Entrance of Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station after March 2016 Brussels attacks. Wikicommons/Zinneke. Some rights reservedI am a Brazilian scholar who’s been living in Brussels for almost four years. My experience on March 22 is likely to be similar to that of many other Brussels inhabitants. I received the news about the first blast at the airport early in the morning. Minutes later I learned about the bomb in Maelbeek, a metro station close to where I live and part of a line that I use regularly.
My first reaction was of shock and worry about the possibility of someone close to me being amongst the victims. Through social networks, mainly Facebook and Whatsapp, I managed to contact my closest friends and relatives, which was comforting. Throughout the day I received many messages from friends and family in Brazil, but also from many acquaintances whom I hadn’t heard from in a long time.
They were all worried about my and my partner’s safety. It goes without saying that these signs of solidarity, concern and affection were touching. On the other hand, I was impressed by their reactions because it made me realise that the risk of becoming a victim of an attack seemed much higher to outsiders. One life amongst "us" has more value than 81 lives of the "others" and that seems perfectly normal.
