Universidad de Navarra, Spain
It is barely even two in the afternoon and today has already been full of excitement. There is a nation wide strike going on here in Spain. When I got up for class this morning I heard the strike as soon as I got to campus. It only got worse from there. When the professor showed up the door to our classroom was locked and so we were not able to get in. There were only three of us that made it to class, so we went to her office and had class there. We talked all about the strike and why the people are doing it. It is because of the labor here in Spain. There is tons of unemployment and high prices and so the public is protesting it all. When Amanda returned from class she called me and said we had to go see all this. She proceeded to tell me how in class there were students that came in and started yelling at the class telling them to leave. Some students left while another student came in and started yelling at the professor and the class trying to prevent him from teaching. They ended up getting into a big argument and it took forever for him to get the student out of the room. They then began banging on the doors, yelling, shooting off fireworks in the hallways, etc. As she and I walked around campus we saw protestors marching up the sidewalks with big signs. Posters all over campus, chairs turned upside down and put everywhere. Trash thrown all in the door ways. The doors had all been taped and chained shut. Once we left campus to head to the center all the stores were closed; the ones that were not were being trashed and spray painted. Once in the center there were people everywhere! Signs, megaphones, yelling, chanting, whistles, flags, and security everywhere. They had a helicopter flying over everywhere to make sure nothing broke out. All the buildings had grafiti all over them as well as signs and stickers all over the doors and windows. The banks were completely trashed, particularly the ATMs. People were marching around everywhere, standing in the streets preventing all public transportation from operating. Amanda saw online that last night at midnight there was a bus leaving the station and it was guarded by horses to keep anything from happening. All means of transportation have been shut down for the day in Spain. No one is supposed to buy anything, drive, work, and even reduce the use of water for the day. However, away from that...Last night we all went out to dinner for Courtney's birthday. We went to a chinese restaurant here near us. It was very good, first buffett we have had since being here. Typical spanish food, chinese food, raw food where you pick your sauce and he cooks it in front of you, sushi, and dessert! After having a good 2 hour dinner we headed back here and I finished homework then tried to get some rest. However, that is not working so well for me these days. I am not sure how I am still functioning after only sleeping about 3 hours a night this week, but I am making it. Hopefully I can catch up a little this weekend. Only one week from today and Mom and Marcia will be on their way here for my Semana Santa (Holy Week or Spring Break). I can't wait!!!