WTC and the Holocaust

Our last full day in New York was spent pondering the cruelty of humans to one another. And it's not just from watching the New York evening news and seeing story after story about murder and suicide. There are so many that most are not mentioned, and some are only fleetingly referred to, if they involve children. On our last night a teenage boy on Staten Island slit the throats of his mother and three young siblings, before setting fire to the house and killing himself. It was only newsworthy because a child committed the crime.

We visited the site of the former World Trade Centre and the WTC Tribute Visitor Centre, which is sort of a museum. It was, as you would expect, totally schmaltzy and completely over-the-top with American patriotic rhetoric. Apparently, every one of the 3,000 people who died there on September 11th was a bona fide saint. No exceptions. There was lots of emphasis on innocent victims of murder. Interestingly, the museum gave prominent space to the story of Sadako Sasaki, the 12-year-old Japanese girl who tried to make 1,000 paper cranes when she was dying of radition-induced cancer in 1955. They had loads of paper cranes, the story of her life, books for sale, photos and so on. The real irony for me was that of course Sadako's cancer was caused by the Americans dropping the atomic bomb on Sadako and killing her and 250,000 other innocent civilians (nearly a hundred times the number that died in the WTC). This was never mentioned. I thought it would have been good to reflect on the horror of war and the impact on the innocent, but no. The observation passed the American pariots by, too wrapped up in their own story of their own innocence.

We also visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. I found it very interesting, although Ellie was bored. She felt that since she'd seen 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' she knew enough about the Holocaust. The displays were very moving, with lots of personal stories from those who survived and those who didn't.

We ate in the kosher cafe and Ellie was delighted to discover that Chicken Caesar Salad is kosher. That made her happier.

We saw Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, and took the obligatory photos of the bronze bull.

On our final (partial) day in New York we went to the Apple Store to buy new headphones for Ellie's iPod, as they had disintegrated. This was probably from the constant use, like every time I try to give her some home schooling, she puts them in! :-)

The Apple Store itself is pretty amazing. It is situated under an enormous glass cube, a bit like the entrance to the Louvre but a cube instead of a pyramid. You walk downstairs into a swirling mass of humanity, the happiest shoppers in the land. People were laughing and having fun, and playing with all the gadgets. Everyone seemed to be happy just to be in the store. I've never seen a shop like that before.

Later that day we took our flight to Reykjavik, Iceland. We went from 30 degrees Celsius and 70% humidity to 12 degrees and windy. It feels like Canberra! :-)