Karen Garcia

“Summer 2015 was one of the hottest on record, and I got to spend it in one of the hottest places in France. Winning a scholarship to study for two weeks in Vichy, I was ready for an adventure and I was not disappointed. It started with convoluted instructions that left me wandering the streets of Paris, to finally finding my hotel with its little secret garden and getting my hair cut Parisian style across the street. I discovered new parts of Paris, even finding a hip little pop-up place called Havana (almost like home away from home). These memories haunted me when I heard of the terrorist attacks, when I realized the stadium I saw on my drives to and from the airport were a target, that just down the street from the cafe where I hung out with new friends was mere minutes away from the site of a terrorist suicide bombing. It was a hot summer, and I can say with conviction that Je suis Paris.”