For five days in August 2011 I went to Spain for one of the most
important gatherings in the world, where members of all nations are
present. Basically, the WYDs are gatherings for young Catholics, aged
17 to 30, who want to meet the Holy Father.
Young people, Catholic or
not, come to meet up and speak about their lives and their
experiences. People come sometimes looking for faith but it is not the
main purpose for most of the people who go to these immense
gatherings of several million.
During these few days,
there are many concerts and other great moments. We meet people of
different cultures, who have different ways of living. It’s not
just an experience on the road to faith, it’s an experience on the
road of life because it opens you up to others and to the world.
Everybody is friendly. I remember a Brazilian who gave a flag of his
country to a Chinese, which was great.
But this experience was a
little strange and difficult too. Indeed, the living conditions were
very basic because we were very numerous and it was warm especially
in the gymnasium where my group from the Cantal was. Nights were very
short because there were a lot of parties. I think it is one of the
only places in the world where you can breakfast with an American and
lunch with a Korean in the same day! It’s the good side of globalization.
We had a
few problems with the Indignados because they protested at
the cost of the WYD (Spanish youth are poor because they cannot find
jobs).
It was a fantastic
experience. The WYD takes place in a different country every three
years. Three years ago it was in Sydney, Australia, and in three
years' time it will be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Even if the living
conditions were terrible, the atmosphere was amazing. I hope to go to
the next one because WYD has been one of the best experiences of my
short life !
1 comment:
I was so glad and surprised to see this article when I opened the blog "Life's a picnic" !
I went to the WYD in Madrid in August too and I found it cool to publish an article on this subject.
I loved this journey because I'm a Spain addict and I would like to meet new foreign young people everyday if I could !
Apart from perpetual fatigue, because of the daily parties, it was a good way to meet so many people. That was what I preferred I think : we were all brothers and sisters, there was a real friendship between everybody, though we didn't know anybody. For instance, I met a guy from Quebec in the street, we talked in English (because I did not understand his bizarre French!) and he finally invited my friends and me to drink sangria and eat tapas in a restaurant until we were too tired to keep thinking in English !
I will always remember this wonderful adventure !
Thanks again for this article :)
Julie B
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