Where did this semester go?

So I just had the overwhelming realization that my semester is practically done. We have 37 days left in Spain. THIRTY SEVEN. That's nothing! I just had my last class before spring break, and now I'm free for the next 2 weeks. Liz, Pree, and I are going to spend half the break in Istanbul, Turkey and the other half in Santorini, Greece. When I get back, we only have three, THREE, weeks left of classes (i should mention, this includes 3 presentations and 30 pages of papers) and then we're heading back to the states! I just bought my plane tickets to go to Mallorca the weekend after spring break, but I feel like that's not enough! I still have so much that I want to see! I never even got to go to Portugal and there's so many cities in Spain I haven't seen yet. I've only seen the airport of Madrid. I can't believe it. I also can't afford it. Maybe it's good it's ending when it is. I'm more shocked than anything at how fast this semester went.

We don't leave for Turkey until Saturday, though, so I suppose I should spend my next few days really enjoying Valencia. Last weekend we went to the beach Friday and then spent all day Saturday and Sunday outside in the rio with our picnics of bread and goat cheese and strawberries and fresh cream. It was really a perfect weekend. I know when I get back from spring break, I'm not going to want to do ANY work and just enjoy Valencia. It really was rather inconsiderate of our professors to put off all the work until the end. I don't want to do it!!!!

I'll cross that river when I get to it, though. Let me just explain a little bit about Spain during Easter because it really is just the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Right now, on TV, we are watching a procession that is going on in Alicante (a city south of Valencia but still in the Comunitat Valenciana). There are tons of people watching groups of men and women carrying these giant wooden structures on their shoulders to I don't know where. The men carry HUGE structures covered in flowers with a life-size plastic figure of Jesus Christ and I'm pretty sure the whole thing weighs like thousands of pounds. There are 16 men in the front and 16 in the back, and they are all red in the face, sweating, and grimacing with pain to carry this thing for what's been at least 20 minutes. Mama told me there were 300 men behind waiting to take over for someone when he literally cannot carry it any longer. She also told me how it was extremely heavy (as if I couldn't conclude that on my own) and so I asked if it was so heavy why they were carrying it. She explained how it was a sacrifice they were making for Jesus.

The women do the same thing, but the figurine on the structure is always the Virgin Mary. I can tell that the structures are significantly lighter for the women, but they still struggle during the procession. It really is a giant production with people directing the troops in the front and yelling and shouting. I find the life-size, plastic figures that wear elaborate clothing on top of the giant bases covered in flowers and candles to be rather ugly, but the whole time mama has been telling me how beautiful the whole thing is. What really gets me, though, is the awful singing in the background that sounds like whining. It hasn't let up for a long time. Maybe they want those who aren't carrying the float to suffer, as well? Like out of solidarity? At the same time, there are people dressed in black robes and black pointed hats that have cloth that cover their faces, and the only thing I keep thinking is how similar it is to the KKK. I have never seen anything like this. As a complete outsider looking in on Spanish culture, my only conclusion is that it is weird. I typically have an open mind about different cultures, but I don't know how to feel about this part. Maybe if I'd been a little more prepared for this...

I found this picture online that kind of shows off what they carry.