A Metaphor for Life
Travel Days 74 – 76
March 12 – 14
Camino Day 8:
Viana to Navarrete
Daily distance:
22.2 km
Total distance:
175.0 km
The beauty of the Camino is
that it is completely laid out. It is
well marked and the path is easy to find.
For the few times I have strayed from the path, it has become obvious
quickly, and I was able to get directions readily from locals. In each of the towns, the Camino goes by all
of the albergues, restaurants, bars, supermarkets, cathedrals, and anything
else a pilgrim needs along the Way. And
with signposts at regular intervals indicating distances to the next few towns,
and maps at the entrance to each town, the Camino could probably be done
without a map or a guide. Money is not
even necessary. I’ve met a few pilgrims
who are walking to Santiago with no money, just to prove that it can be done. Alas, money is beautiful; it buys convenience
and luxury.
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| One of the more obvious scallop shell signs. |
Walking the Camino becomes
carefree. There is no job to worry
about. No car to fill with gas and
maintain. No workout to do after
work. No bed to make or apartment to
clean. It is life simplified, an adventure in getting back to the basics. All day, I carry all of my belongings on my
back. And every night, I sleep in a bed
that is not my own. It becomes engrained
in my daily life. And despite the
elements in the day and the frequent lack of heating at night, I cannot help
but notice how luxurious my life is. I’m
fed, clothed, and sheltered. I have
water to drink and water to dispose of my waste. And, most importantly, I am surrounded by
friends and have the freedom to just be myself.
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| And take periodic wine breaks in front of churches. |
Last night, I met a man named
Peter. He left his rosary hanging on the bathroom door in the albergue in Viana,
and I returned it to him. Stopping in
Viana marked a departure from the main towns in which everyone else sleeps, so
Peter and I were the only two in this albergue.
This was the first night that I didn’t drink on the Camino, which I
realized was becoming a problem. The
social atmosphere and inclusion of Spanish wine with the pilgrim’s menu dinner
encouraged its consumption, but drinking is a form of escapism for me. And I don’t want to spend every day of my
Camino escaping a part of it.
Peter has walked the Camino
many times before. On his last Camino,
he was infatuated with a woman, and walked to Santiago with her. Once he got there, he had a feeling that he
should stay, but she wanted to continue to the coast so she could be in the
ocean. She begged him to come with
her. “I told myself, if you go to the
sea with her, you are only escaping yourself.
There are many things you want to do that will never happen because you
went to the sea with that woman. So I
stayed in Santiago. Other people put
thoughts in your mind that you are missing out if you don’t do what they want
you to do. But I knew I had to follow my
heart.”
Camino Day 9:
Navarrete to Azofra
Daily distance:
22.6 km
Total distance:
197.6 km
I was alone again on the
Camino. On the ground just outside of
Navarrete, I found a bamboo stick that stood almost to my shoulder. I decided to pick it up and use it as a
walking stick. Not so much to lean
against, but to tap on the ground and give myself a cadence. I started singing old marching cadences I still
remember from the Marine Corps, carrying the bamboo stick in my right hand and
tapping it on the ground with each left foot strike. And then, as if the universe wanted me to
have a second walking stick, I found a stalk lying on the ground while passing
a farm; it was broken from the rest of the crop. It was light and well-balanced when I picked
it up, so I tapped it twice against the ground to test its durability. It seemed good enough; I now had two walking
sticks. I immediately noticed a
difference using them. I was able to
keep my posture more upright, and some of the pain in my lower back was
relieved. My head was sitting higher,
and I felt the weight shift to my heels.
No wonder so many people use those fancy walking sticks!
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| In every tunnel along the Camino, I find graffiti. This is some of the better stuff that was all in one tunnel. |
I arrived in Azofra around
4:00 PM and found Derek, and older British gentleman, in the only albergue in
town: an attachment to the church that allows pilgrims to stay for free, asking
only for a donation. I explored around
town to find that only one restaurant was open, and they were serving a
mediocre pilgrim’s dinner for ten Euros.
Given no other options in town, we gladly accepted this offer. Just before heading off to dinner around 7:00
PM, Jurgen from Germany joined us. He walked
32 kilometers today, and it looked like his legs were about to fall off. Jurgen was another pilgrim with a deadline,
and a strict range he needed to travel. Seven years ago, he walked the Camino
from St. Jean to La Reina, and has picked up in La Reina a few days ago. He has been going 30-40 kilometers per day,
determined to make it to his next stop in a few more days before he needs to go
back to family life. I felt bad for his
having to rush, but I understand that we all must walk our own Camino.
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| A small shelter just outside of town. |
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| Derek reading his book in front of the monastery. |
Being off-route from where
everyone else is staying on the Camino has been peaceful. I have run into nobody all day long, I stay
in albergues with very few people, I have great conversations with these
people, and I get to be in towns that are more pilgrim-friendly. I think this is how I want to continue all
the way to Santiago.
Camino Day 10:
Azofra to Granon
Daily distance:
22.2 km
Total distance:
219.8 km
I am going to miss the church
bells when this is over. They have been the anthem to the peace of this
pilgrimage. Last night, I learned that
the church bells ring all night. At one point, again, I woke up in the middle
of the night from a dream. Before I
could check the time on my phone, the church bells rang: CLAaaang. CLAaaang.
It was 2:00 AM. I rolled over and
went back to sleep.
It was a cold night. The moisture from our breath condensed on the
window, only to be frozen by the air temperature outside. There was no heating or hot water in the
monastery, and the condensation turned to frost by the morning. In the morning, we retreated to a local café
to escape the cold temperatures outside of our sleeping bags. When my breakfast was finished, I reluctantly
donned my warming layers, laced my boots, and charged into the frigid
Camino. Even with no wind, it was the
coldest morning to date. I kept my chin
down and my legs moving, trusting the laws of thermodynamics to kick in at any
moment.
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| Always open roads and big skies. |
Just outside of Santo Domingo,
15 kilometers into the day’s hike, my left foot started to talk to me. It didn’t agree with my plans to push another
eleven kilometers, so I settled on hobbling to Grañon, a town devoid of noise. In the town square, I met Josu, a man in his
seventies with energy to rival men in their thirties. Upon my arrival, he continued talking to a
Chilean woman, reveling in tales of the Camino; he had walked the Camino Norte,
the Primitive Camino, the Camino Portugal, and on and on. And then he told us about his real reason for
being in town: he is now upkeeping Casa de las Sonrisas, a Donativo (Donation)
Albergue. Staying in the monastery last
night, there was a donation box on the table, but no services offered. But here at Sonrisas with Josu, there was a
home converted to house 21 pilgrims, a long dinner table in the living room for
family style dinners, and two meal times: 8:00 PM for dinner, and 6:30 AM for
breakfast. He charged no price, but
merely asked for donations, hoping to break even by the end of the year. My foot needed no more convincing to stay a
night in Grañon.
Joining me at dinner were two
Germans, a Chilean woman, and a Spanish man, three of whom have already walked
different Caminos in the past. The
subject of dinner heavily revolved around the Camino, which kept my curiosity
engaged. Now, ten days into my first
Camino, I realized how little I really knew about the Way. Josu told us the history of the Donativo
Albergues, and how this used to be the norm on the Camino in its middle-age hay
day. Now, he and others like him keep
the spirit of the Camino alive by offering an authentic experience far departed
from modern day commercialism of the Way.
“I have received so much from the Camino, and now I get to give it
back.” Josu has walked the Camino
Frances many times, using his powerful ability to attract people towards
himself to form large groups of pilgrims who walk together. And now, he serves more pilgrims than before
in his albergue.
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| Josu is one cool dude. |
The subject of St. James’
grave came to the conversation. Legend
has it that it floated in a concrete boat 100 kilometers up a river to its
final resting place in Santiago, which is the reason Catholics began to
pilgrimage to the site. We all agreed
that he didn’t really reside there, and I scoffed at the notion of holding
anyone’s corpse as a holy site in the first place. “It might as well be the pilgrimage to a bar
in Santiago. Besides, I’m not here for
the holy sites, I’m here for the experience of being on the Way.”
The table went silent. Everyone there was Catholic, and I could tell
I upset their belief systems. Across
from me, Christian, one of the two Germans and a former philosophy professor,
broke the silence, speaking with a calm demeanor that he likely used in his
lectures: “Regardless of the legitimacy
of the legend, the cathedral in Santiago de Compostella is a powerful
place. It is the gathering place for
millions of people through a dozen centuries, people who have come from all
places and walks of life to this site.
Millions of people have died there in that cathedral. And when you get to Santiago, your pilgrimage
will be over. You, too, will die as a
pilgrim, and be reborn as someone else.
And that is what makes it so special.”
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