Paris
|| November 20, 2015 ||
This post was originally supposed to be something quite different. It was supposed to be an explanation of my bus trip to Paris and Barcelona and all of the things I’ve been up to. I will get to that eventually, but it doesn’t feel right to not address the current situation that France is in right now and say a few words about the horrific events that occurred last week.
The first news I heard of what had happened came to me from my mom, all the way back home in the US. It was about 9 pm and I was sending a message to a friend in France when I got a facebook message from my mom that simply said, “shooting in Paris.” Not being aware of the severity of the problem at the time, I wrote it off for the time being and kept going about what I was doing. A few minutes later, another message from my mom. She told me that over 20 people had been killed and that it was not just a shooting, but in fact a drawn-out terrorist attack. I immediately googled Paris to see what would come up and was immediately taken aback when at what I saw. I clicked on the first result that had a live report happening and watched in complete shock. As the death toll kept rising and the attacks gained publicity, I was flooded with messages on literally every social media platform I have from friends and family wanting to make sure I was alright. I am lucky to live far from Paris; a 40 minute TGV (the fast train) ride, and an hour and a half drive. However, no matter how far I was from the sites of the attack, I still felt vulnerable and quite scared, as there seemed to be no end in sight. As time went on I kept refreshing facebook and seeing more and more reports of what had happened. It is safe to say I was in shock; I had been in Paris about two weeks before and couldn’t believe what was happening in one of my favorite places on earth. That night I didn’t go to sleep until 2 am. After a very restless few hours of sleep, I awoke to find more messages from people back home, confirming to me that, no, what happened was in fact real and not a bad dream. When I went downstairs, I found La Voix Du Nord (the main newspaper of the north of France) on the kitchen table, where the front page read, “L’Horreur A Paris” (Horror in Paris). I had a discussion with my host parents about what had happened, and none of us could believe the horrors of it. That day, November 14, was a quiet one. It rained all day and the streets were absolutely silent. I stayed at home all day, mainly taking phone calls from people back home, as well as my friends in country. When school rolled around on Monday, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The mood was quite somber. Some of my fellow students wanted to talk about it, some didn’t. I tried my best to find the words to tell some friends how sorry I was for their country, and that, sadly, I know the feeling of fear and vulnerability that comes with your country being attacked, and that I was always there to talk to them if they wanted. But, on the other hand, this attack felt personal to me, and I felt the same way I have felt in the past when events such as this happen in America. I love France. It truly has become my second home and the though of what had happened was, and still is, very painful. I had several students tell me that they liked Obama’s speech, and I agreed that it was a great speech and told them that it brought tears to my eyes. We had a moment of silence for the victims in the courtyard at school, and at every other extracurricular event I’ve been to since, we’ve done the same. Seeing the way France has united and come together after this tragedy has been very moving and inspirational to me.
128 people died that day in Paris. 128 innocent people. I’ve been trying to find the words to say to this point for a while, but I just can’t. All I can say is that this is nothing less than a true tragedy. But I can also say that seeing the way that not only France, but the entire world, has rallied around Paris has been astoundingly beautiful. France is a strong country. What happened was terrible beyond words, but I know they France will keep it’s strength and keep moving forward.
Nous sommes tous unis. Paris, la France, et le monde. Tout mon amour aux victimes et ses familles. Ces événements ont été un crime, mais l’amour et la force vont régner. Restez forte.
So, on to the lighter topic of this post. The last time I posted, I was extremely excited for my bus trip to Paris and Barcelona that took place in the middle of October, and I will say that now, once it’s all said and done, it lived up to expectations. Paris, of course and as always, was beautiful. It will never fail to take my breath away. From the charming back alleys to the famous landmarks, there is no question in my mind as to why it is the most visited city in the world. We were fortunate enough to see the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Chateau de Versailles and Montmartre, and to have a guided bus tour in the city. We stopped near the south of France on the way to Barcelona at Chateau de Chenonceau, and, much like Versailles, it was extraordinarily beautiful. When we got to Spain I realized why everyone loves Barcelona so much. Barcelona is incredible. Everything about it was so incredibly charming to me, and I absolutely have plans to go back in the future, In Barcelona we saw the Picasso Museum, La Sagrada Familia, an UNREAL panoramic view of the city and got to see the Mediterranean Sea.. We also saw the Dali museum, which was quite possible my favorite museum I’ve ever been to. I had the best time spending the week with my friends from my district and meeting new friends who live all throughout France. When we got back to Paris, I (very tiredly) took the train home to Arras and the next day headed to Berck-Sur-Mer with my host family for the second week of vacation. It was a beautiful, quaint little beach town that reminded me very much of Oregon. I had several new experiences including fishing for shrimp and riding a char-a-voile (I don’t know the english for it, and I also can’t describe it very well, but I would recommend looking up a video of what it was!) At the end of the week, I headed to Lille to watch the Rugby World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand with some Aussie and Kiwi friends at an Australian bar, and spend the night with my close friend Louise in Bethune. My last day of vacation was spend in Lille with my friends Jack and Annie, and it was a nice, relaxing way to end the two week holiday. The weekend after holidays ended, my friend Sally came to Arras and spent the night at my house, and we had a fun time wandering the city and eating burritos.
I’ve been back in school since, and this weekend we have a Rotary event where everyone cooks food from their home country and we sell it to make money for a group trip (originally the trip was to Paris, but that has since been cancelled, and we will likely go somewhere else). After this weekend’s events, I’ll move to my second host family. It’s crazy how fast time has flown with my first host family. I’ll miss them a lot, and I’ll also miss the proximity of their home to literally EVERYTHING in Arras, but I know that I’ll be seeing them around often.
So yeah. An eventful month. In fact, in 5 days, it’ll be 3 months total that I’ve been here, which blows my mind. In light of all the recent tragedies in France, I love this country more and more everyday and could not be happier to be here. I will continue to remain aware and look out for my safety, but I know that with my host families, Rotary and the government of France, I am in good hands.
à la prochaine!
xoxo,
Skyler
