Here is a link to a slide show put together by my friend that travelled with me. It is awsome check it out!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kkunowski/CaminoDeSantiago02?authkey=3pcL8PvP7RQ#
Amanda
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The end of the world
Ola Ola,
I am writing this from Finistera, where we arrived yesterday afternoon. We made it to Santiago three days ago, it was an amazing feeling to arrive there and stand in front of the cathedral. I couldn't´t believe I actually walked over 500 miles and arrived. We went to the pilgrims mass at noon and sat among hundreds of pilgrims many who we had at one point or another walked and talked with. The interior of the cathedral was magnificent, and at mass they swung the botafumerio, the (large incense burner), it was a really cool thing to see. There is so much of the experience that I can´t put into words.
As we walked to Finistera the final leg of our trip, I began thinking about a comment my aunt had made to me before I left. She asked me if I was going to find myself on this trip. I remarked that actually I was hoping to find a nice Spanish guy, (instead I found a nice German one, just kidding, Don´t worry dad.) In truth though, I don´t think you find yourself, because I don´t think there is a ¨you¨ out there somewhere else that is waiting to be discovered. I read a quote by Lord Cecil the other day and the quote went like this, ¨Solitude shows us what we should be; society shows us what we are.¨ Now I don´t entirely agree with this quote, but I think it argues a good point. As walking over 500 miles offers a lot of time for solitude, there is a certain amount of personal reflection that one is able to do. What I have come to realize is that it is not that society makes you into a person that is completely different from who you really are, and that when you are on trips or spending time away from society, that you become this more real person,I just think that with all the things to do in everyday life, all the work, and social stuff, it becomes easy to lose sight of what the real ¨you¨ wants, likes and needs. The real ¨you¨ if you can call it that is always there, always influencing your decisions, even those that are made more in the name of society then in the name of what you really want or need.
So now this is where you might be thinking that I, having made it to the ¨end of the world¨, have had this wonderful insight into how one might go about taking all the things realized about one´s self in times of solitude and integrating them back into life among society. Truth is I have not a clue to that answer.
Last night I sat at what, until Columbus discovered America, was thought to be the end of the world. I sat there and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, and awhile after the sun set I looked up and there was the light from the lighthouse shinning out into the abyss of the dark ocean.
Maybe that is the answer, a lighthouse standing at the end of the world.
This is my final post, we head back to the states tomorrow. It has been great to share this trip with all of you. I am very grateful for all the comments.
Check back in a week or so if you feel like it and I will try to have some pictures posted.
Peace,
Amanda
I am writing this from Finistera, where we arrived yesterday afternoon. We made it to Santiago three days ago, it was an amazing feeling to arrive there and stand in front of the cathedral. I couldn't´t believe I actually walked over 500 miles and arrived. We went to the pilgrims mass at noon and sat among hundreds of pilgrims many who we had at one point or another walked and talked with. The interior of the cathedral was magnificent, and at mass they swung the botafumerio, the (large incense burner), it was a really cool thing to see. There is so much of the experience that I can´t put into words.
As we walked to Finistera the final leg of our trip, I began thinking about a comment my aunt had made to me before I left. She asked me if I was going to find myself on this trip. I remarked that actually I was hoping to find a nice Spanish guy, (instead I found a nice German one, just kidding, Don´t worry dad.) In truth though, I don´t think you find yourself, because I don´t think there is a ¨you¨ out there somewhere else that is waiting to be discovered. I read a quote by Lord Cecil the other day and the quote went like this, ¨Solitude shows us what we should be; society shows us what we are.¨ Now I don´t entirely agree with this quote, but I think it argues a good point. As walking over 500 miles offers a lot of time for solitude, there is a certain amount of personal reflection that one is able to do. What I have come to realize is that it is not that society makes you into a person that is completely different from who you really are, and that when you are on trips or spending time away from society, that you become this more real person,I just think that with all the things to do in everyday life, all the work, and social stuff, it becomes easy to lose sight of what the real ¨you¨ wants, likes and needs. The real ¨you¨ if you can call it that is always there, always influencing your decisions, even those that are made more in the name of society then in the name of what you really want or need.
So now this is where you might be thinking that I, having made it to the ¨end of the world¨, have had this wonderful insight into how one might go about taking all the things realized about one´s self in times of solitude and integrating them back into life among society. Truth is I have not a clue to that answer.
Last night I sat at what, until Columbus discovered America, was thought to be the end of the world. I sat there and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, and awhile after the sun set I looked up and there was the light from the lighthouse shinning out into the abyss of the dark ocean.
Maybe that is the answer, a lighthouse standing at the end of the world.
This is my final post, we head back to the states tomorrow. It has been great to share this trip with all of you. I am very grateful for all the comments.
Check back in a week or so if you feel like it and I will try to have some pictures posted.
Peace,
Amanda
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Almost to Santiago
Hey,
Well we are two days away from arriving in Santiago. I find myself in a bit of disbelief when I say that. How close we are getting really hit home the other day when we passed the 100 kilometer post. I can´t believe we have travelled so far. The number of pilgrims has increased substantially in the last couple of days, in part because there is a rule on the Camino that in order to earn your compostela in Santiago, certificate of completing the pilgrimage, you must walk at least the last 100 kilometers to Santiago.
The influx in the number of pilgrims has been an adjustment, but has been fun as well, as it has given us an opportunity to meet a lot of new people. I met this wonderful Irish woman, and a college professor from Chicago.
As I find myself on the edge of arriving in Santiago, I find myself excited to almost be there, as well as drawn back to a conversation I had with another pilgrim, the conversation had to do with how in life one of the scariest things can be to get what you want, because the moment we get what we want, we may suddenly realize, what is there next. So as I am about to get the thing I want, I am also a bit reluctant to walk the final 40 kilometers to Santiago, because when I arrive then I must face the question, Now what?
The easy answer is to go home and enjoy sharing my stories and pictures with everyone, but in truth it is a much bigger question. Maybe the answer awaits me in Santiago.
After we reach Santiago we are continuing onto the coastal town of Finisterre, which during medieval times was believed, as it is the western most point along the Camino, to be the end of the world. Pilgrims would travel beyond Santiago to this town and find themselves faced with the rolling tides of the ocean. So we too will finish our journey by walking there.
One more week of walking awaits me and I am as excited as ever to do it. I hope and trust that the next week will hold many adventures, stories, and life lessons, which I will enjoy sharing with you all. My hope is that I will get to post again when I have arrive in Santiago.
Peace,
Amanda
P.S.
Once again thanks for all the comments, they are really fun to read.
Well we are two days away from arriving in Santiago. I find myself in a bit of disbelief when I say that. How close we are getting really hit home the other day when we passed the 100 kilometer post. I can´t believe we have travelled so far. The number of pilgrims has increased substantially in the last couple of days, in part because there is a rule on the Camino that in order to earn your compostela in Santiago, certificate of completing the pilgrimage, you must walk at least the last 100 kilometers to Santiago.
The influx in the number of pilgrims has been an adjustment, but has been fun as well, as it has given us an opportunity to meet a lot of new people. I met this wonderful Irish woman, and a college professor from Chicago.
As I find myself on the edge of arriving in Santiago, I find myself excited to almost be there, as well as drawn back to a conversation I had with another pilgrim, the conversation had to do with how in life one of the scariest things can be to get what you want, because the moment we get what we want, we may suddenly realize, what is there next. So as I am about to get the thing I want, I am also a bit reluctant to walk the final 40 kilometers to Santiago, because when I arrive then I must face the question, Now what?
The easy answer is to go home and enjoy sharing my stories and pictures with everyone, but in truth it is a much bigger question. Maybe the answer awaits me in Santiago.
After we reach Santiago we are continuing onto the coastal town of Finisterre, which during medieval times was believed, as it is the western most point along the Camino, to be the end of the world. Pilgrims would travel beyond Santiago to this town and find themselves faced with the rolling tides of the ocean. So we too will finish our journey by walking there.
One more week of walking awaits me and I am as excited as ever to do it. I hope and trust that the next week will hold many adventures, stories, and life lessons, which I will enjoy sharing with you all. My hope is that I will get to post again when I have arrive in Santiago.
Peace,
Amanda
P.S.
Once again thanks for all the comments, they are really fun to read.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The most beautiful region
Hi all,
Well, the last few days have been particularly difficult for multiple reasons. It´s funny how when things go wrong they tend to all want to go wrong at the same time. I have not been feeling very good, then my bank card decided to stop working, and then to top it all off the phone card I bought refused to work, then when it worked the phone didn´t want to work, so my poor mother probably thinks she was subject to a sudden spree of prank calls, but no mom in fact it was your daughter trying to make contact. I am doing my best to find the humor in the fact that after spending almost thirty odd some days mostly electronically disconnected, the one time I need it to work it decides to go on strike.
Since I last wrote we have moved beyond the meseta and are back in the mountains. We reached the highest elevation point of our trip the day before yesterday, which is marked by a large towering poll with a steel cross atop it. It is called the Cruz de ferro and there is a tradition that pilgrims carry a rock or something with them to leave at the cross. There are a wide variety of things that adorne the cross and speckle the mound of rocks at its base. Many of the rocks have messages on them, and on the cross many a poem or note has been posted. I did not bring a rock, but I thought of leaving my shoes, but then I thought that might be cutting of my nose to spite my face, so instead, I left two poems. One was by Mary Oliver and the other was by anonymous. It was a very deep experience to see all the things that people have left and realize that people have been leaving things for hundreds of years, and now I am a part of that.
We have entered what I truely believe is the most beautiful part of our journey, today we walked up and over a large mountain, and we started early enough that we got to sit at the top and see as the early morning sun peak over the mountain range . The best part was there was a sign we passed as we started up the mountian and I asked my friend what it said and she laughed and told me she would tell me when we got to the top, well when we got to the top, I asked again and she said that it said, ¨extremely difficult Camino only for experienced walkers¨, yeah ok probably good she told me at the top.
Off to bed here is the Mary Oliver Poem I left at the cross: (Thanks Katie!)
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole housebegan to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,though the wind pried
with its stiff finger
sat the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do
—determined to save
the only life you could save.
Good Wishes,
Amanda
Well, the last few days have been particularly difficult for multiple reasons. It´s funny how when things go wrong they tend to all want to go wrong at the same time. I have not been feeling very good, then my bank card decided to stop working, and then to top it all off the phone card I bought refused to work, then when it worked the phone didn´t want to work, so my poor mother probably thinks she was subject to a sudden spree of prank calls, but no mom in fact it was your daughter trying to make contact. I am doing my best to find the humor in the fact that after spending almost thirty odd some days mostly electronically disconnected, the one time I need it to work it decides to go on strike.
Since I last wrote we have moved beyond the meseta and are back in the mountains. We reached the highest elevation point of our trip the day before yesterday, which is marked by a large towering poll with a steel cross atop it. It is called the Cruz de ferro and there is a tradition that pilgrims carry a rock or something with them to leave at the cross. There are a wide variety of things that adorne the cross and speckle the mound of rocks at its base. Many of the rocks have messages on them, and on the cross many a poem or note has been posted. I did not bring a rock, but I thought of leaving my shoes, but then I thought that might be cutting of my nose to spite my face, so instead, I left two poems. One was by Mary Oliver and the other was by anonymous. It was a very deep experience to see all the things that people have left and realize that people have been leaving things for hundreds of years, and now I am a part of that.
We have entered what I truely believe is the most beautiful part of our journey, today we walked up and over a large mountain, and we started early enough that we got to sit at the top and see as the early morning sun peak over the mountain range . The best part was there was a sign we passed as we started up the mountian and I asked my friend what it said and she laughed and told me she would tell me when we got to the top, well when we got to the top, I asked again and she said that it said, ¨extremely difficult Camino only for experienced walkers¨, yeah ok probably good she told me at the top.
Off to bed here is the Mary Oliver Poem I left at the cross: (Thanks Katie!)
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole housebegan to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,though the wind pried
with its stiff finger
sat the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do
—determined to save
the only life you could save.
Good Wishes,
Amanda
Friday, July 4, 2008
Ola,
We have made it through Leon and are in Astorga now. Leon was wonderful, the cathedral beautiful as they all seem to be in their own right. Having arrived early in the day we were able to walk around a good portion of the city. Seeing a lot of great architecture. Later in the day afte siesta we went with these two German guys that we have befriended to see the inside of the cathedral.
The next day (yesterday) we set off for our next destination, taking a wrong turn and ending up in a city we had not intended to visit, all worked out in the end though, we found a place to stay and got back on track today.
As we left Leon yesterday, we left behind our German friends that we had been travelling with for the last week or so. After we left them and had set out walking I realized that they were the last of the group of pilgrims that were still with us from when we had began.
You see the way the camino works is that you walk along with a group of pilgrims for a bit staying with them in the same albergues until eventually some people move ahead at a faster pace and others fall behind going at their own slower pace, everyone taking it at their own pace. Some time you will see these pilgrims again and sometimes you won´t. As we said goodbye to the Germans, I found myself reflecting on all the people that have come and gone from my life as I have travelled this road, some entering my life for no more then an evening and other being apart of it for weeks, and even others like my friend I am travelling with and you all back home the entire thing. I thought about how that is similar in everyday life, where some people enter your life as briefly as to pour you a cup of coffee and others are there for weeks,months, and years, while other like parents are there for the better part of the journey. I thought about all the teachers, coaches, friends and other people that have come and gone from my life, and those friends who would be my age now, my uncle and grandparents, who were a part of my life what seems like so briefly, and left it what seems like so quickly.
I bean to ask myself why it is that I feel so blessed and changed by the people that I am meeting on this journey, while in my day to day life I tend to more often then not feel hindered. That is not to say I am not thankful everyday for the many people that are a part of my life but I think it is easy to take those aroud you for granted. I guess the answer that I came to was that it hasto do with mindfulness. On a journey like this it is easy to be more aware about trying to honor those people that come and go from your life, because in most cases they are not their long enough for you to take their presence forgranted.
Whether you are the one on the journey, or you, like the people of Spain are for the pilgrims, are the one ushering someone along on their journey, both people are privlliged to the experience of changeing the other persons life, both you and the other person, have something to offer, imagine if the next time you went to complete a simple errand like get a cup of coffee, and you treated the experience like it held at its core the potential to set your life in a whole new direction. Something amazing might happen hmmmmm....
content pilgrim,
Amanda
We have made it through Leon and are in Astorga now. Leon was wonderful, the cathedral beautiful as they all seem to be in their own right. Having arrived early in the day we were able to walk around a good portion of the city. Seeing a lot of great architecture. Later in the day afte siesta we went with these two German guys that we have befriended to see the inside of the cathedral.
The next day (yesterday) we set off for our next destination, taking a wrong turn and ending up in a city we had not intended to visit, all worked out in the end though, we found a place to stay and got back on track today.
As we left Leon yesterday, we left behind our German friends that we had been travelling with for the last week or so. After we left them and had set out walking I realized that they were the last of the group of pilgrims that were still with us from when we had began.
You see the way the camino works is that you walk along with a group of pilgrims for a bit staying with them in the same albergues until eventually some people move ahead at a faster pace and others fall behind going at their own slower pace, everyone taking it at their own pace. Some time you will see these pilgrims again and sometimes you won´t. As we said goodbye to the Germans, I found myself reflecting on all the people that have come and gone from my life as I have travelled this road, some entering my life for no more then an evening and other being apart of it for weeks, and even others like my friend I am travelling with and you all back home the entire thing. I thought about how that is similar in everyday life, where some people enter your life as briefly as to pour you a cup of coffee and others are there for weeks,months, and years, while other like parents are there for the better part of the journey. I thought about all the teachers, coaches, friends and other people that have come and gone from my life, and those friends who would be my age now, my uncle and grandparents, who were a part of my life what seems like so briefly, and left it what seems like so quickly.
I bean to ask myself why it is that I feel so blessed and changed by the people that I am meeting on this journey, while in my day to day life I tend to more often then not feel hindered. That is not to say I am not thankful everyday for the many people that are a part of my life but I think it is easy to take those aroud you for granted. I guess the answer that I came to was that it hasto do with mindfulness. On a journey like this it is easy to be more aware about trying to honor those people that come and go from your life, because in most cases they are not their long enough for you to take their presence forgranted.
Whether you are the one on the journey, or you, like the people of Spain are for the pilgrims, are the one ushering someone along on their journey, both people are privlliged to the experience of changeing the other persons life, both you and the other person, have something to offer, imagine if the next time you went to complete a simple errand like get a cup of coffee, and you treated the experience like it held at its core the potential to set your life in a whole new direction. Something amazing might happen hmmmmm....
content pilgrim,
Amanda
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Mansilla De Las Mulas
Hi,
Many miles have been travelled since my last post. We have made it through Burgos, seeing the cathedral there was wonderful. The cathedral which my words will fail to do justice, is this profoundly beautiful piece in the center of the city. When you stand in front of it it stands this vastly white structure whose architecture is so delicate. It reminds me of a giant piece of wax that was sculpted into this magnificent cathedral. The turrets on the top look of shaved wax,curled into delicate positions, and positioned high above on the cathedral are these wonderful statues of various figures. It was a very moving sight. I can´t post pictures right now but if you get a chance google the cathedral of Burgos.
The last three days have been very difficult and trying. We have been walking 18 to 20 miles per day, which has been quite a bit. It has been pretty flat but it has been very hot and the stretch we have been walking is full of long distances with no shade, and oh yeah no sign of life, except for miles and miles of wheat.
My legs and feet have been showing the miles, with plenty of blisters reminding me as I walk the miles I have already travelled. Everyday though I find myself more then willing to begin walking.
We are in Mansilla De Las Mulas and will be in Leon by the end of tomorrow, which when I look at the map reminds me how close we are getting to our destination. I am excited and a bit reluctant, like all things in life to move forwards means to find yourself in new experiences but it also means letting the old ones go, to become little more then memories.
With worn out feet,
Amanda
P.S. Thanks for the comments, and good wishes for Katie and Greg who I think are off right now with the high school youth group in Chicago doing fun things. Hope all is going well for them.
Many miles have been travelled since my last post. We have made it through Burgos, seeing the cathedral there was wonderful. The cathedral which my words will fail to do justice, is this profoundly beautiful piece in the center of the city. When you stand in front of it it stands this vastly white structure whose architecture is so delicate. It reminds me of a giant piece of wax that was sculpted into this magnificent cathedral. The turrets on the top look of shaved wax,curled into delicate positions, and positioned high above on the cathedral are these wonderful statues of various figures. It was a very moving sight. I can´t post pictures right now but if you get a chance google the cathedral of Burgos.
The last three days have been very difficult and trying. We have been walking 18 to 20 miles per day, which has been quite a bit. It has been pretty flat but it has been very hot and the stretch we have been walking is full of long distances with no shade, and oh yeah no sign of life, except for miles and miles of wheat.
My legs and feet have been showing the miles, with plenty of blisters reminding me as I walk the miles I have already travelled. Everyday though I find myself more then willing to begin walking.
We are in Mansilla De Las Mulas and will be in Leon by the end of tomorrow, which when I look at the map reminds me how close we are getting to our destination. I am excited and a bit reluctant, like all things in life to move forwards means to find yourself in new experiences but it also means letting the old ones go, to become little more then memories.
With worn out feet,
Amanda
P.S. Thanks for the comments, and good wishes for Katie and Greg who I think are off right now with the high school youth group in Chicago doing fun things. Hope all is going well for them.
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