July 9th

So it's official. I'm the new official blog poster. Father Daren has realized that girls put more details into their work. So he has appointed me the blog poster. So yeah. That's cool.

Anyway, on July 9th we split up and took two different plane sto Cairns (still pronounce Cans). The first flight left at 7:05 and was not very nice. They had no TV's, no free food or drinks, and a SMALL bottle of water cost $3. Lucky for me, I was on the 9:30 flight. They have TV's, one free meal, and free drinks. The flight was only 3 hours long, so it went by very quickly.

Once we arrived, we all ate lunch. We've realized that this place is much more expensive than the United States. You can expect to pay $10 for a meal. So, if anyone wants to send extra money to their kids, that would be nice and greatly appreciated! Afterwards, we all split up and went to walk around Gilligan's (the backpacker's place we're staying at.) They have a lot of little stores that are easy to walk to. They also have a big mall, which is much nicer than the Village Square Mall!! But their clothes are also very expensive. I don't see how people afford this kind of expensive lifestyle. Oh, and gas is $6 a gallon!! And did you know that they drive on the left side of the road, and in the right side of the car? Kind of confusing! I always think that the cars have no drivers! And their toilets flush backwards. Very cool!

We all met up together and had mass in a room smaller than a typical hotel room. But somehow we managed to cram 25 people into the room for mass. I will have to say, it's Fr. Daren's shortest mass that I've ever been to. I mean, 20 minutes!! But it gives us a time to relax and remember why we are here. Which, reminds me... there are tonso f people here in Cairns for World Youth Day. There's a large group from Alaska of about 100 kids, and more from around the U.S. And some people I saw on the elevator that spoke a different language! It really is neat to see all the poeple come together. And to think, we are just beginning! There is an estimated 250,000 people going to World Youth Day. That's a lot of people. I hope I don't get lost. And about that... Everyone has to have a flag that will help them spot their group. Guess what ours is?? A black flag with skull and crossbones! Fr. Daren assured me we'd be the only one with it, and we wouldn't get it confused with anyone else's. Haha!! I sure hope not!