SO...there has been a girl missing from Sevilla for the last 3 weeks or so named Marta de Castillo. A little after I arrived in Sevilla, posters started popping up EVERYWHERE. Posters of pictures of Marta in every store window, on every light pole, on walls, in car windows, everywhere. Some don't have pictures but just say, "Todos somos Marta" Signifying the incredible amount of support there is from the community to help find her. It has been highlighted in every news broadcast for Andalucia probably 4 times a day and has been a region-wide search for her. It has been amazing to see how much effort, money, and support there is for one missing girl. You would think, of course, there should be this much support and effort to find a missing person, but thinking about the U.S. where hundreds of people go missing every year, its not the same. Everyone receives those cards in the mail saying, "Have you seen me?" and after glancing at the faces and feeling sad for a moment, everyone just throws it out. I really don't know what else you can do to help, other than looking at the picture and hope you see the person. But here, it has been heads down, solid effort by the whole community for 3 whole weeks to find just one girl. How amazing!
Just today, the ex-boyfriend of Marta confessed to killing her and throwing her in the river (Rio Guadalquivir) in Sevilla. There has been protests all through the streets by the community yelling, "Asesino! Asesino!" meaning Asassin and calling for justice. For now he is being held at a jail before his trial. The hard thing here, is that in Spain, someone can only be put in jail for up to 30 years, and that's it, except for extreme circumstances where you might get multiple sentences of 30 years at a time. No one knows how he will be charged or if he is even telling the truth. Protests outside of the jail when he was brought in were out of control and police had stand guard and hold people back from attacking him. The amount of community support and calls for justice for this poor girl are astounding and its all anyone can talk about. They still haven't found her and since the river is pretty cloudy, and it rained all last week, it might be a while before she is found.
I apologize for the negative and sad news, but it is what has been happening in this community lately and I thought I should share it since there has been such a turn of events as of today. The whole situation really makes you think about how much time you take to care about other people instead of just focusing on your own life. When I first got here, we were watching the news during dinner and noticed how much time they were spending on Marta and thought....well that's weird, what's so special about this story, its just a missing girl. I am a little ashamed that I thought that and after seeing how much her disappearance has affected the community I live in it makes me think more about the difference. I was just thinking like most other Americans, oh another missing person, that's too bad. Then turn around and try to forget about it. Here, the community wouldn't let me and it has made me think....A good thing!
I'm not sure what else to take from this. In all reality, there really isn't much one can do in a situation like that other than keeping a keen eye out for the missing person. But it does make you have a different point of view.
Okay, soppiness is over.
Wish me luck on my test tomorrow morning,
send me emails!
love,
betsy
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