Day 32 - 27.6 Kilometres

Boadillo Del Camino to Carrion de Los Condos

More flat nuthin´. It is said among pilgrims that the first part of the Camino is the physical challenge, the second part (the part we´re in now) the mental, and the final leg, the spiritual. I can see how that would be true. For the first leg, we are crossing mountains, and scrambling our way up and down hills. It is in those first few weeks that blisters form, muscles train, and joints ache. By the end of the second week, bodies are more used to the rigors of the trail, or at least we are more used to the blisters and the aches, and the landscape levels off. For the next ten days or so, we will be travelling through virtually the same expanse of plains. Without mountains to break up the distance, we will be left alone with our thoughts and the road.

In Carrion De Los Condes, we stayed at the Parochial Albergue. It was in a convent, and as to be expected of an Albergue in a convent, run by nuns. At 6:30 there was a promise of music in the entrance hall. There was NOT a warning that it was going to be a sing-along. The nuns produced a guitar and an African drum. They produced photocopied sheets of songs and a shaker ( a percussion instrument that looks like a plastic easter egg filled with sand). We sang some songs in Spanish. We sang some songs in universal (La, La, La). The nuns told us that they knew one song in English. They promised that everyone would know it. It was "We Shall Overcome". Everyone did know it. We sang Ode to Joy in Spanish. The nuns asked each of us to sing it Ode to Joy in our native toungue. The Italians sang Ode to Joy in Italian. The Czech girls sang it in Czech. The Polish Girl in Polish. The Germans in German, the Swiss in French, the Russian in Russian, the Hungarian in Hungarian. I was the only English speaker who knew the words to Ode to Joy in English. I do not sing in public. Ever. Especially not a well-known song. I. Do. Not. Sing. I sang Ode to Joy. It was very off-key. Everyone La-La-La-ed the parts I didn´t know the words for. I may reconsider my stance on singing. The nuns then asked us if any of us wanted to sing a song from our country. A few brave souls volunteered. Among the most memorable were the Russian girl who took the guitar from one of the nuns, and sang Bob Marley´s "Woman No Cry" in a mix of Russian and heavily accented English. Also the Swiss doctor who played the Swiss national anthem on the nose flute. The other Swiss sang the words.
He tried to teach me how to play the noseflute. I managed a few toots, but mostly just air came out.

After dinner, the nuns came back to give us a blessing for the road. Before they could begin, there was a commotion in the street. A bier with a statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by white lilies, followed by the congregation of the church swarmed past, chanting in Spanish and Latin. The Nuns explained that today was the feast day of St Carmen, and that this was a procession for her.

The nun´s blessing was another song. Then they told us that the road to Santiago is hard. That we have blisters, aching feet, and sore muscles. That our packs are heavy. That we suffer a little bit every day, but that every morning we hoist our packs again and keep on walking to Santiago. They went on that this is also the way of life. That there will be suffering, but that every morning, we will hoist our packs and keep on walking. That Love is never far away, and Love makes this possible. Then they blessed each of us in turn, and handed each of us a small paper star to light our way along the Camino.

Between a thistle flower from the Hungarian (mentioned in Cz´s post), and a star from a nun, I´m feeling pretty well blessed right right now.