keeping you posted

so much has happened since my last post. basically, the person i was to go with backed out on me at early december. the second friend i asked backed out early in january. but through all the holiday madness last december, during a quiet lunch with a friend, i suddenly found someone who was as excited as me to go to the wyd and do a european tour! thank God for her! He answered my prayer.

beginning of january saw me contacting all people i can talk to regarding application to the official delegation of the country to the WYD. i contacted four parishes, but only one (not my parish) was willing to take us in for an interview provided that we pay our own way. i also contacted the youth conference and my diocese, all of which were kind of not too helpful after finding out that i am not a member of any ministry of my church. second, they were asking me for an endorsement from my parish priest. unfortunately, my parish priest doesn't know me and i couldn't find the time to leave work for an interview with him. so sorry, no endorsement there. there was also this all women group that would like to take us in but they had a fixed itinerary so we guessed we are already out because my friend and i are planning something else before the event. going back to the parish that was willing to interview us, we didn't hear from them again (because we didn't have a priest's endorsement).

so, because of this, my friend and i decided to go on our own. so this march, we finally registered ourselves at the official website of the WYD and had successfully paid our dues! :)

but while i was doing all those things i mentioned above, i realized that sometimes, it sucks to have countrymen who doesn't think of others, only themselves. people have told me that there's all these interviews for the delegation because in the previous years, others do not come back home anymore! this just makes it harder for those who have pure intentions, being railroaded because of what they did. i hope they grow up!

second, i realized that sometimes, it's unfair that just because you're not a member of any ministry, you would just be delegated at the bottom of a list and do not get noticed by the people trying to run the show. i thought there was equality in the Church because we are all children of God? well, just a thought.

nevertheless, my heart is set on going so i wouldn't let anybody get in the way. so here we are now, registered and paid! :D

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regarding our european tour, i finally started working on an "official" itinerary. this is the one we are going to submit to the Spanish Embassy for our visa application. and speaking of visas, i was reminded today that i really do need to prepare all necessary documents. i know of some people going for pope john paul's beatification in italy being denied visas. hopefully, we can submit all our documents by the end of march or first week of april. necessary papers will include: certificate of employment, proof of financial capability, approved leave forms, and itinerary.

the first leg of my trip will be in the uk. i have just finished arranging all my accommodations at my friends' both in london and belfast. yipeee!!!!