With wool socks and fleece jackets flying across the room, Bross explained that having FOP leaders for friends came in handy for their trip.

"We borrowed a lot of stuff--everyone was very generous," she said. "They were like, 'Have a sleeping bag or backpack or whatever.'"

Even though all eight women didn't know each other, they said the trip was a wonderful bonding experience for them all.

"It's a good way of getting to know people when my life depends on them," Kurshan said.

Family Ties

While most of her friends were taking finals, or at least making fun of their roommates with finals, Sara M. Jablon '00 spent nine days in Spain with her family.

Her parents had wanted to take a family vacation. The only time that worked with everyone's schedule was the end of Harvard's exam period.

"It was extremely strange, because the weekend before I left I wrote three papers in four days and had barely slept," said Jablon, who is also a Crimson editor. "The entire plane ride I was in this surreal dream state realizing that I had just finished." Jablon, her parents and her 19-year-old sister spent nine days in Spain, visiting both Barcelona and Madrid. Their itinerary included lots of museums and even an authentic bullfight.

"The bullfight was amazing," Jablon said. "The people there were dressed like they were going to the opera."

Still, Jablon said it was a strange time for a family vacation. After all, most students spend the end of their senior year with the friends they will be leaving behind.

"It was a lot of fun to be with my family, but I felt this kind of weird helpless feeling," she said, "like I was out of control after being in college and doing my own things for so long."

Happily Ever After

Going to a family wedding is one thing, but Jonathan X. Gruenhut '00 attended a ceremony two weeks ago where he knew neither the bride nor the groom.

A Jewish wedding ceremony requires two witnesses unrelated to either party, and when the couple chose a rabbi for the wedding, he helped them find someone appropriate for the job of witness.

The Boston University-based rabbi called Rabbi Hershy Zarchi, a peer at Harvard, who in turn contacted Gruenhut, an Orthodox Jew with some free time on his hands before Commencement.

The wedding took place at building near the BU campus called "the Castle."

This is not the first time he has been called on to serve as a witness at a wedding, Gruenhut said, but the wedding two weeks ago was a particularly "weird" experience.