Some of us are staying in a convent, and when we met up with all of the nuns they told us to go to Madrid to see the pope and then come back and join them! (Not Clare though – for she is to become a saint – her was her feast day on Thursday!!!) Apparently Maddie has the face of a nun! We have met Romanians, French, Venezuelans, Canadians, Koreans, Chinese, Germans, Australians, Zambians, and some Americans, Indians from Goa. The Romanians are very friendly (!) and like taking photos constantly of us. One of them is a journalist in Romania. We have the youngest pilgrim in our parish. He is 18 months old and very cute! We went to the School of the Divine Lord with the Spanish head of the primary school and learned about Catholic education in Spain and how to count! Bird poo has featured regularly in our pilgrimage – three of us have been splattered so far – we are taking it as a sign of good luck! We’ve been on three tours of the city and found the astronoaut on the cathedral and the frog on the university facade. See if you can find it on our pictures. We visited an old people’s home run entirely on donations and went swimming but couldn’t go in as it RAINED!!!!!!!! Four of us are now addicted to ColaCao – we’ve finished our third box and need to take some home. Can’t believe how much we’ve done in only a few days and we still have loads more to come…..
Here are the greens!
Aug 13
Here are some of our thoughts……..
Claire: I really enjoyed meeting new young people from other countries and trading gifts. I can’t wait to go to Madrid and meet many more new people – and of course to see the Pope!!
Niamh: Today was such a relief because there was a summer storm – we must have brought the English weather with us!
Cameron: I enjoyed walking around the city and talking to the locals and meeting other youths from different countries!! x
Alex: Well, learning Spanish in under 2 days I think is quite an achievement right? I know the essentials: “Gracias” and “lo siento” – the rest is smiling and nodding politely!
Chloe: Fernando is an absolute STAR! He’s been so welcoming and friendly – even if he does speak Spanish VERY quickly!! This afternoon’s meeting was an amazing chance to hear about everyone’s communities back home! I’ve really enjoyed meeting people from so many different countries!
Lots of fun times
Aug 12
Here’s a few for you to enjoy…
News from the lilac team
Aug 12
12th August – only our second day here and it feels like we’ve been here for ages!
After morning prayer the lilac team explored Salamanca with the rest of the WYD pilgrims staying in our Salesian parish. There are people here from Canada, Germany, Malaysia, and a big Salesian group from England and Scotland. Today we have learned a lot about the Salesian parish life. There is a youth centre here as well as the school and parish church. We’ve been given an insight into how the church exists in different countries. We went to the Plaza Mayor and had “the best ice-cream in the world” according to the lady we bought it from!!!!! Of course, she isn’t biased!!!! We went swimming in a very strict swimming pool where we were restricted to lanes and had to wear funny hats! Entertainment was sought through various diving competitions. The hospitality in our families is very warm and we hope they don’t weigh us as well as our baggage on the way home as we might have to pay excess!! Getting ready for Mass now and then back to our families for dinner at around 9pm and bed.
..and some more!
Aug 12
..and here are the piccies!!
Aug 12
Red Team Update
Aug 12
Great second day out (Fr David decided to reunite with us which was a pleasure) much trading with wristbands; we have German hats, Italian bandanas and an Italian crucifix. The warm welcome we’ve received in Salamanca has been amazing. There are so many people from different countries and it’s great to experience other cultures. Wre’re all praying for everyone at home too!! About to start our second full day – can’t wait !!!!
Photos!!
Aug 11
Arrived in Salamanca!!!
Aug 11
….and here we are again. ‘Arundel’ is on its way to the mountains and some of the Brighton teams have headed to the swimming pool to cool down. It is HOT!! (says Robyn one of our lovely coordinators). Beautiful weather, lovely people. Lots of welcome ceremonies tonight in this stunning and historic city. Paula is ‘having a bril time!’; Patch Ryan and Lawrie enjoyed their full English breakfast with Juan Carlos and family this morning! More photos to follow………..:)
The journey here was largely glitch-free. We nearly all turned up on time…
..and got on the plane…
Those of us on the Second flight arrived to an awesome (and so noisy the police got involved!) reception from the earlier flight..
When all four (yes, four) flight had landed we went by coach (okay, okay, some had hire cars!) to Salamanca to begin our Days in the Diocese.
It was then that the “Arundel” and “Brighton” groups split off and we went to the Casa de la Inglesia to spend the night. It was a bit of a trek up the road with our luggage…
Our home for the night…
We began the day with Mass. We were joined by our friends form the Diocese of Wuerzburg..
This morning we met up with some of the “Brighton” pilgrims who were exploring the town with their host families…
This really is an amazing town…
This is a picture of us exploring the local food…
In a few hours “Arundel” will leave the city and head down to an area in the mountains called Sierra de Francia. Apparently it’s really nice. More soon…
Arrival in Salamanca!
Aug 11
Well, it’s been an amazing day and a bit. We are all safely in Spain and we arrived in Salamanca for the Days in the Diocese late last night. Here are some photos…
Today we met at DABCEC to talk about websites and stuff… Jack broke a chair by leaning back on it.
Bla bla bla.
Please totally ignore this post. We are just practicing posting to yaab so we can post lots of lovely stuff about World Youth Day 
