When I was no part of them

In 1990 I was working as Academic Department secretary at Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano (CCCN). I worked from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. when classes finished.

After 7:00 p.m. there were just grownups taking English courses, and few administrative people. Some of them were from the American Embassy.

The building was very quiet at night. My office was downstairs and there was a little rest place with a TV set outside my workplace. Normally the TV was for played educative videos from a VCR.

Then, at the end of that year, the Academic Director, an american lady, turned on the CNN transmission every night at 7:00 p.m. Sometimes I looked at the news, but it was just about war issues, international leaders meetings, ONU declarations, and things like that.

One night, there were a lot of commotion at the CCCN and some American people came downstairs to watch the news.

At the TV, the screen was dark. The reporter was just giving numbers about army issues that I did not matter. Near 9:00 p.m. in the screen became visible some lights as fireworks looked from far away.

After I while, I noticed the people around the TV set. They had long faces. Their eyes were sad. Their foreheads were frowned. Their hands were tense. I turned my head to the news and I did not get it. I could not imagine why they were so shocked if there was just a firework far, far away.

When the images at the news changed, they looked at each other. They went close and they were saying soft words between them. I had never seen before so many American adults touching each others. They kept their hands in someone else arms in a comforting way.

They goodbye to each other and they left the building walking slowly as if they were carrying a heavy weight on their shoulders. The Desert Storm had begun.

I felt myself as an intruder. I was no part of their feelings. We spent a lot of holidays together. We celebrated President Day, Thanksgiving, 4th July, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Valentines Day, and eventhough I did not mind some of these celebrations, they love to share to Ticos co-workers their traditional food, activities, decorations and of course, thier frame of mind.

But not that day. Not even the next days... or months!