Pope Francis & Bill Murray

"I try to be available for life to happen to me." - Bill Murray (the short version of how we ended up on an overnight bus to Ecuador)

A little over a week and a half ago, Mom and I learned that the parish at which we are staying, Santisimo Sacramento, had chartered a bus to send people to Guayaquil, Ecuador to see Pope Francis. For the low price of $40, we joined our new friends Katlyn and Brian and approximately one million South American faithful in celebrating Mass at Parque Samanes!

We left Piura on Sunday evening at 6 PM with a handful of our favorite parish social workers and teachers, made it through Immigration by midnight (swiftly eliminating my visa issue), endured a truly tragic Jennifer Love Hewitt Lifetime Original movie (dubbed over on Spanish) and pulled into Guyaquil at the crack of 3 AM--- where the bus proceeded to leave us: pillows, blankets, backpacks of food and all! (We had thought we were taking the same bus home and could leave our personal belongings aboard. No matter, my iPad and paperback have now been blessed the Pope).

A short cab ride and a 2 mile Pope Francis paraphernalia infused walk later, we claimed a patch of

dirt to call our own and proceeded to throw down our blankets and pillows and nest (who are the stupid Americans now?). Music and programming began by 6 AM, but it was ultimately the unbearable heat that awoke us permanently. At 8:30. AM. Because "Ecuador" translates to "equator" and also "the hottest piece of land you will ever discover until high noon, when it gets even hotter."

I could wax poetic about the heat (like how I drank 10 water bottles and never had to go to the bathroom, or how at one point I was inhaling into a wet cloth and kept telling myself all I had to do was breathe and keep sitting, or how a firetruck drenched us all during the second reading but my clothes were dry 20 minutes later, etc.), but that would direct the narrative away from what was truly important: celebrating Mass with the first South American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church IN South America!

Pope Francis might have rock star status in other places of the world, but here he is truly a son of the people. From "Yo ❤️ Papa"

Pope Francis

shirts, to cartoon depictions of his face printed on baseball caps to posters of his views on the treatment of the world's poor, to the jumbotrons that captured his every move following his landing in Guayaquil, Pope Francis is a figure of unparalleled significance and affection. Children and adults alike rushed to the fences as he passed, hoisting crucifixes, rosaries, water (and backpacks full of books and snacks) to be blessed. People sang wholeheartedly and without reserve. When prompted by His Holiness, the crowd roared "Mary es Madre! Mary es Madre!" with regards to his homily. You could almost feel the Gospel stirring within the people gathered (in addition to the humidity).

Following Mass, we walked for what felt like a marathon in search of a cab, but were bolstered by the enthusiasm and air or contentedness of the throngs of people around us. By 7 PM we were on our way out of the city and by 5 AM arrived back at "home" safe and sound.

We will forever be grateful for this opportunity and for the people with whom we were able to share it, especially Pope Francis :)

     Kathleen