Overview

Well once we got back from Burger King, we got ready for the dinner with the Bishop. We were done eating and Father Steve suggested that we should go mingle with the other churches. So we did! In fact we went to all of the tables. We introduced ourselves and talked about different things from our day. We even started getting song requests so our group sang "This Little Light of Mine" and to another table the "ABCs." It gave everyone a smile which was great. We went to a hotel room to reflect on the week and then had a small mass in a confrence room. To close our night we went up to the pool on the roof then packed and went to bed. We left Monday morning and were on our way back to Texas! On the very last flight we read letters that all the WYD families had written to us which was really touching. Once we got to the airport, we rode down the elevators and chanted "we are the youth of the father" but in spanish. I saw my mom and ran to her and just started crying. We all got cupcakes and they had all these "Welcome Home" signs. It was really exciting. Then the majority of the group went to Olive Garden where we learned that our Jet Lag had finally caught up to us. We were all so exhausted!
Our pilgrimage to Madrid was truly an amazing experience. I learned so much. The individual activities itself weren't life changing, but it was the whole view of the week collectively that truly had an impact on our lives. This week many questions were answered and any doubts about our Catholic faith were gone because seeing 2 million worship and pray the exact same way that you do reasurred many of us. Everyone there was there for the same reason; to have fellowship and love Jesus. Many friends were made from all over the world! Our group itself bonded even more while we were away too. We were all so open to our feelings and so comfortable with eachother. It's very hard to describe in words how it felt to got to WYD 2011. All that's left to say is thank you all for following and keeping updated. Thank you Father Steve for bringing us together and helping us reflect on each and everyday! Thank you all for being so kind and donating and praying for us. This journey was well worth all the work.
~Amanda

Day 6 & 7

These past two days have been absolutely great! We woke up a little later than usual and headed straight to the vigil sight. It was extremely hot! It felt more hot than in TX. We set up camp with the Diocese on the concrete. We had a  pretty good view. We were directly in the center and was about a couple football fields away. Although it seems far, we could actually see him pretty well! We sat there in the heat for about 14 hours until the Vigil actually started. Lindsey, Emily, and I bought these sarongs that actually protected us from the heat really well. We dumped ourselves with water and fanned ourselves. I can't even describe the number of people there. It was way more than I could ever imagine! They had water fountains to fill up bottles and splash yourself, thank goodness! We got pretty bad sunburns even after using sunscreen. The heat calmed down at around six and the vigil started! The stage was decorated and had beautiful lights that really set the mood of the night. Everyone was chanting in their own language in excitement to see the Holy Father. Everyone loves him. He came up to the stage just as the sky was darkening with rain clouds. It started to sprinkle rain but it was actualy kinda cool because us Texans don't see that too often. It started pouring so we brought out the rain jackets and just enjoyed the power that God brought that night. The announcer told us that we prayed for water earlier and it worked, now we need to pray for the storm to go away. With in 5 minutes the storm was gone. It was so awesome! At that moment, Adoration began. The monstraints was, what I believe, pure gold. It was huge and so intricate. It was really powerful with the silence of the 1.5 million people. Then as soon as adoration was over, the storm started up again. This only happend for a little while. Then we set back up our sleeping bags and tried to go to sleep. Then a couple of us girls had to use the restoom about a mile away. So we stepped over everyone's sleeping bags and tried not to step on anyone! We stayed up till about 3am. It turned really cold overnight and all the girls bundled up next to eachother. Once we woke up, we got together our bags and waited for mass to start. Pope Benedict, in a way of thanks, drove on some of the main streets of the vigil sight in his Pope Mobile. He turned down our street and we were standing on the rail and ended up being 5 feet away from him. It was so incredible. We had mass and we were able to expirence everyone loving Jesus in their own language. We found out the next World Youth Day is in Rio Degenero, Brazil. Father Steve was able to be up on the alter with the Pope during mass! Leaving the sight was busy. We had to make our people train to get through the croweds. We gave away our Fat Stanely longhorn bear to a little girl! Then we got back to the hotel, washed up and now a couple of us are sitting at Burger King because our hotel's wifi is broken :/ Tonight we have dinner with the Bishop and then pack up to leave at 6:30am tomorrow morning. Thank you everyone for following my blog and for always being so supportive. See you in Texas. This journey has been incredible and we are anxious to see you all again tomorrow! :)

Day 5

If there was one word to describe today, it would be WALKING. This morning once again we had breakfast at the hotel, and went to Catechesis with a Bishop from Canada. Today's lesson was about evangelization and how to help reach out to other people to show them the light. He left us with a thought provoking statement: "What happens after WYD?" He told us that our journey is never ending and to evangelize is what the Catholic faith must do as a responsibility! He also said that being Catholic is a gift, so we must share it with the rest of the world. We celebrated mass again today as well. We quickly went to Burger King then went on the Subway to Madrid. The streets were completely packed! Everyone was there hours before Stations of the Cross started. It was so hard to walk and they blocked off all the streets so you had to walk miles just to find a crossing area. We walked sooo much through many people. It was the hottest day so far. We went into this suvenier store and got a few things. Then we headed to our spots on the ground where Father Steve had saved for us to watch Stations. It was very hot and crowed. Stations of the Cross was the most powerful thing i've ever seen. Each station had an intricate statue with the scene. The Pope joined us for this as well. Once stations was over we were able to see the Pope leaving in the Pope Mobile. It was really far away, but I could still see him! Everyone loved him and was yelling "Benedicto" and "Papa" it was truley amazing. And once he departed we saw on the screen that he held a baby and kissed it on the forehead then gave her back to the father. It was so amazing and it ran chills through my spine! After leaving stations the streets were still baracaded so we walked for about 2 hours to get to the metro. It was so exhausting, but that's what a pilgrimage contains. We got on the metro and rode all the way back to Alcobendas. Then we ate at Tony Romos! Now we're finally back and all of our feet are very sore! Tomorrow we meet with the Diocese for the all night Vigil in the aerodome. So there will be no post tomorrow night. That's all for now :)

Day 4

Sorry the video is sideways!

Today was a very important day. This was the day the Pope had arrived! This morning we ate breakfast, and then headed out to catechises. This time we had a Bishop from Nigeria speak to us! He discussed how we need to open our hearts to God and not let anything distract us. We need to be less concerned with what we want, and rather what we need from Christ. There was also another skit about vocations! We listened to two more very powerful testimonies from college students!  Afterwards, we celebrated Mass in the same church we were in for Catechises. Bells were rang across Madrid to proclaim that the Pope had arrived! We then rushed into Madrid, and found a place to eat because it was 3:30 by the time we got there. We ended up at this nice spaghetti place where we got bread with olive oil, gazpacho, spaghetti, and watermelon. The waiters were very sweet! After that we walked to the park where confession, adoration, and a vocation booth. First we found this very beautiful Cathedral that was OPEN this time! We went in there and were amazed by all the detail! After, we entered the park. One group went to adoration, the other to confession, and the other to the vocation fair. I personally went to confession, we laid in the grass and examined our conscious. Once we were done we went to find the line for confession only to find out they were closing! So we have to come back tomorrow. Then we met up with everyone and headed out to get a good spot to see the Welcoming ceremony for the Pope! We walked so close to the area where the Pope was speaking. We were on the back side of the stage. But too many people were pushing and shoving and it got really hot so we thought it would be best to just move back and find a screen with video footage. We got really close to the screen to get a good veiw which was great! Having the Pope there was absolutely amazing! Even though we couldn't see him in person, the feeling of electricity, like everyone told us, was present. It gave me chills to hear him and know he was just right there! On the actual day of the mass we'll have better spots near the front we think because their assigned and were letter D so were guessing that's pretty close! We went back to Alcombendas and ate at a pizza place around 11pm tonight. We just now got back to our hotels! Tomorrow is stations of the cross, can't wait!

Day 3

Today we learned that nothing goes as expected and what God has in store is not always what we planned on. This morning we woke up, had breakfast, and went to a church in Alcobendas, near our hotel, and had a Bishop from the Philippines come and talk to us. He discussed the questions God asked Adam and Eve: Who told you you were naked? Why are you here? Where do you come from? This was truly a message carried on today. They discussed how things aren't how they plan, you question why are you here, and where you come from. Comprehending God's plan is impossible. Then the Canadians put on a skit! We then listened to two testimonies and felt very moved. After, we had Mass with about 20 other Priests surrounding the Bishop. Right near the church there was this restaurant we went into for lunch. Unfortunately it took two hours to get our food, so we played "Go Fish" on the bar tables. Mrs. Holly was so wonderful and planned out our map of activities. We followed her map, taking us into downtown Madrid to see all the amazing Cathedrals. We walked for miles through the town filled with small shops, and lots of graffiti! Let's just say it made me nervous. After miles of this, we found the Cathedral, but it was locked. We were a little disappointed knowing our longggg walk was for nothing. Then we were on the mission to find another Cathedral that was on the map, and yet again, we couldn't get in. We decided to go see if any of the museums were open, however the one we wanted to see was under construction. Along the way we met people from Lebanon who told us that all the countries around them are being persecuted for being Catholic and it was really hard to be Catholic there. It was really interesting hearing this because so often do we take our faith for granted. It reminded us of how blessed we truly are! It was also a surprise to us that even though we think so many people hate USA because of the war, these teens are looking past our nations and toward our unity as Catholics. It's truly an amazing thing to see. After all of these disappointments from walking we stopped on a corner to try to figure out our next plan, when I saw a beautiful cathedral, and the doors were OPEN! We walked inside to find a beautiful golden alter! It was actually the home of where Saint Vincenta Maria Lopez's relics lay. We got to see her tomb over by the Tabernacle which was incredible. When I was sitting in this Cathedral, a group of pilgrims came over and played guitar and the bongo drums in front of the Tabernacle. They had song books and were just singing and praising the Body of Christ. Many other Pilgrims in the Cathedral surrounded them and joined in the praise. It was the most wonderful experience I've ever had and i've learned today that simple acts of kindness go extremely far. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life, and how happy I felt for the rest of today, and how i'm still feeling that way! After that Cathedral I learned that although we didn't understand quite exactly why we had to walk so many miles, it truly paid off in the end to see those pilgrims singing and playing music. It made me realize that I want to try to touch other pilgrims lives along the way somehow! We left the Cathedral and went to a sandwich shop. It was packed and so rushed and I couldn't read any of the sandwich choices because they were in spanish. So I picked a random one called Pate because i'd heard of it before and I thought it might be turkey. I get back to the table and asked what Pate meant. Known of the pilgirms from our group knew but they said that it tasted gross. So I asked my dad who was in a separate section of the restaurant what we had all got and he said it was GOOSE LIVER! We all freaked out! So needless to say we didn't eat that! Then we headed back to the subway where we tried to think of a song we could do because all the other countries had one. So instead we did the wiggalo on the subway. It was a lot of fun! We got back to the hotel and had a reflection of the day and all the wonderful things that happend on our journey. Life is like a Spanish sandwhich, you never know what you're gonna get! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! Goodnight :)

The video is of the pilgrims singing in the Cathedral!

Day 2

Today was the most amazing day! We met so many people. We took our first subway into Madrid and it was absolutely gorgeous. On the way there we met an Italian boy who not to brag or anything but said that Texas girls are very beautiful and Italian girls couldn't compare! :) His name was like Machomozarella but I just kinda made that up cause I couldn't understand what he said. Then we got off and met many more Italian people. They're EVERYWHERE. It seems like theres more of them then actual Spanish people. We walked down to a restaurant and everyone was so excited to see our shirts that said Texas. It felt like we were famous cause everyone wanted pictures and to talk to us. They would all tell their friends "Look they're from Texas!" in a really cool accent. Once we got to the restaurant there were tons of people from Canada. After we left the restaurant we met MORE Italian people. We walked sooo many miles to try to find the actual WYD gift shop in the mall. We found it and along the way met people from Ireland. They were taking a survey or something. Then we got to go shopping! Supposedly you can't sit on the floors cause these men in red suits will come up and tell you to get up but in Spanish. And absolutely no pictures allowed in there. You had to keep walking. So we were always on the move, our feet hurt so bad! After the mall we got ice cream and rested. Then we walked to Cibellas (spelling?) where thousands of people were. They were blasting American music like Katy Perry, and Rhianna. And everyone from everywhere knew the songs! We tried to get to a museum but we decided meeting people was way more fun. We stopped to get water where we made a friend in the line for the bathroom and met a girl from Germany. She gave me her name to add her on facebook! We traded people from EVERYWHERE! I now have pins from South Korea, China, Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, France, ITALY, South Africa, and many others! We followed the group to the area where mass was. We were about one block away from the actual mass, the streets were crowded! We ended up sitting by French people and we played Uno with them, then two Italian guys came over and played with us too. Mass began and we watched it on a screen. It was really cool to see everyone doing the exact same thing, just in a different language. We quickly tried to find a place to eat but it was packed in every restaurant. We took the Subway and stood next to French people. Where I failed at my attempt to speak French. But I could understand them and when they were looking for words I could feed it to them! They said that even though everyone thinks they hate Americans, they said they loved them! While we were on the subway we played "Teradactale. We had some people staring at us strangely! Then me and a few other people screamed at the rest of our group and scared them to death! We ended up eating at Burger King where Dominique ran into a glass wall thinking it was an entry. It was really funny. Now it's really late, all of us girls might have a sleepover tonight. Can't wait for tomorrow :)

Starting our day!

Just had breakfast with the group! We all feel so much more rested and ready for what comes our way today. We are taking each thing we do step by step. We decided planning our day isn't that easy so i'm not even sure what we're gonna do yet! The adults have a meeting in a little so we'll be in the hotel room until then. I think we're actually going into downtown Madrid today. We were walking just outside of the main city in a place called Alcombendas yesterday, that's where our hotel is. It's extremely hard to understand anyone in this town because they only speak Spanish, but it's pretty fun attempting to speak it :)

A very tiring first day in Madrid

All of us can definately say we are absolutely exhausted! Once we got to the hotel, our rooms weren't ready so we had to wait for a good couple of hours in the lobby. So we played more Uno, and got some of the hotel's breakfast. Once we got to our rooms we unpacked and headed out to follow Christ the King Church from Belton so they could show us where the subway was. This walk turned into a good 30 minute long, hot and tiring trip. We had to find our way back by ourselves and it's safe to say we were pretty confused on how to get back. But we did it! We were then given a 2 hour time to go back to our rooms and just relax, and take naps. At 4:30pm we met back at the lobby and went out for lunch. We ended up at this pizza place. It's a good thing we have somewhat spanish speakers because none of the workers know English. On our way back we got our WYD backpacks with a bunch of different things in it! Once we got back to the hotel, we met up in the Butler's room and said our prayers. Now we are all off to bed after this long and tiring day. Even though it's only 8:45 here! Tomorrow starts our actually WYD events! All of the pictures I have I put on my facebook because it takes too long to post on here!
~Amanda
This picture is of the water they gave us at the pizza place!

Arrived in Madrid! :)

8-15-11

We are now in Madrid! After about 11 hours of traveling, we can finally say we’re here. It was very sad saying bye to family at the airport, but we’ll see them all very soon! On the first plane ride to Atlanta, they had assigned seating but we all switched up and got to sit by people we knew. That plane ride went by really fast. Emily, Lindsey, and I played what I call “boy scouts” but it’s better known as b.s. Then we played mad libs and the whole plane could probably hear us but that’s okay. When we got to Atlanta we got to ride this really cool tram thing to the other side of the airport. It was a 3 hour layover but it ended up just being an hour and a half of being in the airport because we boarded the plane super early! While we were at the airport, we met this guy named Lincoln, he was from Ohio. He played Uno with all of us! Before we knew it, we boarded our plane which was HUGE. It had 3 different sections and 3 columns. Each person had their own t.v and headset and we got to choose a variety of movies, and there was actually a really good selection. You could also play games, or make your own playlist with the hundreds of different songs they had. So it was great, it definitely helped the ride go faster. They also served us dinner, which was surprisingly really good! It was either chicken or pasta with a bunch of other sides. So I got pasta which was like the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. After lots of switching again we got to sit by a person we knew which was great. The person on the other side of me actually was from Pflugerville too! What are the odds of that! He graduated from HHS several years ago but it was still cool! The time change was really confusing and when we boarded the plane at 6pm Texas time, it was 1am in Madrid. Meaning we needed to get some sleep ASAP. Unfortunately with many attempts, very few of us were capable of actually falling asleep. At one point almost all of us WYD kids got up and met by the bathrooms and just talked for a good 20 minutes and got to meet other people. It was definitely long but we’re so glad to finally be here and we can’t wait for the WYD festivities to begin.

Tomorrow morning

Well tonight is our last night. We'll be boarding our plane in Austin to Atlanta tomorrow morning. We should arrive in Atlanta at around 4:00pm. At around 7pm we should be leaving Atlanta for Madrid and get there hopefully at 9:40am on the 15th. We are all very excited and can't wait to experience this life changing opportunity! I pray that the hotel's website is truthful when they say that they have free Wifi. If not, then it will be obvious when I have no posts, but hopefully that won't happen! Our hotel looks like it's absolutely beautiful! Here's a picture of it:

Thanks, and continue to keep checking back for more! And please keep us in your prayers throughout our nine day pilgrimage. :)

~Amanda

P.S please don't call or text us while we're gone. It will cost us money :/

Final Meeting

Our World Youth Day Family!