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.

This Morning

My fingers crossed, I pray,
Believing God does what he wants anyway,
Not seeing the two could meet today.

I want to stay home, just let me be,
My job is the only thing stopping me,
Someone else's time the fee.

I alter my prayer this time saying,
"God, you have the power to do some changing,
"So please, I know you can, give me today for resting."

I answered the phone with dread,
"Two friends will cover for you," she said.
Praise God, I'm free to stay in bed!

Addiction

Addiction runs in my family. Some lean towards alcoholism, though everyone has been able to keep their jobs, homes, etc. Some can't quit smoking. There are also those who are drawn to absurd relationships that don't last. One aunt is addicted to traveling, something that people all over the world share with her. Now you may be asking yourself, "What is Rachel's addiction?" The answer: coffee shops. I am drawn to them like a kid to the swimming pool in summertime. While driving my eyes are constantly scanning for the familiar signs of Starbucks or Pete's. I keep notes in my head about where the nearest coffee shop is located. I do not exclusively seek the chain stores either. Tupelo and the Coffee Garden are other locales around Sacramento that have the pleasing atmosphere of a home grown, completely unique coffee shop. Currently I am enjoying the free wi-fi of It's a Grind in Elk Grove. The interesting thing about my addiction is that it's not the caffeine that enslaves me like so many others. Tonight I got some hot apple cider. It's something indescribable about the atmosphere. It's a public place where I can relax, drink something tasty, and either hang out with friends, read, or catch up on things online. A coffee shop is a treat no matter how many times I go.

I've been working on the autism spectrum, all the live long day...

Yesterday I worked for about 10.5 hours and I was out of the house from 7:30am till about 8:30pm. Today I was away from home from 7:30am till about 5:15pm. Not bad. I'm glad to be keeping busy, even though I am getting a little tired. There is less time for brooding when you're busy. When you're as introspective as I am you have to be constantly on your guard against brooding. If you want to help me fill my social calender and avoid too many dark and weighty thoughts I would love to include you. I would love some good deep conversation about something other than relationship drama. Please.

Are you smarter than a junior higher?

I found a link to The Blog Readability Test on someone else's blog a moment ago and with fear and trembling I tried it out. My score:

At least it wasn't elementary level like his. I guess I need to push myself to sound like I have a B.A.

Sometimes there are things I just can't change...

... and that frustrates me more than anything in the world. If you give me a puzzle I will sit and work at it for hours if I feel like I'm making any kind of progress, and it is hard to pull myself away because I want to find the solution. I get obsessive. I want to be in the field of psychology because I want to help other people solve their problems. The only thing is, I don't know how to solve my own. I'm realizing more and more that people are mysterious and there are some things about the way we work and think and emote that are unexplainable. At least for me. I know psychologists are doing studies all the time to find out patterns of how people work, but there isn't one theory that explains everything about the human psyche. There isn't even a combination that can! All that is to say I feel frustrated, anxious and angry right now and I don't know what to do about it.

Car Trouble?

This past weekend I was looking forward to going to a wedding in Santa Barbara for a number of reasons. First of all, it's Santa Barbara and I haven't been to the beach in years. Second of all, I love a good road trip with friends. My sister, friend Heather, and I left Friday evening in a van belonging to Heather's mom. We were about 2 1/2 hours into our trip when the acceleration began feeling irregular. I was behind the wheel at this point. We pulled over on the side of I-5 in the middle of Nowhere, CA and discovered that the car was not going to move anywhere. For the next 2 1/2 hours we sat in the van waiting for a tow truck to find us while semis driving by gently rocked us. Turns out we weren't really sure where we were, and after talking to a rude emergency dispatcher (I called 911 for the first time in my life) and 3 or 4 tow truck companies we were found and taken to the nearest hotel. The town and the next day is another story that maybe my sister will tell. As for my luck with cars, there is more to the story. Last night, the dash of my car started to go berserk. Then this morning I started it and it was acting funny again. I couldn't get it to shift so I turned it off to try again only to find that the engine wasn't firing up at all, but my windshield wipers were moving feebly even though they weren't on. I called my dad and told him about my possessed car. Of course, after I had it towed out to his shop I learned that it only needed a new alternator and I was on the road again before noon. The moral of the story is if for some reason you are thinking of letting me drive your car, hold on to those keys!

As a side note, according to iTunes the theme song for today is "Company Car". Yeah, I know.

Musical Answers

Sometimes I play the iTunes game. This is how you play:

1) Set your iTunes library on shuffle
2) Make a statement like "My mom's theme song" or ask a question like "What's the weather going to be like today?"
3) Hit play and see what song comes up. That song is the theme song or answer to your question and should be interpreted immediately.

You can ask iTunes anything and get all kinds of answers. This morning I started with what I always start with: theme song for the day. The title that popped up was "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)". That doesn't sound promising. Usually the answers aren't that clear or obvious, but they are always fun. I'll let you know how it goes today.

Average

Whenever I get sick I think, "This is the worst kind of sickness. I feel like I can't do anything!" The thing is, every sickness can't be the worst. It's the concept of average. For instance, most people think they are above average in appearance. That just can't be the case. So most likely you're average. It's okay, we can be average together. Anyway, I spent the first 4 days of November at home feeling slightly nauseous. It's over now. Today I went to work and life went back to normal.

Ninjas or something better?

This morning I decided to look for ninjas on youtube and I found some.... sort of.



It's just incredible that people can do this. I watched video after video of guys doing this everywhere for fun. It's called parkour or free running and I love it.

Thrill of a Lifetime

"Indeed it is only too easy to forget that there is a thrill in theism."

G. K. Chesterton in The Everlasting Man

Sometimes faith can get old and stagnant. As a Christian I have heard stories from the Bible over and over again and they don't surprise or excite me as easily as they used to. Occasionally I will come across one of those obscure stories (generally in the Old Testament) about some amazing thing God or one of his servants did, like when Samson lit foxes' tails on fire and sent them to burn up the Philistine's food stores (check out Judges 15!). But really, theism, the fact that there is one God and he created everything, is astonishing. When I don't let that concept slip into the back parts of my mind it is incredible and thrilling. Chesterton was specifically trying to make the point that theism is just as thrilling, if not more thrilling, than polytheism. In theism, that one God has to be impressive. He can't be a wimpy, half-god, or be tricked or confused by other Gods. It's just Him, knowing everything and being everywhere. These days people are less distracted by polytheism and more distracted by everything else going on in their lives. Busyness allows us to forget about God altogether, or at least put Him on the back burner of our minds so we don't give Him the attention that would excite us. God is using Chesterton, this beautiful Sacramento fall, and the people around me to get my attention again. It's working and I'm thrilled.

Playground Romance

I hang out with first graders almost every day. Last week I saw a boy and a girl playing around all recess long, just the two of them. It reminded me of when I was in first grade and had a crush on a boy in my class. We played together every recess. I started to feel nostalgic for that innocent affection when the best thing in the world was to climb on the monkey bars together. Loss of innocence is so painful to think about. The world all of a sudden becomes much less carefree. It becomes a dark and scary place with nowhere to hide. It would be so easy to go through life without hope if you thought your only resource was yourself. I'm glad I know about something else. Even so, I need a lot of reminding.

Psalm 42:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 33:22
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Reading Rainbow

I have been putting together a list of books to read for about a year now. It has over 100 titles on it. I've stopped looking for more books to put on it because I am working my way so slowly through it as it is. I just get so excited about all the interesting stories that are out there. Lately I've been interested in memoir type books, but I also like finding the classics that have made up the staple diet of literature for a longer period of time. You know, those timeless books that have adventure and love and tragedy. I'm not actually sure I know what a classic is. Usually I think of books like Jane Eyre (which I loved!) and The Three Musketeers (which was my latest purchase). Still, I like perusing the Borders 2 for 3 table with its variety of new paperback novels, memoirs, commentaries, as well as stories that have been around for awhile. I just love books. It's too bad I get so easily distracted by the TV. I hate the TV, but it seems to pull me in so often. I know, I know, "Get control of yourself!" I keep trying. Alright, enough. I'll stop whining and get back to reading.
Currently reading and on deck:

Into San Francisco

I went to San Francisco last weekend and saw a few things:

1. The lighthouse at Point Reyes National Seashore. Lovely. Short for a lighthouse.
2. Lots of seagulls. Gross but entertaining.
3. Into the Wild. Haunting.

I didn't know what I was getting into when I sat down to watch Into the Wild. It was explained to me that it was about a guy who traveled all around the US and eventually went to Alaska to live off the land. Great. Sounds like an adventure story. It's a true story and especially because of that, the ending was tragically ironic and haunting. Still, it was a good story. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will share something I was able to take away from it (other than lost sleep): Happines is best when shared. I think I know that one already, but sometimes I think we can all forget to appreciate the people we have to share our happiness with. I'll try to remember.