Listening

I arrived into Muxia by bus planning to stay at a hotel. I thought some alone time might be good for me but, as it often happens on the Camino, my plans changed. The place I was planning to stay in was closed and a Hungarian man told me about a really nice albergue just down the street. I went in and really liked it. It was comfortable, the hospitaleiro was very kind and it had a ¨hippy¨ vibe to it. I thought I would feel like an imposter staying at an albergue when I did not walk and so I put my things down and went for a walk along the ocean. Muxia is a very small, quiet town and that is just what I needed. I walked, read, walked and stared and within a couple of hours two pilgrims I knew who had walked from Santiago greeted me. They decided to stay at the same albergue and that evening we enjoyed dinner and the local roaming dogs. One of the pilgrims and I grabbed a bottle of wine and went to sit on the huge rocks overlooking the dramatic ocean watching the sky as it darkened into evening. It was misting and the waves were crashing. The conversation on the rocks was with my young male German friend and it quickly turned into a very deep one about some painful memories both of us had and while there is pain within the threads of the stories shared, it again reminded me of how healing and important it is to share yourself with others. My friend reacted to my stories very kindly and did not overreact or show any pity. As has often happened on the Camino I felt that he was put in my path that day and that moment purposefully and I have been learning to let fate guide me and to not try and control situations such as forcing myself to stay in a hotel because I originally thought I would prefer to be alone. I ended the evening playing music with another young man and went to sleep quite late but preparing my mind for a very long hike to Finisterre the following day.

Waking early I decided that I did not feel it was wise to walk. I was originally excited to walk with another pilgrim who said we could sing the whole day long but the break in my foot is quite swollen, the blisters are red which I have heard indicates they are infected (I don´t want to say there are since I am not sure), I am still having numbness in my big toes and …. yep, I have to make excuses for not walking. There is a lot of guilt involved in this choice, like if I don´t suffer I am not worthy. That is a much larger problem than me not walking – that is a common theme in my life. ¨If I don´t suffer, I am not worthy.¨ (I know my any past boyfriends and all close friends are nodding up and down right now) Unfortunately the only advice I have heard to change this is to tell myself I don´t have to. Sounds good but that has not worked yet as I have a hard time listening to myself. Yet slowly I am showing signs of listening. The albergue felt good and I stayed there. The German man had a genuine and kind smile and so I walked down to the rocks with him when I had originally planned to read alone. I thought I should go to sleep but then a guitar was brought out and so I played. And today was the day in which I think I was really listening to myself. Of course I realize none of these examples are tough choices and yet they are small, incremental ways that I am teaching myself to listen.

My friend decided to stay with me in Muxia and we planned to take a taxi to Finisterre. The hospitaleiro offered to drive us himself and he took a more remote route that lead us to his favourite surfing spot. My friend ended up taking his clothes off and jumping in the very cold ocean. I took pictures for his wife. Funny situations this Camino provides. I spoke to the Hungarian hospitaleiro and even sang him the new Hungarian song I have learned on the Camino and some of the phrases I have learned. He is a very interesting man who has lived all over the world, speaks many languages and has walked the Camino numerous times. It was a really lovely drive and when we ended up in Finisterre and turned the corner, I was taken aback by the commercialism of Finisterre. It didn´t have the same peaceful energy of Muxia and I was immediately uncomfortable. My friend and I got out of the car, said our goodbyes to the hospitaleiro, had tea at a café and immediately jumped into another cab and headed back to Muxia. Sort of crazy to do but now I will now stay in Muxia another two days before I head home. Luckily for me the albergue is only 9 Euros a night so it sort of offsets the price of two rides back and forth to Finisterre and now I can say I have been there. Plus the first drive with the hospitaleiro was so enjoyable and worth every penny.

I love the little albergue here, the two Hungarians working there and the peacefulness of the town and I plan to spend the next few hours reading on the rocks. We have had a reprieve of rain (phew!) and today is beautiful. At times I have loved having this ¨extra¨ time – the result of walking more than I expected to the first few days and not walking onto Finisterre and at other times I feel ready to go home but now that I am in this very serene town, I look forward to the rest of today and tomorrow where I will explore the beaches, read and write. At times I feel guilty for having all this time. It feels like too much luxury for one person to have so much time to relax and enjoy. All this damned guilt and unworthiness, insecurity and anxiety but luckily these feelings are matched with a sense of calm, peacefulness, joy and pride.

I am very glad that two days ago a sweet young Wisconsin woman was put in my path (mentioned in the post ¨stillness¨), yesterday I felt so happy that this young German man was put in my path. Every day or two this happens – just the right person at just the right time. I think these people live in my town too but I am not as open to these experiences there. I hope to continue to have these daily adventures in good ol´ Eugene, Oregon very soon.

Also although I cannot say that I walked from one side of the country to the other, I can now say I have been from one side of the country to the other. Buen Camino!

Stillness

When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world. – Eckhart Tolle

Today is my third day in Santiago de Compostela. I have had no way to describe my mood over the last few days. I have sat with coffee, sat with tea, sat with water, sat with wine, sat outside in the rain, sat under the cover of buildings and stared into space. I have watched others. I have shared in the pilgrims joy at completing the Camino just by sitting in a cafe across from the Pilgrim´s office where you receive your Compostela. If I try to write, I just sit with no discernable thoughts, no discernable mood, nothing written on the page. If I try to read, I don´t turn the pages just look at the page as if it were a complex piece of art. Today I came to an internet cafe to catch up but mainly I have sat listening to music staring off into space.

Today I thought all of the pilgrims I knew had left but then one woman walked into a cafe where I was drinking tea and next thing you know I was one of the ten lucky people who got to eat a nice free pilgrims meal at the very fancy Parador Hotel (10 pilgrims get in free each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner). I conversed with everyone and enjoyed the moment but had this very peaceful, quiet feeling throughout it all. Instead of concentrating on the words people were saying, I noticed their smiles, their breathing, their energy. I felt honored by one of them in that she was very open with me about her personal journey and I was glad that she felt comfortable to share so much of herself with me.

Tomorrow I will head to Muxia by bus and then the following day I will go to Finisterre where I will likely catch up with fellow pilgrims who will have arrived on foot.

I don´t know what I will do with the rest of my day but I think that sitting and staring will likely be a major part of it.

Santiago

I did it. I am in Santiago. 500 miles/800 kilometers walked over 33 days. It is so hard to describe this experience and really I think that you will never really understand it unless you do it but writing has been a very important part of my process and so although I know I cannot do it justice I will write out some thoughts.

This second attempt at the Camino has been tough. My feet are covered in blisters and one toe is almost completely numb. Walking with a limp has caused me to have knee problems in my right leg and my boots are heavy and painful. It has rained every day but one. It is colder. I jumped into an already established Camino family and had trouble finding my ¨way¨. I have been sitting around for 35 days in between each Camino and my muscles are weaker because of it.

It has also been good for me. I have learned that even when my body fails me, my perseverence continues. I feel that some of the social challenges I experienced more closely resembles ¨real¨life and each experience is an opportunity for personal growth. As time goes on, I feel I will continue to learn many lessons from the Camino.

I haven´t written for a few days and I´ve had some ups and downs. Two days ago I struggled internally very badly. I could not get out of my negative head space and it didn´t help that I didn´t see anyone on the trail that day. My feet really hurt but by the evening, I found a nice albergue. I also found I had… the dreaded bed bugs. I had bumps up and down one arm and was scared that everyone would react like I had the plague. People were incredibly kind – one person gave me an antihistamine, another medical cream, another a new towel so that mine could wash and the woman who ran the albergue started a load of laundry for me. I sprayed down my bag and other things but wore very little clothing because I wanted as much as possible to be in the wash. My hair was wet from the shower and there was no heat in the albergue and I was very cold and having back spasms. Even with all of this, I again felt revived from a nice pilgrim meal with fellow peregrinos. Conversation was easy and Paul from Ireland who is a phenomenal published poet said many inspirational things that I think will stay with me for years to come. Countries represented this evening were Sweden, Ireland, Australia and Germany.

The next day my Swedish friend and I decided to walk together and to try and walk farther than recommended in order to have a short walk into Santiago the following day and to make the 12pm mass. I had thought many times of taking a day off but when I thought of arriving in Santiago, a big city that many of my previous Caminoans had said was slightly disappointing, and not knowing anyone – it made me sad so I had decided to keep up the pace in order to see friendly pilgrim faces when I finished the Camino. I really enjoy my swedish friend. She is a very honest, deep and happy person and our conversation can flow from the very serious to the very light. We walked slowly and took many enjoyable breaks but as it got later and later, and my knee started to hurt and my blisters were at a very high pain level it became a major challenge. We started walking at 8:30am and found our way (we thought we passed the place to stay, went back and learned that no… we had not missed it) to a hotel at 7:30pm. We were exhausted. I was way past the point of being able to find the journey fun or funny. My feet ached like I have never known. We had an incredibly expensive but also incredibly enjoyable meal and went to sleep. One of the highlights of the day for me was when I told Carina the story of The Quiltmaker´s Gift (http://www.quiltmakersgift.com/) – my favorite children´s book. When I was finished I turned to look at her and she had tears streaming down her face and said that I just given her a very special gift. This made me very happy.

Today we only needed to walk 10 km to Santiago. My blisters and tight, heavy shoes made the walk very difficult. I went from feeling emotional and overjoyed knowing we were almost there to feeling short of breath from the pain, frustrated, and at times I lacked the ability to focus being distracted from the pain. As we turned the corner to see the cathedral we walked arm in arm and there were tears in our eyes and I felt great joy and a peaceful reverence for the journey´s end. We got our compostella where I had to define if I did this for religious reasons, spiritual or for sport. They explained that this determined what kind of compostella I would receive. I felt like saying I did this for sport really minimized my experience but I am not religious so at last I chose spiritual. We walked out and saw friends and sat down to have a coffee. I think people thought I was tired because I was very quiet and stared off into space but I was just overwhelmed by the experience. I can´t even say what I was feeling – if it was good or if it was bad even, just that I was sitting in a cafe full of people – many excited to have completed the Camino and I sat staring at nothing.

We all went to mass which was good because although I didn´t understand a word of it, it gave me a moment to be quiet and to sit in a room full of peregrinos which made me reflect and feel connected and grounded in the moment. The man to my right was Catholic and had a lovely voice and I enjoyed him singing as most people weren´t Catholic and weren´t participating in the service because they weren´t sure how to. At one point, we were to greet our neighbors and everyone gave big hugs or warm handshakes and I teared up and noticed others did as well. They unexpectedly had a botafumeiro ceremony during mass which generally only happens once a week but some anonymous donor had paid 300 Euros to have this added to todays service. We all felt very lucky and it was a beautiful way to honor such a momentous journey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botafumeiro

I thought of so many pilgrims from my previous journey and although I want to say I was in the present and just happy with who was there knowing it was destiny that brought us together at that moment – I missed my previous Camino family. As I walked I often would think…I wonder what Peter or Gail thought of this section or I bet Denise and Robert would´ve laughed at that sign or wouldn´t it be nice to have a hug from Dave, Bob or Daniele right now. I would think of Joanne who did not finish and get excited about what she will see when she goes back knowing which parts I think she will enjoy the most and albergues she will love.

I also had feelings of sadness that I had not completed the journey at one time wondering if this lessened the accomplishment. I was disappointed that this second part has been so tough physically for me wondering who this person is – this slower and weaker self. And also wondering who this very insecure person is but understanding her more than the physically weak one.

And even with those thoughts I also felt strong and powerful and proud and that word is so important to me right now. Proud. I am all of the things mentioned (weak, insecure, disappointed) but damn it – I am also proud, really proud. Even while writing this I am tearing up. How often are we proud of ourselves? I don´t think it is often and it feels amazing.

I am recognizing that my body is telling me to rest and that is what I will do tomorrow. I will stay in Santiago and honor my aching body. I also plan to sit quietly and journal and read – two things I have not done at all on this second part of my journey. I am staying in a pension with my swedish friend and meeting many pilgrims at 7pm for dinner and I am now sitting at an internet cafe with Paul, the poet I mentioned before. I hope to walk to Finisterra the following day. Many say this is the true ending of the Camino and it will add 89 kilometers to my journey. Crossing fingers that I am able to accomplish this. I think it will provide yet another valuable layer to an already full experience.

I am glad I will be in Spain until the 14th. The reason I chose to do this was in hopes of walking to Finisterra but either way, I feel I need time alone to process this experience. Yet… I miss my life and my tremendously supportive and inspiring friends. I am looking forward to re-connecting with old friends that I have let go by the wayside that are very important to me. I look forward to celebrating this journey with them and finding out what adventures they have had. I love my little cottage and amazing landlord-neighbor and I especially love my puppy, Wallingford Bigglesworth and cannot wait to see him. I love my city.

I will leave you with a poem from Paul: http://www.basilbuntingaward.co.uk/media/download_gallery/TheDrowned.pdf

Buen Camino!

Palas de Rei

I have had two days walking since my last post. Today I thought that sometimes I wish my body were a machine that took in internal or external criticism and put it through a series of filters and determined what, if any, adjustments needed to be made (if the information provided allowed for improvements) and then of course it would discard any waste. There I would be, possibly improved, having had no emotional reaction to the information. Instead I am often in my head providing frequent analysis of my behavior/thoughts which often results in low self-esteem, second-guessing myself and of course the fun of being able to beat myself up because of something as trivial as not opening the door for someone or feeling fat (ie.. attaching judgment such as I am lazy or gluttonous). Yesterday I started off the day in a low mood – being self-critical (we don´t need to go into about what) – and all it took was walking into a cafe and seeing smiling pilgrims call out my name and wave for me to come and sit with them. I ended the day on a high celebrating another pilgrims birthday and just generally feeling accepted, connected and present. Today I started out on a high as well. I woke up without being sore (yay!) and although I was walking alone in the pouring rain with the cold wind, I was thinking of so many back home that helped me prepare for this. I was smiling. I wasn´t singing but I was very much enjoying the music playing on my borrowed ipod (thanks Katy) – and if Tony is reading this, I have been listening a lot to ´Here We Go´which is perfect for the trail and I love hearing his and Darrin´s gorgeous voices. Okay back to the story – I then went into a cafe, saw some friends and had an odd conversation with a fellow pilgrim about American stereotypes in which I became quite defensive and left feeling very low. I tried to reason with myself about it…. thinking maybe I started it, as you can see from previous posts, I have an odd love-hate relationship with being from America or perhaps my defensiveness showed that he touched on something that resonates with me personally as true – mainly I was just thinking ´what was that about truly?´and ´what can I learn about myself from that?´ but instead of learning something and making it a positive experience, I just felt generally crappy and disappointed but unsure exactly why. When I get like that, it turns into a series of self-depricating thoughts on a whole series of topics. Luckily for me, I ran into Marin – a wonderful German woman with a big smile and light, easy-going spirit. We walked the rest of the way together and she left me in Palas de Rei and went on to the next town. Today was a 16 mile day and with the cold rain and the wind, I was done. I have a huge blister, heavy stiff boots and a limp which can get me pretty far but I know my limit.

I had planned to splurge and stay in a hotel tonight but it is closed. I went to a pension but I felt like I wasn´t very welcome and so I ended up at the albergue which is actually quite nice and I am in a small room of only six beds. I am rooming with some rather loud Americans that seem to fit the stereotype my fellow pilgrim referred to this morning but I am sure there is much more to them than these judgments and perhaps they have been put in my path for a reason and so I will practice grace and openness tonight. Again the Camino is providing what I need and not necessarily what I want but overall I know I am better off for it. I was invited to dinner tonight with a nice group of pilgrims and I am sure it won´t take long for me to continue to turn things around. Mainly I brought this all up just to say how I have noticed how easy it is for something ¨good¨or something ¨bad¨ to affect my mood around and so I will focus on being more centered/grounded.

I have enjoyed these much longer walks in that they provide a lot of reflective time. Although my feet are not very happy my body is feeling stronger again and I look forward to gaining strength as the walk progresses. My mom wrote on my blog and this seriously made my day. I sat in a wonderful little cafe with a fireplace and ate lentil soup with Marin – we were the only pilgrims there which was odd (and welcomed!) because it has gotten very crowded as new pilgrims join to finish the last 100 kilometers. I had many dogs say hello to me today. Ultreia!

Sarria

Today was a struggle. I think it was the hardest hike I have ever been on. I am exhausted. I still enjoyed it but it was pouring rain and I walked through flooded roads and went the wrong route which added 6.4 km to a challenging day. Most of the time my mood was still very good and the cows and dogs would always boost my spirits. I found a wonderful albergue where I have a bed without a top bunk – score! I now have a huge blister and my boots that are helping keep my foot safe feel like lead and are so hard on my feet. If the Camino does provide what you need and not what you want, then I think I needed a big slice of humble pie. I am looking forward to food, wine and going to bed very early tonight. I think having to go home and now being back, I cannot take a moment for granted and feel so lucky to be here even on such a grueling day. Buen Camino! – I am adding this later… just want everyone to know that I think the main reason I had such a hard time is that I am just out of shape and out of the routine of the Camino. Many others I saw today were doing quite well and although I think the downpour was tough for everyone, some people recovered much more quickly. Also now that I have had a shower and food I want to say how nice it is to feel like you accomplished something during your day. I am also very glad to feel passionate about something.

Villafranca to O´Cebreiro to Triacastela

So many emotions… I always have to tell myself not to edit these posts and just write freely – this way I will hit post but it also means the writing may not be very good. I have found the process of writing and especially of getting the feedback I have received to have been very good for me and made me feel deeply connected to those that read it but I do not purport myself to be a writer.

I arrived in Villafranca late in the evening and stayed at a hotel – I would have much rather stayed in an albergue but I thought it was too late. I went to the square in hopes of finding pilgrims but only found a few. I was a little disappointed to find that the town was dark, quiet, cold with few pilgrims. I reminded myself that the Camino provides what you need, not what you want and of course I was still excited to start the next day. I ate a pilgrim´s meal which I do not recommend after sitting on a plane and then a bus and then a taxi. A pilgrim´s meal should be had by someone who has hiked all day. The next morning, I awoke quite late and figured this meant I wouldn´t see any pilgrims as in September they got up very early to begin walking. I was very wrong. Things have changed. People get up at 6am-7:30am and leave much later – as late as 8 or even later if they grab breakfast. This means they might not get to have a siesta but sleeping in seems to provide plenty of sleep. No one needs to worry about getting a bed – there will always be beds. I think I will like this schedule.

I have met another group of fantastic people. I have become quite close in just two days time with a wonderful swedish woman. I was really struggling my first day. I had planned to hike 8 miles but all the albergues on the way to the destination were closed as of …. the day I started walking. I was struggling because I have been sitting around doing nothing but resting my foot and eating for 35 days and it was not my foot that was a problem – it was my breathing and my muscles. The book says it was a tough day (18.7 miles up the mountains) so I am hoping this makes it okay for me to have had such a difficult time. Although I had walked briefly with a wonderful woman from Madrid and a man from Belgium, I tried to walk alone so as not to hold anyone back. When I met Karina from Sweden, she seemed to want to walk at my pace but as the uphill climb became too much and I had run out of water as I planned for 1/2 the hike I started to get dizzy. I asked her to go ahead and she did but came back for me. She said it was because she was scared of the wild dogs and there was one up ahead but either way, I needed her. She walked the last few hours with me and I don´t know what I would´ve done without her. I saw both people from earlier that day in the albergue and I felt so happy to be back in the routine of the Camino. I was invited to dinner with a group of people and met this wonderful Italian woman who hugged me and treated me so warmly.

I won´t bore you with all the other details of my day – that is what my journal is for but I just want to say that I am very happy. Yesterday we had gorgeous weather and hiked way up into the mountains and it was breath-taking. I again met interesting people and had strong connections and felt at home in the routine. Today it was raining with incredibly heavy winds and it was also a wonderful day. I walked with Karina again and a german woman who I very much enjoyed. We laughed even as we were blowing in the wind at how crazy the weather was. The rain and the fog did make the view going down the mountain amazing. The fog would come in and out and give you a different perspective every few minutes. There were sheep, cows and horses in the fields but also chickens, dogs and cats walking down the street with us. There were nice, warm and friendly cafes serving excellent coffee, hot soup and there of course was more laughter.

A few pictures from today – a beautiful red flower in a pasture of green grass – a handmade swing hanging from a tree at the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere – a couple in their huge rain coats that cover their backpacks holding hands – me and my new friends singing some folk song from Sweden.

My foot is holding up just fine but my fingers are crossed. My friends from today have gone further to the next town so I am meeting new people again tonight. I am staying in such a nice warm albergue with a fireplace, stone walls and nice high dark wooden ceiling beams. A nice thing about traveling this time of year…. plenty of bottom bunk beds. A bad thing… your clothes do not dry. I just had a conversation with someone new where we talked about our fears, insecurities and internal challenges on and off the Camino. Wow. Where else does this happen so naturally? I feel blessed by our talk and honored in her openness. This is one of the many reasons I love the Camino. As I said in another post, on a rough day, I hope I remember today.