The day started a little bit slowly until I heard someone walk up behind me and inquire, “What is your age 20?” And just like that, I was walking with Fernanda and sharing my experiences at NIMH. I talked to a bunch of people today about age 20. Many people were in college and dealing with various stages of being in love or heartbreak. Some people met their lifelong partners that year. Some people got hurt. Some people hurt others.
This is what I say when I meet someone and have been talking to for a bit: “I am walking for about 50 days to celebrate my 50th birthday. And on each day of my walk I am thinking about a year of my life and asking other people to think about that year in their life.” And just like that, we are transported in time. It’s so much fun.
Today was a particularly nice day because I had so many people want to tell me what was going on with them at that point in their lives. It feels like the whole Camino has joined in on my game. I was a little worried before I came that having phones on the Camino would mess up a bit of the magic. And it definitely changes things. But it also builds a stronger connection in some ways.
Pilgrims who are days ahead of me on the Camino are sending voice messages and pictures to let me know what happened during the year in their life that corresponds to the day of my walk. I even have an albergue owner texting to let me know what she was doing even though I left her place 3 days ago. Sometimes conversations end abruptly because we have to wait until the next day to reveal the next installment of our lives!
Other highlights of the day include screaming at the top of my lungs at a waterfall just because Fernanda invited me to do so. It felt pretty good.
At one point some pilgrims sang me happy birthday in four different languages simultaneously: French, Portuguese, English, and Afrikaans. It was great! Here they are:
I spent much much of the day walking with Adrie the South African, who lives in Australia. We had such a nice connection and laughed and learned a lot about each other‘s lives.
There was a BATHTUB in a PRIVATE ROOM tonight. Bliss.
Second blister of the Camino today.
Tomorrow will be my longest day yet.
1 comment:
Bathtub, private room, and birthday wishes in several languages… how perfect!
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