Day 11

Today was a very humbling day. We took the bullet train very early into Hiroshima and pretty much went straight to ground zero. It was amazing to see our normally very chatty, lively group fall dead silent at the sight of something as heavy as this. We all walked up to the very building that was below the bomb when it detonated. With it's copper dome roof coupled with the ruins of what still remained, it was surely something I will never forget. In only what seemed like a couple seconds, I found myself trying to dry my eyes and honestly trying accept that humans were capable of doing such a thing. It was fucked up...This is a really challenging entry, because it's really hard to put words behind everything I was feeling..I turned my camera off, put at my side and just tried to appreciate all the thriving life that was surviving me in midst of something so horrible. One thing I found amazing was the trees surrounding the building. They were absolutely beautiful, unlike any I'd ever seen before. It was rumored that plant life wouldn't grow for at least 75 years and here I was surrounded by it. It was a beautiful yet horrible contrast. After circling the building and really getting to take it all in for the first time Chris and I headed to the museum, where I learned truly why and how such an outrageous act of war was committed. There was a lot (that I really don't feel like breaking down) that I went through while inside and one of the things I left with was a quote from a photojournalist that went out after the bomb was dropped to shoot the devastation. "I fought with myself for 30 minutes before I could take the first picture. After taking the first, I grew strongly calm and wanted to get closer. I took about ten steps forward and tried to snap another, but the scenes I saw were so gruesome my viewfinder clouded with tears." The photographer only ended taking 5 images that day. We walked out from the museum completely and utterly shot, yea this is something you learn in your history books, but until you see it, until you're there, you never really feel it. Anyways, after the bomb was dropped there was no further revenge to be made, only a battle for constant world peace. That's all. Just peace. We roamed around the city after we settled down a bit and left shortly after. Today really made me value my life and the people in it.