I can't express my feelings, going there back again after several years since my last visit in 2018. I didn't anticipate that I'll fall in love again with Paris. I didn't realize that I have been missing it, until I was there roaming in the streets. It is like meeting with an old friend, remembering old feelings, rediscovering the city. This may be my 7th time to visit (the longest was around 3-4 weeks, the shortest was few hours for transit) but it feels like I have been there forever. I was not feeling like I'm a tourist or a stranger, it was more like back to my old backyard. It's very strange to have such a connection with a place that I haven't visited that often.
The best part of it was the connections I had during this week which is something I haven't experienced since a very long time.
Meeting colleagues for the first time face to face after so many years meeting virtually, getting to know new people and feel the power each one was bringing to the group.
Meeting family and feeling the sense of belonging.
But mostly, spending quality time roaming the streets and chatting over nice meals, feeling that nothing else matters but living the present moment. I can't remember when was the last time I had experienced all this. What started as an outing for an evening, turned into something more than just a dinner with a friend. I have enjoyed all the walking, all the sight seeing, all the talking and all the discussions about anything and everything.
I remember in one of the discussions, we talked about having (out of necessity) or choosing to move to another country. I remember my answer was I don't mind living anywhere as I can easily adapt but it's not that easy to leave everything and start over if there are no work plans for example. What I didn't mention is that there could be other reasons to decide to move (it is not all about work) and when the time comes, I wouldn't mind to live here for example.
One of the proud moments I had was when attending a light show about the Pharaohs of Egypt. It was on a Sunday morning so it was full of children who were excited to see it. I wish that in Egypt, all children would feel the same, that we teach everyone to be proud of our heritage and learn from it. This is coming at a moment where we see the authority in my country doesn't care about the heritage and destroying old places like mausoleums and old cemeteries instead of taking care of these old sites and develop them to be accessible for all.
It's making me sad to see in Egypt all the destruction of trees and gardens to make way for larger streets and bridge without thinking about the right of people to live a better live and have access to the greens.
Another turning point was attending a small gathering in solidarity for Lebanon, but also for all countries suffering war and turmoil. No one can imagine the huge impact of this on people. We can talk all the time about the human rights, the respect of life, the right to be safe but unfortunately the more we live in this world, the more we see injustice and disparity. Those who have money, have power, and those who have power can do anything they want without being judged. I know that God will judge all at the end, but this is not enough. Sometimes I try to imagine how my life would have been, if there were no wars in my 2nd home country (Iraq). I would have the opportunity to spend time with my family, getting to know each others, having a lot of memories with my grandparents and cousins (instead of some pictures). I may be lucky I didn't grow up there during the hard times, my life would have been different but still it feels sad that part of my life was altered due to these wars. Still, what's currently ongoing is far more worse and I can't imagine what people may be feeling trying to stay alive. How can we have a better world when there is more hate and destruction? How can we preach to be civilized and educated when we witness these barbaric actions? and for what? I really wish to witness the day when all this ends and everybody lives in peace but I know deep inside that this day may not come anytime soon.
Finally, I would like to thank my friend who without knowing it, has impacted me deeply. I realized after I returned back home, that I have regained parts of my old-self, I have found the passion that was lost in the way and looking forward to do again the things I used to enjoy.
And here I'm, back to my blog, writing about my world and I hope that this time, I can keep it up a little bit longer like I used to do.
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