a day of convergence

Yesterday was a day of convergence on the Camino.

As I’ve been walking, I’ve reached out to pilgrims with whom I have walked in previous years.  It turns out that some of them have also come back to walk at the same time.

Friends Christian and Mena were back on the Camino celebrating having fallen in love here two years ago.  We had kept in touch, and they did me the honor of driving out of their way to reconnect and have dinner with me in the tiny town of Villamayor de Monjardin.  What a treat to catch up.

But that wasn’t the only connection yesterday!  Two years ago my South African/Aussie friend Adrie waited hours in the pouring rain for me to arrive in Santiago.  Committed to welcoming me, she was almost as drenched as I was when I finally dragged myself into town to gaze at the cathedral.  This year, she came back to the Camino to do some walking in France and then skipped ahead to do the last several days of walking into Santiago again.  

I was excited for her to arrive earlier this week on a sunny day and was feeling a little sad that I couldn’t be there to greet her.  I also knew that my other South African friends, Franklin and Pam, with whom I had walked with way back in 2007 were arriving in Santiago on their (nearly) yearly Camino walk this week.  On a lark, I sent a photo to Adrie and told her to look out for them. 
It turns out that they ran into each other and started chatting quite by accident after hearing each other’s accents and then realized that they knew me!  They sent me a smiling picture of themselves in front of the famous cathedral, and I was so tickled that the Camino had brought us all together.

I find myself wondering whether I’ll make any enduring connections this year.  For now, people wander in and out of my day—fascinating people.