SURPRISE!

Hey there! In an attempt to make up for lost time (which is futile) I will try to recap the very BUSY last few weeks as briefly as possible – for your sake and mine!

When I left you, I was planning to spend my 21st birthday at a karaoke joint in Sydney, and we had a busy weekend ahead of us. Well , 3 retreats that week were successful, but it was much busier than even just that. Wednesday night we had a briefing for the huge project we undertook Saturday called Activ8 Sydney. That night was also the first of a series of “footy” games (Rugby League) called State of Origin – New South Wales (the state Sydney is in) and Queensland (the state with all the beaches and the Great Barrier Reef) face off in a 100 year old rivalry, and the teams are made up of the best players from all the clubs in the states. I didn’t watch it because I didn’t know the rules, but I caught the end of the game on the TV at home and decided I should give the next game a try, since it was the closest thing I was gonna get to American football.

That Thursday and Friday, we spent both evenings celebrating birthdays – and not even mine yet! Our director Lyndon, and one of the girls on the team, Anna, both had their birthday on May 22, so we went to Lyndon’s for a dinner. Friday was Helena’s birthday, a girl who is volunteering for WYD and living in the CYS house, so we had a dinner here for her. It was crazy!

Saturday May 24 was the big day – we were taking WYD to the public and promoting it on the streets of downtown Sydney. For the first time in the efforts of WYD, the people of the city would finally have some live faces to put with the event – for better or worse. It was such an exciting day. I really had a lot of fun! Jovina and I were right in the heart of the city, along with quite a few other people, and as much as we could, we tried to shove pamphlets and booklets into the hands of all who passed by, but if we were lucky, some people stopped to talk. My catch phrase for most of the day was, “Hey, remember when the Olympics were in Sydney? This will be bigger.” It worked for quite a few people – at least they took what I was giving them, and smiled. That was the key. I met about 15 Americans that day, but only had a significant conversation with one of them. It was a guy from LA named Jake who was on the last days of his two-year-around-the-world trip. WOW. He had hit every continent but Antarctica, and was finally heading back to sunny California before taking up grad school in Boston this August. I think he was just as excited to have a conversation with an American as I was – he must have been feeling deprived as well! Haha I wish I could have spoken to him more – that trip sounds fascinating!

That night we went to a launch for a website called YBenedict – it’s basically a website for pilgrims all over the world to keep updated on the happenings of WYD, and the home page mostly has articles concerning all the preparations. It was a duty thing to attend. The Cardinal was there and all.

Then Sunday was a HUGE Eucharistic procession through the streets of Sydney – the Blessed Sacrament was carried on a 2 hour walk, with 10,000 people in tow. It was beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it. The coolest thing was that the prayer that was said during the procession was broadcast on one of the radio stations, so the entire crowd of 10,000 people was praying TOGETHER. So incredible.

So after that was when all confusion took over the evening. I had planned to celebrate my birthday with my 20 closest friends here by going to dinner and a karaoke bar, but the thing was, a lot of people were saying they couldn’t make it, or at least wouldn’t be there for dinner. Then the times were getting all confusing and I was really wondering what was going on. The problem was, someone (on accident) had leaked to me that there was a party in my honor happening, and so I figured it was that night, but because I didn’t know any more details than that, I was feeling extremely in the dark, and I started to get a little sad, because it really seemed as if “no one” was coming. Even though they all were, and their acting skills are fantastic. About 50 people (maybe more) were in on it, thanks to Jovina, the main organizer for the evening. I have to hand it to her, she did such a good job. I only felt terrible that I wasn’t completely surprised! But what did surprise me was all the details of the party.

First of all, the theme was “American” – as in everyone was supposed to dress like an American. Some of the costumes included a few baseball players (one wearing a Cubs hat – how perfect!), an Indian couple, lots of cowboys and cowgirls, a basketball player with a jersey that said “Team USA”, a girl wearing a t-shirt she had made with pictures of American presidents all over it, and my favorite: about 5 girls with shirts they had made saying “Delta Delta Delta: We’re kind of a big deal”. It was SO cute! In my getting ready Sharon, my roommate (who’s American costume was wearing my clothes), insisted that I wear the nicest dress I owned, which was a black cocktail dress with rhinestones and everything (see pictures!link below) I protested, but when I got there I saw why it was important I wear that – they crowned me MISSy AMERICA with a tiara and sash. It was all in the details, really! The food was pizza and sandwiches and some Mexican, I think, (I didn’t actually eat – I was a bit overwhelmed!) and later in the evening milkshakes and donuts were served. I had to laugh. The cake they had made for me was incredible (see picture, link below) and for the singing of happy birthday, it was lit not with candles, but with sparklers. The idea, I think, with all this was that since I couldn’t be home for my birthday, they would bring home to me as much as they could.

Now the one thought I had even before the party was how disappointed I was that my family wasn’t going to be there to celebrate with me – through all of this I learned just how much I actually care about them. Not that I didn’t before, but it’s just that now I can really feel the absence of their presence. It’s a good thing – my appreciation for them and my love for them is growing even stronger!

However, Sarah, my dear Australian friend who stayed in Indy for a week in January, thought of this and contact my parents and sisters, who then made a video to be played at the party. The first thing Jenny said on the video was, “Get her some Kleenexes, I’m sure she’s crying!” and of course, I was absolutely bawling. Already. They had also contact a few friends from home whose names they had heard me mention here or there and had them write letters that were read as well. It was really special. The CYS team made a slideshow of pictures from throughout the year for me, and they even got Cardinal George Pell himself to record a little 30 second birthday message for me as well. I felt so honored!

It was just a wonderful night, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate my 21st birthday. It was the farthest thing from how I had imagined I would celebrate, but I think that’s what makes it even better.

The next day we got to sleep in – we didn’t stat work until 1pm! I opened all the gifts I had received, including the package of food from my parents haha The team had also made a big collage of pictures for me and written little notes and put them in the frame as well. It’s really nice! However…I have no idea how I am going to get it home.

We got to work, then I went to Mass and one of the guys in the house made an “American” dinner. But you see, he didn’t take notice of one detail. Lucky I did! As he was preparing the meal I smelled BBQ. When I asked about it, he said he was making BBQ ribs… “Penni,” I said, “I don’t like BBQ.” Penni’s reaction was, “WHAT?!?!? You’re not American!!” Thank goodness I caught it though – he was still able to wash off some of the ribs for me. Haha. The dessert was very good though – chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce and topped with a little toothpick American flag!

That week was a bit of a blur after that because we spent the entire day on Tuesday preparing for our three-day overnight retreat with the year 12 (seniors) from an all-girls school. It was intense! The retreat went well – it was from Wednesday to Friday. The girls were very receptive and positive and I think all involved enjoyed the experience.

That weekend we relaxed. A few of us went to a French-Australian party at a house two beaches over from us. It was an Au Revoir party for a family who was moving back to France after 5 years in Sydney. They were the main organizers of the French Community retreat we ran earlier in the year. Very lovely people, all of them. It was a fun night! That Sunday was a soccer competition which the boys played in. It was called the Cardinal’s Cup, and was held between about 8 teams from around the Diocese – all Catholics! Some of the religious orders had teams – it was very fun to watch. Then we had to work hard to prepare our next overnight retreat, held on that Monday and Tuesday. Talk about stressful – we had barely recovered from the last one!
That retreat was also successful, but in the shadow of the other retreat, didn’t seem quite as organized or meaningful. Saying that, I think it was only from our perspective things seemed a bit off. The girls (another year 12 bunch) really enjoyed it. And THAT is what matters – that’s why we’re here!

We had a nice rest after that – the girls and boys split off that night to have sisterhood/brotherhood time. Us girls just had dinner and watched movies and painted our nails. It was so much fun! I hadn’t had a girly night like that in quite a while. Then we had Wednesday off, and I spent the day cleaning my room out – giving it a really good re-organization. That night I met up with Alana (from Texas) and we went out to the area where she lives to hear the Dominican Sisters from Nashville give a talk. It was quite a blessing because I got to meet the 4th sister who joined them – Sister Cecilia Joseph, originally from Cleveland! It was all so exciting.

That Friday we had another retreat, and then we all got ready to go to a surprise dinner (this one didn’t get ruined) to celebrate John-Paul’s 18th birthday! He is one of the Samoan boys on the team…It was a really fun night in the city. Then Saturday I laid around until Jovina convinced me to come meet up with a group of friends to promote Theology on Tap at a youth group. I ended up being glad I went – of course. At least it was good to see everyone! Sunday I spent the day with Katarina, and for the first time since I landed in Sydney last July, I went to the first Catholic Church I ever had Mass in. The ironic part of this is that I now live just down the road from that church – St. Brigid’s. But it’s not a very well-known church – a lot of people don’t know it’s there! I was very glad to go back to it though – it’s just so beautiful!

We had the day off on Monday, so I again spent the day catching up on personal things (everything except this blog!) and that night we had a practice for the music we will use during WYD at animation of catechesis. It went well – I’m starting to get quite excited about it, and not feeling so stressed anymore!

Tuesday we prepared for the next couple retreats of the week, and Wednesday – Wednesday was a fun day. We had an all-girls year 10 retreat, which was a bit stressful for me – I didn’t have the best experience. But that night, I got to catch up with Sarah and then go over to Pat’s house, where a group of us sat down and watched the second State of Origin game! This time, I watched most of it, and with a couple guys on either side, was thoroughly educated in the rules of this violent sport. I asked about 10 million questions, but all were answered very well, so hopefully when the third game of the series comes on in a couple weeks I will be able to process it without being so inquisitive. You know what was cool also? The Cardinal came and watched it with us as well! Not every day that happens…

This past Thursday I had coffee with a lady called Sister Sharon who lives and teaches near a school where we do a few retreats. She met the CYS team last year (when I wasn’t around) and sent a card to them earlier this year thanking them for the chat, which had landed her a ticket to the US. Where? Indiana of all places!! She was being sent to Ferdinand, Indiana (like I said, of ALL places) for a vocations conference, and it was her involvement with the CYS team which had helped make this possible. However, what providence that this card was read aloud as I was in the room, and of course when I heard where she was going, I freaked out! I immediately sent a card back to her with my email address, asking to meet with her, because I wanted to hear all about this! So Thursday we had the opportunity, and she showed me some of her pictures. It all looked so familiar!

Yesterday we had a retreat with an all boys school, and it went really well. The boys were very nice. Then I had a nice nap and today I’m just relaxing and trying to stay warm. The weather has been rainy and cold lately! It almost feels like it might snow! Eek!

30 days til World Youth Day starts and we are getting busier and excited – I just can’t even grasp that it’s really almost here and we’re going to be a part of it. Rumor has it we’re going to be quite in demand that week as a team – they say there have been requests coming in for us! Weird! SO – once I know more of what we will be involved in, I will pass it along.

I did forget to mention that on Thursday during the day we went to a launch for another website, but this one was a bit more exciting. It was the official social network of WYD, called “XT3” which stands for “Christ in the 3rd Millenium”. It’s just like facebook or myspace, but for Catholics! Anyone can join, but it is founded on the Catholic faith. The men who started it are from Britain – very nice guys. It’s such a great idea – to keep pilgrims and young Catholics all over the world, even those who can’t make it to WYD connected before and after the event, and in between them!

And still no word about the visa. Trust me, I’ll be cheering so loud when I finally find out, you’ll hear from all the way across the ocean!

One thing I am sure of that we are doing during WYD is on the Wednesday of the week – July 16. A very famous priest from NYC named Fr. Stan Fortuna (heard of him?) is known for his rapping and his music ministry. Well, he is performing at Bondi Beach (Sydney’s most famous beach) that Wednesday and it has been requested that we come along and perform the Jesus Chant that we do in schools (a rap that the Samoan boys beatbox behind and teach…it’s very good!) WOW!! Should be exciting to meet Fr. Stan and get to be on stage for just a bit!

Until I write again, may God bless you!

check out pictures on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
click on the album titled "May - Surprise" to see the pictures! :) let me know if you have problems.