Why are you doing the Camino?

Bit of a jump here now... we made it to Burgos (site of the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen) two days ago and this is where we bid farewell to our ´troop´... there was a good group of about 10 of us who were carrying along at the same pace. The spanish ladies went home at this point and we hopped a bus to Leon, missing ´la meseta´... about 150km and the section that everyone says can drive pilgrims to the brink... vast, flat desert scrubland with nary a tree for shade. So, from Leon we press onwards to Santiago...
I wanted to tell a couple of stories here ... you hear so many on the camino, and I wanted to share two that I found most extraordinary.
Two days ago, hiking up a rather steep incline out of Villafranca a man ran by us... Vince and I looked at each other and at first thought he must be just a local jogger, but then recognized the scallop shell on his pack that inicates he is doing the camino... this guy is crazy with think, and wrote him off, continuing on. When we got to San Juan de Ortega, he was there, so we joined him for a drink. Of course we were curious about why he was running and not doing the traditional walking of the camino. It turns out... Walter Cruz , a professional cage fighter from Brazil, now living in London is running the camino because he made a promise. His wife was several months pregnant with twins when some serious complications arose... he promised that if the babies were born healthy that he would run to Santiago as a display of gratitude. Gabriela and Claire and his wife are all healthy and cheering him on via webcams along the way...
Adding to this... he intends to run the camino each year for ten years, this being the first and also started training about 5weeks ago, the first running training he had ever done...
An incredible man. He expects to finish in about 23 days.
I will leave the other story of 3 spanish women and their promise for another time, perhaps for back in Canada over a glass of vino tino!
Buen Camino,
A.

The Story of the Walnut...

Here in Belorado tonight ... a shorter 25km today was most welcome after my screaming IT bands kept me in bed resting most of yesterday afternoon at a beautiful monestery in Santo Domingo de la Cazalda ... feeling much better today after a great nights rest on a firm matress with only others (none of us snorers) in our simple room. The tranquillity of the place lost something however when the nun came in to the kitchen at 7:43am this morning and promptly kicked us out, breakfast in hand! I politely asked " Puedo comer mi desayuno?" (may I eat my breakfast?) and she flatly replied " No! Vamos! Rapido rapido!!!" Yikes! don´t mess with the nuns...At lease we weren´t still sleeping like the spanish couple in our room who literally had to go and shower in the other albergue down the street...
But, I digress...
So, the story of the walnut...
This for me, really encapsulated the idea (well, stereotypes I suppose) of international ingenuity...
A few nights ago in Estella, a bunch of us had prepared a beautiful meal and were sitting contented around the table telling stories about the day when Turloch, an irishman brought out some walnuts in the shell to share with dessert. We looked around for a nutcracker, but, to no avail... So Turloch said, no worries, we just use them to crack each other... so he put two in his hand, covered one with the other and then squeezed down tightly, face reddening under the strain... nothing. Across the table, Naomichi (Japanese) takes a nut, puts it on the floor and starts hammering it with a pot ... peels of laughter erupt... but no success...
All this time a German man at the end of the table has been watching us quietly, saying nothing. He quietly came over, took a nut from Turloch and under only a slight bit of strain was able to open the walnut with a simple knife technique, whereby the knife is inserted into the seam of the nut and it cracked open into several pieces. Now ( the japanese) lets out an "ahhhhhhhhhhh" and immediately flips open his swiss army knife and effortlessly begins popping open walnuts with a clean seam, splitting each one perfectly in two!
Turloch says ... " and this is why the Germans and the Japanese make the cars and the Irish don´t!!"
Author´s note: the Canadians and the Americans at the table during this display of genius sat by with encouraging words and in the end, ate the most walnuts...

Well, tomorrow is to be a tough day (so says Mata ... a 60 something man from Japan who most people call Fujimori because he looks like the former President of Peru!) so, I´ll go now to enbalm the legs for another beautiful day of walking.
(Oh - but first, this computer actually possesses the capability for downloading photos, so I´ll try to do some ... Vince?? :) Most computers don´t allow for this... likely afraid of viruses...)

Buen Camino,
A.

Community on the Move...

Hi everyone!
We are now in Najara (see map at the bottom of blog...) and have so far walked every step of the way! Covering 60km in the last two days has been an incredible challenge, but we´re feeling great and are kept constantly in high spirits by the people around us. I know I promised to delve into the history a little bit... and I will eventually, but I wanted to comment on this idea of being a part of a community on the move. This whole trek is a fascinating little self contained reality... the metaphors abound ... it is a journey through your lifetime (and as Jane Christmas describes in What the Psychic told the Pilgrim ... if that´s the case, crossing the Pyrenees was like coming out of the birth canal!!) I don´t remember what that was like, but perhaps crossing the Pyrenees was a birth of a different kind...
I have really enjoyed walking with different people for stretches of this walk... its incredible how we wake each day knowing that the tasks are the same (walk, cafe con leche, break for lunch, find an albergue, shop for food, make dinner, do laundry, sleep) ... yet, each day is a complete unknown (something I´m growing to love...) I have so enjoyed the company of complete strangers for stretches at a time... some longer than others and some for days at a time. At the end of the day it has become such a joy to see a familliar face at the same albergue, it feels a bit like coming home to family. Indeed, there is a familial feel here... we know of a few people who have had accidents (blown out knees, concussions, face plants, broken arm...) and always, there are people helping those who need it ... we met a bizarre doctor from France who has taken the year off to drive the camino (on highway stretches) looking for the injured ... well, we have another theory too... since he has a penchant for young french girls who are injured... but thats another story! We have enjoyed many communal meals with incredible food prepared by people from all over... and the stories of the very young (two guys out of high school who hitchhiked from Poland) and the very old ( there are so many more people in this category... it is unbelieveably inspiring)
Okay, well my time is up and they are shutting out the lights around me ... next up, a story about international ingenuity encaspulated involving a walnut...
Adios y buen camino!
A.

A journey of 1000 miles...

This journey of approximately 800km began on Sept. 4th with a single step in the direction of the Pyrenees that border France & Spain. Vince & I have until Sept. 29th to complete our journey to Santiago as we walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela... Now, I have to admit, I have put off the beginning of my blog as I am intimidated to no end about putting my thoughts out there on the internet, because I know that I obsess over the tiny details that would make a blog magnificent (what if I make a spelling mistake? what if I can´t figure out how to get the formatting - font just right?) and because spending time on a computer tinkering with these fine details is not one of the priorities I have set for myself as I take leave of my job as a teacher for one year...

So... why am I on here? I am on here because one of my priorities is learning new things and I am grateful to my pal Hunter for sharing her insights into the blogging world with me (god knows I would never have figured this out with a manual!) I also think it serves as an interesting personal record of my thoughts and the thoughts of others (so please comment!!) So I am going to give it a shot... with some parameters... It seems in the Albergues we are staying in that 1 Euro will buy you about 20 minutes of time... so I will limit my observations to whatever will fit within this timeline!
To begin.. a couple of thoughts on why I´ve chosen to make this journey... Everyone seems to ask this question on the camino, its an instant conversation starter and the answers inevitably lead to fascinating stories. For me, I read about this pilgrimmage in the Globe and Mail about 5 years ago when I signed up for my 4 over 5 and I have been mulling it over ever since. Coming up on 10 years of teaching as the time got closer, the idea of beginning my year with a very long walk, one that would be challenging, spiritual and nomadic (Shawn from Ireland calls us the 'mobile community') and also provide a chance to quiet my mind and give me an opportunity to spend some wonderful time with my soon to be husband, Vince.
I´m coming up on my 25 minutes... so stay tuned... I´ll fill you in on what the camino actually IS next!
Buen Camino,
A.