On the Attacks in Paris


I've been writing a lot over the past few weeks. In my journal. In this app on my phone called Collect. In multiple drafts for this blog. And I'm not going to publish any of it.

I feel somewhat obligated to post about the terrorist attacks in Paris. I mean, I'm supposed to be posting about my time in France, right? Well, this has really impacted my time here. Long after this program is over, I will remember where I was and what I was doing the night of Friday, November 13th, 2015. I will always remember how even with heightened security in the days following the attacks, I still felt the need to be more cautious than ever. I will always remember how I was still going to work and going about my daily life while just an hour north of me, Brussels was on lockdown.

But the truth is, I'm not ready. I don't want to just write verbatim what I was doing that night. Most of my night was spent around people who were distraught and terrified and heartbroken. I will be part of their memories of what happened that night just as they will be part of mine. Those emotions still feel so raw that I'm not ready to write it all down in an organized, reader-friendly format.

Maybe on an anniversary of the attacks I'll share more of the story. But for now, just know that I am okay, and Lille is okay, and I certainly had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I'll leave you with a few articles I've seen or had shared with me over the past couple of weeks that I thought were interesting, and with something that one of my nine-year-old students said after mentioning the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this year: "I hope next year isn't going to be like this."

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/paris-beirut-terrorism-empathy-gap/416121/

http://www.vox.com/2015/11/16/9744640/paris-beirut-media

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-attacks-why-the-rapid-sharing-of-anything-vaguely-inspirational-after-a-tragedy-is-so-a6735891.html

http://conversations.e-flux.com/t/judith-butler-precariousness-and-grievability-when-is-life-grievable/2826