Last week was a free week for the students. We all enjoyed the Holy Week, and, although it is celebrated all over Spain, it is especially popular in Seville. As you already learnt in our previous Cosas de Sevilla, it consists of processions in which enormous “pasos”, or floats, representing scenes of the Stations of the Cross are carried around the streets by teams of “costaleros”, or bearers. Generally each procession has two pasos, which are followed by hundreds of “nazarenos”, or penitents. Many of these floats are religious works of art and date back as far as the 17th century.

On Palm Sunday, the first day of the Holy Week, we opened The Center for those students who wanted to live the experience and see one of the processions marching from its church, very close to The Center, to the Cathedral. The view from our balconies was amazing, and they were thrilled they could get to know this cultural aspect and take part of the event.

Enjoy the pictures of the “pasos” marching down our street

While some students were able to see some of the processions, many took advantage of the long week off to travel. Some of the international destinations included Lisbon, Prague, Munich, Paris, Dublin, and Vienna. Some students stayed in Spain and visited places close by such as Ronda, Ibiza, Barcelona, and Malaga.

This week, back on campus, the semester is winding down. The students are now finishing with final exams and projects. Yesterday we had a very special treat: a lecture and a reception. Dr. Scarborough invited Dr. David Wacks, from the University of Oregon, to give a talk about “Spanish Crusade Fiction”. Those students in Dr. Scarborough's Spanish Literature and Dr. Sara Pink's Introduction to Spanish Life and Culture learnt about the Crusade in Spain and discussed the ideas that some Iberian authors, such as Ramon Llull, presented in their works in order to promote crusade and conversion in medieval Spain. The students presented very good questions and were really involved in the discussion.