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Published: February 10th 2013
Day 35: Ruitelán to Alto do poio Journal Entry--------------------
Saturday May 5th, 2012
Today I once again walked with Hilly and Phil from London and John from the US. I absolutely love Hilary and Phil. They are such a wonderful couple, always happy and singing together; It's lovely! Like always, it rained and was quite muddy. The view from the mountains was unbelievable. The walk today was hard and took quite a while. When we reached our stopping point, the other three stayed in a hostel and I decided to stay in the albergue. There was only one other person when I checked in. He was a delightful man from France. He had walked all the way from Le Puy in France!!! We talked for a good while and he showed me all of his photos from his walk through France. I HAVE TO WALK IN FRANCE NEXT! It looks gorgeous! Later I ate with my three new friends and a man from Holland. We had great conversations. It is amazing what you learn at the dinner table...
--------------------end of journal entry Today we passed through the town O'Cebreiro and it immediately became one of my favorite stops on the Camino. The views are out of this world! The day started off with rain, as is the norm for this trip, and just when approaching O'Cebreiro the sun came out and the sky lit up a magnificant blue. It was as if the universe wanted me to see this beautiful view in all its glory. Not long after and not far out of the village, the clouds rolled in and the mist and fog overtook us. The Camino always provides when you need it most...
Day 36: Alto do poio to Samos Journal Entry--------------------
Sunday May 6th, 2012
Today I walked with John for pretty much the whole day. I am really happy that I decided to take the alternative route today to Samos. It is such a beautiful place.
I can feel my body getting fitter and fitter and it is a wonderful feeling. I have been eating so healthy; I love it! I am definitely going to come back to Europe and do more Caminos. I think next will be the Le Puy one in France. Now if only I can get my husband to come! I so badly wish he would... --------------------end of journal entry Samos is a cute little town that most guides say is a must visit even though it is a little bit of an alternative route. I was very happy that John and I had collectively decided to see what all the talk is about. It is a very nice place to take a little rest and to reboot. There is a neat energy about the town.
Day 37: Samos to Ferreiros Journal Entry-------------------- Monday May 7th, 2012 John and I left Samos together and walked with one another once again. Or rather, we played chickens- walking separate but then waiting for one another. We decided in the morning that we would try a long day, walking further than our normal 20km... we ended up walking 28km!
We stopped in one town at the albergue and they were full. They only had private rooms with two double beds. John was all ready to share a room and I guess it wouldn't have been a big deal, but I voted that we walk on just another 1.5km to the next town, Ferreiros. I feel a little bad because it is kind of gross. Today was passed the 100km to go marker!!! -------------------------end of journal I remember having such mixed feelings about making it to the 100km to go marker. I was excited to have made it this far, but felt as if 100km would go quickly and then my journey would be over. I had been fighting feelings of anxiety over ending my Camino for a couple of days leading up to this and then reaching this goal made those feelings all the more real.
Day 38: Ferreiros to Eirexe Tuesday May 8th, 2012 Today was a long walk again. I didn't intend it to be but I kept saying to myself, "one more town..." And my feet really feel it too. I told John not to wait for me today because I knew that I would be going very slowly. I walked alone at times but of course I met up with different friends along the way and made a couple of new ones.
I love the Camino so much. Every time that I stop in a town I see familiar faces and almost always have a friend to eat with or take a coffee with. People call me all different names- Penn Jenn, USA, Miss National Geographic- because I am always taking pictures. I feel like I have gotten my faith in people back... I have also found faith in my country and am no longer ashamed to say where I am from. I feel independent and confident and have lost some of my shyness. I like who I am again and I like people again. I love people. I love connecting with people. Plus I feel healthy!! --------------------end of journal It is amazing how the Camino can restore your lost faith in humanity. The last week of the Camino was
an emotional one for me.
Day 39: Eirexe to Melide Journal Entry--------------------
Wednesday May 9th, 2012 Today I walked alone again, but not really. I walked with a Spanish man named Tomas. All day we laughed because he only speaks Spanish, so WE spoke Spanish all day long. I met up with the same four spanish guys that I've seen for the past three days. I really like them a lot. The one guy cannot speak so we use hand motions to speak. The four Spanish guys spoke with Tomas and I heard them tell him how lucky he is to have such a good walking companion. I really enjoy the short periods of time when I get to speak with them. They are always smiling and laughing and calling me crazy because I started in France and am walking solo. I believe they stopped in the town, Melide, that I am in for the night but I am not sure. I really hope so. I think all but one are much older than I. They are always checking to see if I'm okay and it's so genuine. The Spanish men are nice and friendly and talkative, while the Spanish women I have met seem not so talkative. I have met a few who will speak with me, but not many.
Today I got to see the sun! I actually got so hot that I had to take everything off except my T-shirt! --------------------end of journal
This was the day that I had met up with Demi, the man who I mentioned in my journal cannot speak. This was a truly amazing day. Here was a man who lives in another country and who "speaks" a different language than I and we meet on the Camino and find that we can understand one another perfectly. I had noticed from staying in the same albergue as Demi and the other three guys that were with him that he cannot speak and uses hand gestures. He is able to lip read and so often Antonio will simply siliently mouth words to him when speaking to him.
So on this day I noticed he had fallen behind his three walking mates. Which later I found out from Antonio that he had done on purpose once he saw me walking
a little ways back. I walked up next to Demi and waved hello as I said hola. He waved back. Shortly after we were having full blown conversations. I had learned some sign language in elementary school when I was a helper for a girl who was mute in my class. I remembered a lot of it and used it with Demi. We laughed together all day long. It was really magical.
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