Semana Santa

What a great Tuesday. I woke up to the beautiful sunshine before the alarm went off fully rested, which is such a great feeling, enjoyed tostadas with Ana and Amy, and then off to school. Spanish class was great, we discussed the play Yerma which we’ve been reading and then moved forward with subjunctive. I absolutely love my teacher Angelica, the only way I can describe her is Spanish, she is so Spanish. She was at her prime today in her tight red pants as she discussed the history of Spain through the eyes of the play writer Garcia Lorca. Angelica told us today that a few days ago in a building not too far from the school that they are discovering skeletons beneath the floor boards. The building housed soldiers during the civil war and the other day they were beginning to change the floor tiles and came upon a skull! They continued to tear up the floor and ended up finding over 150 bodies! Can you imagine?! They still don’t know what side, socialist or nationalist, the soldiers were on, so they investigation continues. She thinks that they were socialists and that Franco had them all killed and then hidden because she said that this happened a great deal after the civil war. I really need to go to the plaza one of these days and talk to an older person about their experiences during that era in Spain.
After school I went on a good run by the river and then came back and talked to Ana for an hour or so while she was making lunch. She went to the discoteca last night and had so much fun. She met a nice man who she said was the most handsome man she had ever seen and that he was also very respectful and kind to her. She has been smiling all day and I love it. She made this really good chicken, potato, vegetable dish in broth for lunch, it was amazing. She said it was a pretty typical dish from Chile and I remember hearing my dad say the same thing about the food in Argentina, that it was a lot of meat and potatoes. After lunch I hurried over to the school for my skype date with my family. I got to talk to my mom, dad, and Emma for awhile which was so fun. They are all doing great and that makes me happy. I can’t believe Emma is turning thirteen in a month, she is growing up so fast! I got to talk to Jana at my professor’s house on Sunday for awhile and she is doing awesome as well, so happy and excited for the big day May 2nd. I love my family so much, now I just need to see my darling Megan. We set up a skype date on Easter so hopefully I will see her then.
Yesterday after institute we had a birthday party for everyone who has had or will have birthdays during our trip/ Saint Patrick’s Day party. We all pitched in a euro and a few girls bought some treats and a delicious tarta. I love the group! We all get along so well and just have a fun time together. Everyone is really chill and enjoyable to be around- it has been so great getting to know each of them.

21/03/08
Ok so Tuesday continued to be a great day because that night after dinner I asked Ana if I could make tortilla for our bocadillos for Valencia the next day and she said claro! So she showed me where everything was: potatoes, onion, green pepper, eggs, salt, and olive oil and I went to work. She watched me, but didn’t say anything and it turned out delicious. We talked the whole time and I just love her so much. Afterwards she cut me a little slice and was like ok you have to try it, so of course I did and I was quite proud and I think she was too. Then she was like do you know what would be so good on this bocadillo with the tortilla, roasted red peppers. I didn’t even have to agree and she was making them, after they cooked she made a kind of sauce for them and she gave me a taster. Holy Hannah! Wow they were the most delicious red peppers I’ve ever had in my life, the flavor was amazing. So then she had me assemble our bocadillos and she kept telling me to put more and more tortilla in them and when I was done they were like four inches thick- and I am not exaggerating. We just had so much fun in the kitchen together, she saw that I loved the peppers so she gave me a little piece of bread and said to eat as much as I want. Then she cut me a piece of a pear for dessert, it was seriously one of the best nights. The next morning we woke up before six and got ready and were at the bus station by seven. The four hour bus drive went by quickly because of my great book and before I knew it we were parking the bus in Valencia. The city was packed with people, literally in some places you couldn’t move at all. We walked around and looked at all of las fallas, floats, and caught the firework show around 4:00 PM. It was awesome, but it would have been a lot better at night in my opinion, but don’t worry there were constant fireworks in the city all day. It was the biggest party ever! There were loud firecrackers going off literally every minute in the street, I thought I was in a war zone or something. I think my eardrum got blown out two or three times when I little kid would light one right by us and then run away. I opened my bocadillo when we were waiting for the fireworks and I was getting some pretty jealous looks as the people around me saw the masterpiece I was eating, it was pretty hilarious. Well we walked around all day, found a really cool park that was like a giant spider web of rope that you could climb on, admired the very detailed floats, and by eight o’clock my feet and legs were feeling the pain, so we found a cute restaurant and had some dinner. I still wasn’t hungry because of my giant lunch, but the other girls were and it just felt good to sit down and relax. We had the best time just talking and laughing about the most random things in the world. I have met some really great people on this trip. We talked for about two hours, bought a delicious ice cream cone (tiramisu and hazelnut) at a heladería, and then went out to wait by our favorite falla until midnight when it was supposed to start burning. We ended up waiting until one thirty before it started, but it was well worth it. It was crazy watching this whole thing go up in flames, it was gigantic! They said they spend all year making them and they cost about 900,000 euros to create and then they all burn in about an hour. It seemed like the whole city was on fire it was crazy. We got back on the bus at 3:00 AM and I was out so fast. We pulled into Alcalá a little after seven and I came right home, took a shower, brushed my teeth, pulled down the amazing Spanish blinds that block out any hint of sunlight and fell asleep.
I woke up two hours later, for some reason my body didn’t want to sleep anymore, and talked with Ana about our adventurous night. Later that day I went into Madrid with a small group to watch the Semana Santa procession. We went to the Caixa museum before and it was really interesting, short and sweet. I’ve realized that I love modern and abstract art. One floor of the museum was dedicated to the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. I really enjoyed it, and it helped me to focus my thoughts on my Savior and all that he went through this week thousands of years ago. The procession was a complete contrast to the night before in Valencia. It started a little after eight so it was completely dark and the crowd of hundreds of people was silent. The procession began with men in purple robes with very long, white, pointed hats that also came down over their faces with only two holes for their eyes. They were carrying tall candles and some were barefoot with long, heavy chains attached to their ankles. Then came the men carrying the large crosses and finally a giant float type thing covered in flowers and candles carried by about twenty men. It was very different than anything I’ve ever seen in my life, but I thought that it was very interesting. I need to do some more research on the significance of the various symbols, but I felt that it was supposed to be a very reverent ceremony. I didn’t get home until eleven and Ana was up watching TV, I’m not sure if she was waiting for me, but as soon as I got home she heated up dinner for herself and me and we had a nice talk.
This morning I got up and had a great run by the river and came home to a delicious breakfast of this French toast type food that is traditional during Santa Semana here in Spain. Then I showered and got ready and headed off to Madrid. We walked around downtown and then through the botanical gardens where we sat and ate our lunches. The gardens were beautiful, with flowers, trees, and vegetables from every where in the world. My favorite were the beautiful tulips, I love flowers! There was also a tomato tree from South America and I thought that was pretty crazy. We came home to watch another procession that was going on in Alcalá and it was a lot of the same things that we saw in Madrid, but I enjoyed it just the same. Now I am sitting here in my room getting caught up on this past week. I can’t believe my time is winding down here, it makes me so sad, but I plan on enjoying every moment that I have left.