Tuesday and Thursday this week were holidays. Tuesday was "Día de la Constitución," and Thursday was "Día de la Inmaculada." I was in Madrid until Monday, I didn´t get back to Barcelona until around noon, and the majority of my classes had already been canceled because of the holidays, so I ended up not going to class on Monday. Since Tuesday and Thursday were both holidays, Wednesday became what the Spanish call "Día del Puente," or "Bridge Day." "Bridge Day" bridges the gap between holidays like this, so Wednesday, by default, becomes a holiday as well. Since the three middle days of the week were therefore all holidays, the entire week became a holiday. Thus, no one was at school or work this week, and I had to reschedule my English lessons as well.
Let´s pause a moment to really think about this. Spain is a part of 'P.I.I.G.S.' (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) which are the countries that have floundering economies, barely staying afloat, and dragging down the entire E.U.. Widespread protesting, strikes, and riots have broken out because of the economic situation, unemployment, and rampant inflation in these countries.Obviously, people aren´t very happy. In Spain, a staggering average of 21.3% of the workforce is unemployed, with unemployment rapidly increasing, and with some areas, like southern Spain, much worse than others. The people here in Barcelona call it a 'crisis,' and while at first I thought the crisis they referred to was FCB's two game losing streak, statistical evidence like the rising unemployment rate points toa slightly more severe crisis in the economy. The people demand increased social welfare programs, unemployment insurance, and at the same time limits to education fees and limits to hikes in taxes.These demands make sense, kind of.
I hate taxes, work, and school just as much as your typical Spaniard, but once you take into account the magic of siesta, and holidays turned entire weeks of vacation, it´s hard to feel bad, or even think of a solution for the economic crisis Spain. A friend of mine recently talked to an English protestor in Madrid, impersonating a typical Spanish protestor, he announced that he would "gladly work from the hours of around 8-12, but needed a four hour break for lunch and a nap, and if he felt like it, might come back to work another few hours after his nap." While his demands were sarcastic, they were also soberingly honest, give or take a few hours. Siestas, the apparent lack of structured work hours, and random holidays sprinkled throughout the work week make it very difficult to empathize with Spain when countries like Germany are forced to spend billions of euros bailing them out. If one were to comment on how the siesta and random holidays might possibly be, oh, i don´t know, a root cause of the economic crisis in Spain, they would be lambasted and ostracized for critizing cultural activities like mid-day naps and Tuesday holidays.It might be considered racist to ask the question that, "If your city, or country, shuts down for a few hours every day, or a few days every month, how do you expect to create revenue generating jobs, or dig yourself out of an economic recession?" I would continue my rant, but I´ll be honest, it made me pretty tired, and now I need a nap.
Palabra del día: Perezoso - Lazy
No puedo terminar el proyecto hoy porque tengo que dormir en la tarde, y hay un dia de puente en el miercoles, pero no soy perezoso. I can´t finish the project today because I have to sleep in the afternoon and there is a bridge day on Wednesday, but I am not lazy.
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