I had a shower and a shave; Sean had a shower; Mark drove the kids to school. I worked on the HIP Survey. Aileen and Jim arrived around lunchtime, with L and O – Pauline was at the shops at the time. We chatted and I made pizzas for lunch (Pauline had bought pizza bases).
In the afternoon news started to come through of the terrible incidents in New York and Washington, and we watched some of the coverage on TV. These were really appalling acts, and will clearly dominate the news for some time. They will undoubtedly have an impact on life for decades to come.
Pauline made a shepherd’s pie for everybody, and the kids played together. Jim and I had a walk; we met Mark and his cousin Ciarán, and had a chat with them. Pauline, Jim and I drank two bottles of wine, and we and Aileen chatted at the kitchen table.
The road to God knows where ... Brendan O'Brien 
The first I heard of it was via a very thin colleague who always smelt of cold fags. She had very leathery skin and had once worked in the Indian Ocean, in Réunion. I was interested in her experience there and once asked her about it. She said something about the Réunionnais being lazy bastards who just waited for bananas to fall off trees.I did not ask her any more questions about Réunion. She was the first person to tell about the Twin Towers thing. She was shaking and talking about the world coming to an end. I was used to her being a bit over the top.
Went home, and saw the footage of aeroplanes flying into the building.
I think I saw it as just another violent piece of news. I certainly did not think that it would have ‘an impact on life for decades to come’.
At work, there was a formal moment of silence in memory of the victims. Can’t remember if it was the next day or a couple of days after. I probably thought that the moment of silence was a bit over the top.
I was in Derry, doing a bit of research at the Central Library. Back in my room at 2pm I watched TV and it was on all stations. I signed the book of condolences at Guildhall and thought I’d participate in the 2 mins silence. In fact it was three something that grinded my gears. The next year same old Blair trying to manipulate public opinion (well that is what it felt like folks) so I took the opportunity to be delayed in the corridor. The US was the only nation able to export it’s foreign policy and paid the price. I am off to Iran shortly so get your orders in now for Persian rugs, postcards & signed photos of Ahmadinejad.
Persian rugs? I can’t be doing with kids losing their eyesight.
What is the Farsi for “2 kilos of Semtex please?”
Speak Turkish, most of them know. 🙂
Merhaba Levent. Am I right in thinking that the Turkish love of the rose comes to you via the Persians?
Hello Cymbeline.
Hmmm. Turkish love of rose comes from the tasavvuf (Sufi ) tradition, where rose symbolises our prophet. And I don’t think tasavvuf was passed to us by Persians.
Persians are known for their love of rose?
Merhaba Levent. I think that even the word for rose in Turkish comes from Persian. The Persian word is ‘gul’ or ‘gol’.
Yes, Persian literature and art are full of references to the rose. It is a very important symbol in Persian culture. I found an interesting site called Encyclopaedia Iranica where there is a learned paper on this subject, but for some reason, I cannot do a copy and paste, perhaps for legal reasons. Anyway, type ‘rose and nightingale in persian literature encyclopaedia iranica’ into Google and you will be able to read the article. As you will gather, the rose is often used in conjunction with the nightingale in Persian art and literature. Yes, the rose often symbolizes Mohammed, the Islamic prophet, but not always. Islam tends to have borrowed a lot from Persian art and culture.
Hello Ciaran. You may be interested in this website too. Encyclopaedia Iranica.
Hello, Cymbers! I have come across 2 good sites, the BBC and Iranian Heritage.
Hello again Ciaran. Indeed. The BBC remains a respectable source of information, whatever some may say. I don’t know about the other one.
I noticed loan words in Persian, due to the long occupation by the Ottomans no doubt.
Turks before settling down in Anatolia, spent sometime in todays Iran. Where they have met Islam, also learnt governing traditions. Thus Turkish has adopted many words from Turkish, I mean many. (Persians I think are the only ones that resisted Turks, therefore never “occupied”, if I’m not mistaken) .[ I’m not sure but some 30% of Iran are still Turkish.
I don’t think Farsi has words from Turkish. Turkish culture back then was very weak to influence any other language.
Lotfan in Persian = please. There are large minorities of Armenians, Azeri, Kurds, Turkomans and others, most are Persian though!
They say there are 30M Turks in Iran. Azeris are Turks too.
Dear Levent (& Cymbers) I was told there are many Turkish speakers in Iran. Tajik is related which is good for me as I read Russian!
Hello Cymbeline,
I know the word gül is derived from gol. Gül and bülbül, is a common metaphor for love in Arab literature too.
I don’t know it is fair to say Islam borrowed from Persian literature. Art progresses with struggle or with peace. I believe, like my culture, Persian culture progressed with Islam.
Does not the Sufi tradition in Islam derive from Persian mysticism?
Sadly, I believe that the stricter forms of Islam revile the Sufi tradition.