Decisions

Well, I am altering my weeks plans. It's 4 in the morning and the train to Paris leaves in 4 hours. And it leaves without me.

In light of the most recent news out of Paris and the US state department, I have decided that this is not the right time for me to take this particular adventure. I have tried my best to make this decision from a rational place and in consultation with a few others including, indirectly, someone living a few blocks from where I was supposed to stay. This adventure to me was to be one of exploring the challenges of a new city, language, and culture. It was to be a test of traveling alone. Confronting a ridiculously romantic city in the face of abject loneliness. But it was not to confront a city on the brink of riots or potentially a legal system pushed to it's limits. I feel like this is the right decision, but also a hard one. It is impossible to know what the future is. Everything may be absolutely fine, or it could be total chaos. In the very least it is going to be more difficult than usual to navigate a city which I am not familiar. I have lived through and witnessed three rather large riots at MSU in my life. But these were always drunk students upset over the loss of a basketball team or drinking rights. I was not comfortable in that atmosphere in spite of having a pretty good idea of how the police were going to react, and how to communicate my position in being there. I feel like it would be foolish of me to tread into potential race riots in a foreign country about which I am relatively uninformed as far as it's legal system, general social norms, and racial/ethnic history. And it would be an even greater folly for me to do so alone. This is all in way of justifying to you and myself my choice to stay here for the weekend. If Paris survived the Nazis I am sure it will survive this, and I will be able to make the journey when I feel safe and am ready.

That is my decision. I am glad I made it, I feel informed and smart about it. If nothing happens I at least am not putting my body under any more emotional stress than it is already dealing with. It will give me the opportunity to get started on some other projects, such as summative assignments, internships, and reading for classes.

I feel like this is a wise choice.



It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-