I have time before dinner to check in again. Thought I´d try to share a little about the beginning of the Camino. Friday was a long day beginning at the airport, catching the bus to Saria, from there to Pamplona and from there to Roncesvalles. On the bus I sat with a gentleman I had seen at the bus station, Santiago. He spoke no English, but was able to tell me he has walked the Camino 3 times before. I tried to ask why? and he shrugged and said I´m Santiago! Yes indeed.
We arrived at Roncesvalles and headed to the monastery where we had our pilgrim passports stamped and were sent to the dorm. The new ones were filled so we were sent to the old (and I mean old, as in ancient) one. It must have had about 60-75 bunk beds in it. I looked around. There was a father and son, a number of couples, a few groups of men who would be cycling the Camino. There were many individuals. We were in a huge stone building and at exactly 10PM the lights went out except for one small light in the corner. At exactly 6AM the lights came on again and everyone got ready to head out. We walked for 30 or 40 minutes in the dark (with flashlight), then the sun started lighting out way.
After about an hour and a half we stopped for coffee. There I saw a young woman in a Boston Red Sox cap. I went over and told her ¨go Red Sox¨. Turns out she´s recently moved back to MA and is living in Northampton. We met a number of times over the next two days and I gave her my email and phone number so we could connect back in MA. She was moving at a much faster pace than myself.
Off again. After about 13 miles we hit Zubiri and checked into the municipal alberque there. Another one with huge rooms filled with bunk beds - and the bathrooms were in a separate building. The next morning we had an early start again. Up to now it had been nice that Santiago was showing me the way. He had helped me to get oriented, he showed me the signs for the camino to follow, he pointed out blackberries and rasberries that we ate along the way. We were walking at a good pace when we arrived a village ready for a break, but it was Sunday and the coffee shop was not open. I thought we might still sit on a bench a rest a little, but Santiago took right off. We continued to walk and I decided he wasn´t taking a break, so I say down in a field and rested for a time. He came back and joined me. Then off again. When we reached Arre he showed me a little alberque with a beautiful courtyard. I had thought I´d get to Pamplona, but my feet were killing me so I finally decided to stay there. I also started thinking about how to have a conversation with Santiago.
One of our confirmands wrote in her prayer something like, you are the shepherd, but I don´t want to be a sheep following blindly. Well, I didn´t want to just continue following Santiago blindly. When Polly from Australia arrived at the alberque I talked to her about possible translating for me so I could tell Santiago that he needed to go ahead. She speaks Spanish and French (I had met her in Zuribi), so the plan was made. But as it happened, all of us in the women´s dorm slept in (to 7AM) on Monday and Santiago had left long before we got started. It´s interesting how things work out. I am so thankful to him for his help as I got started. He was a kind and gentle soul and I know he is probably helping others where ever he is now. But on Monday, I began my Camino. Bueno Camino!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Ups & Downs on the Camino
I´ve found internet access in the bar at Monjardin (mountain garden), and the view from here is spectacular. There have been many spectacular views over the past few days, but a climb up a mountain was required for each. This one was relative easy compared with two days ago. But now I´m settled into the Alberque in this tiny village, my laundry is done, my feet are still moving, and finally I can write.
Too much to tell in one blog so I´ll start with last night at Cirauqui, a town that I entered on one level, then proceeded up, up, up, to the Alberque on the upper level. To give you an idea of the incline, I had an apple in my pack, but as I was putting things in it just outside the Alberque this morning, the apple dropped out. It immediately rolled to the edge of the plaza (we were right across from the church). I saw (and heard) it turn and continue down the street. I knew it might go for a while, but I looked for it as I walked out of town. Four downhill streets later I still hadn´t seen it. I figure it took about 5 minutes for it to roll all the way to the entrance to the village at the bottom. I´m sure there´s a metaphor in this, everything that happens on the Camino seems to be a metaphor, but it hasn´t come to me yet.
But let me mention my great appreciation for the elderly women of Spain. I´ve noticed them since the beginning, out walking with canes, hair done, dressed lovely. I´ve seen many in wheel chair with a companion either walking them or sitting with them out in the sun. In Cirauqui there was a funeral at the church at 6:30 last night to celebrate the lives of 3 elderly women who had recently died. Our dinner time was changed out of respect for the families. The mercato and other shops did not open at 6:00 as usual due to the funeral. At 6:00 the church bells started ringing. (They were very loud - remember, I´m staying right beside the church on the other side of a small plaza). People started coming out and walking towards the church. At 6:15 the bells rang again and more people started moving towards the church. As I walked around I saw women in the 80´s and 90´s slowly making their way up the steeply inclined streets (so steep I used the steps on the side of the streets). Steadily and surely they walked. I figured if they could live in a village where walking up steep inclines was a daily task, I could probably continue making the climbs necessary for the Camino. They are beautiful, strong women.
But I have found that just about everyone I have met has been lovely. Spain is a beautiful country with very gracious people who have helped me through questions, directions, meal orders and more.
That´s all for now. It´s 4:00 and time to ¨check in ¨to the Alberque. I do miss everyone, but I am loving my walk on the Camino. Bueno Camino!
Too much to tell in one blog so I´ll start with last night at Cirauqui, a town that I entered on one level, then proceeded up, up, up, to the Alberque on the upper level. To give you an idea of the incline, I had an apple in my pack, but as I was putting things in it just outside the Alberque this morning, the apple dropped out. It immediately rolled to the edge of the plaza (we were right across from the church). I saw (and heard) it turn and continue down the street. I knew it might go for a while, but I looked for it as I walked out of town. Four downhill streets later I still hadn´t seen it. I figure it took about 5 minutes for it to roll all the way to the entrance to the village at the bottom. I´m sure there´s a metaphor in this, everything that happens on the Camino seems to be a metaphor, but it hasn´t come to me yet.
But let me mention my great appreciation for the elderly women of Spain. I´ve noticed them since the beginning, out walking with canes, hair done, dressed lovely. I´ve seen many in wheel chair with a companion either walking them or sitting with them out in the sun. In Cirauqui there was a funeral at the church at 6:30 last night to celebrate the lives of 3 elderly women who had recently died. Our dinner time was changed out of respect for the families. The mercato and other shops did not open at 6:00 as usual due to the funeral. At 6:00 the church bells started ringing. (They were very loud - remember, I´m staying right beside the church on the other side of a small plaza). People started coming out and walking towards the church. At 6:15 the bells rang again and more people started moving towards the church. As I walked around I saw women in the 80´s and 90´s slowly making their way up the steeply inclined streets (so steep I used the steps on the side of the streets). Steadily and surely they walked. I figured if they could live in a village where walking up steep inclines was a daily task, I could probably continue making the climbs necessary for the Camino. They are beautiful, strong women.
But I have found that just about everyone I have met has been lovely. Spain is a beautiful country with very gracious people who have helped me through questions, directions, meal orders and more.
That´s all for now. It´s 4:00 and time to ¨check in ¨to the Alberque. I do miss everyone, but I am loving my walk on the Camino. Bueno Camino!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Technical difficulties
I couldn´t get to this page, first because I couldn´t figure out how to do the @ sign (it´s different on this computer), then they asked a security question. Wanted my phone number that ended in ¨84¨. I didn´t know a number that ended in 84 until I realized today that´s my cell phone! So at last I´m connected.
Great flight to Madrid (before the hurricane) - I´m thinking of all of you in MA and south on the coast. Arrived at 7:10AM with a couple of hours of sleep. After I got my bags I was concerned about going through the baggage exit. There´s no admittance after you go through, but I still needed an ATM and an information desk. The desk in the baggage area would not open until 9:00AM. I finally decided I´d have to step out and try to ask the people I see, so I asked the security guard who said there were 2 info desks outside the door. Opened the door and the first thing I saw was the ATM. Good reminder to ask people for help, and go through closed doors.
I met Santiago on the bus to Roncesvalles. He doesn´t speak English, but this morning I knew he was asking if I wanted to walk with him. We left at 6:20AM (lights came on in the dorm at 6AM promptly (off at 10PM). Walked by flashlight for the first 45 minutes then found there was just enough light from dawn to see without it. We stopped at 7AM for croissant and tea, and again at 9 for cafe and trail mix. Made it to Zubiri (think I´ve mispelled) by 12:30. Beautiful day - absolutely gorgeous walk. 12 miles down, and 778 to go! To Pamplona tomorrow.
Great flight to Madrid (before the hurricane) - I´m thinking of all of you in MA and south on the coast. Arrived at 7:10AM with a couple of hours of sleep. After I got my bags I was concerned about going through the baggage exit. There´s no admittance after you go through, but I still needed an ATM and an information desk. The desk in the baggage area would not open until 9:00AM. I finally decided I´d have to step out and try to ask the people I see, so I asked the security guard who said there were 2 info desks outside the door. Opened the door and the first thing I saw was the ATM. Good reminder to ask people for help, and go through closed doors.
I met Santiago on the bus to Roncesvalles. He doesn´t speak English, but this morning I knew he was asking if I wanted to walk with him. We left at 6:20AM (lights came on in the dorm at 6AM promptly (off at 10PM). Walked by flashlight for the first 45 minutes then found there was just enough light from dawn to see without it. We stopped at 7AM for croissant and tea, and again at 9 for cafe and trail mix. Made it to Zubiri (think I´ve mispelled) by 12:30. Beautiful day - absolutely gorgeous walk. 12 miles down, and 778 to go! To Pamplona tomorrow.
August 27,2011
Cathy has made it to Spain! unfortunately she is having trouble logging into this blog site from there so I am helping.She arrived on Friday and was going to take a train across the country to her next stop but was to tired so took a bus instead. She walked her first 13 miles today and has already connected with several people who are walking the camino including one woman from Boston.The accommodations are interesting including sleeping in one building but having the bathroom in another. She will be trying to work out the bugs and connect to this site so she can write it herself.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The last List
After days of to-do lists, including a short one today, I am finally done. They are now in the recycling and I'm getting ready to leave for Boston. I couldn't believe all the things that still had to be done - it felt like so much time two years ago, one year ago, one month ago.
But now I'll enter a new kind of time. No to-do list, just miles to walk. It will be interesting to see how this transition goes - I expect it to be a big transition.
I really have to close now, but blessings to all of you who are following me on this pilgrimage. I hope for plenty of computers where I can update things, but if not, I'll call Richard and he can post a note. Thank you for your prayers. I am truly blessed to have this community surrounding me. Well, I'm off!
But now I'll enter a new kind of time. No to-do list, just miles to walk. It will be interesting to see how this transition goes - I expect it to be a big transition.
I really have to close now, but blessings to all of you who are following me on this pilgrimage. I hope for plenty of computers where I can update things, but if not, I'll call Richard and he can post a note. Thank you for your prayers. I am truly blessed to have this community surrounding me. Well, I'm off!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Heel Lifts
Last week I saw the podiatrist. I was having trouble with my left heel - ongoing pain, so I decided I better check it out. He told me it was Achilles tendinitis and I needed to rest it. I explained about my pilgrimage and we worked out an alternative. I hadn't been able to walk much last week, so I would continue to rest it over the weekend. He gave me some exercises to do to help stretch the tendon. And then he suggested that I get 1/4 inch heel lifts as the high arches in my feet put more pressure on my heels when I walk.
So I headed to the medical supply store, found a couple of heel lifts and placed them in my hiking boots. I thought 1/4 inch? What will that do? Well, it changed things. My heel pain from the tendinitis disappeared. But I ended up with a blister on my left heel and also on my right little toe. New blisters! -- I thought I had moved beyond that a year ago. But one tiny change in my boots changed things.
The organization where I work, Preachers' Aid Society, sponsors a program called Tending the Fire that helps clergy to understand how Family Systems Theory works within their families, the church families, and the church as a family. My heel reminded me of systems. One of the lessons of systems theory is that one change (no matter how little) will affect everything. We use a mobile as a visual -- add one tiny piece and the mobile changes. My heel and toe did not continue to blister each day (I helped a little with this) and both will build callouses in the affected areas. Our bodies adapt to the change.
But becoming calloused is hardly how we should deal with the changes that come to people. Often someone in pain will act out in another area of their life - annoying us at a meeting or irritating us with an email. I once heard a lecture on systems theory that encouraged us to be curious rather than judging others. The annoying person may have had a change in their life: a diagnosis, a job loss, a marriage breaking up. Like my heel, we too need to enter into the pain, not building callouses, but caring for one another. Rather than avoiding others, we might need to ask, "How are you?" - "What's going on?"
I will meet some interesting people along the Camino - some helpful, some polite, some nice, and maybe some irritating, some annoying. And who knows, a change in the condition of one foot and I could become a very irritated (and irritating) person. Hopefully my little heel lifts will remind me to listen and also to share with others who I meet along the way. May you walk with curiosity and caring - and, if needed, with callouses on your feet!
So I headed to the medical supply store, found a couple of heel lifts and placed them in my hiking boots. I thought 1/4 inch? What will that do? Well, it changed things. My heel pain from the tendinitis disappeared. But I ended up with a blister on my left heel and also on my right little toe. New blisters! -- I thought I had moved beyond that a year ago. But one tiny change in my boots changed things.
The organization where I work, Preachers' Aid Society, sponsors a program called Tending the Fire that helps clergy to understand how Family Systems Theory works within their families, the church families, and the church as a family. My heel reminded me of systems. One of the lessons of systems theory is that one change (no matter how little) will affect everything. We use a mobile as a visual -- add one tiny piece and the mobile changes. My heel and toe did not continue to blister each day (I helped a little with this) and both will build callouses in the affected areas. Our bodies adapt to the change.
But becoming calloused is hardly how we should deal with the changes that come to people. Often someone in pain will act out in another area of their life - annoying us at a meeting or irritating us with an email. I once heard a lecture on systems theory that encouraged us to be curious rather than judging others. The annoying person may have had a change in their life: a diagnosis, a job loss, a marriage breaking up. Like my heel, we too need to enter into the pain, not building callouses, but caring for one another. Rather than avoiding others, we might need to ask, "How are you?" - "What's going on?"
I will meet some interesting people along the Camino - some helpful, some polite, some nice, and maybe some irritating, some annoying. And who knows, a change in the condition of one foot and I could become a very irritated (and irritating) person. Hopefully my little heel lifts will remind me to listen and also to share with others who I meet along the way. May you walk with curiosity and caring - and, if needed, with callouses on your feet!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Walking Conditions
Years ago someone passed along a copy of "Christian History" which was dedicated to The Wesleys. I'm trying to go through and clear out some magazines so I picked it up and, of course, started reading. The very first article, entitled "Did you know?" noted that John and Charles Wesley would walk home from college - 150 miles! It goes on to say the "journey was often marred by bad roads, inclement weather, and even highway men." I found my self wondering about their shoes... and did they have backpacks?... and what about a poncho or rain gear for inclement weather?... and where did they stay at night.
The point of this paragraph was that they read as they walked, which scared their father. Maybe this is an early version of texting while driving. The paragraph ended with "John maintained that reading for 10 of his 25 daily miles never caused any harm." Twenty-five miles! He walked 25 miles without fancy hiking boots, walking poles, a sunhat with an SPF value, lightweight and fast-drying clothing? That's something for me to think about as I try to get to 15 miles a day.
I just finished reading The Hiding Place which is the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family. They lived in Holland and were significant leaders in the Dutch underground, moving Jewish families to safety and also hiding a number in their home. They were arrested in 1944 and her father died in prison weeks later. Corrie and her sister were later transferred from prison to a concentration camp. She describes the trip in the cattle car with no food, then the long walk to the concentration camp. It doesn't even matter how long the trip was in this case. It was a long agonizing walk as they were underfed, had spent months in a tiny jail cell, were given no protection against the weather and were still wearing the shoes they had on at the time of their arrest.
Humans have been walking for a lot longer than we have been riding in cars and other forms of transportation. There are days when I think my goal for the day seems out of reach. But most days I think walking is perhaps one of the most natural things humankind can do. So I journey onward. May you have a chance to enjoy a walk.
The point of this paragraph was that they read as they walked, which scared their father. Maybe this is an early version of texting while driving. The paragraph ended with "John maintained that reading for 10 of his 25 daily miles never caused any harm." Twenty-five miles! He walked 25 miles without fancy hiking boots, walking poles, a sunhat with an SPF value, lightweight and fast-drying clothing? That's something for me to think about as I try to get to 15 miles a day.
I just finished reading The Hiding Place which is the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family. They lived in Holland and were significant leaders in the Dutch underground, moving Jewish families to safety and also hiding a number in their home. They were arrested in 1944 and her father died in prison weeks later. Corrie and her sister were later transferred from prison to a concentration camp. She describes the trip in the cattle car with no food, then the long walk to the concentration camp. It doesn't even matter how long the trip was in this case. It was a long agonizing walk as they were underfed, had spent months in a tiny jail cell, were given no protection against the weather and were still wearing the shoes they had on at the time of their arrest.
Humans have been walking for a lot longer than we have been riding in cars and other forms of transportation. There are days when I think my goal for the day seems out of reach. But most days I think walking is perhaps one of the most natural things humankind can do. So I journey onward. May you have a chance to enjoy a walk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)