Day 5: Villamayor de Monjardin to Los Arcos - 12.4K

I had planned ahead to moderate my distances in the beginning and let my body adjust to walking so much more than usual, but I’m feeling a little impatient.  This day’s walk was much too short. Funny when walking almost 8 miles seems insufficient, but I arrived here in Los Arcos before noon and just rested in order to nurse my cold. I also used the time to make reservations for places to stay with Mi-Suk when she arrives next week.  

 I had nice conversations with several pilgrims. I’m continuing to think about one year of my life on each day of the walk, and I have been inviting other pilgrims to reflect on that year in their lives, too. So today I shared that at age 5, my parents married, I moved to my childhood home, and I met my best friend. It was a big year. I also thought about my kindergarten teacher Mrs Nord. I recall that she asked me to say the alphabet backwards. Some other pilgrims and I tried doing that.  I think it was easier at age 5. 

I heard all kinds of stories from others about that time in their lives, ranging from getting stabbed in the eye with a splinter to having to share a birthday party with a classmate to leaving a beloved cat behind during a move.  Coincidentally, there is a 5 year old in the albergue where I’m sleeping tonight.  This will be a memorable year for him.  

Conversations here often dive deep quickly. After establishing where we started and where we’re going and sharing a brief update on the status of our feet, we reveal all manner of intimacies. People are good conversationalists—both good listeners and good storytellers.  It’s such a pleasant community. 

Here’s where I sat for much of the day: