I would have thought that I would be extremely exhausted waking up at 5:00 am, after a night of restless sleep on the cold, hard sidewalk, but I was wrong. I was amazed at how alert I was considering the circumstances.
A few thoughts ran through my head upon waking up. Trying to go back to sleep was useless. I should try to use the port-a-potty now because the line would be much smaller now. It was really cold. I was bored. There was a barricade miraculously set up around us.
It was the last thought that really intrigued me. I couldn't figure out how or when it had appeared. Before, I thought that my sleep was really shallow, but when I saw that a metal barricade had been built around my head while I was sleeping, and I had no idea that it was happening, I realized I was in a deeper sleep than I had known.
I wondered if some officials set up the barricade, considering we were right by a walk-way. This was part of the reason that I was afraid to go to sleep the night before. I was afraid that someone would step on me in my sleep. Maybe an official had that concern as well.
But I soon discovered that it was our guardian, Trevor, who had taken pieces of the barricade that was set up to protect the Pope, and put it around our group to protect us. I guess he was concerned about the people stepping on us, too. It was a really cool surprise. He really took good care of us, probably in ways we will never even know. It was very special.
As I sat up in the dark early morning, wondering about what I should do, a couple of guys came to talk to me. I heard one say to another, "They are American," while pointing at me. The only people who were awake in our group was Trevor and me, so I was a little worried that they would come and talk to me. And then my fears were realized. They came and talked to me.
I was worried, but then again, there were so many people around, what would they do? We talked for a little while, and I found out that they were not part of the World Youth Day crowd (again, worried), but that they wanted to practice their English on English speaking people. I was annoyed that they were talking so loud, because my group was trying to sleep. They were harmless and left quickly.
Trevor brought me some cardboard to sit on, because the ground was cold. I thought that was really nice. It made a big difference, too!.
I got to watch the sunrise on the beach. People started to wake up as the sun rose, but they were woken up very abruptly at 7:00 am, when the music started playing! Morning prayer began.
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| People brought tents, but I was embarrassed that we brought backpacks. Where did they put those tents? Did they have Hermoine's purse from the Harry Potter movies? Maybe! |
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| The sunrise on the beach |
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| Me at the barricade that Trevor built, just after the sun came up |
I had lost my appetite in a big way the night before, and I still didn't feel like eating much. But someone brought some bananas to share, and I ate one of those. I also ate one of the toast packets, and some pineapple juice (which I wasn't going to drink, but I really needed something to drink!).
The sun came up, and I lied back down for a little while. I probably slept for half an hour. What can I say? It was the best sleep I got all night. I was finally warm. Even though I was more alert than I expected, I was quite tired.
After I woke up again, we started talking about packing our stuff up. We learned that we had to replace the barricade because the Pope was going to drive back through the crowd again. We were so close at this point! Maybe we would get to see him! I know that I wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity. I may never get this chance again! I had to take it while I could!
I packed up my stuff and grabbed a great spot near the barricades. Others from our group saw me there and followed quickly afterwards. We stood there for a little while. We were pretty much as close as we could get. And, although we had to wait for a couple of hours, we knew that it would be worth it. And the time really flew at this point.
And then...it happened.
We.
Saw.
The.
Pope!!!!!!!!!
He drove right past us! I was probably about 20 feet away from him. Now, I'm kind of a goof-ball when it comes to famous people, but this was more than just a close encounter with a famous person. This was the Pope! El Papa! It was incredible!
We stood around for a little while. I was shaking from the excitement of seeing the Pope! I could hardly even breathe! We all had to calm down for a little while.
After the Pope got up to the stage, a couple of ceremony things happened. We performed the world's biggest flash mob dance for the Pope, which was kind of cool.
Mass started. We finally had a transistor radio (because a priest gave one to me), and so we were able to hear the English translation of the mass. Pope Francis made three main points: 1 - Go, 2 - Do not be afraid, 3 - Serve. He talked about how Jesus is always walking right beside us, and so we are never ever alone in our journey. I thought that was so beautiful. It was simple, but profound.
One of the girls from our group had hurt her ankle during the vigil, and it was during the mass that they decided to get a medical person to look at it. They decided that she needed to be taken in for x-rays. Some of the group went with her.
While that part of the group was away, the mass was still happening. Some of the group wanted to leave early, but I didn't, and for good reason. A pilgrimage is a journey with a destination. Our earthly pilgrimage is supposed to lead us to heaven. That's the destination of our pilgrimage on Earth. Our World Youth Day pilgrimage was to lead us to a papal mass. THAT was our destination. To leave early would mean that we went through all of that suffering, pain and toil for nothing. I just didn't think that was such a good idea.
At the end of Mass, the Pope announced the location for the next World Youth Day, which will take place in Poland in 2016. What a tribute that will be to Pope John Paul II, who was from Poland, who loved youth and started World Youth Day! He'll be a Saint by then, too! It'll be an amazing event, and, even though I had a really difficult time with some of this event, I kind of want to go to that one. I think that it will be very special.
Most people also disagreed with me when I decided that we would finish the pilgrimage with the walk home, instead of taking the subway. But again, that was an important part of the pilgrimage journey, especially on this particular World Youth Day, with the theme, "Go make disciples of all nations!" After all, the theme was, "Go," not, "Ok, now it's time to relax." Just because the mass was over, which technically meant that the pilgrimage was over, didn't mean that our journey was over. We are never called to stop. That's why it's so important that the final words of the mass are "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." Once the mass is over, we are called to go out into the world and give what we have received. It's NOT over! Once we get to heaven, we will still be working. Maybe not with tiresome, boring, painful labor, but we will be working in heaven. We will be praying, just like the souls that are currently in heaven are doing. Death does not mean an end in work.
We had to keep moving, even if it was tiring. I kept reflecting on how Pope Francis reminded us that we aren't on this journey alone, that Jesus is right beside us. As we walked back, I kept picturing Jesus there with us. I didn't share that with anyone, but I thought it was great.
I don't believe in taking the easy way, and I don't believe our pilgrims should, either. You know what kind of person takes the easy way? An unhappy one. Seriously. The people who try to cut corners and cut lines and cheat and lie and do half-hearted work are rarely happy people. They don't have anything to be proud of, any accomplishments to their name. Faith is not easy. You may have times of ease and comfort, maybe even extended times, but in the end, you're going to be challenged. And it's those who pick up their backpacks and get back on the road who make it to heaven. And our group certainly got to experience our own type of heaven.
It turns out that the walk home was quite pleasant. Not only was our group in a particularly good mood the entire way (despite the fact that they really didn't want to walk), but it was a lovely day, and we all got to thoroughly enjoy each other's company. We chatted, took pictures, took short bathroom and water breaks, and we made it back in one piece! It was so pleasant, in fact, that many of the pilgrims expressed how it was one of their favorite times in the entire pilgrimage. And, even though I have no specific memories to point out about this walk home, I can say that I loved it, too. It was peaceful, and it was fun.
It took us a long time to walk back. Three hours. But when we got back to the ferry, we saw bus loads of people who were still being transported by bus to the ferries! Which means that we could have (and probably would have) stood in line for three or more hours waiting to get shoved onto tiny, crowded, and rather scary buses, OR, we could have done what we did, which was to walk back and enjoy our afternoon together. I think that most of us were incredibly grateful for what we decided to do!
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| On the ferry after the walk home. We made it! |
Most of the time that we were in Brazil, the pilgrims kept asking if we could go to Outback Steakhouse. I surprised them that night by allowing them to eat dinner there! Even though I hate steak, this was one of my favorite times in the whole week. We truly experienced heaven there. Even though we all stunk, we were extremely exhausted, and we had huge backpacks with us, we celebrated at Outback Steakhouse like you wouldn't believe. Meals were devoured. Laughter was shared. A sense of accomplishment hovered over us. We had made our pilgrimage, and we finished the right way. It doesn't get much better than that.
I was still sick, and because I was sick, I pretty much lost my hearing in my left ear. Dinner was rather interesting for me, but it was kind of funny. I had no idea sometimes that people were talking to me. I strained to hear, but couldn't. I had to have the people who were closest to me repeat what others further away were saying. For all I know, they were making fun of me right next to me, and I had no clue! I doubt that happened, but with this group, you never know!
I don't even remember the bus ride from Outback Steakhouse to the school, but I know we must have done it! We were all very focused on getting home at that point. Immediately upon arriving back at the school, most people jumped in the showers. It was a huge relief to finally be clean! That was a lot of exercise!
The group that went to the hospital to get x-rays finally came back. I stayed out and chatted with some of our pilgrims for a little while, but quickly went to bed. I couldn't wait to be asleep.
Just before I went to bed, the group from England returned. They told us about how they spent the day on the beach, which sounded like a terrible idea to me! Knowing what I now know, I think that the best thing for our particular group was exactly what we did: walk home and eat at Outback Steakhouse! It was a fun, although tiring, day! Truly one of the best!
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