WYD - We made it!

(picture captions - 1 - my first Dodger Dog - 2 - Dodger Stadium - 3 - Joe Josts bar in Long Beach - 4 - Kate and me at the pool - 5 - the four seminarians and me (Barry Clayton, Anthony Saiki, Nathan Haverland, Scott Wallisch) ready to take off from LAX to SYD


When I arrived at LAX Sunday Eric Larson immediately picked me up and we headed to Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers rout the Marlins. On the way I stopped by the Cathedral of the Angels (est 2002) and saw the end of a Spanish Mass. At the end of the game I received a call from seminarian Nathan Haverland saying that Qantas engineers were taking strategic 'sick leave' this week to force a new contract and that most flights from LA were being affected. Our 10:30pm flight was rescheduled for 9:30am on Monday (ugh!) and the whole pilgrimage group stayed at a Hilton and were able to go to the beach for the evening while I went and had dinner with the Larsons in Long Beach at a great seafood restaurant in Alameda Bay. Had a great time for my first trip to LA. Late Sunday night Kate Larson and I hit the pool and then Eric and I had a late night In-N-Out Burger (a double, animal style) which surprisingly digested pretty well by the next morning. Jamie Larson took me to LAX and we got off the ground Monday at 10:15am or so. Qantas was of course very apologetic but we found out when we arrived at Sydney Tuesday evening that many flights of WYD pilgrims were arriving late, and some not at all. Still, even though we missed the opening Mass, everyone here is excited and our bus driver assured us the Harbour area is looking great and festive for the WYD festivities. Our flight was a little over 14 hours, all in the daylight. It is winter in Sydney, so it became dark shortly after we went through customs around 6:30pm Tuesday evening. By 7:30 we were at Holy Name Parish in Wahroonga and the parishioners were more than eager to grab their pilgrims assigned to them and get them home for some hospitality, but of course, even this took some time to get everyone introduced and sent to the right homes. Fr. Meinrad Miller, OSB and I, are staying with Pat and Margaret Macmillan (Scottish name, we were told) who are originally 'kiwis' from New Zealand. Thankfully the Macmillans have good internet access and so far have been very pleasant to talk to. I just stayed up for an hour last night before going to bed, and am waiting for everyone to get up this morning (it's 5:23am Wednesday here) so I can learn more about the suburb, train station, etc. Since in Sydney everything is going well and we are excited for Catechesis and Mass this morning (not sure which bishop we will get) followed by about 8 hours in the Harbor Area taking in the many things associated with the Youth Festival. So far everyone is healthy and happy - thanks for the prayers!