ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE DELEGATION JOURNAL:
WE ARE IN SYDNEY
After very long travel, we are here. Here is a group picture.
Chelsea from St. Louis: Today is Monday, July 14th and it is around 7pm, but since we got here this morning and it is technically 3:00am back home in Maryland... I'm a little confused right now.
Anyway, right now we are at the Top of Sydney in the Sydney Tower Restaurant. It is amazing. The tower actually rotates so we can see the whole city while we eat our dinner.
Today arrived after a very eventful 2 days on the plan. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Once we arrived in the Sydney airport, our whole group had to put our luggage against the wall so a search dog could come and sniff out anything illegal. The dog was adorable, by the way. Once we stepped outside it was a little chilly but refreshing. Our entire 46 person group got onto our coach bus and we began our tour of Sydney. The city is amazing! It is so clean and tidy and pretty. One of my favorite sites is the Opera House. It was a lot bigger than I had imagined.
Then we went to Bondi Beach. By the time we arrived, the sky had completely cleared. It was gorgeous. It looked like an island because the beach was surrounded by houses on hills. After I ate my fish and chips and was attacked by sea gulls, we went in the water a little to take pictures. We tried to stay dry, but, of course, that didn't work. I got drenched but it was worth it. Then we got back on the bus and checked into our hotel. We finally got to shower and now we are having dinner in the tower.
I really hope to see a kangaroo while I'm here but I just ate a piece of one so I guess that will work for now. After this, I don't know what we are doing, but I do know that we are all pretty exhausted. I, along with the rest of my group, am so excited for the rest of the week ahead. I really hope to learn more about my faith, grow as a person, and be inspired by the excitement of so many teens around me. I am grateful to be here and I can't wait for the week to get going!
Huberto from St. Clements: "Today" for me started at 03:40 on Saturday the 12th, so when they asked me for a reflection, I had to think a moment. Now, it is Monday, July 14th and quite a few things have happened in that time, especially as we missed Sunday flying over the International Date Line. Beside spending around 20 hours flyer, we managed to do a little touring in Los Angeles and did see some of Sydney.
Something of a glimpse of World Youth Day happened at LAX. While we were waiting for our flight to New Zealand, another group of WYD pilgrims from Mexico began to sing.
They were singing in Spanish, so I joined some of our group as we went over to join them. After one song, they began to sing the WYD theme song and we all joined in on the portions of the song that we know in our own languages. It created a feeling of community of awe, seeing these people with the same goals as us: To encounter God.
Sydney seems quite beautiful, even more so seeing all those signs welcoming the pilgrims and having that feeling that "We're here!" We are here, ready to find what god has for us.
