Well I am in Barcelona, and have been for over a day now.  It is a nice city, with good public transport (though most of the subway transfers are worse than even some of the worst of NY’s inter-system transfers; as in long, up, down, etc), nice beaches, churches, hills, fountains, parks, etc.  Although naturally not the same as Madrid culturally (Catalan), it is nice to see a Spanish city much as it usually is, rather than WYD-ified.  (I do see WYD pilgrims around though.)

It has been a while since I really posted anything on Madrid, so quick recap, and then I do have some reflections:

THURSDAY:

• Decided to go to the Catechesis at Collegio Valeduz so I wouldn’t be shut out, and indeed got in
• The altar was set for Mass
• We went to a local mall for lunch
• we then went in to get ready to receive the Pope
• We did not get to see him personally; we misunderstood the route, or it was changed last minute
• we had dinner provided by some Augustinian sisters in Madrid
• I had to leave before real dinner, and ate out in my suburb of Pozuelo

FRIDAY

• The morning was difficult for me to get going; I was unmotivated for some reason.  However, on the way in I reached for something else in my pocket, and instead picked up a card given to me by one of the SVs the day before, and the prayer on it really helped me. (more on the challenges, and the responses later)
• I decided therefore, that I would go to their center; on the way in, I had a nice chat with Clarence (aka Trivette)
• Caught the tail-end of Dolan’s Catechesis, and then he was the principal celebrant at Mass.  During either his catechesis or homily (I think cat), he spoke about how the nails of the Cross hold the Church together
• I then went to the Sisters’ “You & Me” exhibit.  When the young woman there told me it would be 35 minutes, I was about to walk away, but she assured me it would be worth it, and for some reason I trusted her.  And a great decision that was.  Probably the best thing I did at WYD, aside from the official events, Masses, etc. (more on that exhibit later; I hope they bring it back to the states, or do a web version, or something)
• I then met breifly with Sara, the CNS correspondent, and we attempted to meet with the UK OSA group, but the crowd was too much.  They did a breif interview with me.  I have no idea if/when that will appear somewhere.
• The way of the cross: this was the first time I actually saw His Holiness.  Done in very traditional Spanish style, but with a newer set of stations. (I’m not sure if I’ve seen this one before.  I do not think it is the same as the JP2 scripturally based one, because there was at least one that was not.  I’ll have to research, later.)

SATURDAY

• I went to the OSA Mass
• We went to the place.  It was hot.
• I began to really see why WYD has been accused of having a rock-festival feel.
• I lived the life of an illegal immigrant for all of about 16 hours.  My pass did not correspond to where we were, and suddenly they decided to start actually enforce those rules.  The whole place was a bit like a refugee camp with the crowds
• The opening of the vigil was interrupted by severe rain and wind.  It resumed and finished though!
• I spent the first bit of the vigil in adoration, until the police closed the tent.

SUNDAY

• Mass was very nice aside from that most were not able to receive communion.
• Made it to my train!

I will speak of Barcelona later, which, by the way, feels in some ways like a direct continuation from Lisbon. (as in not crazy, language i don’t speak at all, etc)

First observations on the logistics in general.  The police were great.  There was alot of them, they were helpful, and everything felt safe.  I am told that the food was better than in all past world youth days. The transport was great, although clearly not designed for this.  The staff reasonably suspended fare control at the choke points in busy times; most of us had unlimited passes anyway so it made sense.

However, much of the logistics seemed not well planned out, especially with regard to the big events.  Luckily, with the lack of communion at the closing Mass being the only really big bummer, the good far outweighed the bad.

My first overall reflection will be on the perception of World Youth Day as a rock festival.  When I first heard this, I had assumed this had something to do with Christian Rock music or something like that; maybe it was very prevalent.  However, at the opening Mass, I could see what was meant.

You see, we were very, very far back, with the altar nowhere in sight, and just barely a TV screen. We couldn’t really hear.  Now maybe some of those factors had something to do with it, but the entire time, there was chanting, dancing, flag waving, singing, etc, all around.  Before the Mass, this sort of thing is a natural part of WYD.  However, even after the Mass began, there was all this random stuff happening everywhere, and I often wondered whether if people stopped complaining about not being able to see/hear if maybe I’d actually be able to hear.

Needless to say, that was a test of my patience, and certianly feelt in some ways like a rock festival of sorts.  I was very glad to attend the Mass at the L&L center the next day which was very nice, celebrated principally by some bishop from Australia, and with a group of Sisters of Life as the choir.

I didn’t think of the whole rock fest thing again until Saturday.  When I arrived to Cuatros Vientros I wasn’t sure if I was in a rock fest or a refugee camp.  This was slightly discouraging, but I am happy to report that the night was still very fruitful, and at least from my perspective, when the Mass began, everyone was reverent.

OK well now I must go to sleep to prepare for Day 2 of Barcelona. Tomorrow night I hope to have a more substantial WYD reflection (that was more of an observation), and a quick recap of what I’ve been up to in Barcelona!