Graduating into a failing economy

Hi everyone, I've been thinking a lot lately about the status of our economy and although I've been rather optimistic so far I'm still a little concerned about it's future. In terms of how long the recession or whats now being considered possibly a depression is going to last, I don't believe anyone has any definite answers. Historically it seems recessions are inevitable and we are continuously trying to develop methods to avoid or expedite the duration of them. Will this new government stimulus plan really help anything? Is government intervention in the financial market a good thing or a bad thing? Personally I'm not qualified to answer this question otherwise I would probably have another listing under my occupation than "student". Lately as I've been watching the news and the continual layoffs companies are imposing in order to outlast the recession it's beginning to occur to me that maybe this recession may not be over anytime soon. Last week I woke up to MSNBC news relaying the message that between five or so companies, two being Sprint and Caterpillar, were laying off 52,000 employees that day. Not exactly a promising job market to say the least. So my question now is, how long is this going to last? Whats going to change the status of the economy and how is our nation going to deal with the debt we already have by stimulating the economy with more government money which is being obtained from where? As I'm sure it's confusing to many others and not just myself... (I hope) I've been patiently waiting for an answer that is going to explain it all. The problem is I don't believe there is going to be an answer anytime soon and even many economists have admitted, "there's no telling how long this recession is going to last... it could last another year or it could last another few years". At this point in time, I've only considered one methodology to dealing with this issue. I'd like to believe that innovation and perseverance which are two of America's greatest traits will help us outlast and overcome the current status of our economy as well as the opportunity of a new beginning with President Barrack Obama. As many critics are already beginning to say, mostly conservative in my belief, "Obama isn't the Messiah". Well, all I have to say to that is, no kidding! He's a man that decided to enter an election during one of the worst years he could have possibly chosen. So what's he supposed to do? Give up? Whether or not you're Republican or Democrat, the fact is, is that Obama is not going to solve all of our problems which to most was already known pre-election. What Obama is capable of doing however is inspiring the American people as a collective nation during an otherwise uncertain period of time. No one said that Obama was going to be our savior, he himself has admitted his inexperience in economics however as far as coming out of this recession, I do believe in working together and supporting one another without taking into consideration one another's creed, race, religion or political affiliation. It would be nice to finally feel patriotism again and to feel a collective drive to persevere through this time just as we've done in the past. Well unfortunately I've gotta get back to studying but hey... thats my verdict for today!

The American Economy Today

Seville with Ash and our plans for the end of the trip

Hi everyone I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I wish I could have been there with all of you for the holiday but I'll be home soon. This weekend Ashleigh came to Seville to spend the weekend in my home town in Spain. We had a great weekend and I was able to show her where I studied and some of the cultural life around the city. We even took a short trip to Granada, Spain which is about 3 hours away from Seville via train. Granada was a little bit cold since it is centered very close to the Sierra Nevada mountains, but the scenery once again was nothing short of beautiful. The end of my program here in Seville is coming to an end and it seems like I haven't been here for very long. The last week I've been thinking about all of the things I've seen and am going to see in this next couple weeks I have left in Europe and it's really surreal to think about. Learning another language and adapting to another culture for three months although short has been difficult and it feels good to be able to say I was able to do it successfully. Now that I only have a week left before finals Ash and I have been preparing for our end of the trip journey to Italy. While in Italy we won't be able to update our blogs or post pictures so everyone will have to wait till Christmas. What a bummer! When my program ends on the 12th I'll be flying out to London and catching a plane with Ash to Pisa on the morning of the 13th. We'll spend a few hours in Pisa before continuing our journey to Florence on the evening of the 13th. In Florence we'll stay for 3 nights before leaving to Venice for another two nights. After Venice, Pisa, and Florence we'll be wrapping our journey in the ancient and historical city of Rome. Ash and I are very excited for the trip and believe it is going to be a great trip to wrap up an amazing experience abroad. The afternoon of the 21st we'll be leaving Rome for London where we'll pick up our bags and move over to the next and final departing airport (HEATHRO, LONDON). I hope you're all doing very well and are all in good moods as the holidays are now upon us. I can't wait to see you all again soon.

Bri

PAMPLONA, SPAIN

Tomorrow morning I'm setting off for another trip, this time by myself to a smaller city in Spain. Pamplona, Spain which you may very well have heard of because of it's annual "Running of the Bulls" festival is situated in central northern Spain very close to the Pyrenees mountain range. After my big trip last weekend to Paris I thought a smaller Spanish city with more natural beauties than historical, would be a perfect and relaxing option. I leave tomorrow morning (friday) at 7:45 by train to Madrid where I catch another train at 10:35 to Pamplona and eventually get into Pamplona around 1 p.m. my time. I'm very exited for the trip and can't wait to take a nice relaxing weekend to myself. I'll be returning on Sunday afternoon or night depending on which trains I decide to hop on but I hope you all have a very good weekend and I'll be updating the blog a little more now that midterms (exams) are done.

From Stacy to Paris

Well I’m back again, this time from Paris. I went this last weekend to Paris with my study abroad group for a nice long weekend starting on Thursday evening through Sunday evening. Ash and I were lucky enough to have the trip on the same weekend and were able to spend a lot of time together. Before arriving to Paris I had heard the people there (the French) weren’t very sympathetic and especially to Americans. Again, I heard wrong, most of the people I spoke with were more than nice and I would love to go back someday. My group arrived about 8 p.m. on Thursday the 14th. Although we arrived a little late, we had enough time to settle in and take a nice trip over to the Eiffel Tower, an amazing site. When we got within sight of the amazing structure, we were all awe struck at the complexity and enormity of its dimensions. The tower was completely lit with neon lights and was clearly visible from a long distance. Our hotel fortunately was less than one mile from the tower and we’re able to walk directly underneath it. Although I loved seeing the tower for the first time, I would have to say another instance of being at the tower was a little more surreal. That was being able to sit underneath the tower kissing Ashleigh. Something I never imagined being able to do at the age of 21. Ash and I made two trips to the tower, one simply enjoying the view from underneath and another from the second floor of the tower overlooking the 11 million population city. Friday morning our group toured the city on bus for two hours looking at some of the many historical sites throughout the city. After we finished we were able to enter and tour Notre Dame! What an amazing structure. The church was immaculate and had amazing architecture. While waiting for Ash to arrive later in the afternoon, my friends and I walked around the city and looking at some of the many street venders along the river. The venders sold everything from little mirror souvenirs to beautiful paintings. I’ll soon tell you what I decided to spend all of my money on soon. After returning from what seemed to be miles of walking throughout the city we were able to rest a little while before meeting with Ash and her friends for a trip through one of the most humbling museums I’ve ever visited. The Louvre Museum, also the museum discussed in the “DaVinci Code” had some of the oldest paintings and sculptures I’ve ever seen. The most humbling amongst them being “The Mona Lisa” painted by DaVinci himself. Amongst some of the others were sculptures of Michael Angelo’s work! After seeing some of the most famous artwork I’m likely to ever to see in my life we went out for dinner at a nice traditional French restaurant not far from the Museum and Notre Dame. There I had an amazing dinner of salmon, mussels soaked in white wine, and rice. The dinner surprisingly was very affordable. Saturday consisted of another trip around the city with my group via bus and ended at the Louvre which we again took a more detailed and toured trip through the historical museum. After the Louvre my friends and I made another pass through the street venders where I found one of my best finds yet, “The Wall” by Pink Floyd being sold for 15 euros on vinyl. Don’t worry, that wasn’t the only thing I found I ended up returning to the same guy but I’ll tell you about that in a little while. After shopping for awhile we met up with Ashleigh again and her friends for a long walk throughout some of the busiest and most popular streets in Paris, some of the most expensive as well. On our journey we walked through some of the most beautiful gardens (formerly royal gardens), stopped by a Louis Vuiton store, and stood in front of “The Arch” and amazing arch built tall and wide with battle scenes sculpted into each side of the structure made to honor Napoleon Bonaparte’s many victories. Later that evening Ash and I enjoyed a romantic walk to the Eiffel Tower and a nice dinner consisting of pasta and steak dinner accented by a glass of white wine. After dinner and the Eiffel tower we wanted to rest up before another big day in the morning. In the morning I joined Ash’s group for a tour beginning at the Moulon Rouge and stretching through one of the nicest and most historically known suburbs of Paris. Throughout the little suburb we were given a detailed history of each zone by a Frenchmen who seemed to be very informative. We were able to see flats that famous painters stayed in during their time in Paris one of such being Picasso! The trip through the small art filled suburb was an amazing experience and after we finished up we went over to a Salvador Dali museum, one of my favorite artists who just so happens to be Spanish as well. The Dali exhibit was extremely interesting; I won’t spend much time talking about it since I know not many know who he is but if you’re interested just ask me. After the exhibit Ash and I left with her friend on the metro back to do a little more shopping along the river. I wanted to look for more records and happened to find the same man from the day before. This time I was looking I happened to see a very rare Led Zepelin album, Let it Be by the Beetles, and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I spent enough; we can say that, however I’ll be lucky to ever run across those albums again. After getting my fix for classic rock we continued to walk a little while longer until I needed to head out and catch my bus to the airport around 5:30 p.m.