La Merce
Every year at the end of September, Barcelona celebrates the Festival of La Merce, a festival in honor of the patron saint of Barcelona, Mare Deu de La Merce.  The Festival kicks off on a Friday and ends on a Monday.  Catalan arts and crafts are for sale during the day and concerts going on all night.  During the day time and night time, other events go on as well.

One such event that goes on is the Castallers, the building of human towers.  This takes place in the Plaça De Sant Jaume I and begins with the heavy lifters at the bottom and ends with the light, agile people at the top.  After each level is completed, music is played over the sound system.  At the end, a little child stands on the top with a helmet on and throws his/her hands up in victory and the crowd cheers loudly.  Here are two pictures from Castallers.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and they are saved."

- Proverbs 18:10

Another event that goes on is the Correfoc.  There are two Correfocs, one for children and one for adults.  During the Correfoc, kids and children dress up as devils with a stick device that twirls at one end.  Placing a roman candle-like firecracker on the twirling end and the people hold the stick in the air or shoot the firecracker on the grounds towards people and they dance in front of the sparks or under them.  It is quite a spectacle to see.  Below is a video of the event.

Come Fall On Us, We Fall On You...

Today is a day of sadness, but nevertheless, a new chapter in my life.  As I was watching the Castallers yesterday, I was reminded of Proverbs 18:10 and how strong the name of the Lord is.  As I witnessed a dear friend leave to go home, I became blunt with the Lord and prayed "God I know I'm suppose to place my trust and hope in you, but do you expect me to be here all alone with no guy to relate to what I'm going through?  What am I going to do here now?  This is going to be impossible without you and complete dependence on you."  I praise the Lord for showing me this in my life.  My heart hurts that my friend has left, but at the same time rejoices that my journey is not over, but rather it's just another chapter in my journey here.