This morning we awoke bright and early to the sound of a booming voice over the loud speakers announcing the approaching arrival of the pope for mass. At the sound of this voice, we immediately leaped to our feet in joy and began to sing the WYD theme song as loudly as we could! Well… maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It certainly wasn’t the most pleasant night of all due to the rain and the cooler temperatures of the night. So, maybe getting up wasn’t all that easy, but slowly we managed to get to our feet and start moving. As you might imagine, the bathroom lines were extraordinarily lengthy, but with aid of our personal toilet paper (there is none supplied) we were able to face the crowds and make our way through many many more people to our spot. After eating a quick breakfast, it was about time for mass with the pope to begin. It was a long, but beautiful mass in the Spanish language. But luckily, some of us were able to hear an English translation through radio broadcasting. The pope spoke encouraging words to the youth of the world concerning evangelization and how important it is despite the struggles we may encounter along the way. After mass, we packed up and headed out as a group on our way back to the hotel. We took the subway for much of the trip, but it was still exhausting and we were on our feet for quite some time. You can only imagine how relieved we were to arrive back at the hotel and take a cool shower and change into clean clothes after two days of sweltering heat. After a few hours or relaxation some of the group headed out to experience the thrill of Spanish culture with a bull fight. During this time the other half of the group enjoyed dinner in Madrid and some last minute souvenier shopping. We ended the night with small groups. Tomorrow we will be heading home on the plane in the morning. It has certainly been a trip that we will never forget!
No comments:
Post a Comment