[Originally published in The Tiger Newspaper, March 23, 2016; written March 22]
This morning I was sitting in a four-hour
intensive class; and like the good attentive student I am, I was paying more
attention to Twitter than to the lecture. That’s when I saw the first tweet
about an explosion at the Brussels airport. I immediately switched over to
Google to find an article with more details but found nothing. I realized the
first tweets about the incident had been sent within the last half hour, and I
realized I was about to watch something terrible unfold.
My first thought went to a friend of mine that
I knew had a connecting flight in Brussels today. Naturally, she was the first
person I sent a message to. I found out a few hours later that she was about to
land in Brussels when the explosion happened, so the plane changed courses and
landed somewhere outside of Brussels instead. I kept up on Twitter and various
news sites that were giving live updates. I got back to my room after class and
started live streaming the news, searching Google, checking my emails. I was
waiting for an email from the study abroad office or the US Embassy and waiting
for President Obama to make a statement and waiting to hear if there was a
threat in Paris or if I needed to stay where I was and avoid the city. I was
just sitting there waiting for someone to tell me what to do or how to feel.
Just as a
point of reference, Paris is about 2 and half hours away from Brussels by
train. A lot was running through my mind. An airport had been attacked, a metro
station had been attacked, a city had been attacked. Not just any city – the
capital of Europe, the headquarters for the European Union, a city I was just
in a month ago. No, I was not in the city for the attack; however, since I have
been old enough to understand the gravity of terror attacks the closest one
geographically was in San Bernardino. That was almost 2,500 miles away. This is
the first time in my life that I have been only two hours from terror. This is
the first time in my life that I’ve had to think through which of my friends
are here in Europe, and which of them could be near Brussels today. This is the
first time in my life that I’m living in a city that has experienced an awful
terrorist attack within the last four months –– a city that could very, very
easily be targeted again.
Also
today, the Gare du Nord metro station in Paris was evacuated when an abandoned
suitcase was discovered. The station was reopened a couple of hours later when
authorities determined there was not threat. I was telling someone earlier how
it was crazy that despite the November attacks, I wasn’t afraid of coming here.
Now though, despite how much I want to go see the Eiffel Tower lit in the
colors of the Belgian flag, I’m too afraid to get on the metro.
As far as
Clemson goes, I have at this point received several emails from my program
director and the study abroad office checking on my location and safety. As far
as Paris goes, the state of emergency has been extended until May 26. Until
now, that hasn’t meant much to me, because since I’ve been here you would never
have realized Paris was in a state of emergency. Life here continues to move
on, just as it does anywhere.
So, I am
safe, and I am thankful that I was two hours from the attacks and not in the
midst of them. And no, I haven’t once had second thoughts about coming to
Paris. My thoughts and prayer are with those who have been affected by the
attacks. Paris stood strong in the face of terror, and I know Brussels will
too.
Je suis Bruxelles.
––
Kelsey
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