Happy Compostela Day!

A year ago today, Tori, Alison and I rode/pushed our bikes the last 3.5 miles to Santiago de Compostela. We found the Cathedral and stood in front of it for a few moments before doing anything else. I had an incredible feeling of accomplishment and amazement and relief. We had reached the end of the road that we had been preparing for and travelling on for the past 8 months or more. So much time and energy went into and finally we were done. It was a relief and felt like I was receiving a blessing just in being there. The pilgrim's mass was wonderful and we sang about announcing our salvation. I felt like I had only gotten there by God's grace. I was skeptical practically the whole way about being capable of riding my bike 550 miles across Spain, but every day we made it to our destination and on this day we arrived. It was and still is a little unbelievable.

Bonds (other than Barry)

This time last year I was nearing the end of my journey to Santiago de Compostella. Alison has dubbed Jan. 28th Compostella Day because that is the day we arrived in Santiago and received our Compostellas. Now we get pass on Purgatory or something like that.

I recently got an e-mail from my friend, Markus, who I met along the road and whom Alison referenced in her blog as well. I almost cried when I read his message written in broken English. I remember the openness that the road created between us. The fact that we were all pilgrims going to the same place meant that there was a link. Despite the language barrier and the age difference, we formed bonds with Markus, a lovely Italian couple and a French/Portugese man currently living in Canada. They became my friends who are forever etched on my heart even though I may never see them or speak to some of them again.

I can't wait to visit with Tori this weekend and celebrate our trip. What an experience and what wonderful people I shared it with!

This is a picture or Tori's popped tire and Alison being so helpful. We're getting so close!

Decisions, Decisions

Well, the cord on my fantastic hand-me-down brick of a computer went kaput. That means the one computer that got decent internet at my house no longer works. I've got a choice to make: either invest around $100 to buy a new cord for my old computer, or drop a few hundred on getting a new one. Thoughts?

Pictures

I hate trying to post pictures on this thing. I know it makes it more interesting to look at, but they end up in a weird format. Just look at the previous post. Well, here's another picture from the trip in Spain. It was in an albergue in Logrono.

A year ago today...

... I was a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. This was actually the second day of the pilgrimage and one of the most tiring of the whole trip. I went with Tori and Alison, best friend and twin sister respectively, on our bikes (en bici). My bike was named Rocinantes, which is the name of Don Quixote's not-so-noble steed. It was a bike I bought on e-bay so it wasn't much to look at, but what a champion! In the picture we have (from left to right) Plata, Alison's bike named after the Lone Ranger's horse, Silver. Next is Babieca, Tori's bike, named after El Cid, a medieval Spanish hero's horse. And finally, good ole Rocinantes. They are loaded down with all of the belongings we had with us in Spain except for what we were wearing and what was in our camel backs.




That day we saw a few landmarks of the Camino. The first was a little, octagonal, Romanesque church called Aunate. It was a quiet place that had been a place for pilgrims to rest and pray for centuries. On the altar, a cloth was embroidered with the words "Venid a mi", which means "Come to me." It's like the passage that says come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest. I thought that was so appropriate for doing a pilgrimage. The next landmark was Puente la Reina or Bridge of the Queen. It was also very old like the church. And finally, at the end of the day we reached the fuente de vino. Some of you may recognize the word vino. Yes, it was a wine fountain set up for pilgrims. The story goes that if you drink from the wine fountain at Irache you will have the strength to make it all the way to Santiago de Compostela. I guess it worked because we eventually got there. More to come on that later. The fountain was basically a spigot that came out of a wall and was impossible to drink from without getting the wine all over your face.



At the end of such a long and difficult day (we traveled about 36 miles) it was a very welcome treat as you can tell by my face.

Puke and Punches

Today at work I was puked on, screamed at, and beat up. No, I don't work in a bar. I do, however, work with children who have autism. It's going to be a long week.

Partay!

For New Years this year I spent the evening with a few friends. We played a drinking game while we waited for the countdown to 2008. Those of you who know me probably know that I'm not the biggest drinker. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good alcoholic beverage or two or even three, but I haven't been drunk very often in my life. Well, the game is called King's Cup and what you do is spread out a deck of cards all upside down. You take turns picking cards and they each mean something. For example, 8- pick a mate, so you pick someone to take a drink with you. 5 is a particularly exciting one where the person who selects the card gets to make a rule. Last night one of the rules that was made up very early on in the game was that whenever anyone took a drink, I had to take a drink. Yeah, that did it for me. I do remember everything that happened last night and I had a good time, but I did not ring in the new year very articulately. Cheers.