World Youth Day was fantastic....but so exhausting.
We first went to an International Youth Forum in Paray le Monial. There were about 2500 people there, including our own dear Aussies. After having been there a number of times over the last year, it was so good to be there with so many good friends from home.
Aussies in Paray!
Each morning there was Praise then a talk. Then there were workshops in the afternoons and concerts at night. Kev and I were asked to give the talk on the second day. We thought it a good idea to listen to the talk on the first day, in case we might need to make any minor changes to our own. As we sat and listened, we freguently mumbled words of disbelief and a few @*&^$£s. It was exactly what we had planned to speak about. So, we spent the afternoon and evening re-writing our talk - basically we had to start from scratch. It turned out ok. Many people laughed at Kev's jokes, which is quite an achievement for an international audience.
On the last evening of the Forum, we piled into coaches for overnight travel to Lourdes. It was not a comfortable way to spend the night, to say the least.
We spent one day in Lourdes - for the feast of the Assumption. We didn't have time to visit the baths but it was a great day.
We had mass produced strange food for lunch - I think they wanted to whet our appetites for WYD.
Kev patiently waiting for lunch
We were able to catch up with a large group of students from our first year at the ESM, many of whom created the now well-known "Wrong Town". (This is a place inhabited by people who continually say inappropriate things - needless to say, Kev is the mayor). These darling young people finally fulfilled my request by writing a song about Wrong Town to the music of 'Downtown'. The fact that they wrote it on the way to Lourdes is an example of Wrong Town in itself. The song gets the thumbs up!
Residents of Wrong Town - former ESM students
After more mystery food for dinner, we joined the procession. There were sooooo many people - it was wonderful.
Candlelight procession
Then we got back on the coach for another overnight journey...two nights in a row was a killer.
We arrived in Madrid feeling anything but refreshed! But it didn't take long to get caught up in the excitement of WYD. Most people stayed on the floor in schools or halls. Kev and I asked if we could stay with a host family. We stayed with a dear old man who spoke no english and was very generous but a bit odd. The bed was terrible, so we slept on the floor anyway.
In Madrid we joined up with our group: last year's ESM students and members of the Centro San Lorenzo. We were together for the week as missionaries, not just participants. We were involved with a number of things at WYD. Firstly, we organised one of the catechesis sites. That meant that for three mornings in a row, our whole team travelled for about 90 minutes to a church that was to host an English-speaking bishop or cardinal who would give a talk to the young-uns. Our role was to set up the church, organise the prayer, the music, the Mass, Adoration, Q&A and the all-round welcome of the pilgrims. We thought it was going to be a bit of a pain, but ended up being the highlight of the week.
The mission team
We also helped a bit with an event organised by the Emmanuel Community, called Noche de Alegria (Night of Joy). It was one of the major events for WYD and had a huge crowd. Some of our ESM students had major roles: Shaheer and Nia were the MCs, and Kristina and Maria were singers. They make us proud.
One of the guests for the night was a singer called Tony Melendez. He is a famous guitarist from Nicaragua. He has no arms. This little video explains more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF9wo9sVn2c
He was very talented and very inspiring. I applauded him so much that I lost my voice for days afterwards.
Tony Melendez
Our group also did a mission in one of the city parishes for three afternoons and three nights. We were never bored.
Traditionally the Saturday of WYD is the pilgrimage walk to the site where everyone sleeps out. We gathered toghether most of the English-speakers who were with the Emmanuel Community - ESM/Centro, Americans, English, Welsh. Due to the heat, fatigue and the distance, they decided to get the train to the site. This didn't sit right with us so we asked our students if they would like to walk. Most of them said yes. Locals told us that it was impossible to walk that far, but we didn't believe them. So we walked about 8 kms in almost 40 degree heat. We took about three hours. It was fantastic. Spirits were high, and we all really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately when we got to the WYD site, they had already locked the gates. That's what happens when you don't check people's tickets before letting crowds in! So we joined tens of thousands of other registered pilgrims by setting up outside in the surrounding fields. I don't think it made much of a difference - we were in front of a screen so didn't miss anything.
Hele, Fr Markus, Kev
In the evening, when the Holy Father was speaking, there was a freak storm. There was lightning and thunder and heavy rain. It got pretty bad so we tried to protect ourselves under our sleeping mats. It was fun.
Shelter from the storm
The problem with being locked out of the official site was access to food. One kind friend named Rohan, who joined our group, collected all our meal tickets and waited at the fence until volunteers would give him food. He carried an incredible amount of food packs back for us. He was very welcomed when he returned to us!
We managed to sleep quite well under the circumstances. Lying out in an open field amongst thousands of people was actually more comfortable than anywhere else that we had slept in the last couple of weeks. It only rained a little bit during the night.
The next morning, Rohan showed up with breakfast for our group. He had walked a heck of a long way to McDonalds and exchanged meal tickets for breakfasts. He insisted that they give him two meals per ticket because the tickets were worth more than their meals. He came back with 32 coffees and 32 donuts or pastries. It was a welcome sight!
Breakfast arrives!
Then we took it easy until the outdoor Mass with the Pope started.
Hele and Kev - this is where we slept
After Mass, our group broke up. It was very sad, as this was the last time that some of our students will see each other ever again.
Maria, Denilo, Hele, Shaheer, Juan, Kev
This small group of us tried to make it back to the city together. We thought we were clever by getting on a bus to the city. Unfortunately it took us to an overcrowded metro station. Kev and Denilo and I walked for a bit. Then we prayed and asked Mother Mary to get us back to our parish because we were scared that our coach would leave without us. Our prayers were answered immediately - almost as soon as I stuck my thumb out to hitch-hike, two dear old ladies picked us up and drove us back.
We had time for quick showers and lunch before getting back on the dreaded coach. This time it was a 17 hour trip to Lyon airport. We bought a couple of cheap dvds at roadside diners and watched those before going to sleep.
The next day we flew back to Rome.
We have two years to recover before the next WYD in Brazil.
I know why WYD is for young people - we are getting too old!
