These are the Sacristies of all the churches that I visited and was allowed to take pictures in from where we began our walk in Sarria all the way to Santiago.
Day four of walking the Camino! Today was a short (relatively speaking) 17 kilometers. My back no longer really feels my backpack, and fairly soon into the walk my feet—grown tired (at last!) from begging me to stop pounding them down uneven declines—have a tendency to go numb(ish). However, today I thought my right knee would explode. When I got out of bed this morning I slipped on a compression band, sliding it over the already swollen bulge that is my knee cap. The knee groaned, creaked, and shot warning fires in protest. I explained (polite but mildly impatient) that there simply is no other way, that it was time to walk it off (figuratively) even though walking (literally) was the cause of its inflammation in the first place. It protested violently with every step. I argued that Spain was beautiful and the journey lovely. The knee remained unimpressed—insisting that I should go on without it and it would take a taxi and meet up with me in Salceda. I did what I could to drown the ...
As our destination for the night began to come into view, I felt a strong feeling of accomplishment at the work that was done that day. We had walked quite a ways from our starting point in Sarria and to finally see our destination was relieving. As the town of PortomarĂn came into view, I looked back to reminisce on the trek of the day. As I was looking back, I was surprised to see a group of 15-20 pilgrims that had been traveling with our group on and off throughout the day. When I turned around and saw all the pilgrims traveling together to reach our temporary destination, I was overcome with the feeling of “communitas.” Communitas is described in our readings as the feeling we get when we are united together as pilgrims, where geographic and social identities are lost in the act of pilgrimage. The differences between us become less important as we share a common goal. This is a feeling that I feel will be present throughout our journey. The feeling of unity between pilgr...
Ahead lies the Atlantic Ocean, a vast expanse of sapphire blue water that goes on for miles and miles, even beyond what can be seen. Behind is the lighthouse that sits at the point of Finisterre. Underneath my feet are the granite boulders that line the coast and the mountains surrounding the estuary. All around are pilgrims and tourists stopping to take in the seaside view. Being in Finisterre, it is easy to see why it was once thought to be the end of the earth. I take a moment to sit down on one of the rocks, which is warm because the sun is brilliantly beating down on Galicia today. Looking out across the ocean, I start to imagine what it would have been like for medieval pilgrims and people even before then who traveled to Finisterre and truly believed that it was the edge of the earth. I’ll be honest, it is hard for me to imagine that because I know that 3,000 miles away lies the United States. However, I am amazed by the leap of faith it took for explorers to travel o...
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