A young girl, probably in her mid to late teens, lay face up on the sidewalk of Guzman el Bueno with her limbs sprawled. We would have kept walking if her eyes hadn’t been shaking so much, but luckily we stopped to call for help. She was dressed in short jean shorts and hot pink tights, a tannish green jacket over her purple knit sweater. She looked so small and helpless… I felt sick to my stomach. Her eyelids were vibrating, her mouth parted slightly. Carly, Danny, Ian and I stood around her trying to figure out what to do. A woman saw us and started speaking in Spanish frantically trying to help us and the young girl. I handed her my phone and told her to call the ambulance… I wasn’t sure if the number is different in Europe. A man came up shortly thereafter and told Danny and Ian to lift the girl’s legs. The paramedics on the phone told the woman to put the girl on her side, so the Spanish man and woman took over to comfort her and calm her down.
She opened her eyes for just a second, the emotion was pain and shock. I couldn’t and still can’t fathom what must have been going through her head at that moment. Her breathing was uncontrollable… she seemed like she was about to vomit. I felt so horrible for her and wished I could help more, but I think that we did all that we could. I am very thankful that we stopped for her. Situations like these give me hope for humanity. After this Isla Vista tragedy, I have been feeling doubtful about inherent goodness in humanity… but situations like tonight’s gave me a glimmer of hope.
On a less depressing note, I have submitted all 3 of my stories, which means I am done with all the pitches I need for our trip in Spain! All that I have left to do is edit my bullfighter profile and I’m home free! I am excited to help other people in the group with their stories now. I also accepted a co-op job today for the Fall. Everything is falling very nicely into place.
Today we visited El Pais, one of Spain’s biggest newspapers. It was cool to see how a real newspaper is run. The reporting room was large and the separated by each particular section of the newspaper. There were about 5 or 6 desks for each section, apparently around 290 reporters work for El Pais, and only 7% are women.
Overall it has been a great day, I just hope the girl who had a seizure in the middle of the sidewalk is alright now.
Mackenzie Nichols in Spain 