Sunday, July 13, 2008

Plenty of Australian Hospitality to Go Around the World

So far this pilgrimage has been very pleasant, yet sometimes stressful, but the hospitality we have received has been amazing.

First, when our flight was delayed by 2 hours from Los Angeles, Qantas bumped Anna, Jerry and I to the exit row on the plane, which was wonderful since we had extra leg room to sleep. On top of that since we were seated directly next to the galley we had plenty of time to interact with the flight attendants, Kurt and Bronwyn. They served us dinner first (albeit at 5:30am EST/ 7:30pm Sydney time) which was delicious salmon. They also asked if we were WYD pilgrims and Kurt mentioned that if we were staying with his mother-in-law then he would take us around town. Kurt also let us know that there was a Hillsong concert/conference going on in downtown Sydney this weekend and helped us get some of the first pictures of Sydney, the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, the coastline, and some humpback whales from the airplane before we landed. Bronwyn also reminded us to 'LOOK RIGHT' as we cross the street as the cars drive on the Left Side of the road, 'just opposite' of the US. Hopefully we will see Kurt on our flight back to LA; Bronwyn is taking a 4 week holiday just in time to skip all the WYD activity.

As we headed to the Monastery, with the gracious Fr. Bernard, we were greeted with the wonderful lunch spread as Rakhi described in a previous post. What she didn't say was that our fridge in the separate cottage where we are staying was LOADED!! Lamb Steaks, Chicken, Fresh Eggs, Hot Dogs, Cheeses, Peanut Butter & Jelly, boxes of oranges and apples, and even a WHOLE leg of ham and Vegemite!!!! We haven't need to go to the market, except for a few extra vegetables for dinner and lunch. Benedictines really do take RADICAL HOSPITALITY seriously!

This morning we walked to mass at the parish that the Benedictines staff at the edge of their property in Arcadia. We were welcomed by many parishioners, and prayed for during the intercessions. After mass, the parish hosted a typical coffee & donuts where we were able to talk with the parishioners at length about the 'cold' winter (they were amazed I was wearing sandals and a skirt!), the Pope's visit (He will be staying about 20 minutes farther in the country than we are currently), and our stay with the Benedictines. A wonderful parish community!

This afternoon, we made our way to our host parish to just check out the surroundings and see if we could talk to someone at the parish about when we should meet our host families. We arrived at the parish around 1pm and the church was empty. After searching around for some 'toliets' (as they call the Restrooms) we ate lunch on the step of the church. Nearly finished and planning to leave, a parishioner stops in the road to ask 'Are you Right?' 'Of Course' we respond, yet she stops as she is one of the WYD Site Coordinators -Ella, and proceeds to open up the parish hall, get the pastor, Father John (a chancellor of the diocese) out of his house to meet us, and to make tea for us. She proceeded to call the parish homestay coordinator -Sybille- and chat with us. One homestay family from the Maronite community showed us and welcomed us as well. As it turns out, we will be showing up at the parish again tomorrow (Monday) at 4pm to attend a parish WYD blessing and BBQ as well as meeting our host families and staying with them Monday night, a day earlier than expected. Thankfully, the parish is willing to stow our gear beginning tomorrow morning when Fr. Bernard will drop us off, rather than us carrying all of our packs the entire day. On top of all that, the homestay coordinator's husband, Eric, and the pastor drove us down to the ferry to take to the Sydney before we headed back to the Monastery.

Just some of the Amazing Australian Hospitality that we have encountered here!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

God bless all the pilgrims in Australia! and God bless the Aussies for there hospitality! It is wonderful to see God working in so many ways!
Give thanks always

Deacon Mark (Andrea's dad)