A dozen or so friends met up at a house in La Goulette which served partly as a place of residence, but also as headquarters for revolutionary activities. Makeshift mattresses, musical instruments and blankets giving off a distinct damp smell - here they would stay for hours reimagining the future, "we were discussing a revolution long before 2011".

On that day, the group of friends left the house equipped with signs, determined to take part in the demonstrations and the excitement of the crowd. On Habib Bourguiba Avenue, by way of the crowd, they naturally dispersed.

Ghazi, Marion, Virginia, Wissal, Boumjida, Tarek, Juliette, Hayder, Charlene and Harzalli each found themselves on different sides of the Avenue: on a rooftop, stuck in a building or looking for an open restaurant to eat.

The situation escalated as demonstrators were arrested and assaulted, and the friends each individually decided that it was better to return to La Goulette. However, when they arrived they discovered that the police station next to their house was on fire.

Panic set in. A group of people broke in to loot the police station just before the fire broke out. At the same time, rumours of Ben Ali's escape began circulating. Scenes of celebrations were interspersed with widespread anxiety as posters of the dictator were being vandalised.

Having first considered seeking refuge somewhere else in Tunis, the group finally, but reluctantly, decided to help extinguish the fire. In order to protect themselves and prevent the flames from reaching their house, they were forced to spray water on this building that was symbolic for and synonymous with the oppression and violence of Ben Ali's dictatorship.

More than nine years later, the group of friends, now spread out over various different countries, reconnected online to recall that unforgettable day and night. Currently living through the individual and collective experience of confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic, they furthermore compare this present struggle to that of the past.