...And boy does it stink. Literally.
For about 11+ days in Sevilla the garbage collectors were on strike; accumulating more than 6,700 tons of garbage piling high on the streets. "The labor dispute started last month after the 1,600 employees of Lipasam, the municipal street cleaning company, rejected a plan to reduce their wages by 5 percent while increasing their working hours." In addition to the hazardous health problems possible from the abundance of trash, vandalizers were setting the piles of trash on fire during the night. The president of Lipasam defended his workers explaining these acts of vandalism are the opposite of what they were trying to do; have the "rubbish be seen in the streets."
The trash has since been cleaned up but the crisis of Spain is only getting worse. The cost of living is getting near impossible and most students or young adults are emigrated quickly to find work in other countries. Over 55% of young adults in Spain are unemployed and a third of them have been unemployed for over a year! Most of them, often, have degrees in higher education and still can't find work or end up doing jobs they are well over-qualified for. Many employers are only offering temporary positions (including less training and less expectations) because many of the young adults are over-qualified and searching for a potential career or higher salary that most companies can not offer during the crisis.
Every night, after dinner, Jaimie, me and Manoli watch the news. Most of the time its the same few faces we see on TV. Manoli yells at the TV "ladrones!" thieves. She explains to us (often) there are a few millionaires in Spain who have all the money and continue to rob society.
As the crisis thickens, Sevilla gets louder. I'm not sure if I'm noticing the "rise against the crisis" more because I am in a foreign country and I'm trying to observe as much as I can each day, the awareness and involvement is greater here, or the crisis is as bad as every Sevillian tells me it is. I wouldn't doubt it is a combination of the three.
The only positive news I can relay on the topic is that there is an over-whelming sense of an accumulating tension bound to snap at any moment, hopefully, inducing a solution.
And now... to Ellen Degeneres for some topical-comic-relief:
(between news anchors)
The trash has since been cleaned up but the crisis of Spain is only getting worse. The cost of living is getting near impossible and most students or young adults are emigrated quickly to find work in other countries. Over 55% of young adults in Spain are unemployed and a third of them have been unemployed for over a year! Most of them, often, have degrees in higher education and still can't find work or end up doing jobs they are well over-qualified for. Many employers are only offering temporary positions (including less training and less expectations) because many of the young adults are over-qualified and searching for a potential career or higher salary that most companies can not offer during the crisis.
Every night, after dinner, Jaimie, me and Manoli watch the news. Most of the time its the same few faces we see on TV. Manoli yells at the TV "ladrones!" thieves. She explains to us (often) there are a few millionaires in Spain who have all the money and continue to rob society.
As the crisis thickens, Sevilla gets louder. I'm not sure if I'm noticing the "rise against the crisis" more because I am in a foreign country and I'm trying to observe as much as I can each day, the awareness and involvement is greater here, or the crisis is as bad as every Sevillian tells me it is. I wouldn't doubt it is a combination of the three.
The only positive news I can relay on the topic is that there is an over-whelming sense of an accumulating tension bound to snap at any moment, hopefully, inducing a solution.
And now... to Ellen Degeneres for some topical-comic-relief:
(between news anchors)
Anchor 1: "When are you gonna stop this rain and bring us some sunshine!?"
Weatherman (annoyed): "I'll stop the rain when you stop the carjackings Eileen."
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