Day 10 of walking: Samos to Barbadelo, 18.8 km
Total for 10 days of walking: 210.2 kilometers!
Today felt much more like last year’s Camino. Perhaps it was
the presence of other pilgrims on our route. Or because it was actually hot
today. Maybe it was stopping in someone's backyard for a cold drink. Or simply because we have so many kilometers under our belts. Whatever it was, we felt grateful for it!
After leaving Samos at noon (because I had to work in the morning – that’s right! We’re still carrying the computer!), we started seeing other pilgrims right away. But interestingly, one of the first pilgrims we met was headed right towards us.
“I think you are going the wrong way,” Rand said to the
young Canadian. “Santiago is that way,” pointing behind her.
She laughed. “Are you in a hurry?” she asked. “Do you have a
minute?”
She clearly didn’t know who she was talking to. It was noon
and we were just getting started!
The reason she wanted to chat was because she had been lost
for the last couple hours. The Camino isn’t as well marked when you are walking
“backwards”, from Santiago to St. Jean Pied de Port. Reminding us that we often
take for granted that we are going the right direction.
She pulled a map out of her pocket, which wasn’t much more
than a list of towns. We assured her that she would have no trouble getting to
Samos. Beyond that, she would have to trust the Camino to provide.
We didn’t take the time to discover why she was walking the
Camino in reverse, but I imagine it was more personal than something to discuss
in passing. But we wished her well and told her we were most impressed by her.
She said that she’d left Santiago 6 days before, so we were
nearing our finish. “I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when I’m 6 days away from
the end of my Camino,” she said. Rand and I are just starting to process that
ourselves.
Shortly after leaving the young Canadian woman, we came across
a shirt lying on the path. We picked it up and carried it with us until we met
a group of high school kids. “Does this belong to you?” we asked. “Do you want
a digestive cookie?” one of them asked in response. Something about this
exchange made us instant friends.
They were 7 high schoolers and one leader, from an international school in Germany. It was their spring break, so this was mostly for fun, but was also a “kind of mission trip”. One of the girls was Dutch American. Another was Swiss American. The boy we spent the most time walking and talking with was from Missouri, but had been living overseas for the past 4 years. We didn’t take the same breaks throughout the day, but each time we bumped into one another it was like we’d been friends forever. All because of a digestive cookie!
Later, when we stopped to eat a snack in someone’s front yard, I
ended up resting my arm on the same poisonous weed that I encountered last
year. Rand watched in horrified amazement as my arm, in a matter of minutes,
went from turning red to covered in welts. Luckily I had the same experience
last year, so I assured him it wouldn’t last long. Within the hour it was back
to just being red, and by the time we arrived at the Farmacia several hours
later, there was no physical evidence of the allergic reaction; simply an irresistible
urge to scratch. The pharmacist gave me some allergy cream and when we showed
her a picture of the "burn weed" she said, “Very common and nothing to worry about.”
All part of the adventure!
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