3 Mar

I love Fridays. After eating a quick lunch, I caught the train into town for my ling seminar. Class flew by incredibly fast and although it was rather sunny out, the wind was still blowing monstrously and so I headed back home right after class. One of these days, when the wind finally settles down, I’m just going to walk for hours around London and take as many pictures as I can. I swear.

Lainey left for Paris this morning, so the weekend will be rather quiet without her. I read, chatted with my mom for a bit, and did some work until dinner at 6. After dinner, Liane, Gregg, and I just talked about all sorts of things in my room from 6:40 until nearly 12:10. Five and a half hours! My parents were throwing a party tonight for some friends and I wanted to see if I could record some of their conversation for my next ling paper. My topic is code-switching, a sort of phenomenon in which bilingual speakers will switch between languages, sometimes mid-sentence. I’ve noticed my parents and their friends doing this all the time and wanted to record some of that conversation to analyze.

As planned, I got on Skype around 1 and was able to talk to Jyoti aunty, Naman’s mom, for a good while before Saket and Pavak (as they told me later) accidentally reset the wireless router. In the break, I was checking my mail when I got a startling letter from the Chancellor at UNC. Apparently, a former student drove through the Pit in a Jeep around noon and hit several students before driving away and then turning himself into police minutes later. In the Pit!! At lunchtime!? I don’t know how many times I’ve been there myself and know just how crowded that place gets during that hour. The news made me sick and I just stared at my computer for a bit. I talked to Saket about it when he got back online and he told me that Sachi heard that the man, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, acted the way he did in protest or retribution for the disturbance in the Middle East.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I absolutely abhor people who practice this kind of extension of politics or military actions to general public. What the f**k did those UNC students have to do with what is going in the Middle East? Last I checked, most UNC students are anti-war and not eager to kills Muslims and other Middle Easterners. UNC students are not bombing cities or occupying Iraq. I just don’t understand what could make UNC students a valid target for discontent. How did this guy miss the overwhelming liberal attitude during four years at the university? Did he never see the anti-war/anti-Bush protests raging during the Iraq war and election time? How can you possibly attend UNC and not see how many student organizations are fighting injustice, in all forms from political to social to educational, everyday? It is simply not fair, right, or in any way justifiable, to target civilians of a country because you disagree or are upset with the policies or behavior of the government and or military of that country.

I am so thankful that no one was injured seriously and that those treated are expected to make a swift recovery. I found out a little later from Saket that explosives and guns were found in Taheri-azar’s apartment, though it was unclear what he meant to do with them. Thank goodness that man was apprehended before he could commit further acts of violence. If there is any justice in this country, he should be imprisoned for the crimes of attempted murder he has been charged with.

This news shook me up enough that I did not continue my interviews and tried to sleep instead. It took some time, but I finally managed it.