WYD 2008 Update #3: Day Three in Sydney

We finished our first week here in Australia with a flourish last night with a beautiful Mass of about five thousand people in the Wollongong Diocese. David and I met some Syrians and played music with them before the Mass started. Two of them gave me Syrian coins. That was pretty awesome. That we are all united in the Body of Christ was a profound experience. One, when telling me about Syria said, "Oh, and we're not terorrists". I felt sad for him that he felt that he needed to say that - joke or not, there was bitterness there. JPII had a great vision in uniting the youth of the world for this event - there is NO OTHER event like it - even [in] the Olympics [there is] faithfulness to one's own country [and] competition, not unity. This event breaks down barriers and maybe one day the youth will lead our countries with the same vision of appreciating other's differences of language and culture. The Syrians taught me how to say hi in their language.

SO FUN! Okay, but I'm going backwards... David, Dawn, Alicia and I did music for the Mass and Taize service on Friday for our group and host families. We were handed the packet of music five minutes before Mass started and I realized I only knew 3 out of about 10 songs. That was interesting! Definitely a lesson in sightreading!! But I had a blast and the Holy Spirit took care of the whole thing.

David and I went rock climbing in a wildlife park (off the trail a bit) and we had tons of fun except when I tried to play Tarzan and grabbed a vine, which broek as soon as I pulled it sending me off my balance and crashing into a rock! It was pretty funny... once the pain was gone. :)

I've met many other people from the US. Yesterday we performed at the Everything Aussie Fest and it was SO FUN!! People sang with us and clapped with us and prayed with us! I am in awe of this event and the Holy Spirit's presence among us!

I've met Latvians, Germans, Nigerians, Armenians, Saudi Arabians.. Our group played a volleyball tournament against the Saudis and lost miserably. They were intense, focused, competitive.... no girls on their team! But our team did beat the Californians, so there ya go. :) It was all good sport and all in good fun!!

Today we're going Kayaking and Surfing with our host family and David's host family. It's pretty chilly here, so we'll see how that goes. Then, tonight we will be playing another Mass for Kiama. More musical opportunites just keep coming up..

Still not sure if the Opera House will be canceled or not, but we'll still be playing Palm Grove, and a couple of concerts with John Angotti, David Vogel, Dana. And of course the USCCB Mass, I'll be singing with Steven Angrisano, John Angotti, Matt Maher, and all those guys. I am stoked. :)

Love you all - tomorrow we head into Sydney to prepare for the WYD events! God bless! Noelle

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