Dangerous Riots in the Neighborhood!

Today (Thursday) was the last day of my fourth week! To recap, I went to SIMO which is an information technology networking convention at the ifema expo center here in Madrid for my International Marketing class, I wore my new rain jacket for the first time, saw my first soccer game, getting used to the fact that the weather is a little cooler, I actually have homework in my classes now, and I’m leaving TOMORROW for the weekend to Navarra, Spain with my Spanish Culture and Civilization class. There is one really BIG event that I left out, and I neglected to put it into this list on purpose because it exceeds the level of excitement tremendously. We all know the world is not at peace because that is far too much to ask for. People are unable to trust each other and as a result, some resort to violence. In the past week or so I received TWO e-mails from the study abroad counselor at SJU (one forwarded from the US Embassy), an e-mail from student life here at SLU Madrid, and a text message from my dad all warning me to be cautious about where I go in Spain because of the political protests going on. Before today I just thought to myself, obviously I’ll be careful and not approach any kind of congregations in the city. BUT my friend Rita posted a video on our small group Facebook page saying, “This was in Madrid last night, careful where you go!” with the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDCRgqspmyU&feature=youtu.be&t=3m56s . Since I haven’t seen any of the commotion going on myself, I didn’t think anything of the riots going on. This educated me about how fast these attacks break out and how they can happen to people who are just minding their own business waiting for the train in the metro station (which you can see towards the end of the clip). I was SHOCKED when I finished watching this video because the majority of it takes place in locations I’ve been to at night since I first arrived in Spain. Lucky for me I live quite a bit away from the center of Madrid which is where all of these protests are taking place. Now I know exactly what SJU, the US Embassy, SLU Madrid, and my dad are all talking about when they say stay away from group demonstrations. I’m happy I get to leave the city for two consecutive weekends in a row for mandatory class trips. Hopefully the riots will be a little calmer by the time I return.