." Item number two: a list of my coworkers' phone numbers in Saudi Arabia which I subsequently described to the patrol officer. Item number three: a printed list of various email address from friends from the world over. (Very suspicious I assume!) Item number four: three pages of printed mailing addresses for friends and family the world over. (questionable as well, no doubt). Items number five: three crumpled up luggage claim tags. "What are these, Sir?" "They're for my luggage, sir." Item number six: a translucent red floppy disk. "What's on the disk, sir?" "All of the email addresses which you saw on the previous paper sir." "Is that *all*?" "Yes, sir, that is all." Item number seven: a small envelope with a note in it from an acquaintance of mine on the Arabian compound where I lived that said, "To my friend, good luck and many thanks for the help you have done for me. I hope you have a safe trip and a wonderful life ahead." with personal contact addresses in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Highly suspect, I'm sure. (This acquaintance was the main food server guy in the cafeteria at my work (a quasi-friend, as well), and the "help" refers to the $100 I gave him as a gift of friendship upon my departure to help his family in Bangladesh where the average person earns a mere $600 a year.) Item number eight: my checkbook which has documentation of rather sizable checks written while in Saudi Arabia to 'mysterious' companies such as "AFSA" and "SMSC" and a few checks to personal friends as well, all very curious to the border patrol man. So curious in fact that I had to explain each one. "AFSA and SMSC are my student loan companies, sir, and the reason my checks to these organizations are so large is because I OWE THEM SO MUCH $#@& MONEY. And the other checks were to A, B, and C for X, Y, and Z." Item number nine, and EXTREMELY suspicious: a three page somewhat-wrinkled black-and-white photocopy of my Saudi Arabian resident-alien passbook (which I surrendered to the Saudi authorities upon my departure two weeks ago) which to anyone who cannot read Arabic would most likely look like a forged "Middle Eastern" passport. "WHAT IS THIS?!?" demanded the uniformed officer, to which I promptly answered and explained. Item number ten, and the apparent jackpot: my Saudi Arabian Airline tickets departing from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to London Heathrow changing planes to United Airlines into Washington DC on August 31st, then flying up to New York state on September 4th... and suddenly here I was at the Canadian border on September 13th trying to exit the United States two days after the massive New York City/Washington DC terrorist attacks. "Sir, please stand over beside the column next to the vehicle," the patrolman demanded, which I did without question as border agents ran a check on my rent-a-car as well as a security profile of my passport. Then the patrolman started going through Brian's belongings which had a very Asian touch to them since he had spent quite some time in Asia prior to this year, and Brian had to answer a slew of questions as well, though far fewer, I assume, because he had spent no time in the Middle East. By this time I was getting a bit jittery as they were going through all of my things, thinking, "It's all this Arabic crap in my bag. They're gonna try to get me because I have "ties" to the Middle East." But then I reminded myself, "Daniel, you have *absolutely NOTHING* to worry about and NOTHING to fear in any of this since you are totally and completely innocent of any and all suspicions! Just let them go about their business, you'll be fine." Despite my attempts of self-reassurance, I was still severely freaked out, not to mention that in the back seat of the car I had a broken Saudi Arabian Islamic religious-police whipping stick which I had brought back with me from Arabia as a souvenir and I assumed that seemed a bit bizarre to the border people as well. After Brian's things had been thoroughly searched through, we were both instructed to stand away from the vehicle. And just when I thought we'd be detained for further questioning due to all these "suspicious" belongings of mine, the border patrolwoman walked up to the patrolman, made some coded hand gesture that appeared to say, "stop the search," and then whispered something in his ear, at which time the border patrolman slammed the trunk closed, returned our passports and the car rental agreement, then told us to get in the vehicle and that we were free to go. "PHEW!!!" I thought! "Let's go!" Brian strongly suggested and we were suddenly on our way - somewhat shaky - to the Canadian Falls at Niagara. And that, my friends, is how life at the American-Canadian border was on September 13th, 2001. I hope all is well with you, Daniel AFTERWORD: getting back into the United States was a piece of cake - the border patrol men directing cars were surprisingly jovial, laughing and joking up a storm (oddly so, I thought), and the border agent barely even looked in our passports and certainly didn't notice all the Arabic contained therein and waved us through in less than 20 seconds.

Date: Sat, 15 September 2001 Subject: Global voices

Hello everyone, As I mentioned, I've received many emails from my friends and co-workers from the United States and abroad regarding their experiences and sentiments about the attacks in America this week, and I thought I would share some of them with you now. [Names won't be given out of respect for privacy] *** Arab-American friend who has family in Syria: I spoke with my Mom. She'd been in Beirut with my family until yesterday. They immediately left for Damascus when they heard what had happened. Mom said that there were soldiers everywhere, worried about what might happen there. She also said that people everywhere are incredibly sad about what's happened. People have been crying and expressing grief. There was even a Palestinian Pro-America type of gathering at the US Embassy (I think in Damascus?) expressing grief over what's happened. They're saying that while there's been almost daily violence against the Palestinians over the past year, that they don't want it to happen to other people. I'm just sad that right now, all the American public is seeing is the few Palestinians who are rejoicing over this (and the weird thing is, I understand why) and are assuming this to be universal. Spread the word, would you, that the Middle Eastern response is one of sadness and grief, and not of happiness. *** * Japanese friend who taught himself English: In Japan, TV and Radio stations have been broadcasting these events the whole day. (Especially NHK) The first events happened before 22:00pm, September 11th. (Japan time). And when NHK TV wide news program started, the next event happened. At that time, it was in the middle of live from New York. The newscaster who was watching this scene, in spite of himself, said "Is it live?" The media report that there are so many branch offices and others (Bank, Company etc.) of Japan in these buildings and Japanese passengers. And also, they report about the terrorists, the organization, the leader, their purpose (intention) and others in detail. I was relieved to read your E-mail. But, we are concerned about [So-and-so] who is working in New York [An American co-worker of mine in Japan]. Wall Street is near the twin buildings, isn't it? I'll send him E-mail. All persons and leaders of the world must think about today's global fundamental issues and situation before thinking about only own country's benefit (advantage), I think. If they don't think about these things, seriously, or like these events will happen again, I think. It concerns me deeply now. Always, All of us, we are thinking of you. Take care! [Sidenote: Japan currently has over 100 citizens missing from the World Trade Center complex.] *** *American friend from Japan working in New York City, who confirmed he was OK: I did have a pretty close call though. My firm had just signed the lease the previous Thursday for an executive suite. Tuesday was our move-in day and my boss was out of town so he delegated some of the protocol. I was suppose to be there at 9 and had a 9:30 meeting scheduled with the IT technician on the floor. I was approximately five minutes away still in the subway when I got out. It was scary. People were running. Some were just staring dumbfounded despite the danger. As I gazed for a while myself, there were office papers floating to the ground. Let me tell you, that is a really weird thing. The canyons of wall street with office papers gracefully floating to the earth while there is billowing black smoke. At this point there wasn't too much fall-out but there was some. You know the Schindler's List scene where there are flakes from the holocaust inferno - before the collapse it was like that. Not nearly as heavy but still, there was some. I heard from my boss that Margaret the woman whom had shown us the space the previous Wednesday - the woman whom was supposed to greet me and give security clearance to me at 9am - her sister was on CNN balling trying to find her. Ugghh. I just hope that all of the survivors of the victims find a way to pull together and survive the terror that they must be feeling right now. Well I hope you are doing well. Are you still abroad working?? I imagine as Tuesday was unfolding, you were reminded of your earthquake experience not so many years ago. Moments like this really remind you that it's so important to take timeout every once in a while to enjoy the journey. *** *German friend living in western Germany: Everyone was shocked here hearing about the terrorist act. I came back in the office and they told me a plane crashed into the world trade center and I thought they were joking. Even seeing the pictures on CNN made it hard to believe for me! We all were so shocked we just stared at the TV - even from other offices people came to watch the news. A woman beside our office had friends working in the trade center and she still has no answers from some of them! The more news that came in, the more we were kind of frozen - the pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania. Unbelievable!!!!! We were all so shocked we closed down early, no one could really go on working, even people calling us were just talking about New York. VIVA and VIVA II [German TV channels] stopped their broadcasts. Still this morning MTV Europe played videos with a note that no shows will run today - all German TV stations had live reports - either their own or they translated CNN or had N24 as a support. The whole evening and night long the reports went on - no ordinary broadcasts. Only 2 football teams were forced by the UEFA to play - also the players denied to play. The ice hockey teams did not go on the ice. A lot of people yesterday in Germany believed we are going to war again - I only do hope the politicians stay "real" and clear of mind. In Frankfurt the stock was closed down and some skyscrapers evacuated - just as a measure of safety. Even today it is quieter than usual on the floors and the subject is discussed everywhere. A lot of churches had extra services. The German army is on alert, especially in the parts of Germany where the US army is still stationed. The airports are running under extra strength security conditions. [Sidenote: of all non-Americans, German nationals constitute the largest group of missing and/or presumed-dead victims of the World Trade Center attack.] *** * Westerner working in Saudi Arabia There seems to be a mixture of reactions. Other teachers are very concerned about job security and personal security... "Are the guards at the front gate going to shoot attackers, or help them shoot us?" Is keeping so many Americans as such a soft target [on the compound together] a good idea? I've gotten emails of condolences from a few Saudis, and I've heard others say that the USA deserves it for helping Israel. I know this one guard because I taught his brother 3 times, and he told me "congratulations". I said for what? And he said for the attack. I had to convince him that the attack was bad. He was arguing that what Israel does is bad and the USA can't expect to support an oppressive occupier without some consequences. After I told him that many Muslims, women, and children were killed in the attacks, he agreed that this was bad. *** *Westerner friend still living in Saudi Arabia: I myself am trying to remain calm AND not allow anger to overwhelm me. Both my cousin and my friend John saw the shit go down [in NYC] with their own eyes and are stunned and outraged. I am worried that once the shooting starts a cascade effect could begin which would have horrific consequences for all of us. I am worried that Muslims the world over could perceive this as an attack on all of them and Islam. Many are defensive as it is. Muslim Americans are fearful and are subject to increasing attacks. Things can quickly get out of hand if the reaction is too swift and not focused strictly on those responsible. Perhaps whatever the US and other countries do will be perceived in an anti-Islamic light and we'll be in for years of this shit. We'll just have to wait and see. My plans are to be ready, and I am getting it ready for shipping if the need arises. You asked about how things are here. Well I was in downtown [Riyadh] both Wednesday night and Thursday night and the places where foreigners usually shop and hang out were pretty quiet. [So-and-so] told me that in Batha [a district of Riyadh] things were dead plus the Religious Police have stepped up their harassment campaign in recent days. [So-and-so] and a German friend (who speaks some Arabic) heard disturbing remarks from some Saudis, Pakistanis and to a lesser extent Palestinians. Basically the comments they heard were supportive of the attacks. I pray this is a minority. I just had a [Saudi] student from Class [XYZ] come to me this morning expressing his deepest condolences. He knows my family and friends are in New York and was worried about them. When he left I started to cry. God I hope this doesn't spiral out of control. [So-and-so] from Class [ABC] says hello and hopes you are well. *** * Former Saudi student: I am very sorry about what has happened. We hate violence and we hate people who do it. I was going to email you because I was worried about you since you were going to be flying to Los Angeles around the same time [of the flights from the East Coast that crashed into the World Trade Center], so I was happy to see your email. And about the tragedy, I was so sad to hear about it and I did not believe it, and I don't know who could possibly do such a horrible thing. You have lived in Saudi Arabia, and you know that all we really want is peace for ourselves and our families, like everyone else in the world. *** *Former Saudi student I am really happy that you are ok. I want to tell you many things in this letter. First I was afraid for you because you told me that you will be in New York at the same time of the bad attack. Mr. [So-and-so] said that you were about to visit New York but you changed your mind at the last minute, so al hamdo lellah [all praise be to Allah!]. [Sidenote: a friend of mine was planning a flight departure from Newark Airport departing early morning on the 11th that was cancelled at the last minute. Had she not cancelled, I was planning on being in Manhattan that morning since I'm such a high-rise junkie and digital picture freak.] Second about the attack really we are so sad for what happened on last Tuesday. We want to tell you our sympathy. We are thinking for the people who died and their families. Really that was so bad. We told our teachers our sympathy. We must be sad because we are Muslims and you know Islam refuses such acts. Third the mass media are saying the hijackers were Arabs or Muslims but in the fact nobody knows the truth yet. Some of the passengers were Arab or Muslims on those planes, but that doesn’t mean they did it. They may be just passengers. But if they were Muslims [who hijacked the planes] that doesn’t mean we are satisfied [happy about what happened]. Also they were not real Muslims. I want to remind you the even what happened in Oklahoma the media at first said the criminal was Muslim but he wasn’t. Lastly, we are all very sad here at the school. Ask God for care for all nations. ************************************ So those are some of the messages I've received from friends over the last few days and I'm sure more will come in during the upcoming weeks. I shall keep you updated as they do. I hope all is well with you, Daniel