World Youth Day - Day 12 (Home)

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Home.  Relief.  Joy.  Memories.  Love.  Suffering.  Endurance.  Pain.  Healing.  Disappointment.  Hope.  Faith.  Inspiration.  How could I possibly pick just one word to describe my journey?  All of these words describe it.  It is on this last leg of the journey that I finally have some time to reflect on these words and how they have described the pilgrimage of World Youth Day 2013.  

I woke up this morning on the plane coming home from Rio.  Again, it was a restless sleep on a cold plane.  There's just no easy way to sleep on a plane (unless maybe you're in first class, but I don't know anything about that).  Everyone was making fun of me because I had slept with an eye mask on, and then put it on the top of my head when they woke us up.  It slipped up in the back and made my hair look crazy.  I just left it there.  I was too tired to care about silly things like what my hair looked like, or taking off my eye mask. 

Good morning!

We were just being silly here

My "crown"

 Because of my ear infection, the landing was particularly painful for me.  All that I could think about was how my ear drums were going to burst.  I actually felt pain in my skull just behind my ear, and I felt pain in my jaw and teeth.  How horrible that pain was!  I couldn't even eat my breakfast sandwich (which I got because they ran out of the pastry) because it hurt so bad.  I was so focused on the pain in my ears, that I kind of ignored the landing.  I have changed so much over the last several days!  It's a miracle. 

We got to spend a little bit of time in the airport in Charlotte, but not much.  It was so refreshing to go buy some American snacks with American money, with a cashier who spoke English.  Although we were still miles and miles away from Denver, we finally felt like we were home.  

We boarded the plane after only a short amount of time, and I had almost no fear or nervousness as we took off.  I knew that I was physically exhausted, but I was mentally alert during the entire flight back.  I sat next to Richard and Tyler again, but they slept for a lot of the trip back, and I played games on my phone and spent some quiet time just reflecting on our trip.

I feel guilty.  I feel like I'm supposed to come back and be crazy excited and have these awesome stories to tell.  I feel like I'm supposed to do what everyone else has done to me upon their arrival home from World Youth Days in the past:  make me feel like I missed out on something.  I feel like I did something wrong.

But the truth is, it was hard.  I know that someday I will probably forget how hard it was, and that I will remember the good stuff as being much better than it was, and the bad stuff will probably be remembered as less bad.  And that's not wrong.  I did have fun.  I did grow, and I did change.  I am not the same person now that I was when I left.  You simply cannot describe the kind of exhaustion, dehydration, and stress that we were under during this pilgrimage, and thank God for that.  We were truly in survival mode for nearly all of our time spent in Rio de Janiero.  But we got through it.

The question that seems to be on everyone's mind is, would I do it again?  Knowing everything that I know now, would I do it again?  Well, that's really difficult to say.  I know that I am changed.  And I did have some good experiences along the way.  Really good, actually.  Amazing.  From Trevor protecting our group all night during the Vigil, to Zach inviting me to their family's camping trip, to ordering pizza with the group of teens, to being so near the Pope, to not quitting when things were difficult.  I think, considering all of it, that the answer is yes, I would have done it all again.  

Yes, it would have been nice to stay in Rio de Janiero instead of Niteroi so that we didn't have to travel at least an hour and a half to get home each night, or to the event each morning.  It would have been nice to not worry so much about our safety.  It would have been nice to stay in a hotel and be guaranteed the ability to shower and brush my teeth each day.  It would have been nice to sleep in a hotel.  It would have been nice to have a transistor radio.  It would have been nice to not have rain.  But this was never "nice."  This was about suffering.  I knew that when Richard suggested we go.  That's part of the reason why I was so reluctant to say yes in the first place!

Going in, I had a lot of fear.  Besides the completely irrational fears (like the plane crashing, and a tsunami), most of my fears were legitimate.  My problem was that the only things that I could relate to from past experiences were the bad things, like being extremely tired, not liking the food, or having to use port-a-potties.  I had no idea what it was like to be in another country, or to be in such close proximity to millions of people, or to attend a papal mass, or to be on pilgrimage.  Although I tried, I really couldn't even imagine what those things were like.  It turns out that World Youth Day was exactly what I thought it would be, and nothing like what I thought it would be.  Minus the crazy fears, everything that I was afraid of came true.  However, I think that I thought that only bad things would happen, and that definitely was not true.  So much good came from this experience.  I am, after all, cured of my fear of flying almost entirely. 

The flight landed and we went one last time as a group onto a train (ok, we had previously been on buses and subways, but the train inside DIA was just like a subway on the interior) to arrive and be greeted by our families.  It was a joyful reunion on both sides.  We were happy to be home and our families were happy to have us back safely!  Mom had a Diet Coke with her for me to have!  Several teens greeted us, too!

Mom took me to eat Wendy's, which I had been craving all week!  The french fries were fresh, hot, greasy and so so so so so tastey!  The frosty was fabulous!  The spicy chicken sandwich disappeared almost immediately!  Thank God for American food!!!!!

My dog was kind of mad at me, so I didn't get the greeting from him that I expected.  He didn't want me to know that he wanted to cuddle with me.  But I cuddled with him anyway!  I know he liked it.

I got home, did my laundry, chatted with my mom for a while, unpacked and went to bed early.  It was hard to get myself to unpack the same day that I came back, exhausted as I was.  But I knew that I'd be happy that I did!

Bed time!  I can't stay up a minute longer!

 It's good to be home.  Now all of this is just a memory.  All of the work is done.  Heaven is now here.  I am grateful for the pilgrimage, because now I can look forward to Heaven.

My dog is very relieved to be home in his (my) bed.

Things that I once took for granted that I am not grateful for:
Hot shower
Clean drinking water
Sleeping in
Clean laundry
My dog
My bed
Toilets that flush and aren't extremely close to the ground
Diet Coke
America
American napkins 


I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences with World Youth Day.  I know that we were covered in prayer while we were away.  It's amazing how much love the people back home gave us.  I hope to hear other people's World Youth Day stories soon, too!

Obrigada! 

World Youth Day - Day 11 (Beach, Ipanema, Bus to Airport)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

We woke up at 6:15 this morning in order to eat breakfast right when the doors for breakfast opened.   The teens were determined to swim at the beach one day.  They got done eating and headed for the beach only to discover that the beach is really cold at 7:00 am.  Go figure!  None of them wanted to get in the water right away.

They made designs in the sand and finally got to swim.  I didn't want to swim because it was cold and I was tired and I didn't want to pack a wet swim suit, so I didn't swim.  I think that was a good choice.

They are so funny.  They found a dead fish and snuck up on me and scared me with it.  I was so out of it that I didn't really react at first.  I thought that it was a squirt toy!  They actually played with that dead fish for a while, too.  Gross.


It was a fun time at the beach.  

We got to go back to the hotel and shower.  I was really looking forward to a nice hot shower, but the hotel's water heater broke.  Of course.  So I had another cold shower.  But at least there was some more privacy now.  We went shopping one last time, because everybody had money to spend.  We went to one little store, and then we past the church that had the pilgrimage cross and the icon of Mary in it. There was only a small group with us at that time, but those of us who were there got to go in and get up close with the cross.  We entered the church while mass was being said, so we had to wait until the end of mass, but at the end, the priest gave us a special blessing!  The people were really excited that we were there!  It was a really special moment for sure!

The Icon of Mary

This was inside the church that had the pilgrimage cross

This was the name of the church:  Nossa Senhora da Paz

 We went back to the hotel to finish packing and check out, and as Christa and I were leaving our room, I realized that I didn't have my cell phone.  After all that time of carefully keeping it with me, I was so afraid that I'd lose it here.  Now.  In the safest place that it's been this entire journey!  But, it turned out, that my suitcase was on top of it.  So that was stupid!  I was so tired at this point.  Anything could happen!

Our entire group got to go to lunch in Ipanema, while we left our bags in the hotel to wait for the bus.  I actually ate Subway for lunch, which was quite delicious!  I also had a milk shake from McDonalds.  Yep, that's right.  Good ole' American food in Brazil!  Yum!

We went back to the church with the pilgrimage cross, so the whole group could see it.  I was amazed by a little old lady in a wheel chair who came up to me, took my hand, and tried telling me something in Portuguese.  I don't know what she said, but whatever it was, it was good!  For some reason she really loved me.  I can't tell you why!  It was a really special moment for me! 

Father Chris, goofing off outside the church with the pilgrimage cross

I just thought this tree was cool looking

The whole tree is root

I'm so tired!

We went back to the hotel.  Even though we had to check out of our rooms, they gave us permission to use the pool room upstairs, on the 17th floor.  I loved this room.  It had all sorts of windows, it looked out on Ipanema Beach, and it was just perfect.  I could have stayed up there for a long time. 

The view from the 17th floor

The view of the beach from the 17th floor

We settled in to have one last mass in Brazil, in this amazing room with this amazing view.  To be honest, I have no idea what Father Chris' homily was about, what the readings were about, or anything like that.  And it's not because they weren't interesting or good, it's just because it was so overwhelming.  Our journey was about to end.  We were in this beautiful room, with this beautiful view, with these people with whom we had come so far and suffered so much, and it was about to end.  It felt good and bad, all at the same time.  It was impossible to take it all in. 

Nate doing the readings for Mass

At the end of Mass, Father Chris acknowledged Trevor for his amazing work, protecting us during the Vigil.  It was a really beautiful moment for everyone, I think, not just Trevor.

The group presented Richard and me with a flag that they all signed, and a note, thanking us for making this trip possible.  It's hanging in the Youth Room now.  It was really sweet of everyone to do this for us! 

Our bus came to get us from the hotel, and again, I thought I lost my cell phone on the 17th floor.  It turned out that someone took it for me, but they didn't tell me right away.  

The bus seemed like it was lost.  And it hit a car.  I thought we would never get to the airport.  We had to pick up two other groups, too.  I was starting to get really worried, because I needed to get home!

We had a lot of fun on that bus ride, though.  Even though we were worried that it was taking so long (and the rumors were that after WYD, you stay in line at the airport for six hours!), we found ways to entertain ourselves.  It's amazing what a can of bug spray and a flip flop sandal can do.  We discovered one way that this trip changed us:  it made us more simple.  We were so entertained just by watching a can of bug spray roll down the aisle and over the flip flop, which maybe wouldn't have been as entertaining before.  But, who am I kidding?  It was fun! 

They were trying to get me to make my mad face, but I couldn't do it on cue!

Still trying to get my mad face

Still no mad face

Still no mad face

Still no mad face

Sand castles in the sand (Good ole' How I Met Your Mother Reference!)

Giving up on making mad face

Arriving at the airport after something like three hours on the bus was a huge relief.  The lines were not bad at all. We made it through and got to the gate rather quickly.  As we were making our way through security, I said a phrase that I thought I'd never say.  And I said it with great sincerity and enthusiasm:  "I am going to be so relieved to get on that plane!"  I said it without thinking.  It seems that World Youth Day cured me of my fear of flying!  

We bought some food at the airport (Pringles, which cost $13 American dollars!  Yikes).  I used the very last of my money buying some snack food.  Literally, I had no bills to bring home.  Oh well.  I needed that food!

We got on the plane to head home.  I ate my ravioli as quickly as possible, and fell asleep with my plate on my food tray.  When I woke up, it was gone.  I must have fallen asleep so fast and so hard that I didn't even notice when they took it.  

I still didn't sleep well on the plane, but who can?  I was excited to be heading home!