WASHINGTON ― Indu Jain says she would not wait eight hours to see Ricky Martin. Or Madonna. Not even The Rolling Stones or the president. But the pope? Definitely.
“I would never think about waiting that long for somebody,” said Jain, who was in line outside the White House at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday to make sure she got a good spot to see Pope Francis speak eight hours later. Gates to the White House didn’t even open until 5:00 a.m.
“This is the first time I’ve waited this long. I hope it’s worth waiting,” she said. “I think it will have a vibration. You are blessed if you are here.”
Jain was one of roughly 11,000 people packed onto the South Lawn for the pope’s historic visit. She drove in from Potomac, Maryland, in the wee hours with her husband and two kids. Her daughter and husband stood by her side, but her son got stuck a few rows back in the crowd. Jain didn’t mind. She got a front row spot to see the pope.
“We didn’t sleep last night because we didn’t want to oversleep,” she said. “I’m not even a Catholic. I’m Hindu. But still, I believe that whatever the message he’s giving is a human message that’s for everybody.”
The excitement was palpable as Jain and others waited for the pope to arrive. A man proudly held up an armload of rosaries he brought. Several people waved tiny American and Vatican flags provided by the White House. Cheers rippled through the crowd as the pope's caravan finally made its way onto the grounds. One woman toward the front cried.
Anna Majestro, a law student at Georgetown University, said she and her friends went to a concert Tuesday night and decided to get in line at 2 a.m. to see the pope instead of going home and going to bed.
"We were sleeping on the sidewalk," said Majestro. "Like, actually on the sidewalk."
"We have pictures of her sleeping," confirmed Katherine Connolly, her classmate.
Connolly said she wanted to hear Pope Francis speak because he is "an incredible figure" for the church and the world at large.
"He's very unifying, especially for the youth in the Catholic Church," she said. "He represents what we see as the future."
Tatiana Toquica and Jillian Kozub, both in the Air Force and dressed in uniform, said they, too, were in line all night. They live in Virginia and the District of Columbia, respectively, and said it was worth getting up at the horrific hour of 2 a.m. to nab their prime viewing spot.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Toquica said. "What's the point of waking up to see it on TV if you can see it up close? We were like, 'If we're going to be there, then we're going to be in front.'"
Kozub said they fought to stay awake as they stood in the dark for hours.
"We thought about sleeping on the sidewalk, I'm not going to lie," she said.
Like many of the people The Huffington Post talked to, Toquica said she sees Pope Francis as different from past popes because of his message of broad acceptance -- something that appeals to a newer generation of Catholics.
"A lot of people our age have left the church," she said. "The way that he presents a nonjudgmental forgiveness is big for him. For us."
Not everybody was local. Irene Muller flew in on a red-eye flight from Palos Verdes, California, on Monday. She said her daughter won tickets from their congressional representative to attend Thursday's ceremonies, and her son "borrowed and begged from all his friends" until he got hold of passes for the White House event.
"My whole family is Catholic, and he, Pope Francis, represents a lot of hope for everyone. A good future," Muller said. "Regardless of what you believe or not, he's very accepting to everyone. So that's why we love him."
The event was more personal for Dr. Michael Silva, who stood to the side wearing a Panama hat and a Catholic pin on his jacket. Silva grew up in the same Buenos Aires neighborhood as Pope Francis and was born the same year. They weren't friends, but Silva knew of Francis. He wrote him a letter once, at the Vatican, saying how proud he was to see a Latin American leading the church, especially from Argentina. He got a letter back thanking him for his well wishes.
"It feels good being here," said Silva, who flew in from Corpus Christi, Texas. "We got here at 5:30 a.m. and we could hardly see. But anyway, we heard him."
Silva said he doesn't like that Pope Francis is "very political" and "causing controversies." But he thinks he understands where that spirit comes from: former Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón, who Silva said brought social justice to their home country.
"He is typical of Perón. That's from his time," said Silva. "I grew up with that. He grew up with that. He just stayed with that all of his life."
