The Pilgrim Xperience - a "roller coaster of emotion"

Today was the first day of WYD events here in Madrid! When I woke up this morning I was filled with excitement for the full day ahead of me. As Elizabeth mentioned in yesterday's post, we had a bit of an adventure yesterday when it came to getting our meal passes and metro (subway) tickets. Today was a very similar day. After breakfast we headed across the street to meet Paula, a mexican consecrated woman who was leading a large group of teenagers. Paula had told us the night before that she would help us acquire our "pilgrim packs". To our surprise Paula was not across the street, but God still provided.
A very sympathetic volunteer who did not speak a word of English gave us some extra pilgrim packs! Just when we were thinking we were never going to get these packs, this gentleman stepped up and God truly stepped in. We smiled and some of us wept tears of joy as he handed us our packs and giggled when we opened them to find our hats, t-shirts, and much more. Also we met some fellow pilgrims from across the street, one of whom I actually went to school with in Atlanta.
So we got our packs YAY, but it wasn't enough - we still needed our "pilgrim passes" for the vigil and they serve as additional means of identification. These little lanyards were the most hassle getting. All I can say is that some of us spent approximately 3 hours, and our amazing Emily Chambers was an absolute champion who waited about 5 hours total. 5 hours of blistering heat, people were so hot they didn't even sweat. See here in Madrid its so hot and dry that your sweat evaporates off your skin very quickly.
After getting all of our essentials together we felt very very happy. By then it was about 5pm and the opening mass was going to start at 8. We quickly headed to Cibelles Square for mass. Mass was pretty exciting. Pilgrims literally filled the streets! But the language barrier of it being celebrated in spanish and our distance from the altar, not to mention the very boisterous, obnoxious Australian nun behind us, took away a little bit from the experience.
After that, we went to adoration to end our crazy day. I needed to cool off and adoration was just what I needed.
Slowly but surely we made it back to the Jesuit house through the packed metro. I mean packed like sardines in a can packed. The trains actually moved slower because of the weight of the cars!
Praise God for today and know that we are praying for you!
See you in the Eucharist!

-Anthony