Tag: Courtney

By crstein1

I’m convinced that I found the place where every fairy tale is set.  My friends and I took an overnight bus from Madrid to Seville a week ago and spent most of the weekend in the picturesque city.  Immediately after getting off the bus at 7 am we were mesmerized.  Seville is located in the region of Andalucía, in southern Spain.  All of the houses look like dollhouses and there is even a castle and a beautiful cathedral (the third biggest cathedral in Europe and the home of the tomb of Christopher Columbus).  The streets are filled with thousands of orange trees and in the main plazas there are many horses and carriages which offer rides around the city.  The weather was beautiful (over 60°F and incredibly sunny) and the branches of the orange trees were heavy with fruit.  On a walking tour of the city, the guide explained to us that once upon a time there was a queen who lived in Seville who was from the mountains in the north of Spain.  She loved Seville but missed the snow that was typical of her former home.  The king had orange trees planted around the city, and when the trees began to blossom, the streets became covered with the white petals, just like snow. ...continue reading "A Spanish Fairytale"

By crstein1

Living in Washington, DC has given me certain perspectives on politics and society.  There are always going to be conflicts and tensions between the public and the government and I believe that critiques of the administration are an advantageous way to maintain a healthy democratic state.  But what happens when the situation progresses beyond the ‘healthy point’?  What happens when the tensions become overwhelming?  Recently, one of Spain’s main newspapers, El Pais, published information claiming that the former treasurer and the current Prime Minister, Luis Barcenas and Mariano Rajoy respectively, had received money from a secret fund.  The payments were financed mostly by the construction industry and were not properly taxed.  Most of the payments violated Spanish laws on party sponsorship.  This news, in addition to the continuously high levels of unemployment and the disastrous state of the Spanish economy, has devastated the people of Spain.

I have witnessed many protests and strikes and it seems like the state of the government and the economy is all that people talk about these days.  Only two students (out of a class of about 20) showed up to my political science class.  My teacher told me that the other students were on strike for the week.  He explained that there is a lack of incentive to go to class when there aren’t any jobs, and that the students will be severely affected if the economy doesn’t improve.  In addition, when I was in Sevilla this past weekend, in the south of Spain, the garbage collectors were on strike and the city, although still beautiful and mesmerizing, was covered in trash.  In Madrid, I watched a protest turn slightly violent, as police attempts to contain the crowd ended up in fights with the more aggressive protesters.  At the protest, the most interesting thing to experience was the sign, ‘no hay pan para tanto chorizo’, which loosely translates into English as ‘there isn’t enough bread for so many chorizos’.  The word chorizo can be used as a name of a spicy Spanish sausage, or as a word for a thief or swindler. The bread reference is symbolic for money and resources.  In other words, there isn’t enough money for all of the corruption.  It’s exciting to be in a society that’s so charged and intense, although I’m worried that the state of affairs will continue to deteriorate.  I’m curious to see how the situation progresses.