Documenting the Camino

Hello faithful readers! I think I can speak for those of us who are back in the land of the free when I say that I say it is great to be back and to see family and friends! The feeling is bittersweet though and I already am missing pimientos de Padron, Estella Galicia and our incredible guide and friend Iria.

As I've been describing the trip to my family I feel as though I'm missing things with every story and forgetting entire days. The Camino is truly a "had to be there" experience. The depth and breadth of the opportunities we had to experience new things, build relationships and grow as individuals seems indescribable. If you ever have the opportunity to devote a month to the Camino absolutely do it. We were incredibly lucky to be able to hike the Camino, to take part in a kind of trip that most won't get to experience. 

While on the Camino something I thought about a lot is the potential of the Camino to inspire art, particularly music. It would be impossible to not be creatively stimulated by the Camino, with the vibrant culture of Spain, the panoramic landscapes and the ample time and perfect environment for personal reflection. The most obvious manifestation of this creative spirit is in the works that were commissioned by the church, whether the architects who dreamed up the massive cathedrals in nearly every city we passed through or the sculptors who created statues for the elaborate Baroque altarpieces that served as those Cathedral's visual centerpiece. I was also very curious about music created while on the hike or inspired by the experience. I have not had any luck thus far, perhaps the talented in our group will create the first wave of records, what do you think, Suzi :)? 

The best results in my search for art inspired by the Camino has come in the form of cinematic works. Film has an enormous potential to capture the essence of the Camino because it can track the personal journey that individual's go through and visually presents the landscape of Northern Spain, which in its beauty is generally treated as a main character. 

The most famous example is The Way, a 2010 drama starring Martin Sheen. 

Sheen's character plays the father of a pilgrim who passed away in the first stage of the Camino (played by his real life son, Emilio Estevez.) The film features breathtaking cinematography and excellent acting. Its script does a great job of presenting how personal the journey can be while simultaneously showcasing its potential for meaningful relationships. Myself and my fellow pilgrims identified emotionally with the fictional pilgrims and recognized many of the locations Sheen visits. 

A great non-fiction example of a Camino film is the documentary Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve, made by the BBC. Deals with our pilgrimage for the first half hour Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAy_m9JW-ho 

 

Reeve's crew also does a great job visually capturing the Camino. Reeves provides great, realistic commentary on the history of the Camino and the experience of a present day pilgrim. Great shots of the sweeping prairies, tight city streets, the miraculous chickens and a night in a hostel.

While hiking we ran into two separate film crews creating documentaries. 

One will document the American cellist Dane Johansen's hike while carrying his cello. Link to the project website http://www.walktofisterra.com/ 

We were lucky enough to attend one of Johansen's performances at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas. He is a tremendous musician who was very kind and down to earth. His passion for freely sharing the music he loves with Northern Spain and his fellow pilgrims was incredible. I am very much looking forward to the release of his film, entitled the Walk to Fisterra. I suspect that it will be out in a few months. 

While hiking up the El Perdon mountain range I met a brother and sister from Denmark. They were meeting a film crew at the sculpture on top of the mountain, one of the iconic images of the Camino. 

The documentary focuses on their relationship and particuarly with concern to religion. The brother is an atheist while his sister is a believer. Further, the sister has the genetic disease cystic fibrosis, which both siblings were equally likely to be affected by. The Camino will certainly give them ample time to discuss these heavy topics and I was personally very inspired by the strength of the sister and their very close relationship. I have been unable to find any info online on the documentary, but hopefully something will be posted after the film is completed. Until then I will work on polishing my Danish and keep y'all updated in the comments section.

Thanks for reading! 

  

Final thoughts

Hola!

It's hard to even put into words the overall experience that we have had here. Everything from the sights we've seen, to the kilometers we walked, and the friendships that we have made, have been a blessing.
It's amazing how far we've come together as a group over the past three weeks abroad. The amount of things that we have learned about Spain, it's history, it's culture, and it's stories are more than I could have expected. Not only did we learn about them, but we saw, visited, participated and/or hiked them. There was a connection to the history and culture, along with a continuation of a tradition, the Camino.
The diversity of the Camino is astonishing. We met people from all over the world on our way and each person had their own story and reasons for hiking the Camino. We would run into these people repetitively along the way and although we had only had a few conversations, we would great each other as if we were old friends.
The connections made were simply incredible. Aside from people outside the group, we learned an incredible amount about each other. Before this trip I thought that I would be close with a few people, but little did I know we would become a Camino family. We walked, dined, cooked, sang, relaxed, and wondered together. It didn't take long for us to feel like we have known each other for years as opposed to the week or so we had in reality. The friendships that we have built here are ones that will last us a lifetime.
Unlike a lot of other study abroad programs, this trip holds a lot of room for self discovery and reflection. Each day is what you make it. You can walk in a group or walk alone. We pushed our bodies, minds, and spirits in ways that most of us didn't even know existed. Our day of silence in particular forced us to listen to that little voice in our heads and challenge ourselves to move through our personal struggles and discover what makes us tick. We thought of things that we wanted to let go of or change and then left it behind at Cruz de Ferro, providing ourselves with a clean slate, new understanding, better self connection, or whatever else.
Never in my life would I have thought that a seemingly simple act such as walking would change my life in so many ways, or that people who I met a month ago would have such an impact and mean so much to me. This was a truly life changing experience and one I will never forget.

Hey there, blog readers!

I am typing this post now from the Madrid airport where numerous weary pilgrims, your friends and loved ones, are snoozing on benches after a red-eye flight from Santiago de Compostela. As the rest of the class catches some shut-eye, I will fill you in on our last day in Santiago de Compostela. After a bittersweet night filled with cathedral touring and pilgrims' mass, dinner together, and final class presentations, we packed our bags for an early departure at 4:30am from our monastery-turned-hotel situated next to the historic Santiago cathedral.

Our final day in the pilgrimage city was open to us to do and discover as we pleased until our tour in the evening. Many of us enjoyed the glorious freedom to sleep in for the first day in three weeks, though I, thoroughly changed by the trip, couldn't help but get up and about by 7:30 that morning. The plaza that extends from the doorway of our old monastery hotel to the steps of the chapel was bathed in bright sunlight that morning, and I enjoyed watching the city wake up slowly as shops, street vendors and performers gathered on the cobblestone sidewalks to prepare for the incoming crowd of peregrinos that day. As expected, the first pilgrims briskly wound their way through the narrow streets around 10:00am, destined for kilometer zero in the grand plaza at the east entrance of the cathedral.

After a few hours of free time dedicated to wandering, shopping, and sight-seeing, we gathered at the entrance to the cathedral of Santiago for a tour guided by our very own guide, translator, and dear friend we've made over the course of our journey, Iria. This cathedral is the final destination on the pilgrims' path, as it houses the remains of Saint James, the apostle for whom the pilgrimage began. Though the cathedral was going under renovations at the time, we were able to catch glimpses of the central wooden pillar to Porta de Gloria, the grand entrance to the cathedral. Now protected by a metal fence, the ornately carved wooden pillar was once accessible to all pilgrims who entered, and due to years of pilgrims' touch, a centuries-old compiled handprint has dug it's shape into the sculpted wood. We also climbed the rattle tower, which houses the huge wooden rattle that is sounded as a call to the devout on Easter morning. At the top if the staircase we stepped out onto the rooftop where we could observe the cathedral as a whole from above. This building is an architectural mash up of numerous different styles and eras. We noted the Romanesque structure of the building, it's ornate Baroque facade and some Neoclassical period additions on a few towers. Behind the facade is an old stone box marked by a lamb and a cross where pilgrims used to burn their old robes from their travels and were granted new tunics to mark their forgiveness and rebirth from their journey to Santiago. That evening, we stayed for the mass service in the cathedral, which was heavily populated by pilgrims, tourists, and some local Catholics. We witnessed a group of 8 monks fill the giant aerial censor, the Botufumera, with fragrant incense, hoist it high in the vaulted cathedral, causing it to swing wide and and fill the space with the scent of balsam wood and frankincense.

One last delicious Spanish dinner, then we gathered at the hotel to share our final presentations on our experiences. Each of us shared thoughts on a moment or on our entire process throughout the trip in many different forms: poetry, prose, song, shared quotes, scattered puzzle pieces, a few tears shed, and a slice of Torte de Santiago each. Among us hung the bittersweet excitement of the end of a chapter and the start of a new one. Many of us agree, though, that this journey has been a landmark in our lives, and that one cannot avoid measuring our lives pre-Camino and post-Camino.

To my peregrinos, it has been a pleasure hiking and growing with you. All my best wishes to you going forward from Santiago; this journey has been like no other. Keep going, keep growing, and loving life by the minute.
Love,
Suzi Gard

La Comida

Hello faithful blog readers !! We are on the home stretch of the camino! Since most of the blog posts have talked about the amazing places we have been and things we have seen, I decided to fill you all in about the wonderful food of Spain and of the camino.

I will start by talking about our favorite breakfast item, TOAST! At the majority of the hostels we have stayed at and generally all over Spain they enjoy toast for breakfast. We aren't talking a normal piece of bread here though, we're talking a piece of toasted baguette bread with the option of adding butter or an assortment of jellies. Some of the days we have been lucky enough to be offered chocolate croissants, which are my personal favorite. Along with these breakfast items we almost always get freshly squeezed orange juice. Let me tell you that our concept of freshly squeezed has been completely changed since we have had the orange juice here. The juice here literally tastes like you are sucking the juice out of an orange and sometimes it still has the seeds from the orange in the cup. This morning at breakfast we watched a machine take fresh oranges, cut them in half and then squeeze the juice into a pitcher that was then poured into our glasses! Along with our orange juice we enjoy drinking cola-cao which is a chocolate hazlenut powder that you mix with hot milk and it is delicious. I'm sure most of us will be buying some packets to bring home and share!
A popular lunch of the camino in our group has been bocadillos(sandwiches). A lot of the guys have been very proactively buying meat and cheese from the meat market In the town ofthe night and buying a loaf of bread to make their own sandwiches. I think they are really enjoying trying all the different kinds of salami and chorizo as well as being able to use their swiss army knives to cut up the meat and cheese.
Since most people of Spain do not eat dinner until 830pm, we have found that we usually need just a little something to tide us over until dinner. It has been fun walking through the  supermercados ,markets,  or Pasterias to find snacks or baked goods. The baked goods here in Spainp
 are out of this world and relatively cheap. They have  found that we really enjoy getting gelato  as a treat to hold until dinner. Soooo good! 
We have found that we like to eat off the the pilgrims menu which is offered at a majority of the hostels along the camino. It's a three course meal which includes wine and water and it typically goes for 9-11euro. The first course usually offers mixed salad, spaghetti, some kind of roasted vegetable, or the soup of the area. The past few days we have been in the area of Galecia and so the first course offers Galecian soup or caldo. Also typical to this area is paella which is offered in the first course. 
The second course is usually pork chop, chicken, beef or fish and is served with French fries. As a third course we get dessert! The dessert has varied by the area but usually includes ice cream, fruit, cake or flan. When we started the camino we were in Basque area and the popular dessert was the Basque cake, which is delicious! Now in Galecian area the popular desserts are the tarta de Santiago and tarta de Oruja, our favorite is the Santiago cake! Overall the pilgrims menu has been very good and we have enjoyed it.
Today we had the opportunity to try pulpo which the Spanish word for octopus. About halfway through our walk today we stopped in the town of Melide where there is a restaurant that is known for its pulpo. We all sat together in long benches and shared helpings of boiled octopus that was covered in olive oil and sprinkled with salt and paprika. It was still purple in color andn had tentacles and Suckers on some of the pieces. I think the overall consensus was that it was delicious! It was a neat experience to share as a group and with our guide Iria who is from the Galecian area and regularly enjoys octopus as a meal.

Overall, the food in Spain has been unique and delicious but I think we are looking forward to eating McDonald's, Chipotle, or whatever once we return to the U.S.

That's all for now! Buen Camino!
Ashley Slattery
*sorry for the spelling mistakes! This was written on an iPad! *

Sarria to Portamarin

¡Hola!

Yesterday we walked about 22 kilometers from the town of Sarria to Portamarin. The trail was very scenic and extremely congested with pilgrims! Everybody is so friendly and constantly saying 'buen camino'! It's so cool to run into so many people from all over the world and I am so amazed at how many Americans are here doing the Camino too.

It took the majority of us about four hours to finish the hike. When we finally reached the outside of the town we had to walk across this huge bridge that was over a beautiful river. It was so cool! Our albergue was a little ways over the bridge and close to the Cathedral! The owners of the albergue were extremely nice and we had a great patio to hang out in. Some of the students made dinner in the kitchen at our hostel and some went out to find food.

We are getting really close to Santiago and we only have four more days of 20+ kilometers until we can get our Compestelas!

Overall this trip so far has been physically demanding for a lot of us. Luckily our blisters have began to callous but I think we are all still a little sore.  We are hoping for sunny cool days as we continue to approach Santiago!

Now for a funny story:

On our walk Saturday from Samos to Sarria Ashley and I walked together the entire time.  We were incredibly chatty and right in the midst of one of our conversations , we looked up and saw two of the most massive pigs I have ever seen blocking the trail. They were just casually walking the trail, stopping to eat grass. Ashley is not a fan of pigs and was extremely nervous about having to pass them. Up until then I had no reason to dislike pigs. I tried to calm Ashley down  and let her grab my arm as we approached the pigs...Ashley's anxiety rubbed off on me  and as we got right up to the pigs they started to attack me...okay, some might use the word 'sniff' but  I'm choosing to say 'attacked '. So the pigs started to attack me and I FREAKED OUT and by freaked out I mean started screaming and running in the opposite direction with Ashley right in front of me. Another pilgrim past the pigs on the trail started laughing hysterically...we didn't really find it funny until we were safely able to pass the pigs and see the photo he took of us... So some random pilgrim on the trail has a hilarious photo of Ashley and I running from two giant pigs (monsters). And no, sorry to disappoint, but we do not have a copy of this comical picture.

Adios everyone! Looking forward to completing the Santiago and returning to the U.S!

Sarria

Hola!

Today we traveled from Somos to Sarria - a town of great significance on the Camino. For many pilgrims, Sarria is the starting point for their Camino journeys. Though much closer to Santiago than our starting point in Roncesvalles, the distance from Sarria to Santiago is the minimum travel distance required to earn a Compostela certificate. As proof of our travels we will be collecting at least two stamps in our pilgrims passports each day until we reach Santiago.

From Sarria we will begin to see significantly more peregrinos on the trail during our last 100 or so km's. We are looking forward to continue meeting peregrinos along the way. We have had incredible opportunities to speak with pilgrims from all parts of the world - today we experienced a taste of home by talking with two individuals from North Dakota.

Please pray for good health and good weather as we prepare for our remaining 20+ km days. In five days we will finally reach our destination: Santiago de Compostela!

Buen Camino

O Cebreiro y Cruz de Ferro

Hi Everyone,

     Today we hiked the highest points on the Camino. The trail to Cruz de Ferro and the mountain climb up O Cebreiro. 
     Cruz de Ferro is a special spot on the Camino. Each pilgrim carries a stone with them as they hike, something represents the past and something they want to leave behind. When they reach Cruz De Ferro, its time to let it go, and leave behind their stone. The wooden post with the iron cross at the top has a massive pile of stones at its base, one from every pilgrim.
    Because of how special this site is, most pilgrims ascended in silence. Our group hiked up separated and each alone, and most pilgrims we passed didnt say anything more than "buen camino", many didnt even say that. The air itself seemed to know the significance of the site. The temperature steadily got colder as we climbed and the wind blew steadily harder. The clouds overhead were moving fast and getting darker, as if encouraging pilgrims to give up and to skip Cruz de Ferro, continuing to carry whatever weighs them down.
    The hike was only 2 km though, and so there was no turning around. One by one our group arrived at the top along with many other pilgrims. We each took our tome and separately dropped off the rocks we carried. Some of us just dropped them and kept going, others tossed them into the woods where we could never find them again. Still others took their time and only left their stone after much deliberation. Slowly but surely, each one of us left something behind and continued the 3 km to the next town.

     After a lengthy bus ride from Cruz de Ferro, we arrived at the base of O Cebreiro. The climb is 8 km long with a rise of approximately 700 meters. This hike was done with much less ceremony in comparison to Cruz de Ferro. Our group was once again cheery and talkative as we set off up the trail.
     I hiked with Becca while going up O Cebreiro and early on we decided we wanted to be the first to the top. The problem however, was that the "marathoners" (John, Andy, and Peter) were already ahead of us, and so were Aly and Andrew. The two of us powered up the hill and managed to pass Aly and Andrew. In the village around 2 km from the end we found the marathoners taking a break at a cafe. Becca and I got a stamp from the bar for our Pilgrim's Passport and then continued on our way, proud to be in the front. However, after walking just a few hundred yards down the trail, we say a pink sweatshirt about quarter mile ahead of us. Resigned to second place, we continued up the hill.
     At the top of the hill, we found Aly, Henry, and Catalina waiting for us (the latter two didnt hike today). Everyone ate lunch at the restaurant with many of us ordering Caldo, a potato and greens soup. After lunch the group headed for the bus to hear Paige's presentation and go to the Albergue a few towns down the mountain.