300 pictures exactly... that's from like 1200+, pretty good, eh?
Captions to come... [*sigh* in about 3 years... hahah]
And yes I know that many pictures aren't rotated... I'll hire you to rotate each picture that needs rotating, e-mail me.
We actually bought a bag of these, and I must say they were pretty good. No ugly jokes, lisa.
Hey... at least it's quality assured.
Silly americans and their short life milk...
Apparently lime and jalapeno are having monogamy and chastity issues...
Yup... those are pre-made pancakes in a bag. mmm...
I tried to "shake it all about" and then store security stopped me.
That's biggie with some vegemite. Yum. Concentrated Yeast Extract.
Australians are pretty mean to Starburst... Starburst: "I don't suck! You suck!"
That's my cousin, JB, he's rockin' out with some asparagus, statue of liberty style.
I gotta admit, we bought a box of these and they were actually quite good.
There's an Usher joke in here somewhere...
Vin Diesel called. He said he wants his corny joke back...
Okay, just so you don't think I'm making fun of all the food stuff from Australia (actually there was so much amazing food)... this was Portuguese food from a place called Nando's.
Yup, that's pet food in the refrigerator section.
This magazine probably wasn't exclusive to Australia, but I have to be honest, when I turned the corner and saw this magazine I was totally freaked out.
Uhm... do i need to write a joke about this one?
You know... so that your throat doesn't get ashy.
Lol. right next to this drink was McSyphillis and McBird-flu
Phil... that's your kinda drink.
It literally looked like they took ramen, added barbecue flavor, and marketed it with an extremely obese Grover.
I wonder how the development meeting went for this one... "I got it! Let's take the burger flavor and infuse it into a ring of tasty goodness." [Apparently they are pretty popular there... shows what i know about marketing]
I think the funniest thing on the box is that there logo for the company is "what a great idea" (click to see it)
Seriously I thought the White Queen was around the corner. I looked. She wasn't.
Yup, that says "McAsia". No joke. Seriously, there was a McAfrica, McEurope, McAustralia and a McAmerica, too, but no love for McAntarctica.
Okay, that picture is what me, angela and eddie survived on. Bread... and packaged marmalade. It was great. =)
There's an interesting article over at Whispers in the Loggia about some pilgrims, extending (some illegally) their stay in Australia:
World (Youth Day) Without End
And since they are still enjoying their World Youth Day experience, it gives me a reason to keep blogging on this site. =)
Look out for a few more posts just to wrap this blog up... and then what? cymwyd11.blogspot.com??? we'll see.
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Matthew 13:16-17
This whole pilgrimage has been both a privilege and a blessing, and I'm all too glad to have participated. We've been considerably busy these past few days, and I don't even have any handwritten journal entries to share, so I'm going to tell you about the last few days as best I can.
Where did we leave off? The Day of the official Papal Arrival was really memorable. Our Catechesis that morning featured an American Archbishop, pity that I don't recall his name at the moment. He often encouraged us to be "a pencil in the hands of Christ," to help write the story of salvation, correct? I think that was what he said. Jesse Manibusan was losing his voice because of all the concerts he'd been doing, so we gladly assisted him once more. We got introduced as "Jesse and his friends from California!" hahaha. And MAN, he has some cool handshake things that we need to show you. I actually have a video of this mind-blowing experience.
After another nice Mass, we headed off to the city to try to secure a good spot to see Big Papa. However, a train announcement told us that Barangaroo (our intended destination) was FULL. So we tried going to the Sydney Opera House instead because at least the boat-a-cade and the motorcade were passing by. Ugh, long story here. Crowded, blah blah blah. We got an okay glimpse of Big Papa coming by in the Popemobile. After it was all done, we headed to Adoration, which took place in a section of the Opera House itself. It was wonderful, and lots of people were there, including a multitude of Sisters of Charity; one was kind enough to give me a candy to help suppress my coughing. This is where my day ended, because we decided I should head to St. Ursula's early to get some rest on account of my illness. Hopefully Raj and/or Angela will post about the rest of that night, because I can't remember what they told me about it. hahaha. Well, not a lot.
Friday, I can't recall what exactly happened during the day, but I know we tried to get a spot early for Stations of the Cross. I didn't even get to see everything, but the little of it that I saw was very theatrical and vivid. It was also very inspiring to remember and honor the stations with so many brothers and sisters. A concert with Hillsong United, Matt Maher, and others followed right after, but I couldn't get fully into it (though I wanted to) because I still wasn't feeling well. It was enjoyable nonetheless.
Saturday, we wound up celebrating Mass with a large gathering of Americans. Matt Maher was there yet again, and we met up with Father Brian. The walk to Randwick Racecourse (the site of the vigil and the Final Mass) was quite a spectacle and also quite difficult, especially since I was still sick. Once we finally got to the field of the racecourse, we snuck in as close as we possibly could to the front. Luckily, we blended right in with the Filipinos who were already there and didn't mind us coming over. We killed some time until the Vigil started, and man, you had to be there. The sheer number of candles lit across the field and in the stadium seating was astonishing. Matt Maher was on stage at some point either today or Sunday before Mass, and the poor guy's voice was shot from all the appearances he'd been making.
We tried to settle in early to get some sleep, but people were being rowdy. Some even came by at inappropriate hours of the night, yelling, "wake up, pilgrims, wake up!" After morning broke, the Final Mass started. Beautiful as ever, with a great homily by Big Papa. I couldn't follow everything he said (hopefully it's online somewhere), but I remember him asking us, "What will you leave for the next generation?" And so as we're always sent off after Mass, we left the place, this time to the sounds of Father Stan on stage. Made me wish I hadn't missed him at Praise Party years ago. You know how there's horrible traffic jams in the Philippines? We got stuck in a traffic jam... of people. That took a while, and then we had to make the same long walk as in the beginning.
Eventually, we packed up our stuff from St. Ursula's. Only then did it begin to rain, though the forecasts said differently. We left, and we had our first, real meal for at least a week, while at my Auntie's house: kare-kare. We felt so much better after that. Then we stayed with Raj's cousins for a few days in Melbourne. They're really nice too, and JB is hella like an Australian Mikey. We did a little bit of sightseeing and chillaxing, visited both St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral during those two days. Now we're back home, and somehow I'M STILL SICK. Stupid virus or whatever won't go away.
You've probably noticed this was a pretty objective entry. Boring, right? Yeaaah. I plan to post some "Final Reflections" to cap off my writings on this blog. It'll be some really meaty stuff that I hope will provoke something within you, too.
Howdy everybody
Just wanted to drop a little note to let you know that we have survived.
We are currently in Melbourne with my family now, and we will be returning soon: Wednesday July 23rd around 11:03 am, SFO.
I know there is a bunch of days we missed. There is so much to talk about and so much to share, rest assured we will share it all soon enough. Internet access was so very limited compared to what it was like in Germany, but we have a lot of notes. For now, just know that we had a beautiful, holy and blessed experience, and all our familes, and friends and fellow parishioners were definitely a part of that. Thank you all for the prayers.
gtgfn.
pax et caritas.
raj
p.s. so how much have we fundraised for Madrid already?
La Virgen de La Almudena is the female patron saint of Madrid. (San Isidro [St.Isadore] is the male patron saint.) According to legend, when the Moors controlled Spain, the Catholics hid this statue of Our Lady with a "fold of a wall" ("almudaina" in Arabic) or in a nearby storage for grain ("almudit"). When Alphonse VI reconquered Madrid, the statue was miraculously discovered, and it is now venerated in Madrid's Cathedral.
La Virgen de La Almudena y San Isidro, orate pro nobis!
WE'RE GOING TO SPAIN, HIJO!
(...and maybe France.)
On Friday, young Catholic actors literally brought the Gospel to the streets of Sydney. What better sign of pilgrimage than the Stations of the Cross: the journey of Jesus to Calvary.
As soon as I got home from class, I turned on my computer and from 10pm to 1am, I was immersed in mystery and mercy as I experienced the Via Crucis or Way of the Cross. The 4th Station (according to this modified version of the traditional Stations) was Pilate Condemns Jesus to Death. 
This station took place in front of the Sydney Opera House: perhaps the most iconic symbol of Sydney if not the entire nation and continent of Australia. It was then, as Pilate sends Jesus to be scourged, crowned, and mocked, that I realized how ironic this whole event is. Of course, the cross itself is a paradox--and to some degree an ironic symbol of life and death, defeat and triumph, shame and glory. However, the irony of this particular Via Crucis in that for three hours, the very busy and secular Sydney Business District (SBD) practically shut down so that our "Lord" may walk the streets of this place where so many people wish to keep him out. So many times we treat our faith like a secret that we want to keep to ourselves. But not on Friday night in downtown Sydney whose modern streets on which luxury cars, taxis, and SUVs typically pass, were transformed into the ancient roads of Jerusalem.
For three hours, a park, a harbour, a museum, an opera house became shrines at which the faithful prayed and lifted their mind and heart to the mighty Creator to called this great island from the depths of the sea. I found it somewhat amusing to see the Australian secular media try to report on this event. I got the impression that they didn't quite know what to make of it. The young pilgrims, on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on. And what a contrast that was! World Youth Day is sometimes criticized as being one big party of young people who act like they're at a rock concert. But what Sydney saw was young people meditating, reflecting, and praying. There was little flag waving. The drums were silent. And the youth of the world journeyed with Jesus as He walked towards the Place of the Skull. "We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world."
Overall, I thought that the Via Crucis through the SBD was very well produced like all the events so far at WYD 2008. I, of course, liked the fact that it was all in English except for some songs in various languages--including Latin. The lighting was fabulous and the crucifixion scene was remarkably beautiful in so many ways. Well...what would you expect from Fr. Cavarra, the director of the Stations who used to work as a director for TV and operas.
Please go here if you missed any part of such a wonderful production.
