Low morale (to Nájera)
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2008
1
9
34
Trip End
Oct 02, 2008
Nájera, La Rioja, Spain and Canary Islands
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
At home I told everybody that "I'd be going for a walk". If they could see me now, they would chuckle. I am not so easy-going anymore. The routine gets to me and it starts to chew on my nerves. Everyday it's the same: Wake up far too early, walk the whole day in brilliant sunlight, sweat like a pig, walk, talk to people about the same old things, walk, try to ignore the pain, walk, sweat more, arrive, get a bed in the albergue, shower, do the laundry, get something to eat, get to bed before curfew. I need to add some meaning to this whole thing very badly, lest I start to evolve a rather bad Camino depression.
Although it is to be said that there were some highlights today, they just got drowned in the overall feeling of insignificance. First of all, God provided me with a walking stick (remember my second day on the Camino). A real one, one of those they call bastón. It measures almost 2 metres and is perfect for Camino purposes. Ever-eager-to-learn José had shown me how to walk correctly with a stick some days ago, so now I'm fit for whatever there is to come. I'm very happy about my new stick; I'm going to call him Nirosta. I didn't pay nothing for it; it was a gift from Marcelino the wandering pilgrim. He didn't even want a donation. Very impressive man. Rather famous along the Camino, I might say. I happened to pass him just when he began to set up his office; five minutes before I would have just walked by. That was providence, my dear readers. Might tell you more on that on a later posting.
Well, and yesterday was actually the first day I cooked dinner together with another pilgrim, Sven, who I accidently happened to bump into at one of the many supermarkets. So, delicious and more than enough for four it was, with the minor setback that there was no oil for the salad in the albergue's kitchen. Nevermind that, we managed without.
There's not much time during the day to actually reflect on something, because walking is really tiring and I don't have any energy to concentrate on reflection. Right now, at the end of the day, I'm in a thoughtful mood though. The epistle of Paul to the Philippians, chapter 3 verse 12 really impressed me today. I DO see the concept of pilgrimage now in a different light, although walking from one part to another is actually rather simple if you know where you're going and why you're doing it. It's all a matter of destination and determination.
