January 28th - Day Ten
It is hard to believe that today is our last day in Panama. Today we had an incredible opportunity to visit with the Embera people. The Embera is one of the the seven indigenous tribes that call Panama home. The village we visited today was called Embera Quera, and is home to about 85 Embera people. After taking a bus about an hour outside of the city we jumped into a canoe for a 20 minute ride to the village. On the way to the village we actually got stuck in the middle of the river because it was so shallow. It took the whole team to get us out. One of the Embera guides jumped ashore and pulled the boat, the other one pushed with a long stick, and our tour guide directed us to rock the canoe to the left and then to the right until we were free. When we arrived at village we were greeted with song and dance by the locals. We were then brought into their gathering space to be given a short introduction and background of the tribe. Our guide served as a translator for us. In the middle of the presentation a toucan flew through the meeting space. One of the village elders then took us on a tour of the village and showed us the school, some homes, the soccer field, and the various plants and animals that are in the village. When we returned to the gathering space some of the Emberas offered to give us a temporary tattoo with the ink from a medicine tree in their village. This ink protects them from mosquitos and the sun. The Emberas also cooked us a fish and plantain lunch, and served it in a palm leaf. The children of the village are off from school so they were running around playing various games and eventually found their way to our group. Many in our group made a quick buddy when they offered high fives and some small American flags. We visited their store to view the many intricate baskets, carvings, and types of jewelry they had for sale. Before we left the Emberas wanted to show us a little more about their culture and their customs. We participated in a celebration with music and dance. They would not let us sit and came over and got us to join in with them in this celebration. We then boarded our canoe and headed back down the river. Fortunately we did not get stuck and got back to the bus without any incident. It was a great day to see the indigenous side of Panama. We retuned to the hotel to begin packing and our final dinner. At dinner we had an opportunity to reflect as a group about this pilgrimage journey. It was a great experience for all those involved. Tomorrow we head back to Connecticut. We look forward to telling you all about our adventures.
Kevin
Kevin
January 26th-27th, 2019 - Day Eight and Nine
Yesterday we began our pilgrimage to John Paul ll field where we we had our overnight vigil. We took 2 trains and after the second train walked for about 1 hour to get to our site. Although we could not see the pope from our site, we saw him driving by in the pope mobile! The vigil started and the pope was talking about how Mary said yes and that she was not indecisive and knew what she wanted. He also made a point to have everyone make sure they love one another and it didn’t matter if they were in prison or had disabilities. After the vigil we all tried to go to bed, but the constant drumming and singing throughout the night made it a bit difficult. The wake up call this morning startled us all. We were very close to the speakers so it was very shocking when they screamed “good morning, good morning, good morning” at 5:58 am. The ending mass started at 8 am and during the homily pope Francis was talking about how the youth is the present and not the future and that we are God’s now. After the mass we left to go back to the hotel. The walk back took us around 4 hours because of the massive crowds of people leaving. As we were walking through a neighborhood to go back to the metro the people in the houses were cooling us down with their hoses and we were very grateful for that because it was very sunny and 90 degrees. We got to the hotel and got to have a couple hours to clean up and rest before we headed to the Panama Canal for our closing celebration with our tour company. We were able to see the a movie on the history of the canal, tour the museum, and see the ships go through the canal. It was a great end to a long day.
Sarah
Sarah
January 25th, 2019 - Day Seven
Our day in Panama today was full of worship, fun, and new experiences. We woke up to an early breakfast, and made our long journey to San Antonio de Maria Claret for our third and final day of catechesis. Today we were welcomed by a wonderful singer, Deacon Bernie, and celebrated Mass with a Bishop from Kenya. We performed skits, sang songs with hand motions, had a Q & A with the bishop, and prayed as a community. After our journey back from catechesis, we gathered together and watched the Stations of the Cross. These stations provided a new experience, having completely different stations, titles, and scripture readings. It was interesting to see the portrayal of these stations, and the messages that went along with them, that addressed real life problems. Each country represented a station with their patron saint. Pope Francis used these stations as an opportunity to bring forth these problems and inspire the youth to take action against injustices such as abuse and human trafficking. He related the crucifixion and the Passion of Christ to the unrest in the world and calls us to be peacemakers and use role models such as Mary to spread this peace. This full day of reflection developed one message in my mind: We must spread peace and God’s love to not only bring joy to the world, but to make everyone witnesses to the Kingdom of God. Tomorrow we will begin a pilgrimage to a Vigil Mass and will sleep in a field with the entire community who is attending WYD here in Panama.
Declan
Declan
January 24th, 2019 - Day Six
You know your at World Youth Day when an easy day yields you around 17,000 steps on your Fitbit. We began this morning with an early walk to our catechisms site. Although the site and the pilgrims were the same as yesterday, the Bishop and the musicians were different. We were able to listen to Bishop Nicholas Hudson from the Diocese of Westminster, England. His catechesis was on the day two theme "I am a servant of the Lord." He talked about how his experience of working with the poor and the disabled his changed him as a person and as a bishop. He reminded us that the whole of our life is a mission and we must pray to the Holy Spirit to give us guidance to find that mission. After mass we were able to make our way back downtown towards our hotel. After a quick lunch and load of laundry we headed down to officially welcome Pope Francis to Panama. We decided to not get to close to the stage and try to get close to where we believed the Pope was going to drive by. To our disappointment the pope came from the other direction and did not go by us. We stayed where we were and watched the welcoming ceremony on the big tv screens. The Pope gave a short reflection during the ceremony, in which he called us to be builders of bridges and not walls. Pope Francis also went on to tell us to go forth into the world and not be afraid to show love that is concrete, a love that gives life. After the ceremonies, when we were about to head back, we saw a bunch of movement about 500ft a head of us. We decided to check it out and moved up. About 30 seconds later we could see Pope Francis's car coming around the corner. We made it just in time! We then walked back to the hotel and ate dinner while meeting with are musician for tomorrows catechesis. Please continue to pray for us on this journey.
Kevin
Kevin
January 23rd, 2019 - Day Five
Today we held our first day of catechesis at the hot yet beautiful San Antonio de Maria Carlet Church. With the help from our musical leader Nelson Gonzales, we were able to lead other English speaking pilgrims in song and prayer with the help from Bishop Leopold from the Philippines. Our group included pilgrims from Brazil, the Philippines, Miami, California, Michigan, Greece and Panama. After leading the fellow pilgrims in song and sharing a skit, we had the opportunity to ask the Bishop the questions that we felt were important. This started off as questions such as “what is your favorite joke?”and “can you sing us a song?” but then we dove deeper into the problems that the youth of our church were facing. This was a unique opportunity because it’s not everyday that you can ask a bishop about some important questions that us, the youth, had in mind. After our question and answer with the bishop, we celebrated mass with two other bishops and a dozen priests from all around the world. following the mass we had the pleasure of taking pictures with the bishops and to meet several other youth from our group. After our catechesis session, we went to a nearby park where there were confessions, a vocations fair, concerts and countless stands for buying souvenirs. As we were passing through the crowds of people we could hear the many pilgrims chanting ”esta es la juventud del papa!” (this is is the youth of the Pope!) On our way to dinner we were honked at many times from the locals in cars. Many of you may think this would be rude, but this was a fun way for the locals to welcome the pilgrims to their beautiful country of Panama. At dinner, as we were watching the tv, we saw news reports of Pope Francis stepping off of his plane and we were officially in the same city as the pope. Tomorrow we look forward to another successful day of catechesis and hopefully seeing the pope drive by.
-Aidan
-Aidan
January 22nd, 2019 - Day Four
Today we had a relaxing morning. We got to sleep in which was a good way to catch up on sleep! Later in the day we practiced 3 different skits which we will perform at catechesis tomorrow and the days following. We had to wash all of our shirts today because the heat has caused us to go through multiple shirts a day! At around 2 o’clock we began our journey to the opening mass. The mass started at 5 so we had time before to meet people and trade with people from all over the world! There was this family from panama that had a four year old daughter. They wanted her to sit so she sat on the wall with us and was taking everything in. They spoke no english and we had to figure a way to communicate. We gave the little girl a USA hat and some other USA items and we could see how happy that made her! There was barely any space to move it was so crowded. We were lucky we got there early and got a space to sit. Once the mass started it was just amazing to see how people were saying the responses in their own language and how everyone was diverse but united at the same time. The Archbishop of Panama said that representatives from 140 countries were at Work Youth Day but we all share one common faith and mission. Tomorrow we are very excited to lead a catechesis session!
Sarah
January 21st, 2019 - Day Three
In todays Panamanian adventure, our group was able to witness the beauty of God through nature, song, and prayer. We began our day with a tour of the Gamboa Rainforest. We first visited the Sloth Sanctuary, where we came face-to-face with the graceful two-toed and three-toed sloth. Next, we made our way into the butterfly exhibit, where we were surrounded by a multitude of vibrant colored butterflies. We then visited the frog exhibit as we carefully searched for the many small frogs of the rainforest. After, we witnessed the amazing views of the rainforest from a higher perspective as we rode a canopy lift towards an observation tower. We learned about the many critters and species of the rainforest, ranging from various trees, birds, rodents, monkeys, and insects. As we approached the observation tower, we began to climb towards the top, where there was the most astonishing view of the Panama Canal and the Chagres River. We then traveled back down through the canopy, and began our boat tour of Monkey Island. As we zoomed through the canal, we saw many monkeys, birds, and even a crocodile! We soon met up with many other groups from dioceses all over the United States. We had lunch together, sang worship songs, prayed, recieved the Sacrament of Reconciliation and celebrated the Eucharist together. As soon as our celebration was over, we hopped on a bus with all the other youth groups and sang songs all the way back to the hotel. We then walked through Panama City in search for something to eat. After our dinner, we headed back to our hotel, took quick swim in the pool, and rested after a full day of amazing experiences. Tomorrow we will begin preparation for our World Youth Day activities and will attend the opening Mass which will be held within Panama City.
Declan
Declan
January 20th, 2019 - Day Two
Today was our first full day in Panama. We began our day with a walking tour along the coast of the city to the section called Old Town. During this walk we were able to meet some pilgrims from the states of Maryland and South Carolina who were on the tour with us. On our way to Old Town we were able to stop at the famous Panama sign, and also get up close to the venue for the opening mass later this week. Our tour guide Oliver was very friendly and knowledgable in the history of Panama, and also new a little about Connecticut. When we reached Old Town we were able to go inside several churches and also see a beautiful nativity scene. We also explored the many shops, squares, and monuments of Old Town. After our tour we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before walking to our Sunday Mass. The mass was entirely in Spanish but we were able to follow along to most of it. During the Gloria the priest began to clap and it brought back the memories of clapping along with our children's Choir. The community of "La Inglesia Nuestra Señora Del Carmen," was welcoming to all of the pilgrims who were attending mass. On the way back from mass we made a quick stop to pick up our credentials and WYD bags. Inside are some items we may need during the pilgrimage like a bandana, rosary, hat, water bottle, maps, and a guide book for the events of WYD. We ended our day with a nice dinner at a Lebanese restaurant and are now getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we have a long day seeing the natural side of Panama.
Kevin
Kevin
January 19th, 2019 - Day One
Our journey to Panama has begun. We had an early start in our travels this morning with a 6:00 a.m. flight out of Hartford, but we made it down to Panama with just a few minor delays. First off, the weather here is absolutely beautiful, and we are thinking of our friends and family in CT, who are dealing with the winter storm. On our way to our hotel we were able to see some of the locations of the major events across the city. We had a few changes in our schedule so we ventured around the city looking for some food and found this great little Columbian restaurant and enjoyed our first dinner in Panama. Everyone in Panama is so welcoming. As we were walking around the city, many cars are honking at us, waving, and yelling "peregrinos." (pilgrims) We stocked up on some water for the days ahead and are calling it an early night. Tomorrow we are taking an official tour of the city and we will begin to meet many "peregrinos" from around the world.
Peace,
Kevin
Peace,
Kevin
January 13th, 2019 - One Week To Go
It is hard to believe that we are only one week away from the World Youth Day Pilgrimage to Panama. This pilgrimage experience will be a life changing event for all of our new pilgrims. Below is a link to the theme song for this years WYD. We will be singing this throughout the week. We can't wait to share our daily adventures with you during this time. Stay tuned for more updates as we join the youth of the Catholic church in Panama.
-Kevin Hadyka |
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