three days walking...

as we were working at the house with pilgrims, most of which had spent nearly a month walking the camino and some just a few days AND as part of the training, we walked the camino for three days. we had 5 Euros each for the entire time, plus some group money which was limited. we walked with all the belongings we would take and we had to find housing along the way and take care of any other needs we (personally and collectively) might have.

the first day was our day with the Lord and we were asked to walk alone and given some instructions for how we could spend our time if we wanted some instruction. this was a great blessing, particularly after a week of having very little time alone. it was so good to have time really completely ALONE with Jesus. the only thing i was sad about was that this day came to a close.

also on this day the Lord blessed me with a walking stick. i asked a man at a store where we began in O´Cebreiro about buying a walking stick. all his sticks were 7 euros and i only had 5 for the next 3 days. i asked if he might have something less, he asked how much i had and i said 5, but quickly added that i couldn't spend it all on the walking stick. i told him that i could spend 2 and he said he didn't have anything, so i went on my way. about 5km (3 miles) into our walk, i saw a car stop ahead and it was Alicia (a friend) with a walking stick saying that the guy went looking for me later to gift me this walking stick. he said that he liked me and felt bad for not having anything to sell to me, so wanted to just give me one of his walking sticks. i just happened that she arrived right before the big hills came along (where a walking stick, particularly on the downhills, is very helpful). i might also add that this night, after finding a place for us to eat, a woman invited me to a coffee. so at the end of day one i still had all of my 5 euros.

this night we slept in a gym with hundreds of others and got VERY LITTLE sleep, thanks to the chorus of snoring people and several crying children which then echoed throughout the gym. at least it was dry and warm. and since we didn't have to pay for our housing, we got to have a bit nicer dinner with hot food!

the second day was the day where we would walk with one other person and ask the Lord to give us opportunities to bless the other pilgrims along the way and to share the Gospel with them. i walked with Esther from Austria and a 10-year old boy, Nicolas, from France. i got a chance to practice my limited french and to learn some more. i also met some fun catalans (from NE Spain) and got to talk quite a lot with Jose and the others about Jesus and what it means (and doesn't mean) to follow him. they invited me to a drink and some snacks. (i spent 1 euro on a coffee along the way, was later invited to a snack, and later got an extra euro that i was told to keep after buying the sandwiches and translating for our group. and someone invited me to another coffee. so, i still had 5 euros.)

this night we slept outside under a cement covered overhang. i met a sweet girl from Estonia (in northern europe). this night was nice other than the annoyance by some that several of our group got beds inside (for which we had to pay) and the rest of us (and the majority of us) were sleeping outside. i slept pretty well, but was harshly awakened by two japanese pilgrims sleeping with us under this overhang arguing and one throwing up in on the step right above where most of us were sleeping. it was strange and disturbing and for awhile i thought he was not drunk, but severely sick. my estonian friend was unfortunately directly by the vomit, so she quickly moved down to where we were and eventually the craziness subsided and we went back to sleep.

all three days were amazingly beautiful, but this day we left at 6am, which meant we were walking as the sun was rising and through a heavy fog, which made everything quite surreal.

the third day was the day we walked in small groups. andreu had asked to be my partner the day before, right after i had agreed to walk with ester. so he and i had agreed to walk together this day. marian, reyes, and ester joined our group (which was great fun). andreu and marian took advantage of me being around to practice their english and it was fun to get to know them both better. this day we walked 37km, which is a bit more than 22 miles. generally we would have walked the first stretch and done the later half on the next day.

after leaving at 6am without breakfast or coffee we decided that the first cafe we came to after walking a bit, we'd stop for coffee. we stopped at this really quaint rustic place which i have always passed when walking the camino, but never stopped to eat. we ordered coffee and pan con tomate (good spanish bread toasted with tomatoe and olive oil rubbed onto it - the best breakfast in the world, or close there to). the coffee came in large bowls, at least 2-3x what we would have normally gotten - tazones en vez de just tazas. we enjoyed a semi-leisurely breakfast and then went on our way. we pooled all our money together and by God's grace we had all saved most of it until this time. and thankfully our money went far at this particular cafe.

later we stopped in puertamarine (where several years ago both marian and i had jumped off a bridge a couple times into the lake below). we reminisced about this time, endured the never ending downhill, part of which we walked backwards to help out the knees, and all stopped to get some lunch. we enjoyed a salad between the now six of us and got tuna empanadas (a specialty of this region) and stopped by the grocery store for some aquarius (the spanish version of gatorade, and by the way in my opinion it also tastes much better) and fruit for the camino. the second stretch was ALL uphill and in full sun. it was definitely a time where i needed to depend on the Lord to be patient with others, to love others, and to choose to slow down to walk with those who wanted to stop and rest or go at a slower pace. it was good to be pushed beyond my normal limits. and it was great to have my friend marian, or mari-angeles, with me to talk and process our reactions (mainly the not so good reactions/emotions of impatience, judgment, criticalness, etc.,).

when we got to ligonde, where the refuge/albergue we have, it was SOOO nice! and we actually got to sleep in a bed for the night. it was nice to just be clean.

this night we shared about our experiences and i learned quite a bit from just the sharing of others. if i have time, i might share more about each of these days later.

note: the picture above has the yellow arrows that you follow on the camino. they show the way to santiago (the destination for most). we actually walked only to ligonde, where the albergue is.