As promised I'd like to mention several of the aspects of being here that I've found particularly interesting and sometimes jarring in the negative sense. A week ago I was gushing like a girl going to shop for prom dresses about this country. I remain enamored, incredibly so. However, there are cultural and societal habits that I think move beyond some sort of simple difference in attitude between typically "American" and "Spanish". In no particular order:
The trash. I understand that any major city in the world is going to struggle with its waste disposal and sanitation. It's a constant uphill battle. The Spanish attitude towards waste and especially public property goes like this: 'It's not mine so I'm not going to take care of it. Someone else will.' Sounds pretty pedestrian as it is but I must stress that this uncaring, even actively disdainful mindset is pervasive. A little thing like dog poop would normally be no cause for comment. But here you can literally walk a block and see droppings two or three times. You have to actively and diligently avoid it on the sidewalks if you are traveling any sort of distance. We were told there is a 200E fine for letting your dog poop and not cleaning up after it. But nobody ever--ever-- gets ticketed for it. As my international relations teacher has put it, "In the States you're actually a very law-abiding people. You know the law and you know the consequences. Here nobody knows the law, and nobody knows what would happen if you broke it." He related the story of two former ICS students who had a typical interaction with the "police" in Seville. Returning through the park late one night they were assaulted by a group of young Spaniards who threw bottles and bricks at them. The two began to run from the incoming projectiles, to their credit laughing at the absurdity of the spectacle given the aim of the inebriated Spaniards. But when the group continued to pursue and harass them they exited the park quickly, only to find a cop car parked right outside the gate, two policemen sitting in it smoking. They yelled at the officers for help. Upon assessment of the situation the officers threw their cigs out the windows, slammed their doors, fired up their siren and sped away. Returning to the issue of trash, it is worth noting that the attitude does not simply exist in Seville. During our stay in Segura de Leon I saw constant evidence of the same sort of thing, epitomized by the typical method of 'disposing' of empty beer bottles: find the nearest windowsill at chest level, reach through the ubiquitous iron bars and set the bottle on the sill. Walk away. Or, if one happened to be feeling particularly energetic, one might make the effort to find the nearest abandoned entryway or domicile with a 'for sale' sign on it and huck the bottle in through the window bars. I don't know how anyone ever manages to turn a place over around here. The "Se Alquila" signs are like a magnet for broken beer bottles, paper, cigarette buts, needles, dog poop, you name it.
Continuing in this vein, I mentioned that there are iron bars on the windows right? We're not talking the windows at street level. No no, literally every single possible point of entrance on any building has these bars over it. As our professor put it, the concept of if it's not mine easily becomes 'if it's not yours' or more likely 'if it's not bolted down or locked up, then it's fair game'. He said during the first couple years of the ICS' existence they had trouble keeping the desks in the classrooms. Who would steal desks I don't know, but there you have it.
They have a huge problem with alcohol among the youth. Part of this can be attributed to the horrendous lack of jobs for the 18-29 demographic. Statistics on unemployment for this age group put it at the 25-30% mark. This issue extends below the 18 year-olds as well though. It is fairly easy for a group of young teenagers to acquire what's know as the "get smashed quick" pack: Two liters of Coke, a liter of vodka or whiskey, plastic cups and ice. They come pre-packaged at some convenience stores. Many, many parents seem to care less about what their teens are doing out at night. It's kind of jarring to see 13,14,15 year-old girls roaming the streets, clearly inebriated and just as done up as the adults at 2 or 3 or 5 in the morning. This kind of thing isn't only an issue here in Spain though. Teenage drinking in the States is a pretty well-documented issue.
Despite their history, (and God what a history it is. Spain has receded from true international importance in the last several hundred years but from approx. 700 AD until the end of the imperial expansion era it was THE place to be. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa all being meshed together. Incredible) Spaniards are incredible xenophobic. Not racist per se, or not racist so simply understood. An example: the Muslim community of Seville wanted to purchase land near the river in order to build a community center. Not a mosque mind you but a religious and cultural center for the benefit of the Muslim community. In a situation reminiscent of the whole NY Ground Zero Mosque saga, the Seville community reacted in vehement opposition to this proposed construction. Lacking any true legal precedent for denying the purchase or construction, a group of Sevillians snuck out to the proposed site and proceeded to spread liberal amounts of pigs blood about. Their rationale being that the Muslims wouldn't want to purchase or construct anything on a site desecrated by the blood of an unholy animal. They were right. Now, this is a secondhand story I am relating to you. I haven't looked for any documentation on it, but it just sounds crazy enough to be entirely true. There is no Muslim community center nor was the land ever purchased.
Now none of this is intended to say that Spaniards are dirty or thieves either one. I merely want to point out a few ticks of this society which seem....... not quite so good. I have been doing some heavy criticizing this week I know. tomorrow I promise to relate some more upbeat events. We traveled to a famous winery and the southern city of Cadiz today and I have some pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment