Today definitely had an interesting start to it. I had read many articles about political protests in Spain and had talked to friends who studied abroad over the summer about protests that occurred while they were here; but, I never expected that 2 weeks into my semester I would walk into the middle of a protest trying to get to class via the metro, and at 8 in the morning (during rush hour I might add). It was definitely an overwhelming experience that early in the morning.
As our small group walked to the metro station, I had noticed 5 or 6 police cars out front, but thought there had been some sort of emergency or injury and the ambulance had already left. We began walking down the stairs and in that instant started to hear chanting. I think they were saying "No Paguemos" or "We won't pay" (loosely translated). They were all wearing some sort of mask and were taping open the gates so people could walk through without scanning their tickets. They had a banner stretched out in front of them, but I couldn't tell you what it said. I was focused on making it to the other side and making sure Hannah and Alex made it through as well.
As we were standing there trying to decide what to do (we had no other choice but to take the metro), or what would happen to us if we tried to cross, all I could think was, 'I am an American student. I clearly look American. How are they going to react when I try to go through?' So I did what I thought was best, avoided eye contact and went through the gates furthest from where they were taping (and ran my ticket through I must add). They were not violent in any way, and the police were not close by (they were standing on the entrance stairs), but I didn't know if they would be violent towards me or my friends. When we finally made it to the metro, my hands were shaking from a combination of fear and adrenaline. By the time I came back through the metro stop this afternoon everything had cleared up (although some of the doors did look to be semi-broken...oops). I was worried about other friends who possibly had to go through the protest alone, so I made sure to warn everyone else about it via the AIFS Facebook page. I wasn't sure how long it would last, but it is better to be safe than sorry!
I'm sure this won't be the last protest I'll go through, but I hope it is the last one that takes place in the cramped quarters of a metro stop. It definitely didn't help with my metro anxiety...
Hope everyone has had a good start to their week!
xoxo
Kelcey
No comments:
Post a Comment