Doux Comme Miel

It’s another beautiful sunny Sunday in Paris and it seems that spring is on its way to us. 

If this were another time without social media and 24 hour news, one could almost be fooled into thinking that all is right with the world.

I’m in my favorite place, having my classic cappuccino, which is funny because I only started drinking them recently and I’m not entirely sure what inspired the change from my previously classic “allonge”.

But all is NOT right with the world. I woke up this morning full of anxiety about what’s coming next. 

Thursday night I felt a tickle in the back of my throat, so Friday I stayed indoors with the exception of an academic talk in the evening that I’d been looking forward to for all of February.

When I returned home after midnight I made the mistake of checking the news and saw what had just occurred in the White House between the current administration and the president of Ukraine. Needless to say but I will say it anyways, I was horrified. And I have remained horrified for all of Saturday into this morning.

Like many others I am wondering, “What now?!” Will we look back on this moment as the beginning of WWIII? 

Before leaving the house I spoke to a dear (French) friend who tried to reassure me that everything would be fine. But really just living in Paris doesn’t protect us from anything. 

I’m scared about so many things right now, and living alone doesn’t help. 

I’m scared for my family who lives in the US, I’m scared for the whole of the United States and that so many people still seem ignorant to the fact that they elected a fascist leader despite all of the evidence. 

I’m scared for myself because I am not yet a citizen of the country I’ve called home for the last nine years. I’m scared for the whole world really because it doesn’t seem like anywhere is safe and if you’ve been paying attention even a little bit it seems like we are falling into some very well documented patterns.