WYD Day Four Recap

Brazil doesn't wait until downtown Sydney to start the singing and dancing. (Herald photo by Bill Howard)

Welcome from God's Country ... or so they call it here (and they may have a point... it's beautiful down here). We've arrived to the sights of World Youth Day banners and wave after wave from pilgrims around the world. It's truly an awesome sight and, I have to admit, with the monster expense to come here I am highly impressed to see folks from every continent except Antarctica. It couldn't have been easy for most of the 125,000 or so estimated international pilgrimages.

Brazil gets the early nod for the most enthusiastic country. No sooner did one large contingent get their bags off the belt, the guitars and drums came out and a party-like atmosphere broke out in the terminal. It quickly grew too big for that area and moved outside to a larger waiting area. They set up right next to where we were waiting for our buses, so a bunch of Colorado Springs and Las Vegas pilgrims joined in the fun, dancing in a multi-ringed circle around the musicians and singing Catholic songs from their country. It was a magical moment that really energized our group after a draining 10-hour flight. At one point, a local television crew filmed some of our pilgrims (you may see that picture in the Aug. 1 Herald recap).


With an Olympic Games under its belt, Sydney is ready for World Youth Day. Their mass transit system hits all of the major events, they have closed off a decent chunk of downtown Sydney and, according to our bus driver, the local government encouraged workers to take a vacation during this time to help lessen the traffic around the area. There are several WYD volunteers on seemingly every corner ready to direct you to events and help you with other questions about getting around the area. Beautiful World Youth day banners in yellow, red and blue hang from lampposts around the city.

We spent most of today getting our rooms situated. We arrived at our hotel about two hours earlier than expected and the tour buses (which were supposed to take us around the city and kill that time) didn't want to get fined for parking in front of the hotel, so we had to dump all of our luggage along the curb. Not very classy on the tour bus drivers' part, although I have to admit that our driver was hilarious in his analysis of the local government, the proper beers to drink and various other items of cultural interest. Anyhow, several of the men guarded the bags while others walked around for something to eat. The hotel is located in the heart of Chinatown and is just minutes away from several major WYD sites... it's an amazing location. So while our luggage sat along the curb (the hotel's lobby was too small to handle all of it), we didn't mind at all. After three days of super-muggy, hot weather in Korea, it was wonderful to soak in the 60-degree, sunny weather.

Once we got our rooms, everyone unwound for a bit before gathering for dinner down at Darling Harbor (home of the Sydney Opera House and other cultural sites). I did not join them, however, as I had to figure out how to get to the volunteer and media accreditation center to, first, pick up my credential and, second, to see if I got into any of the event pools that I applied for. As I learned during the pope's NYC visit in April, just because you get a credential doesn't mean you get into anything (I got into zero events in NYC). It's a two-step process. The credential at least gets you into the main media center, which is good for Internet access, gathering texts of all of the speeches and special press conferences held throughout the event. It was a bit chaotic at the accreditation center here, exacerbated by the fact that there was also a near-riot outside with some volunteers who arrived to pick up their gear and lodging only to find there were computer errors that showed they did not get approved to volunteer). After two hours I received my credential with the good news that I was accepted for some media areas for the opening Mass, the Stations of the Cross and the vigil/closing Mass. While it will pull me away from the group at times, this credential will allow me access to hopefully some decent photos.

It's been a long day and I still have to unpack. The rooms are very nice... it looks like an old apartment building that was reconverted into a hotel, so many of the rooms have kitchenettes. I have a nice-size bedroom on the 12th floor with a great view of downtown, a separate kitchen/dining area, a living room and a cool, small porch with a table where I can drink some morning tea and pray. Internet access in the room is a joke (.55 per minute with a maximum charge of about $28/day), but hey... I can't complain. The media center will take care of most of that need.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for safe flights for our pilgrimage group. It has been taxing, but a lot of fun. Outside of Father Bob losing his luggage and couple of missing visas that had to be taken care of at Sydney airport, everything has gone very well so far. And thanks to the Herald staff, particularly assistant editor Jim Myers, for holding down the fort and getting the July 18 issue to the press and into your mailbox.

It will take a day or so to get into a flow, so the pilgrim blogging should pick up again Tuesday-ish (Colorado time). I'm still adjusting to the time. Come to think of it, when exactly does my direct deposit go through? Gotta figure that one out...

We're all incredibly energized right now. God has been great to us and you are all in our hearts Down Under.