Thursday, July 14, 2016

Traveling: Realities


We flew from Paris to Dublin today to spend two days in Ireland. Old friends, who live in Northern Ireland, came down to spend some time with me. For living so far away from them, I am lucky that I get to see them as often as I do. Their daughter lives in the States and has just completed her PhD in French with a college job on the horizon, so, it seems, that I will see them again this summer when they fly in to celebrate her graduation.

But it is a bitterseet event knowing that terrorists attacked Nice today during Bastille Day celebrations. Everywhere we went, we encountered this new world order. Soldiers walk the streets of Paris with machine guns, my bag was checked and I was patted down at every building we entered. I didn't feel safe for the effort. For one, the searches weren't exhaustive and if they took my sunblock, they didn't take the next 3.  Apparently, France needs to be locked down. The idea is absurd, of course. But how else will ordinary citizens feel safe again?

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