Total for the first 5 days: 107.6 km (If you "walked with" us last year, you know we are breaking all kinds of records for ourselves! This is probably 40 km more than an average 5 days of our 2014 Camino!)
So many of the places I wanted to share with Rand have
changed. The Albergue donativo where I stayed
outside Astorga and had a delicious communal meal with all the neighbors had
only two places set for dinner. The bar in Santa Catalina no longer had the “open
25 hours” sign on its cigarette machine.
We talked to a young man yesterday who stayed at the
Albergue in el Ganso where I stayed, soaked my feet in a cold pan of water, and
made dinner with more than a dozen others. He said he was the only one there
and that it was really creepy.
There are definitely far fewer people on The Way than there
were last April. At least on the stretch where we are. The Albergue we are at
tonight was overflowing with walking and bicycling pilgrims when I was here
last, but tonight there are no more than a dozen others.
It feels natural to want to play "tour guide" to Rand on this stretch that I walked before. But disappointing when the places, moments, and people who made that Camino for me are no longer there.
We knew this Camino would be different. We wanted it to be. But it is harder than I expected to let go of those expectations. Perhaps it will be easier in two days when we get to the stretch of Camino that I wasn't able to walk before.
In the meantime, we pray that whatever lessons we are here to learn we will be receptive to them.
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