20130630 End of the World, End of the Journey

Santiago felt like just another stopover town. It was cool- I got my compostela and saw a couple of pilgrims I hadn't seen in a few weeks. But it felt like Burgos and Leon and Logrono.

Finisterre really felt like the end of my journey. On the way up the hill to the western-most point of the continent, I noticed that there was a mass starting at the tiny chapel Igrexa de Santa Maria. It was packed with locals and pilgrims. They had a girls choir, with a young girl in the back just singing her heart out. The congregation sang along and the priest gave a hearty sermon, even though I had no idea what he was saying. I suddenly got it.

My second and last spiritual moment was in that church: the Holy Spirit is people. It's community, people together. This is the lesson that has been trying to come through to me this whole way: the solitary contemplation made the serendipitous roadside pilgrim conversation meaningful, the circumstances and activity made pilgrims open up to each other like you never would in real life, the fact that the pilgrims shared everything with each other along the way, including emotional support, a listening ear, and sometimes just singing together or sharing a meal. THIS is what the lesson is. I get it now.

NOW I feel like my journey is done.

I'm ready to stop walking.

I love you and can't wait to talk to you when I get home.

I will be spending much energy in convincing you to do at least a portion of this.

PS the order of the pictures I send you is the order in which I saw them.





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End of the World, End of the Journey

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20130609 I walked into the Meseta yesterday

re: 20130608 Atapuerca, Spain

The picture of the cross isn't Cruz de Farro. Cruz de Farro will be in a little over a week from now. I will definite let you know when I've stopped there! Btw I walked into the Meseta yesterday and will be on it until about Leon. It's beautiful and so peaceful! I don't know why people say to skip it????

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20130608 Burgos, Spain

Burgos, Spain

The walk through the suburbs of Burgos is difficult because its on concrete. Concrete and asphalt really have been what my Robles is with the cities on this walk. If the cities had dirt trails, I would probably love them!

Burgos is an amazing city with a beautiful gothic cathedral. However, my favorite part of Burgos was its public transportation system!!!!!!!!!!  After about 3km of concrete suburbs, I noticed a bus terminal shelter. I figured out the bus map, waited 2 minutes, and caught a bus that took me straight to the cathedral, where the albergue was! Brilliant! That bus did in 10 minutes what would have taken me 2 hours. One thing I've learned on this trip: the world is HUGE! It's really big. And also, I love buses! Lol.

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20130608 Atapuerca, Spain

 Atapuerca, Spain

20130606 San Juan de Ortega, Spain

 

San Juan de Ortega, Spain

I stayed in Villafranca last night, walked through San Juan de Ortega on my way to Aterpuerca.

The square in San Juan was full of peregrinos, and as I looked around, I realized that all of us look like vagabonds. We all have no more than 2 outfits - 1 to wear, 1 to wash - no one is carrying a brush or shaving apparatus, and daily showering is a nuisance, and overkill besides. We walk through mud, dust, fields and gravel, and no matter how often we wash our white socks, they remain streaked with brown, with an overall grey pallor.

For most of us, at this point in our journey, we have walked 10-30 km every day for the last 2 weeks. We have discarded every scrap that is not vital in getting us to Santiago, including deodorant, make-up, conditioner, and those little bottles of hand sanitizer. The albergues have baskets of these discarded luxuries, free for whoever wants them (no one does). The town people look impossibly clean and smell like chemical flowers. I have a hard time remembering why I would ever torture my feet with high heels. But they are gracious, and while they don't seem to like the way we smell, they are polite and helpful to a pilgrim who strays from the path.

Week one was full of physical pain and adjustment. We had to learn to walk with our packs on, many had blisters, and all had bruised feet. With physical pain occupying our thoughts and conversation, there was not much reflection or talk of anything else. The pain has subsided for most in week 2, our bodies have gotten the message: we are walking. Far. And long. It rains, we walk. It hurts, we walk. We're tired, we walk. Talk is turning more reflective, though mostly self-referential. Pilgrims are examining their experiences and comparing their former lives to their walking lives.

I'm curious to see what week 3 will bring.

Dad, this is a hard walk, but there are people doing it very slowly. There are albergues every 6 km or so. That's very do-able. Like I said, Navarra is gorgeous and you should walk there at least a few days. I fell in love with the region, absolutely. Skip the Pyrenees, though ;)

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