July 7 in Najera and July 8 in Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Yesterday was supposedly an easy day, with our guide estimating about 5 hours to cover 21 K. After our late evening the day before, we let ourselves sleep in a little bit, thinking the day would go pretty smoothly. Actually, as we started out, I realized I had 5 euro in my pocket, so I needed to find an ATM. I decided I was going to have to head back into town (away from our direction) to find one, so Niles and Emlyn had a seat and I backtracked.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, and some anxiety about taking any longer to get started, I saw a woman who obviously worked for the city cleaning crew, and was able to ask her where I could find an ATM. Even better, I was able to understand enough to get to it! Much better than the time I asked directions to an ATM in Germany (with the Bishop and church colleagues), and only discovered after asking that I couldn´t understand one word of the answer.

After that the day was pretty uneventful, but whoa, was it hot. The worst part, for me, was walking through the new luxery golf course and housing development at the top of a long, hard hill. No shade, no beauty--just concrete and more concrete. Echhh.

I´m finding, along the way, that I have a lot of conversations with young adults who seem a little surprised that they´re experiencing injuries and pains. Interestingly enough, they seem to be aching in the same places I am--the bottom of the ball of the foot, and the inside of the knee (for women) or outside of the knee (for men). I´ve been passing on all the wonderful medical advice I got by actually going to doctors before the trip began to deal with issues in those areas, recommending icing, asperin and ibuprofin. A lot of the young people say they don´t want to use any pain relievers, because they don´t want to mask injury, but I´ve been passing on what my podiatrist told me (thanks, Lisa--hope I didn´t mess this up!!) about using them to reduce the inflammation. Feel like I´m getting to be doctor mom a good bit; I´m pretty ok with that.

While I often look at them with some bit of jealousy over the easy with which they seem to take this on, the trip is hard on them as well. Occasionally you walk into a room to find someone sitting on their bunk, very quietly crying. You just gotta relieve the tension sometimes, and we just try to leave space for each other.

I´ve had a couple more conversations with young adults about faith and the church. The pretty consistent theme is getting feedback that so often the church service consists of a long boring lecture that doesn´t relate to anything, by someone who doesn´t relate to anyone. My walking partner today told me, though, that she once went to a church where the people actually sang! and it was so wonderful and cool. She said that if she were in a place where other people (like friends of hers) went to church, and the music was like that, she would probably like to go more often.

Last night we stayed in Najera, a lovely old town that was built sometime in the 16th century. I think the monastery we stayed in was about that vintage; it was really, really old. Many of the doors were very low, the stone floors were very uneven, and it was pretty darn cool. Many of the pilgrims who stopped there, tho, discovered there was an almost new albergue nearby, and they went there--for the sake of the leather couches, tv, and coverage of the Spain/Germany game. Our albergue had none of those things, and the lights went out and the doors locked before the game was over, so even if we went out, we wouldn´t be able to see it all. (I realized Spain had won when the fireworks woke me up.)

We had gone to a grocery store and bought food to cook, so Emlyn made dinner while I rested (bless her heart!! I was totally exhausted from the heat), and after that we were pretty much ready for bed. Niles, Em and I got a room with three beds in it, and that felt like a complete luxery. The bathroom/shower was actually a bathroom that had only one person in it at a time--another luxery! It was a little different, being a monestary. I noticed a woman in her late 50´s lying out in the courtyard with her skirt pulled up, sunbathing. Emlyn said a bit later a nun came out and scolded her, saying,"This is a monestary, not a beach!" But I enjoyed it. This morning when I woke up at 5:00 and went downstairs into the kitchen area, and all the lights were still out, I completely expected to see a ghost floating down those stone steps ahead of me. Somehow, ancient buildings look even more ancient in the dark, before sunrise, when you´re the only one up!

Today was also very, very hot. Again, even though it was supposed to be an easy day, and we started walking at 6:40, we were exhausted when we got to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Since we were in the monestary last night, we opted for the albergue with the swimming pool we saw advertised. It´s absolutely lovely.

When I packed for this trip, I wondered whether I should really bring my iPhone with all the music on it. Would music distract me from the walking? Did I want to do that, or should I really focus on where I was and what I was feeling?

I have the answer. Music. Definitely. Frankly, there are times when I wonder how I would make it otherwise. I find I really appreciate instrumental the most. Sometimes it really reflects the landscape around me, sometimes it energizes me. With certain albums, I find my head lifting, my back straightening, my legs moving more easily, and my arms swinging. And there are a few pieces I completely count on when my feet or knee are so painful I can hardly imagine how I´m going to cover that next rise--certain songs just seem to take the pain away completely. I save those for when I really need them.

We all seem to enjoy a balance of walking together, sometimes chatting and sometimes walking together in silence, and walking with music to carry us along. It´s an easy companionship--a gift I really appreciate being able to share wih my kids, for sure!

Marty joins us in one week, and we´re all looking forward to seeing him. It´s only going to get hotter before he gets here, and I hope he´s able to adjust, although I talk to him for a bit every day and he says it´s really hot at home, too--probably a good thing, actually. Anyway, we´ve been walking 11 days now, and can hardly imagine how we´ve already done this much. I´m enjoying the rhythm of the days, the companionship along the way, the sense of actually doing this, and the messages and encouragment from all the folks at home.

I continue to walk prayers for you all! Peace.