OMAGH TEACHER SHARES PAIN OF MADRID
Omagh teacher shares pain of Madrid
BY JOHN CARNEY
TWO days before the Madrid bombings Lisa McSwiggan from Richmond Park, Killyclogher, landed in the city.
The young Omagh woman was there for six months to teach English and sample the leisurely Spanish lifestyle, far away from the boredom and rain of her hometown.
Within 48 hours she was in a city mourning the death of 200 citizens and 1,600 casualties.
In a place of five million people she walked through the streets like a ghost, unable to feel the huge swings of emotion that its inhabitants were going through, after one of the worst atrocities ever recorded.
"I just feel guilty because I don't share the same emotions as the people here in Madrid," Lisa said.
"When the Omagh bomb happened it affected everyone because it was such a small community. You would have known people from the town directly or friends of friends, here it is hard to show your solidarity when you know no-one, not even by name.
"My family would have known many people that were killed and injured in the Omagh bomb and I can still remember one of my friends running down the street on the video that was taken at the time. I also would have known (bomb victim) Samantha McFarland vaguely because we would have played together when we were smaller.
"Last Friday I went with some teachers to the peace demonstration and there was three to four million people at it; but that was all we could do. It made me feel guilty because I was so detached from everything as I had only just arrived.
"I knew what these people were going through, but the best I could do was go to the demonstration. The streets are lined with flowers and candles. It's a hard feeling to explain after only being in the country such a short time."
Lisa lives in the suburb of Goia and first realised what had happened when she got up that morning and her roommate got a phone call from her boyfriend in Belfast to see if she was OK.
It was then that the enormity of the situation became apparent.
"My family and friends were soon phoning to see how I was. You really know who your friends are when something like this happens," Lisa said. "As you would expect my family want me to come home after all that has happened but the way I look at it, I did a language for a reason and I want to use it. So I'm going to stay and try to learn more." Lisa completed a degree in Business with French and Spanish at Magee College last July, and will be teaching English at International House, one of the English schools in the city.
But the chance of normality returning to Madrid is a long way off.
"People are very tense and wary, as you would expect," Lisa said.
"You can't help but feel very cautious after what happened. I was just in the Metro the other day and when you hear a noise or the lights go out for a few seconds, you do get a bit shaky but it's the same for everyone.
"You're sort of living on edge and thinking is it going to happen again. I remember feeling like that in Omagh after the bomb as well, with the amount of bomb scares there were afterwards. It's only natural."
It was not, and now probably will never be, the kind of experience Lisa had envisaged when she first made plans to go to Madrid but she is determined to stay on and help in any way she can.
"Madrid is such a lively city but on Sunday we walked out through the Plaza Mayor, which is one of the most popular places to be, and it was deadly quiet," she said.
"But in the coming months all the teachers here are determined to do all that we can to show the people of Madrid our support. There's no talk of leaving. I may not know anyone but I know what they are going through."
BY JOHN CARNEY
TWO days before the Madrid bombings Lisa McSwiggan from Richmond Park, Killyclogher, landed in the city.
The young Omagh woman was there for six months to teach English and sample the leisurely Spanish lifestyle, far away from the boredom and rain of her hometown.
Within 48 hours she was in a city mourning the death of 200 citizens and 1,600 casualties.
In a place of five million people she walked through the streets like a ghost, unable to feel the huge swings of emotion that its inhabitants were going through, after one of the worst atrocities ever recorded.
"I just feel guilty because I don't share the same emotions as the people here in Madrid," Lisa said.
"When the Omagh bomb happened it affected everyone because it was such a small community. You would have known people from the town directly or friends of friends, here it is hard to show your solidarity when you know no-one, not even by name.
"My family would have known many people that were killed and injured in the Omagh bomb and I can still remember one of my friends running down the street on the video that was taken at the time. I also would have known (bomb victim) Samantha McFarland vaguely because we would have played together when we were smaller.
"Last Friday I went with some teachers to the peace demonstration and there was three to four million people at it; but that was all we could do. It made me feel guilty because I was so detached from everything as I had only just arrived.
"I knew what these people were going through, but the best I could do was go to the demonstration. The streets are lined with flowers and candles. It's a hard feeling to explain after only being in the country such a short time."
Lisa lives in the suburb of Goia and first realised what had happened when she got up that morning and her roommate got a phone call from her boyfriend in Belfast to see if she was OK.
It was then that the enormity of the situation became apparent.
"My family and friends were soon phoning to see how I was. You really know who your friends are when something like this happens," Lisa said. "As you would expect my family want me to come home after all that has happened but the way I look at it, I did a language for a reason and I want to use it. So I'm going to stay and try to learn more." Lisa completed a degree in Business with French and Spanish at Magee College last July, and will be teaching English at International House, one of the English schools in the city.
But the chance of normality returning to Madrid is a long way off.
"People are very tense and wary, as you would expect," Lisa said.
"You can't help but feel very cautious after what happened. I was just in the Metro the other day and when you hear a noise or the lights go out for a few seconds, you do get a bit shaky but it's the same for everyone.
"You're sort of living on edge and thinking is it going to happen again. I remember feeling like that in Omagh after the bomb as well, with the amount of bomb scares there were afterwards. It's only natural."
It was not, and now probably will never be, the kind of experience Lisa had envisaged when she first made plans to go to Madrid but she is determined to stay on and help in any way she can.
"Madrid is such a lively city but on Sunday we walked out through the Plaza Mayor, which is one of the most popular places to be, and it was deadly quiet," she said.
"But in the coming months all the teachers here are determined to do all that we can to show the people of Madrid our support. There's no talk of leaving. I may not know anyone but I know what they are going through."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1642
Published Date: 18-Mar-04
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