Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A quick look at the trip

We have crashed a wake.
"Where is the church?"
"Oh, you better hurry girls it starts in 10 mins!"
"We gather here today, to remember the life of Patti O´Brian."
"Oh, shit."

Walked accross Spain.
320 kms in 12 days.
Visited Aushwitz.
Walked by the baptismal font of St. John the Baptist and been in the home of the Virgin Mother. Walked through the Garden of Eden and slept in a cave. Visited the temples of Aphrodite, Artemis and Apollo.
Lived with a turkish family and seen their avid love for Attaturk. (it is literally illegal to make any sort of derogitory comment about him. youtube was banned because the government found out that there was a video that could have been making fun of him.)
We have gotten dizzy off of plutonium and eaten some amazing soups with brown bread.
A wonderful trip on all accounts!

Our Compostela

We have just arrived in Santiago de Compostela and received our certificates of completion. They are written in Latin and state that "Dnam Vivianam Lyons" has successfully walked across Spain.
Tomorrow we will attend the mass where our names, nationalities and places or origin will be announced. We will also be given a free meal at a five star hotel if we present our certificates. Yummm!!!

Over the last 320 kms and 12 days, I have been reflecting on my life thus far and trying to decide where I want to go next. I think my current plan is to go into nursing and study natural medicine. I will pick up the violin again and spend time researching nutrition and sustainable gardening. Already, I know that half of my closet will make its way to a Goodwill, and I want to start volunteering regularly. Mostly I want to continue to live life to its fullest.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Our Camino Family

We have managed to collect quite a Camino family made from all sorts of people.
One Italian farm boy named Aureliano who only eats, drinks and sleeps.
Dan, the American who wishes he could be a veggitarian but can never actually stop eating meat, thinks the Camino is a race, loves pasta and joking about Aureliano.
The two girls from Leipzig, Patrizia and Stephanie, who are the most chill Germans on the Camino.
The Spanish Señor who is completing his 8th Camino de Santiago in his late 60s. He offered all of us invaluable support, councel and medical help with our blisters and heat rashes.
Michel, the 25 year old from Luxembourg who flyes home on Sunday and on Monday starts his first job. (Really the first time he has ever worked in his life! Although he is starting as a lawyer...)
Jurgen the German marathoner who we saw for a day until he stoped and chatted with the group and asked for a final photo as "I walk much faster than you do!" We have not seen him since.
The Camino attracts so many different people who can bond over blisters, hunger, incapacitation, sunburns and attempting to communicate with a host of languages.

I think the moment that deserves mention was when we had stopped at one of the rest areas and Aureliano fell asleep on one of the benches. After a few minutes, he sat up, jamed a ton of chips into his mouth and fell back down asleep.
Jurgan looked at us and said deadpan, "Ziz is not a life."
Absolutly capturing the pilgrim culture that we have only just begun amassing on our Pilgrimage.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Beginning of the Camino

We started the Camino de Santiago 311 kms away from our destination as the sun came up. Walking through the streets trying to become used to following with blind faith any sort of marker. Our signs range from a metal scallop shell on the sidewalk, a metal foot imprint on the sidewalk, white pillers with blue and yellow stamps of scallops on them (seen at a distance), large yellow arrows painted on walls and streets, small faded yellow arrows on the backs of streetsign poles, a random yellow brick and stones arranged in the shape of an arrow. The best part is that you can walk for 2 km before seeing another sign- they just assume that you know not to turn off of the road.
So our first day, we planned a 30 km walk accross a flat desert-like area, and found out later once we had arrived, that it was actually 40! (The guide books and markers usually post incorrect distances.) We spent a wonderful evening with some Brazilians and in the morning planned a 25 km walk. Again, the guides decived us and we walked 40.
Our third day we managed to walk an actual 25 km, and realized that only 3 days into our 2 week long Camino, we had managed to cover 1/3 of the distance!
The Spanish people are a predictable mix of reactions. While the younger generation could care less, the elderly come up to us and say, "Buen Camino!" and offer us sweets and other encouragment.
Although it is a brutal walk, it offers many rewarding opportunities to connect with international people and locals alike.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

"No you´re not." -sister so-and-so

We arrived in León today to begin our Camino de Santiago. Armed with our pilgrims passports, almost no baggage and a handy guide book, we arrived at our first alburges! The sweet nun who opened the door confirmed that indeed we were at an alburge, and then asked us why we wanted to know.
"We are pilgrims!" We said.
She looked at us, and then said "No you´re not!" while laughing. She refused to believe that we had chosen to walk the 300 km with less than the usually seen 20kg on our back.
She did let us in however and we chatted with the other pilgrims before heading out to see León. What a beautiful place and wonderful start to our Camino.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

An Update

We have finished our tour of Turkey, spent a day in Brussels and are now in Barcelona. One of my new favorite cities. We have spent the night at a four star hotel in Latvia and are about to start our pillgrimage accross Spain. I will make sure to do frequent updates while we are walking.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Eat Monkeys! Have a Good Life!

The Best Shopkeeper Pick-Up Lines

"Let me help you to spend your money!"

"I love you! Will you marry me?"

"Can I have your pictures?"

"Hey Mami! How many chickens for your daughters? I pay any price!"

"Lady, you dropped something!" "No, I didn't!" "Please take my heart!"

"Texas?!? BANG BANG! KAPOW!!! You want to order??? BANG BANG!!!"

"You are from Seattle? I am from Chicago! My name is Simon, Simon Bond. 007, Bond. Come you into my shop?"

"Hello! I am talking to you! Why are you walking away? I am here!!!"

"Where are you from? France? Australia? Italy? Canada? Holland? Germany?"

"Buy one, get ME Free!!!!"