There are three cities you pass through on the Camino. In Pamplona everyone is still high over the fact she/he made it over the Pyrenees. In Burgos you are high on life because you have a big chunk behind you and your accomplishments are many.
It is an entirely different story in Leon. Days and days on the meseta may have done a number on your head, or the blisters may have become infected, or you are facing tears in your meniscus, or a stress fracture, or the stomach bug that is going around hit you or a bronchial infection has kicked in. I have heard every one of these stories in the last 24 hours. My favorite was from a couple from San Diego. They have had it with this adventure and they are taking the train to Barcelona and hanging on the beach for a week. They are young and simply want to get home to a Chipotle burrito.
The Camino is different things to different people. Some came for the challenge, many came to run from something, some are awaiting a spiritual awakening. Some for all of these things.
It was overheard the first night at Orisson in the Pyrenees that the first third of the way is about the physical, the second third is about the mind, and the final third is about the spiritual. I believe that is true. By now my blisters have healed and I am no longer popping Advil like candy. I have completed the meseta, and the laughter kept me sane. I now find myself going inward and wanting to seek what it is that is so special about this pathway. What draws us to it and what drew the millions before us who traveled it over the past centuries. It is becoming a very personal time and one more challenging to share.
It is pouring rain today. I call this cozy time. A day to pull the covers up over my head and sleep the morning away. But when you stay in a 5 Euro a night hostel, you are up and thrown out at 7. Let the new day begin!
This post is dedicated to Clinton at Fanaka Primary School who always seems to start the new day with a smile on his face. He wears his heart on his sleeve and so when he is down you share the pain with him. But when he is ready for a new day the whole world smiles with him. Thank you Randy Siegel for sponsoring him.
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