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@hms-camino2015
We have finished our walking. What a trip! Many of the students would like to continue or hope to return to do the entire Camino. It is good to know that the sense of well-being and the heightened feeling of being free and alive is always available.
Caroline, one of our seniors about to graduate, has been taking many photographs. She is a very worldly person, with a subtle understanding of sociopolitical affairs. She can see the nuances of the local culture juxtaposed with the rich history of he places we are walking through.
Thomas has been taking photos as well. He makes us (and the friends we make along the way) laugh with his wonderful sense of humor. He is known by some people he chats with along the trail as "the biologist."
There are many installations along the trail that pilgrims have left. Here is a sign from Asra left for Cordelia (walking behind her) and the other pilgrims to follow.
After our last day of walking, we went to the grocery store as usual and bought our staple meal: bread, fruit, cheese, salami, juice, chocolate. Today it was accompanied by a large homemade bowl of guacamole.
After walking for the last 12 days we have fallen into a healthy rhythm of going to bed around 9:30 and waking up at 5:30. We carry some food with us and fill up our water bottles along the way in restaurants and public fountains. In order to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables we usually shop at grocery stores and make ourselves at home in the shade of green parks. Here is Cole outside a supermarket after trying to make a complex group decision about which kind of ice cream to buy. Cole has learned enough Spanish in school to communicate with local people. He enjoys talking with elderly folks in the villages we pass through.
When the big decision was finally made everyone was happy. That is one of the most challenging decisions we made since our life has been very simple lately - just walking and allowing the soul to bask in the senses in the present moment.
Chaz wrote this:
"This experience as a whole has been incredible. It gives me a feeling of freedom in a way that nothing else has. I have met so many people on the trail and almost everyone is very friendly. We speak to each other as we walk not to be polite, but out of pure interest in each other. On one very hot day I found a snail and kept it on my hand for a while, a pilgrim came up to me and we started a conversation about it that ended with a decision to name it Roberto. I have bonded very well with everyone on this projects block and we have learned a lot about each other on walks through the towns and cities. The scenery here is beautiful and I wish we could walk the whole Camino. The beauty of everyone's minds comes out on this freeing walk. You don't have to have a tangible reason to walk the Camino de Santiago but I think that somewhere every one does or otherwise they wouldn't do it."
We entered a huge cathedral yesterday, located in a very small town. It was so beautiful!
All of us are enjoying laughing together and making friends with other pilgrims. We only have three more days of walking, and I think we would all like to walk to Santiago. The Camino is not a physical distance in space however; it is a state of mind: to challenge oneself, make time to focus on what really matters, be in the present, live simply, share, be kind.
Cordelia, a junior, wrote in her journal:
"When you walk for hours on end like we are doing, your focus starts to shift and so does your mindset. All of a sudden, it doesn't matter what people think of you or what grade you got on that paper or how you're going to deal with that situation. All of that is somewhere else, and in turn the little things that make up life are enhanced--food tastes better, jokes are funnier, beds are softer, and taking off your shoes borders on a religious experience. I feel, and I think we all do, that we are living life more fully here than we do at home in the comfortable rhythms of school and jobs. Everyone on the Camino is friendly, and the conversations that take place between pilgrims are aimless and relaxed--we talk to find out more about each other, not out of routine or because we want something from one another. The Camino shows you how beautiful life can be, and even if you're not walking it for a specific reason, that is enough."
We had lots of time to rest on the shade, both on the road and in the shade of the hostel terrace.
It was very hot again so we only walked 20 kilometers although we had hoped to do 30.
Yum: Peach or apple with custard in a handmade pastry shell! To accompany these on a hot day, Asra made gazpacho (a cold raw Spanish soup) which is perfect for hot weather like this, with tomato, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, a little onion, salt and olive oil. Served with salami and olives, the meal is very Spanish!
At the end of the day a few of us walked around the small town of Arcos and came upon a small local bakery. Sadly supermarkets have been replacing small shops. Rather than finding artisanal fresh products, the same processed food is found everywhere. That is why we were so excited to find the pastries and potato skins at this wonderful little hole-in-the-wall place.
This is such a great group of students. They are having fun and also challenging themselves not just physically but also to be considerate of each other, to practice speaking different languages and to contemplate what "the Camino" is really all about. We have heard many stories of why people walk the trail, and it inspires one to live the most pure and authentic life as possible.
We gather together at the widest views, at the entrances of villages or major intersections. We stopped here for "lunch" until we realized it was only 9:30 am. It felt like we had been waking half the day already! We are eating very well- fruits and vegetables, bread, cheese, salami, chocolate, page, potato tortilla, nuts....
We started out early again when the shadows were long. The first half of the day was ideal walking conditions; we know our rhythm. We know the trail is well marked and the students can walked at their own pace a bit more and enjoy the reflecting on their own or meeting other pilgrims on the trail.
We are out of the Pyrenees and the weather is getting hot. Today we walked many hours with hardly any shade, through wheat and oat fields and vineyards. We were glad to find this shady willow tree to sit under and eat a snack in the cool shade.
One of the joys of walking the camino is meeting other pilgrims from all over the world. There are locals who walk a few days at a time and also people who have walked over a thousand kilometers already because they started in Holland or Denmark. They are all very friendly and the students are hearing many stories about what inspires people to take the time in their lives to walk. The man in the green shirt in this photo is a retired teacher from Germany. He has walked the Camino six times from Germany. He has made this a way of life and was very fit. It was fun talking to him!
It is such a perfect time of year to walk this path - so many wildflower and birds! Poppies grow wild along with fennel, buttercups, thistles, mistletoe, saint john's wort and honey suckle. The wild figs are growing, and baby grapes are visible on the vineyards. Olive trees in this photo show the classic Spanish gestures like flamenco dancers.
Here's the view while leaving the town of Puente de arena. There are old roman bridges in most of the villages and towns, and always an old church.