I was visiting a friend in Rome, having left Orly just minutes before the first terrorist attack in Paris. I had only stepped foot into his apartment - about an hour after landing at Rome Fiumicino - when his friend asked me where I was coming from. "I'm studying abroad in Paris." "Paris? Have you heard about the terrorist attacks that just happened?" "What?" He said something about how many people had been killed, something about the France and Germany soccer game that I knew some friends back in Paris were at, and that there were hostages held at a restaurant. We watched a short video clip, but none of it made any sense to me. "It's in the 10th district, if you know where that is." The 10th arrondissement? That's where my friends' apartment is on Faidherbe, only one metro stop away from school.
I sat down and connected to the the apartment's WiFi connection, opening my email and Facebook to messages from friends and family asking where I was and if I was safe. What was going on? I opened my social networks and tried to hurriedly catch up with the current situation, where my friends from Paris were keeping each other in the loop through a group message and BBC was adding live updates every 5 minutes to the news. My Facebook news feed was flooded with people from my study abroad program with frantic updates on their whereabouts, as well as the unfolding scenes around them. I held my breath and skimmed through each piece of information, feeling numb and distant from the beautiful city that has grown to become my home. After making sure my friends in Paris were safe and sound - and that my friends and family at home knew that all was well - I closed my networks, news sources, and chaos and confusion around me before going to bed at around 3 or 4 in the morning. With a heavy heart, I wished that I was still back in Paris to know what was going on and to be with my friends, but that was the only thing I could do. I returned to Paris on Monday morning, knowing that heightened security on borders was in place. However, I had no trouble getting back to my place from the airport. Nearly everyone around me was on their phones the entire time, pulling up articles, infographics, and messages from others - an unusual sight. I took the tram back from the boulangerie down the street, which was quiet like it usually is, but had a somber air to it. Class and our usual cafés are located in the 10th and 11th arrondissements, only a few blocks down from La Belle Équipe. Later, I learned that had one of my friends changed his mind about where to eat after walking around Bastille and the streets that surround school; he would have passed by La Belle Équipe around 9 p.m. with his mom, who was visiting him in Paris. And had my friends who lived on Faidherbe been out in that area at night, the unthinkable could have crossed their fates, as well. My heart goes out to the victims of all unjust tragedies, to their loved ones, and to the city of Paris. Paris, whose people cannot stop the urban flow of routine baguette runs to the boulangerie, where life continues to beat and bustle without the blink of an eye, and which stands strong in resilience and unity over the innocent souls we lost. Our lives have been threatened by the recent attacks, and even more so because the places targeted were places of diversity, celebration, laughter, and fun. But let this event not stop our everyday lives in which we continue to live for justice, freedom, and champagne. In the spirit of French defiance, Parisians have made a statement with the #tousaubistrot and #jesuisenterrase hashtags, rallying "everyone to the bar" and staking their claims, "I am on the terrace [of the café]." I fell in love with the permeating passion of Parisian culture during my study abroad experience thus far, and I am proud to be part of the culture that lives on, never forgetting the "joie de vivre" - even in the hardest of times. |