Well folks, I’ve been walking the Camino for 5 days now.
When my squad was in Georgia, two of the guys on our squad ran 16 miles one day for a “fun” manly adventure. When they returned they both joked that they had found the end of themselves during their run.
While preparing for the Camino my whole squad would joke around wondering when we would find the end of ourselves.
Welp, I’ve already found the end of me. The Camino thus far has been an absolute rollercoaster.
Bre, Jada, and I started off strong! During the first two days, Bre broke out in a mysterious rash that required two visits to a clinic for various shots and creams, but other than that the first two days flew by. We walked along the coast and enjoyed incredible views. We met some of the coolest people from all over the world. We stayed in Alburgues with other pilgrims where we ate dinners together around a big table. We sang songs after dinner while our favorite Russian friend played the guitar. We listened to our new friend Michael, an older man from Austria, share his stories of driving an old van all over America and through Mexico. We were thriving.
Then day 3 hit. On day 3 we planned on walking 18 miles. It was the longest stretch yet, but there were no alburgues to stay in along the way, so we set off at 6 am and started knocking out the miles.
The first 10 miles went by pretty quickly. We hit a small snag when we reached a section of the path that descended very steeply down a muddy, slippery mountainside. We were carefully making our way down, I was on all fours looking like a goat. That’s when I heard a shriek behind me and Jada came careening down the mountain side, one leg behind her and one in front, sliding down the mountain in a straight up split.
I was dying laughing. It was one of those – I can’t stop laughing, but dude are you ok?! Kinda laughs. She slowly got up to find her pants torn and muddy. She looked like a wreck. But in true Jada form she just laughed and kept walking. We walked and walked and walked. We walked through cities, cemeteries by the sea, and along highways.
After we stopped for lunch my feet hurt real bad. Ya see here on the North route it is always raining. The number one thing I always hear from the hiking experts is to keep your feet dry to avoid blisters. Well that is impossible in this part of the world. Our feet are always sloshing in our shoes. I could feel the blisters starting to form so I changed my socks, but they were drenched a few minutes later.
Around mile 13 we were all hobbling along. As you walk the Camino you are always scanning the horizon for yellow arrows that mark the route. Sometimes the path is so clearly marked it’s delightful. Other times it’s not clear at all. Around mile 14 we came to a fork in the road. 3 yellow arrows pointed in one direction while only 1 arrow pointed in the other. Vague.
We chose the 3 arrow route. 2 miles into that path we realized that we had gone the wrong way and were now 2 miles in the opposite direction that we needed to go. We were in the middle of nowhere. I was in so much pain, and didn’t even want to take my shoes off to look at my feet. We just kept walking like zombies. We found a small town and as I walked past a cafe I saw another one of our teams sitting inside. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We hobbled in and found the other team in a similar predicament. Exhausted and lost.
Together we deliriously came up with a game plan. The original albergue that we were trying to walk to opened it’s doors to pilgrims at 3PM and had 17 beds. It was already 3, which meant by the time we arrived it would be full. The next albergue was 8 miles away. Eventually we found a bus that drove us two towns over where we got into an alburgue that was in our price range.
That albergue didn’t serve dinner, so two of our mottly crew found some groceries while the rest of us basically crawled into our room. The room was disgusting. It looked and smelled like it hasn’t seen a cleaning product since the beginning of time.
Our two comrades returned with the food and we sat down to feast on potato chips and ham sandwiches. As we sat down, all the exhaustion of the day hit me and I started laughing hysterically. We all did. We just sat there, exhausted and in terrible pain and laughed. My laughter suddenly turned into tears, and that’s when I found the end of myself. I just wanted to be home. In a bed that didn’t smell like mildew. I wanted a hot bath. I didn’t want to sit on this grimy floor with blisters covering my tender, swollen feet or sleep in any more rooms full of strangers. I thought about the fact that we were going to be living this life for the next month. A whole month of this. I just kept crying. It was a full on meltdown.
We finally went to sleep. When we woke up Jada and I could barely walk. Jadas foot was swollen, and my blisters were horrid. We found a bus to the next town. Once again we had to come up with a game plan on our meager budget. We found an alburgue 10 miles away that was cheap and served lunch and dinner. We loaded up into a taxi and sped away from the coast and into rolling hills and farmland. As we drove, the clouds disappeared and it became a gorgeous sunny day. We pulled up at our alburgue and I was stunned. We stood outside an enormous white home covered in flowers. It looked like a palace. I felt like I was standing at the gates of heaven. A man came out and waved us inside with a warm smile. He poured us big cups of water and motioned us to put our bags down. He led us over to a table labeled reception and told us to sit down to get checked in. I sat down and looked at the man across the table. Sitting before my very eyes was one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen. I know this is weird for me to write about, but I need to paint you a picture of the shock and awe we felt at entering this heavenly home. The man spoke in English and gave us an introduction to the alburgue. I couldn’t focus. I was so exhausted but also baffled at how I could be sitting here in front of this shockingly beautiful man. It didn’t even seem real. It was all too perfect.
After we finished checking in, a different man showed us to our bunks. The albergue sat on a sprawling plot of land, covered in lush, green grass and beautiful trees. The bunk rooms were clean with real pillows and fluffy blankets. Each room had its own equally clean bathroom. We just walked around with our mouths gaping open. I was flabberblasted.
We showered in glorious hot, clean showers. We washed our clothes in a laundry machine that made our clothes smell like actual roses. I have never had my clothes smell that good in all my life.
Then they rang a bell that meant lunch was served. All the pilgrims went down to a large picnic table outside.
The day before as we walked for miles on end we talked about all the food we wanted to eat. We all agreed that hot soup sounded delicious. When we walked by the ocean, Jada craved fresh fish.
Well lo and behold the beautiful man emerged from the kitchen holding huge bowls of homemade chicken noodle soup. He laid fresh baguettes on the table as we ladled ourselves big helpings of belly warming soup.
Next he emerged carrying trays of salad and fish. It was stupendous. I ate and ate and ate. In between bites we nudged each other saying, “Are we in heaven?!”.
It honestly felt like we had entered a portal into another planet.
After lunch I lay out in the warm grass and let the sun heal my soggy, blistered feet. The air was so fresh and clean and the temperature was a perfect 70 degrees. Butterflies fluttered about, and a slight breeze played with the leaves in the trees.
That afternoon as Jada and I laid on the grass we joked about other food we would love to eat. Jada fantasized about dishes with potatoes, while I dreamed about spaghetti.
I laid there all afternoon until it was time for dinner. They gathered all the pilgrims and welcomed us. There were about 100 other pilgrims there from all over the world. Germany, Japan, Italy, Bhutan, Ecuador, and Switzerland were just a few of the 17 countries represented.
As we sat down at the table once again they brought out steaming bowls of the best potato soup I have ever eaten. For the main course it was none other than spaghetti. Jada and I could not stop laughing. God was spoiling us.
That night I slept like a bear in hybernation.
The next morning we woke up early and started hiking our 10 miles for the day. My blisters were completely healed. Jadas foot still hurt, but she walked on, shrugging it off. That morning we hiked along the coast and once again I wondered if I was in heaven. We walked along paths with cornfields and rolling hills on our left and cliffs leading to the ocean on our right. It was beautiful and sunny. We passed old vans parked in fields with sleeping surfers snuggled inside. We walked on sandy beaches and through patches of wild flowers. I kept saying out loud “God, I can’t believe this!”.
Eventually we got on a ferry that took us across a bay and into our town for the night. We found our alburgue and dropped off our things and found some yummy tacos for lunch.
That’s when Jadas foot began to really bother her. We decided to take her to the hospital since it was the last big hospital for a while.
We found a bus, made it to the hospital, checked in, and entered a bursting waiting room. We settled in for the evening. When Jada finally got called, they took her back to get x-rayed. When they looked at the X-ray they told us that her foot was indeed broken. A kind nurse led us to another waiting room in the trauma ward to see a doctor.
We waited in that room for a solid 2 hours. We laughed at the fact that Jada had walked a good 20 miles on a broken foot. We passed the time by playing eye spy, and watched people come and go on stretchers.
Finally, around 9PM we saw the doctor, a spry young man in his 20s. He spoke rapid Spanish as he moved Jadas foot in all different directions while she winced in pain. Jada and I did our best to understand the words that flew out of his mouth.
He left suddenly and didn’t return for 30 mins. We were both so tired and hungry. Finally he reappeared with the X-ray in hand and declared that Jada had not broken her foot, but instead had badly strained a tendon.
He recommended that Jada take several days of rest with lots of ice, and ibuprofen. Again I tried to translate for him. At one point I was translating and he stopped me and shook his head saying in perfect English, “She did not tear her tendon, just stretched it.”
I looked at him incredulously. “You mean to tell me you could have spoken English this whole time?!” He smirked and patted my back, “Yeah, I’m just like that.” And with that he led us out and closed the door behind us.
We made our way back to our alburgue. Some other worried pilgrims offered Jada a variety of medicines and creams. They were all so kind. We finally fell asleep after eating a sleeve of chips ahoy for dinner.
Today we woke up early to get out of our alburgue, they usually require all pilgrims to be out by 8AM so they can clean before the next set of pilgrims arrives. We are posted up at a coffee shop waiting for a train to the next town where we will find a cheap alburgue for the night, and pray that Jada’s foot heals quickly.
So there you have it folks. It has been a wild ride. We are all exhausted, but trying to remember that shoot dang we are in Spain! We are surrounded by beauty and some of the worlds coolest people. God is caring for us in the most tangible ways. We press on through the ups and downs.
Please pray for Jadas foot and for very swift healing. We want to continue experiencing all that the Camino has to offer.
P.S. As I was typing this, Jada informed me that she has lost both her glasses and her contacts leaving her mostly blind. The adventure continues lol…
