So, after concluding an incredible weekend in Portugal, I realized while waiting in the airport that it has been a month since I have updated this thang. Unacceptable, I know which is why I am about to go all out and update it like no other. Here it goes…
The past month has been one of the most incredible of my life. I have been to some spectacular places, eaten some of the best food of my life, and had experiences unlike anything before. It is amazing how this study abroad and traveling experience can just keep getting better and better.
So to begin from where I left off from last time: The 23rd of September marked the end of our intensive language class and the beginning of the Merce festival (La Merce is the patron saint of Barcelona and boy oh boy do they put on a party in her honor) which would last up until our semester long UPF and CIEE classes started. After plowing through my final exam, I headed to my first ultimate Frisbee fall league game with Hank and Ian. We met Paige in Placa Espanya to go to the fields since she had been there before. Since Ian was running late we decided to walk up to the stadium on montjuic instead of taking the bus. Wow was that a mistake. We ended up wandering around for nearly 45 minutes and I missed the first 15 minutes of my 45 minute long game. Not the best start to the season. Furthermore, upon making a layout “d” on my first play in the game, I landed awkwardly on my left hand and sprained my thumb. Luckily it was not my throwing hand so I could continue to play on. My game ended and Ian and Hanks game started while I talked with some of the local players on my team. Once the lights at the stadium shut off we decided to walk home, thinking it would be quicker than waiting for the bus. Wrong again but finally we made it back to Placa Espanya and caught the metro back to Marina. We cooked a quick dinner and downed a disc (Hank and Ian did not believe in the power of the disc but now they do) before deciding to meet up with Jofre in Placa Reial. We stayed at the concert until it ended (which was pretty soon after since we had gotten there pretty late) and turned to Jofre for a decision on what to do next. He talked our way into some bar/club type place that was playing ridiculous American and international music (mainly techno versions of oldies songs) and we got our groove on. Katie, Sharmaine and I danced our hearts out while Hank and Jofre made the moves on some Swedish girls. Epic epic dance party and I don’t even know the name of the place. Totally exhausted we considered going home but Jofre talked us into trying another club out. We tried it and that was all since we were so tired. We parted ways and ended our evening (mind you it was at least 4 or 5am, so not a bad night).
Thursday I was up early to make sure that I caught the giants parade and human tower spectacles (see pictures to follow). Ted and I headed to Placa San Jaume to meet up with Thomas and we were not disappointed. The heat, sun, and early in the morningness caused us some problems but as soon as the events began we forgot about our previous nights leftover pains. The giants pranced their way through the streets towering over everyone, greeting small children with kisses and stopping to pose for photos. They ended up in the Plaza and had one final dance between King Ferdinand giant and Queen Isabella giant before giving way to the human castellers. The human towers were one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Groups of people would stack themselves on top of each other sometimes 10 levels high. I cannot even describe my amazement so please refer to the picture for a better idea. After that ended, we headed back to Marina to nap and prepare for another night out. We ended up heading to fireworks on the beach which was a surreal experience. The fireworks reflected out over the water and lit up the beach in front of us as well. Someone had told us that Thursday night was the French fireworks team versus the US fireworks team so we bought into and got real patriotic. It turned out it was all US but it was still fun to trash talk during the show. Afterwards, I ended up in Placa Reial again but was exhausted and thus called it an early night.
Trying to take advantage of all the events, Steph and I met up around noon to try our luck at the numerous concerts and shows going on during the day. We wandered through Parc Ciutadella listening to jazz, blues, and reggae before heading down to Placa Catalunya for more jazz. Ted met up with us and we chowed down some Pita Inn before heading down to the port for a wine tasting (which ended up being kind of disappointing). Ok so I need to pause here and describe Pita Inn since it might be my favorite place to eat thus far in Barca. Pita Inn serves falafel and shwarma but has the vegetables/sauces/salad in buffet style so you can refill your pita with them as many times as you want! It is so so so delicious and I try to eat there at least 3-4 times per week. After the wine tasting, I took a nice nap at Marina before agreeing to go with Ian to his favorite place in Gracia, Las Ninfas. I wasn’t feeling Las Ninfas (though I later decided I liked it) and headed back home.
Saturday was an epic day for the Merce Festival. After going to play soccer for a while at the local stadium, I quickly returned and showered and headed up to the nearby bullfighting rink with Ted for a traditional bullfight (though it really turned out to be more a bull mauling). The fight started at 6pm and by 8:45 we were worn out and wanted to make the Correfoc (more on that later). The bull-mauling began with a parade of all the participators into the arena to bow to the king (who it turned out was sitting directly across from us). Then one by one each bull was slaughtered. The process began with the kind of jesters taunting the bull and getting it tired out. Next came the horsemen who would spear the bull to piss it off. After they stabbed it a few times, the next group of bull torturers came out. These guys took long (probably 2 feet long at least) spikes and jabbed them into the bull’s back. 3 guys did this for a total of 6 spikes hanging from the bull’s back. Finally, the matador came out and did his thing. He would taunt the bull for a while making it dance and fall and bury its horns into the ground. Once he thought the bull was ready, he would change out swords and do the deadly strike. If he didn’t make a good hit and the bull kept going (which happened all but one of the times) then the rest of the guys would come out and tire out the bull until it finally died. Once the bull was dead, 2 clydesdale horses would run out, their trainers would attach a rope to the bull’s horns and then it would be dragged out of the arena. A very gruesome sight if you ask me. If the crowd enjoyed the matador’s performance then everyone would wave white handkerchiefs and the matador would parade around with the crowd throwing flowers and items of clothing at him. After the 5th bull, we were exhausted and left before the show finished. Ted and I hurried back for a quick pitstop at the residencia before running over to the Correfoc. Correfoc is the traditional Fire run where people dress up in costumes (and fire safe garb) and spray fire around. Additionally, they build dragons and other creatures that spit fire as people run through or stand in front. Consult the pictures for more detail. Ted decided to run in the fire in a t-shirt but I was not so brave since the fire sparklers were shooting fire at me anyways even though I was 15ft away. The rush of having fire sparkled at you s pretty indescribable and after about an hour we were exhausted and headed to Catalunya. I then met up with Hank and Matt and we headed to a concert of the Akron Family in Placa Reial. During the concert, Phil gave me a buzz and asked if I wanted to join him at Mediterraneo . Of course I did, so I bid farewell to Hank and Matt, ran back to the residencia and changed and then went to Mediterraneo. It was another epic night there and we stayed out until 7am again. Mar treated us well and we even got the chance to hear her sing flamenco! Another marathon day in Barca.
Sunday I took it easy and having slept in until around 3 or 4pm all I could manage was to eat and then get ready for the end of Merce dancing fireworks spectacle. We headed over to Placa Espanya where the fireworks and fountain danced to popular music soundtracks. My favorites were the pirates of Caribbean ones (which actually gave me chills) and of course the ones that were to the tune of Jai Ho.
All in all La Merce was quite spectacular and truly unlike anything I had ever been a part of before. Looks like I’ll have to make my way back to Barca for another Merce next year!
A great shot of the fire sprinklers. You can see how covered up most people are for safety reasons. A lot of the groups had the same outfit but some of them were just dressed in street clothes.
One of the fire sprinklers with the lit-up bank of Caixa Catalunya.
One of the fire spitting dragons. 
The guy in the white shirt is Ted. We were really really close to the fire and Ted's shirt even got burned through. 
