Friends on the Beach

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Last night, we had the official welcome of my good friend, Pope Francis, to World Youth Day, again on the beaches of Copacabana. The crowds were simply immense. And for a short person like me, it means that I didn’t get to see anything past the shoulders of taller pilgrims (which is almost everyone).

However, Mark was able to get a good vantage point for the camera. He also got to meet a few friends from a few different countries.

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During the short time Mark and I got separated by the crowd, I got to meet a group of pilgrims from Taiwan, where my parents were from. I got to brush up a little on my limited Chinese. Here in this picture, one pilgrim from Taiwan exchanges a culture item with me. It is the customs at WYD for people from different countries to exchange small tokens to remember the trip. I was able to present them with a Busted Halo beach ball.