Slowly but Surely Setting Free

I suppose it may have been bound to happen, life after all is like the Camino, mountains and valleys, easy and hard. Kelsey and I had our first disagreement, the first challenge to our new and natural friendship. Walking out of Santo Domingo, the morning after our disagreement, we both felt the weight of this small rift. This was stressful and unexpected. Should we walk this day on our own? We're we going to be cordial but distant from here on out? How much had we learned on the Camino, was our discussions on humility and human wakefulness just words, or could we actually put lessons into action? Walking quietly through the fledgling day, we did take time apart. For the first time in our 10 days of walking, we walked alone or with other pilgrims more than each other throughout the day. And such, we gained clarity throughout the day. This was yet again, a lesson in pride and ego. Why is it so hard to communicate a hurt, but so easy to need vindication and "be in the right." Really our mini-argument was silly and a miscommunication more than anything, but such things have ruined many a relationship between all types of people. And as quickly as it came on, we moved on. Sitting in a cafe upon arriving in Belorado, after a relatively short 22 km day, we simply spoke to each other. No anger or blame, just an expression of thought. I am not sure if it could have been so easy in years past, but the result is that our friendship gained a whole new dimension of closeness and respect. This is the Camino and there are lessons abound. 

Friends who walk together, stay together.

Each day I am feeling physically stronger. The rebound ability of the human body is something quite miraculous. Today, walking from Belorado to Ages, I was sans knee brace and my morning dose of ibuprofen. Furthermore, Kelsey and I walked beyond the recommended stopping point in our book, and got ourselves 3.6 km closer to Burgos feeling nothing but a steady flow of energy the entire distance. Despite the initial doubts and relatively slow pace compared to other pilgrims, we are adapting to El Camino and its physical challenge. 

Belorado is in the same charming vein of many of our small town stops along El Camino. We stayed in the albergue Cautro Cantones, complete with a swimming pool and more queen sized bunk beds. After a mid-afternoon snack of tortilla and cafe con leche, we decided a pilgrim's meal would have been too indulgent. Instead, I decided to return to my camping and college day roots and go hobo. A can of beans it is! Cheap, nutritious, fibrous and requiring zero preparation, beans are sometimes just what you need. 

One of the most disgusting sights on this trip: a meat vending machine.

Following my plateful of lukewarm beans (I've come a long way since my fine dining habits in the U.S.) I took a stroll around town. Walking into an old, birds-nest adorned Church, I found myself completely alone in the place of worship. Imagine a place of absolute silence. No static or background noise, no voices or footsteps. Just total silence. The Church was flooded in natural light, domes rising steeply overheard, panels of wood ending in single rounded points. I sat in the front pew, scarcely breathing to preserve the total quiet, looked over by statues of Saints. This sort of solitude invariably comes to an end too quickly, and it was only a few minutes later that I heard the creak of the floors as other pilgrims walked in. What a wonderful, and not often realized, experience.

A place of quiet.

Getting ready for bed, a solid hour before other pilgrims (this enables our early wake up), Kelsey and I confronted what is possibly the number one enemy of the modern pilgrim. Bedbugs. Dramatically, we start looking up bedbug images on our phone, reading about its disgusting biting and mating procedures, and overall working ourselves (well really, it was mostly me worked up) in to quite a state about the "bedbug". I even used my phone to zoom in on it, studying its lazy zigzag progression along the wall for the better part of 20 minutes. Finally we determined that we would bet on it not being a bedbug, mostly to avoid the awkwardness of stealing away in the coming night past all the other relaxing pilgrims. I took a 25mg Atarax (an anti-histamine) to induce a deep sleep, wore two layers of turtlenecks, my long spandex pants, socks, and pulled my sleeping bag around my face so I resembled an Eskimo. I am going to diligently examine myself for bites for the next few days and hope for the best. Gross.

A donkey! A hint of things to come in Nepal.

Our scenery went through another shift today. As much as yesterday was exposed and yellow, today was green and shaded, topped off with fields of sad sunflowers.

Downward facing sunflower.

Stopping for our tortilla (I am going on an egg strike tomorrow in the interest of preserving my healthy cholesterol levels) and cafe con leche, we received a lesson in the Camino from a man at the cafe. Reciting in Spanish numerous Camino poems, the history of the town Villafranca and its 9th century harboring of pilgrims, the importance of all relevant monuments in the surrounding areas and his own experiences walking the Camino 5 times, he could have kept us there all day. So insistent was he, that anytime I broke eye contact with him, he would give me an exaggerated tap on the shoulder. With pregnant pauses, large flourishes of his hands, and deep elongated rolling of all of his "r's" it was a one sided conversation of much emotion. We managed to break away 30 minutes later, much to his disappointment, but we had to keep our own pilgrimage moving.

We arrived early and strong after a 28 km day to Ages. It was a beautiful entrance into the town, fields of yellow sunflowers, rising up from the cluster of red rooftops. 

Walking into Ages.

Sitting in the airy Municipal Albergue, we relaxed into the albergue settling procedures as some of the first people to arrive. Slowly all of our friends started to trickle in. Jorge, Dave, Pepe, and so many more. We have picked up a lot of new pilgrims since Logrono. And in turn, many have had to return home, like the sweet German couple Oliver and Stephy. It is sad to know you will never see these Camino companions again, but such is the Way. As you must only complete the final 100 km of the Camino by foot to receive the Compostela, I imagine we will see more and more new faces. At this point, Keksey and I feel a little like El Camino 2013 veterans. Just today we set a new record of bed to walk in 45 minutes. "Slowly but surely" as we have been teaching our Spanish friends.

Wandering around town as the sun began to set, we followed an arrow leading us behind the Church. And oh! What we would find! A garden of pilgrim's origami cranes. Painted in all beautiful shades and designs. As we free the paper from a cage, we change it into a bird to set free. That's Camino symbolism for you. Of course I had to make one alongside Tomas, really figuring it out by luck, as the directions were lacking a bit.

My ave.

Following our arts and craft, Tomas offered to teach me some yoga sun salutation variations (fortunately Kate has shown me the basics so I wasn't totally out of my element). Under the watchful gaze of a 93 year old Spanish Señora, I practiced yoga for about 15 minutes before my walking soreness drove me towards a cafe and a croissant. 

What a beautiful, successful day. Burgos and a third of the way through our journey tomorrow.