THE DIARY OF ONE SUNDAY

On Sunday, September 27, 2009 a beautiful and precious journey is worth written on the piece of paper. My day begins at 06.00 a.m. I opened my eyes from a nice sleep and saw the rays of the sun filtrating from the window half-opened. Putting my bed in order, going to take a bath, getting ready to go to the chapel for prayer and meditation, yes, as usual, this is a rhythm of my daily life. In God's providence I presented all the programs of the day. Sincerely, I have waited for this day to come, a day of the People's Feast in one of the small towns in Italy called Osimo where we have a parish St. Charles Borromeo.
In the morning, at 09.15 I and 5 other friends (Pierre (from Haiti), Agustinus (from Indonesia), Selmo (from Brazil), Brayan (from Perù, Tao (from Vietnam) left from the house bound to the Castro Pretorio Station where the pullman that would take us to Osimo parked. It took us almost an hour to arrive there. We were assigned to accompany the group of filipinos who would participate on the show in this people's feast. Actually, we were in charge of contacting three groups in Rome, namely: Filipino group, Latin America, and Mauritians. Latin American and Mauritian groups prefer to go there on their own car while the filipinos have chosen stick on the initial program to take a pullman.

Our Pullman departed from Castro Pretorio Station at 11.00 o'clock. The pullman has 54 sits but only 36 sits were taken while the others are vacant. While Ivano was driving, I took the microphone to greet all the passengers and give them some indications with regards to the trip. I reminded them of not leaving any dirt and trash on the pullman. I invited them to pray so that we can arrive safe and sound in our destination. There was a brief silence, then, the recitation of Our Father, Hail Mary and the Glory. As I wished them a good trip, they responded with shouts of joy.
Along the way, we enjoyed the panorama of the countryside. The highways were so good and I was wandering on what a great intelligence the architect has in building them. We stopped in the "area di servizio" to have a lunch. We brought our own foods. We had some bread, canned fish, and some fruits. How wonderful was it to smoke Indonesian cigarettes "Gudang Garam" after lunch!

After 45 minutes of break, we continued our trip. We passed by Ancona and Loreto. We arrived at our destination at almost 3 pm. Rosina, Antonella and some other people were waiting for us. They were smiling at us and I hugged them as I approached them. Yeah, I have been here for sometimes and there is so much familiarity in this beautiful place. We went to greet also Fr. Luigi, the parish priest, who was celebrating his 40 years anniversary of priesthood. He was very happy and he shared to us about his life and how the parish is going.
The program would start at 4.30 pm. We still had some time to roam around. I invited my friends to go to visit Elsa's family (peruvian family). Several times I have been to their house. It is very welcoming family. I was very happy to see again Elsa and her children. We stayed there for a moment and they offered us some drinks and some chips to chew. As the time goes, we excuse ourselves in order to be there in the parish to help the ongoing of the Feast.
Late afternoon, the Mauritian group and the Latin American group arrived. I was very happy to see Julio and his company. Every year his group participates the people's Feast (Festa dei Popoli) in Rome organized by the Missionaries of St. Charles-Scalabrinians. I accompanied them to the hall where the other groups were also gathering. They immediately began to prepare all the things needed for their cultural dance. Not long after, the Mauritian group arrived. They were accompanied by Antonio, an Italian whose wife is Mauritian. I and Pierre welcomed them and led them to the same hall where the other dancers were. I chatted with them for few minutes.

We started the mass at 6 p.m. The main celebrant was a representative from the diocese of Ancona. Fr. Luigi and the other priests con-celebrated this Eucharistic celebration. For the procession, there were two representatives of different nationalities in their traditional costums. In his homily, the main celebrant said that each human being is created by God and for that reason we have to welcome him no matter what color he belongs or from what country he comes from. After the homily, three Albanian children were baptized. In this celebration, the choir of youths of St. Charles Parish rendered the mass more lively. Before ending the mass, the representative of the parish council gave the medal of recognition to Fr. Luigi for his 40th Anniversary of his priesthood.
Right after the mass, we had dinner. The dinner was offered by different ethnic communities. I tasted the Peruvian food and drank caipirinha (Brazilian typical drink). We were eating in hurry because based on the program there would be a cultural show while having dinner. I had to go be sure that the groups from Rome are ready. I found the groups were ready to go on the stage.

The first group who went on the stage was the Filipino group. Their first presentation was Cultural dance called "Singkil". This dance comes from one of the provinces of Indonesia called Lanao. They danced very well. Many people applauded.
The Latin American Group who also call themselves "Alpasumac" went on the stage to present the Latin American dance. Their director is Julio Palacios. The name "Alpasumac" has its indigenous origin, in dialect "Quichua", translated as "Sacred Land". This group has represented Ecuador in various meetings, manifestations, international festivals done in Italia. They have been also in some programs of RAI, Italian National Television. From 1996 up to now this association has realized more than 100 artistic shows in a local and international level. Their music is very alive. There were many who danced in their own places as the music played.


After some cultural dances, another group of Filipinos went on the stage for Hiphop. This group is commonly called "KREWAYZ". It was founded on June 2008. Twice they took a first place in a competition in Chianciano and Florence. they have participated in various International events in Italy and in the Philippines. It was one of the best presentations of the night. Many young people were shouting of joy as these filipino guys moved well their bodies in harmony. After Hiphop, they continued with a Holy Family Choral. This is also a filipino group founded on January 2006. The Filipino Groups were amazing. They have made a good show.
The Mauritian groups were also eager to show their talents. They were in four and all of them are females. Just like the Filipino and the Latin American Groups, every year they always participate the "Festa dei Popoli". As they finished their presentation, I approached them to congratulate them for their beautiful dance.


We left Osimo at around 9 p.m. On our way back, we recalled again the short experience in Osimo. There were no so much talks on our way back. Many preferred to sleep after a very tiring day. We arrived in our house in the morning of September 28, 2009 (at 01.45).
I will treasure this day, a day where I can see different faces and enjoying different cultural presentations.