Thursday, June 11, 2015

Camino Day 17 - SANTIAGO!!!

Santiago de Compostela - 8 September, 2014

I made it to Santiago. I can't believe I just walked 200 miles across a foreign country. The blisters on my feet, the pain in my muscles and the fatigue in my heart do nothing but deepen the gratitude I feel for being able to take this pilgrimage.

Ramon, Don and I arrived in Santiago together yesterday. As we approached the medieval city center, I was overcome by emotion. Reaching Santiago with my new friends and celebrating such an amazing feat with them was one of the best feelings I've ever had in life.



We arrived just in time for midday mass at the cathedral and the swinging of the botafumeiro. We were scrunched into the aisles during the service, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other peregrinos. Honestly, it wasn't quite the cathartic, spiritual experience I expected - it was more of a tourist attraction than anything else. So I attended an English-language mass this morning to really contemplate the end of my pilgrimage.

During this mass, I found out that the 8th of September is the date that Christians celebrate the birthday of Saint Mary which was simply amazing to me. When I left home, I decided at the last minute to bring along this small, glow-in-the-dark plastic statue of Saint Mary. I can't even remember who gave it to me, but for as long as I can remember she's been in my bedroom and I've felt comforted by her watching over me. I never knew why I decided to bring her along but every day of the Camino, I carried her in my right front pants pocket. Walking on those dark mornings and those times I felt so lonely, I clutched her in my fist and felt better. And it turns out, I finished my pilgrimage on her birthday. During mass, the priest said that Mary was God's favorite daughter and the relationship between a father and daughter is so very special. He said that people pray to Saint Mary because it helps to have a daughter champion a prayer to her father. That I arrived in Santiago on Saint Mary's birthday not fully knowing why I kept a statue of her with me for the past two and a half weeks is far beyond a coincidence. I don't really know the significance of this, but I know in my heart that there is great meaning behind it.


So often on this trip, I got to choose if I wanted to be alone to write about what I was going through or go out with other people and participate in this extraordinary experience. I think that may be what I am most proud of on my Camino: the number of times I chose to participate rather than observe.

I started these Camino posts with poems I came across and would like to close with a Santiago Pilgrims' Blessing:


Father God we ask your blessing on us,
pilgrims who have come to venerate
the tomb of your Apostle Santiago.
As you kept us safe on our Camino way,
may you keep us safe on our journey home.
And, inspired by our experience here,
may we live out the values of the Gospel
as our pilgrimage through life continues.
Amen.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Camino Day 13

4 September, 2014 - Palas de Rei

Another day on the Camino and the second in a row walking in no sun. That kind of tricks my body into thinking it can go longer than it should. Luckily my head comes into play and shuts that down pretty quickly.

I haven't mentioned the father and daughter pair I've met from New Zealand - Bruce and Lydia. They are both great! I met them in Triacastela along with the others and we'll probably be in the same towns until Santiago. I met them through Ramon. It is interesting meeting different people in such a different environment from their norm but still see their roles coming through. Like Bruce, for example, acts quite fatherly toward me which is actually very comforting. He keeps to himself but when I offered something up like that I am doing laundry or looking for a store for a camera battery charger (mine fried back in Ponferrada and this is my second attempt at finding a proper replacement) he offered to add my clothes to their load and told me about electronics stores I might try around town. That feeling of comfort I got reminds me of a scene in this TV show called Girls. The main character talks about how when we are little and we drop and break a glass, how our dad keeps us away and out of harm until he cleans up all the glass - but how when we are older, there isn't anyone that does that for us anymore.

There is something very liberating about striking out on your own. You learn to do things you never thought you would do. You learn things about yourself that you never thought you would know. But there is also something very freeing about depending on others. Asking for help allows us to be vulnerable and being taken care of shows us the best of humanity.

I'm writing this as I sit in a restaurant having just ordered dessert, by the way - ice cream cake or "torta helada" and wine (duh). The first white wine - vino blanco - I've had here in Spain and of course it is amazing.



So this morning I left in the dark again but this time I was by myself. Yesterday, I walked with Ji Wuk and Aldo in the dark. But it's quite difficult to wait for the light because sunrise isn't until 8am which means I wont get to my next stop until about 3pm. Now that I am getting closer to Santiago, there are many more pilgrims on the Way and far fewer beds available so I've been trying to get into town by 2pm or earlier.

Anyway, I made sure to put my flashlight in my pocket for easy access and I'm glad I did. I brought it out as I was climbing the hills through a dense, forested area in the dark. There was a good 20 minutes when I couldn't see or hear other pilgrims either in front of or behind me and I started to get nervous. I started hearing rustling just off the trail and my mind started cutting to all the worst possible scenarios - pretty bleak stuff. I wasn't sure if I should continue on or sit by myself and wait for who knows how long for another pilgrim or group to come up from behind me.



But then, I squeezed my flashlight and remembered that it was the one I got from family day at my brother Mike's work. So I kept going and imagined that Mike was walking along right beside me - just like the time in Yosemite. We were hiking down from Half Dome and I was sick, dehydrated and had massive blisters on both feet. He just talked to me the whole way down to distract me from the pain. So I imagined him doing the exact same thing this morning. It was like he was right there with me - asking me questions about my Camino so far and how excited I was for Liverpool. Imagining him walking along beside me helped keep me from panicking, kept me walking forward and kept me from thinking that some huge thing was going to jump out from the darkness and attack me.

So I texted Mike when I was clear from the trees to thank him for the flashlight. I don't know if he ever got the text and I don't know if he will ever know how important that flashlight will be to me from now on but I hope he knows how important he is to me.

Dear God, please bless Mike, Erin and smart, beautiful, fun Kate. Keep them all healthy and happy and always let them know how much they are loved. Amen.