WASHINGTON — The world is still trying to understand what happened in Paris and why. And a local waitress, who’s from Paris and who works in Georgetown, is still in disbelief about what happened to her country.
“I was really, really shocked because I would never think something like that would happen in France. For me it was not possible because I mean, France is a safe country,” says Tanya Cabrol.
She was watching TV when the carnage began to unfold in France.
“And I have no words to express really how I feel. It’s heartbreaking really,” says Cabrol.
She’s been living in the U.S. now for six years and works at Bistro Francais. Cabrol says she feels helpless being here in the U.S. and not in France.
“I feel sad for the victims and their families and my country knowing that I’m here I can’t really do anything and it kind of hurts me.”
But she does take comfort in the fact that her American friends at the restaurant and her American customers stand with her and her country.
“They imagine how I feel and they’re here to support me because it’s very hard. They’re not French but they care about me, so it’s very heartwarming.”
She says they are also supportive of the owner of the restaurant who is French too.
Cabrol says she remembers Sept. 11, 2001 and how the French supported the Americans.
“They put the American flag on the Eiffel Tower,” she says.
She says just like Sept. 11 these are innocent people too.
Cabrol admits she’s afraid to go back to France and says she doesn’t see herself ever living there again. Her mother and family still live in France and are safe.
