house update: we have all amenities, the bedroom and kitchen are mostly unpacked, the living room actually resembles one, curt and i are actually (believe it or not) enjoying life without a tv immensely, and the fridge just made a lovely little noise where the ice drops into the bucket with no human interference (JOY!). many of the address changes have been made, the cable internet has been ordered, the new bank account is open, the loans and mortgage have been addressed, and we will have our first guest (curt's dad) this sunday (WAAHOOO!). just because there is no guest room yet to speak of, and the "study" is a small room with absolutely 2 degrees of movement capable between all the boxes means nothing! NOTHING! we will prevail. there will be a home where once there was a house!
no real buyers remorse yet, more buyers loud exhalations (internal monologue hears Dr. Edie saying, "Heavy sighs... what's up?"). i know we bought a good house. i know the house needs a LOT of work, and i know i am happier here than i would be in every other house we saw, an apartment, or something... but limboland is not a fun place to be, and this is still limboland.
i am still adjusting to not being on camino. i have started driving here, which believe it or not, was a very daunting thing for me... i have no maps, no idea where things are, and i haven't driven in over a month (not to mention the fact that i have never liked driving very much). life makes so much more sense on foot, or even on bike. i can at least live in the happy delusion that my life moves at a pace i enjoy. i miss so much focusing on the road when i drive. i miss flowers and natural breezes. but hey, mobility is a good thing. and i actually had somewhere to go.
speaking of which... the camino... why did 2 unitarians decide to do a catholic pilgrimage across northern spain in their freetime? well, long and complicated answer to that. we wanted a vacation, and another long distance hike. we wanted to see spain, and the best way to get to know a country is to walk through the small towns and talk with the people who live there. live with them as much as possible. cultural immersion. great way to improve and revive my spanish. but there is still a spiritual journey behind it. there is a saying that people do the camino for 3 reasons: to ask for something, to be thankful for something, or they don't know. many people hike because they have lost a loved one, overcome an illness or cancer, because they are NOT overcomeing an illness or cancer, or to see how the camino will change them. It is not all about religion, for some it is only for sport. for me (not talking too much for curt here), i hiked for all three reasons. i am very thankful for my life, my family, my health, everything i have been given and have worked for. my support network is amazing. i needed time to recover from vet school as well. anyone who had to witness my body's odd medical maladies or dealt with me crying over the last few years is well aware of how desperately i needed to "walk away" from it all. but that said, i still don't know why i walk. i have always hiked with a sort of loss for why i do it. i can tell you what i like about hiking: covering long distances is very rewarding. there is a lot of time to contemplate. even if you don't wish to be introspective, you can only sing bohemian rhapsody so many times while you're walking, and you will eventually run out of bad 80's songs to sing. long, quiet hours of you, nature, and the road ahead (and my hubby). nothing could be better. or more painful, or harder work which may not prove rewarding if there are no views. there are many bad analogies that can be made (in life, as on the camino, one will make some wrong turns)... it is rewarding to live with less, to be reduced to the simplicity of a backpack.
the camino is amazing in it's differences to the at. having a bed at the end of every night, and often a volunteer to look after your blisters... a hot and filling meal for only about 12 dollars... the hope of a shower when you arrive. the camino is a road, often a dirt road, but always wide and decently level compared with the mountains of the at. this was a luxery hike for curt and i, but for many others, it was very difficult. it was inspiring to see the challenges others overcame on their camino. one lady broke her arm and continued to walk. old, frail, obese, and ill... many people ho couldnot speak or understand spanish.
there are fabulous old towns, hundreds of years old, with an aging population living a life that hasn't changed much over that time. there are old churches and monestaries, old pilgrims hospitals and hermitages, all offering a dark, quiet, cool place to sit and recoop... reflect, if they weren't in ruins yet. much of the camino is seeing the remains of human efforts: you cross roman bridges and walk on old roman roads. you pass ruins of christianity and churches in use that are decaying, have plants growing on the walls and rooof, and are reminders to the impermanance of human endeavors. the cathedral at santiago is a good example of that. there aren't enough clergy to keep the building free of vegitation, and many of the exterior fascades are grimey and in disrepair. you also pass through big and modern cities. bustling with thousands of people and noise, a reminder of what you have left behind.
but much of the camino is the same as the at. there are views, there is a lot of time to just be with yourself. there are fabulous flowers and people and conversations. there is time to be light and free, time to goof off, and breath the fresh air (and sometimes the pesticides they were spaying on the grapevines...). the camino is a long distance hike like any other, showing the goodness of the people who intersect it. camino literally means "the way" in spanish, and it does have a kind of taoist feel to it. people often asked if we were on "the way" and there is an understanding that, while yes, it is sometimes about the destination, the journey is important too, and should be experienced.
there is a huge push by the church to distinguish what the camino is all about. they are desperately trying to seperate the pilgrim from the tourist. they are trying to set some guidelines and ethics for the camino (something that has spiralled out of their control in the same way that the forest service does not really control the at)... trying to encourage the ever swelling numbers of people not to litter, not to skip ahead and take the bus, not to be demanding of a hotel-lilke accomidation, but to be thankful for the accomidations that are available... this distinction between the tourist and the pilgrim is a very deep issue, and one that reached far beyond the religious observers who were hiking. a famous german comedian hiked one year and wrote a best-selling book that brought many "tourists" this year. they stayed in the towns, and at the alburgues/refugios with the hikers, but they took the bus. they used the system for a cheap vacation. As the european union is spending quite a bit of money to refurbish the communities along the camino, and to plan for the camino's future as a source of touristic revinue, they too are trying to attract a pilgrim and not a tourist. there are exhibits and propoganda everywhere. everyone likes a pilgrim who spends money.
which is part of the issue that many people seem to have forgotten. the original pilgrim was a tourist. this was the first vacation. they travelled by many means: some on foot, yes, but many others took horses or mules, wagons, etc. some traveled in the lap of luxury. some travelled solely on the charity of others (that would be impossible today).
but in the end, both curt and i came away with a long distance hike, a good break from the real world, a chance to be with each other and ourselves, and a better understanding of spain, the provinces we travelled through, and catholicism past and present. we hopefully have found a little more peace and serenity that we can bring back with us, and at the very least, this long and rambling blog that made no point or sense what-so-ever...
sorry, i seem to have gone off the deep end. and i didn't even start to say what i meant to...
but at least i got a good respite from unpacking!
and i get to meet people at a barbque tonight! maybe i'll meet some fabulous new people today (i mean, other than the little man who installed the fridge)
love to all
auds
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