I’ve been in Morocco for a little over 2 weeks now. It took quite awhile to get settled here, so this blog is coming at you much later than I originally intended. My sincerest apologies for that!
So… let’s back things up a bit and talk about Spain!
Oh. My. Goodness. Y’ALL! It was simply splendid.
What exactly were we doing in Spain? We hiked El Camino de Santiago. What is the Camino? I’m taking this straight from Wikipedia: The Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of Saint James among other names, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried. Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups.
My team and I partook in The French Way. We started our journey in St. Jean, France and walked (and bused a few times) all day every day for a few weeks until we finally reached Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Our daily routine was simply: walk, eat, sleep. And repeat. Y’all, we literally walked across northern Spain.
Some of my personal highlights include:
- The food! Namely café con leche, Santiago cake, and tortilla Española
- The breathtaking scenery and architecture
- Having a much more manageable language barrier (I also had my very own translator every single step of the way, shoutout to Vielka Fajardo)
- Spanish/European culture—hello chivalry, welcome back into my life
- Meeting all kinds of really cool people each and every day
- But at the same time, being able to invest in several folks daily for a consistent amount of time
- Awesome conversations—like Wikipedia says, a lot of people walk the Camino in search of something spiritual, so the environment lends itself to being a fantastic place for the Gospel!
- Fresh air and ample amounts of vitamin D—when I say “Mister”, you say “Sun!”
- Pleeeeeenty of exercise
- Living simplistically—when you have to carry all of your belongings on your back every single day while walking 20-30km, you really come to grips with life’s true necessities
I loved every minute of Spain, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to walk across that beautiful country and have an open door to evangelize! The Lord certainly moved in mighty ways each and every day.
