Monica’s blog

The end of an academic year

Fri, 13 May 2011 16:33:49 -1000

It has been well over a year since I’ve even considered writing in my blog, but since I’ve been writing for the past week for my end of semester projects, I thought I’d take a little break from that and add my two cents to my blog.

What an amazing experience being back in grad school has been so far! I have learned so much about language acquisition, sociolinguistics, academia, research methodologies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total novice and I barely know anything compared to my icon professors, but I have to start somewhere, right?

Aw man, there is so much to write about...in due time. For now, I need to get back to my project about my family’s language learning experiences... See you later, Blog! :)

The Patience of a Rainbow

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:55:22 -1000

I am very pleased to inform you...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:19:50 -1000

What an amazing last couple of weeks! I thought “dropping out” of work and traveling was the apex of my life. Little did I realize that it was just the beginning!

A quick recap of the last 7 months of my life:
-I walked 446 miles across the north of Spain, crossing over the Pyrenees Mountains on the French side and winding up in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
-It was here that I decided I’d go back to school to pursue my Ph.D. in linguistics, move back in with my parents while I did the research on schools, save money, substitute teach, and work out as hard as I could with my strong, fit, fun friend, Diane.
-On my sister, Rosana’s, advice, I created a vision board (pictured above) to help me visualize the things I want in my life
-I studied for the GRE and took it twice (ugh!)
-I started working out with Diane (pictured to the right) in a bootcamp 4 days a week, then started on Jillian Michaels DVDs and started to tone and build muscle AND lose weight! -I went to Salt Lake City in November to meet with the faculty of the University of Utah and check out the area to see if I really wanted to be there.
-I realized after speaking with one of my professors from my MA in French from FSU that my interests weren’t exactly in Linguistics, but more in Second Language Acquisition--which was kind of a relief because I so wasn’t interested in what I was reading online AND it made deciding not to go to Utah easier...I wasn’t feeling Utah (though I did meet an awesome professor--Mary Ann Christison--who was so willing to help me!)
-The minute I started to research SLA programs, I came across the Second Language Studies department at the University of Hawaii (Hello! Hawaii!!)
-I booked a trip for January to meet with professors, students, sit in on classes and get to know Honolulu and Waikiki
-I went to Hawaii for 3 weeks (I extended an extra week to visit Maui)
-I fell in love with being in the student’s seat again and just KNEW that I was exactly where I needed to be!
-I was advised to apply to the MA program, as I’m not a MASTER in Second Language Studies
-I started working as a virtual sales manager/real estate consultant for Rhonda Ross, an old agent of mine who started her own firm, and who I believe has an incredible amount of integrity. So fun to work virtually!
-I also started to substitute teach, mostly K-6 grades. Fun and sometimes tiring, but the pay isn’t bad and it’s great to be in front of a classroom again.
-I began running along the beach every day while in Waikiki--2 miles per day in the beginning and 4 miles towards the end.
-I signed up for a half marathon (13.1 miles) in Sarasota for March 14th.
-I got to hang out with my friend, West, who was living in Sarasota and had him coach my running--I thank my lucky stars for him!
-I applied to UHM and just found out on March 5th that I was admitted to their MA program.
-On Sunday (4 days ago) I ran 13.1 miles without stopping and did it in under 3 hours (2h50m)

So, that’s the basic recap! Over the next few months, I will be adding my hand-written journal entries from my walk across Spain onto this blog, looking for apartments in Waikiki, reading A LOT, writing A LOT, working on Real Estate consulting, getting my Florida Broker’s License, possibly preparing for a full marathon in December, making and saving money, looking for scholarships and working out with Diane and on my own.

I can’t stop writing this: I am THE luckiest girl on Earth! Everything I have wanted and needed in my life has come to me exactly as it was meant to happen and I’m so much the better for it.

When people tell me what an amazing life I have, I agree 100% with them. But it’s not just because I’m lucky. I’ve worked hard for it, kept a positive attitude and kept my eye on the prize--a huge smile on my face on a regular basis. I know what I want and I’m going after it.

SO SO SO lucky that the universe continues to conspire in my favor!

Terradillos de los Templarios, Palencia, Castilla y León, Day 19

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 07:49:24 -1000

Today, I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off at 4am. I was out the door at 5:04. What a beautiful time to walk--even when the birds are sleeping! My walk was illuminated by the light of the moon for the first 2 hours. (and street lamps, within the town, of course.) I wasn’t the only one. There were probably another 8-10 people who were leaving at that time. Hélène wanted to walk with me, but I still wanted to finish my nescafé and breakfast before I left AND I got the feeling that she’s a bit negative, so I didn’t make an effort to walk with her. Around 6:55am, I sat at a welcoming rest area with a picnic bench (or 3) to have some water and put on some big cream. The mosquitoes were infuriating! They were flying into my eyes even with the cream on! I began waving my stick in front of my face, but that truly gets tiring after a while. I tried putting my hat on, thinking there’d be more space between the rim and my face and I’d trick them. They were much smarter than that! Then, I put my sarong around my head and shoulders and that helped a bit. Only getting off the road an hour later, did they stop “bugging” me. I had a yellow plub and met up with Stephan, the German guy. He said he does energy healing and transferred some energy into my left foot. Nice man.

Last night, after writing, I went to the pharmacy, chatted with Jaime and the 2 pharmacists about NYC, the US and the pilgrimage, of course. Then I bought some fruit, a couple of carrots, some coffee sachets, nata for the coffee, a cake for breakfast and a liter of Aquarius. Then I went in search of that famous “Y crucifix”

Carrión de los Condes, Palencia, Castilla y León, Day 18

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 10:13:48 -1000

Boy, did I sleep like a princess last night! I remember waking myself up in the middle of the night with my own laughter! I must be happy if I’m laughing in my sleep. :) I don’t know about what, but it’s inconsequential. AND, I slept A LOT. I turned off the light last night before 10:30 and didn’t get out of bed until 7:20 or so. I had a couple of coffees, a piece of cake and was off at 8:41. Every few kilometers, there was a place to stop and have something to drink or eat. I met Hélène from the outskirts of Paris and Gerard from Holland. They chatted about a Korean guy’s iPod--that he had zero Korean music, but loads of The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc. Me too, I said! I had to use the bathroom in the bar (in Población de Campos.) The owner (Reyes, a woman) said that in order to use the bathroom, I had to consume, so I ordered another small café con leche. She told me (in a complaining manner) about how bad the pilgrims are--especially women--with the condition in which they leave the bathroom--usually taking all the toilet paper! I just let her complain. What can I say? I was on my way! Then, there were 2 options--a more scenic (longer) route, or a shorter, less picturesque one. I took the shorter one.

I arrived in Villarmento de Campo where there is an Albergue with hammocks and a huge yard. I used the bathroom, and sat down for some fruit and for my bandana to dry. I met up with Hélène and Gerard again--they had taken the longer route--they arrived after I’d been there for about 10 minutes and had left the previous place a good 30 minutes before me. I went on. I was hot and hungry. I had a tortilla and an Aquarius (Spain’s equivalent of Gatorade) in Villalcázar de Sirga about an hour later.

I listened to “Codes of Power” which discussed politics during 5BC Greece. I was listening, but I was also thinking about mom & dad, Eleni, Bert, going back to school, TREGNY, how I could start my own business, working in a flower shop, Amy & Jess--loads of things. Needless to say, I didn’t learn much from the CD!

I finally arrived in Carrión del os Condes before 3pm. As I was passing the main plaza, it struck 3. I walked (exhausted at this point) too far and got “lost” a few more times before I was welcomed by the “Hijas de la Caridad de San Vicente” in the Albergue Espiritu Santo. What a relive to get a bed next to the window in a room full of beds, not bunks. Vanessa and Luis were there, too. So was Hélène, who arrived when I did. It seems all the other hostels are full. The shower was great. I even washed my sandals!

The plan is to go to the Pharmacy to buy tampons, visit the church with the Y-shaped crucifix (By a Rhineland artist) , get some fruit and stuff for tomorrow, as there are 18km with no options for food (and zero shade) and go to bed early (after curing the huge blister on my left pinky toe) and wake up at 4am to do that long walk in the dark, so I don’t have to worry about sun exhaustion during those 18km. The full stage for tomorrow is supposedly 28km. I hope I can do it all the way to Terradillos de los Templarios. Off to do these things now...

Frómista, Palencia, Castilla y León, Day 17

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 08:33:49 -1000

I woke up to the Gregorian Monks chanting! That certainly put a smile on my face! Last night I got to talking to Angel from Coruña and Fernando, el hospitalero lleno de energía (who has done the camino in portions for the past 10 years. His dad died when he was doing one and talked abou tthe amazing love and sincere support he got from some of the people he met on El Camino--people had to tell him who they were and where they met on the walk. They were coming out of the woodwork!)

I only did a teensy bit of running (downhill) today. the climb out of Castrojeriz to Alto de Mostelares was tiresome, but fine. I stopped a few times to drink water and take pictures, but it did only take me about 30 minutes. Sine it was so short, I didn’t sweat it too much after St. Jean Pied de Port, which was an ascent that pretty much lasted all day!

I walked with Eliza a bit, a girl from Bologna (a woman, actually--she’s 43!) Tiny little thing with strong legs and patagonia pants. I also met up with Angel from Coruña. He treated me to coffee and a (huge) tuna bocadillo. We chatted a good hour and then he walked with me for maybe 20 minutes and was off on his bike. I saw “my other angel”, the one I had the late lunch with a couple of days ago. He was going back home to spend another week of vacation with his wife in Costa del Sol. He was so nice! I’ll remember him, even if “all” we shared was a table for lunch and the camino.

I felt strong during the walk today. I had 3 stops. One at the top of Alto de Mostelares for a good 40-50 minutes (for juice, salami, cheese, water and pictures.) Gorgeous landscape below! You could perfectly see Castrojeriz and the castle on the Alto of that mount. The wheat fields undulated into the horizon. I really could feel the 911m (2989 feet) and my thighs are now thankful for the brief massage I just gave them before lying face down on my bed to write before I got o sleep. These thighs of mine feel that climb more than anything! My feet are tired, but they’re better today than yesterday. I keep stretching my ankles as much as possible and every time I remember to do it. I could really use a massage. Next time there’s a hostel that offers it, I’ll try to stay there.

My second stop today was with Angel. That was over an hour and my third was in Boadilla del Campo. I only stopped there for a 25 minutes. It was 1:40 when I got there and was leaving my 2:05 because I wanted to continue for another 6km to get here, to Frómista. It took me less than an hour and a half and by the time I arrived, I was positive I wouldn’t continue and actually said aloud, “that’s enough for today.” 26km today--not too shabby.

I was dying for the bathroom and for a shower. It felt as if all the last fumes of energy I was left with were used us as soon as I got here. My whole body ached. the moment I slowed down, my thighs began to show signs of soreness. They still are (from the climb) but I’m certain I’ll be fine tomorrow.

After my shower and laundry, I had spaghetti and salad which was served together and because it was hot, I ate more spaghetti than salad. Pity, really. I should have had more salad but was longing for something warm. I met up with Patricia and Pascual, we chatted about the hostel, the road ahead, the one behind, he rolled a couple of joints and we spoke to Alex from the 17th arrondissement of Paris. They went off to town and I chatted with Vanessa and her boy friend from Jerona, 100km outside of Barcelona. I couldn’t write then, so I walked into town after getting my laundry and preparing my backpack.

What a beautiful town! The Iglesia San Martín is gorgeous. Simple, but with loads of detail around the windows and the roof. The roof was bordered with tons of little faces and all fo the columns on either side of the windows were all different! Some had fuit, some faces, some bodies, some vegetables, some what seemed like gothic designs, but not really sure.

There were a good many people out for a stroll or for dinner. There was a calm and tired (positive) buzz in the air. I write positive because it seemed like a healthy tired--as if people had a good strong day of work (or walking) and were enjoying the last hours of daylight.

What a sunset! I couldn’t actually see the sun, but there were enough long clouds hung low and almost parallel to the earth that reflected all the pinks and oranges and reds of the sun. It was truly beautiful!

I’m tired and ready to sleep. I think I’m only walking 19km tomorrow. Otherwise, I’d be walking through treeless expanses for about 4 hours in the afternoon. Not too keen on that idea. Seems to be a lot to discover in the next town. I’m down for that. Total of 312 km, average of 20.8km/day thus far.

Castrojeriz, Castilla y León, Day 16

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 12:09:34 -1000

I’m having lunch now at 4:22 at Bar El Lagar: Spaghetti Bolognese and Lomo with pimientos and of course, red wine. I “only” walked 21km today, even though I had the energy to walk 30km. By the time I got here (1pm) it was a bit too late in the blazing sun to continue, so I’m staying at “Asociación Amigos de los Refugios”, where at 6:30am, we’re awoken with Gregorian Chants. This is why I chose to stay in this one. I really would have loved to keep going because I’ve had an amazing pace. AFter I left Hontana (where I had a huge chorizo/tortilla sandwich and 2 cafés con leche and checked emails) I began quasi-jogging because of the short downhills. I didn’t stop for over an hour. I figured out my pace at 6 kmp. I hope I can do that tomorrow as well. I’ll leave later tomorrow because breakfast is served at 6:45. I am NOT worried about leaving later!

God! So many thoughts to write about right now! (I just made a list of what to write about so I don’t forget on the paper placemat that had all the “enjoy your meal” messages in different languages.)

So, in running today, I realized I was at the same pace as when I was running in Australia. It would be AMAZING if I could keep up hat pace. BUT, we’ll see... I started jogging going downhill because it was easier. Then, I realized that my left heel didn’t hurt as much when I was running. Although I was sweating more and exerting more effort, it was more manageable and it gave me more energy. Fun to see how my body reacts! I’m still wearing my TEVO’s because it’s more comfortable! When I get to León, I hope to buy some new walking shoes that are breathable.

When I stopped today in Hontanas, I checked email and sent mom a message asking if she would make Janene and family some frijoles. When I spoke to her today, she said she’d bring them by tomorrow. Rosana also ordered some sunflowers for me, too. I’m sorry for her! It’s life, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

The path today was beautiful. Gorgeous golden wheat in the morning, with long shadows of the few trees and huge haystacks. The ruins in San Anton were spectacular. There’s a church whose remaining walls serve as a nice stopping place and one of the walls serves as an 8-bed albergue. Beautiful place! I rested there for about an hour drying my striped pink bandana and my black shirt, while I reviewed pictures of the last few days. Well before this stop, there was a field of sunflowers. Of course, I took more pictures!

Last night I finished reading The Pilgrimage by Coelho and began on the one Jesús gave me. I”ll read that tonight, too. Lights out at 10:30, so I’ll have a few hours after washing my clothes and taking a shower.

I’m going to try to eat late lunches as I’ve done he past few days and skip out on dinner. I’m sure it will do wonders for my weight and my rest as well! Today, I had 2 coffees when I was packing my bag, that huge chorizo tortilla sandwich, a handful of nuts, 2 more coffees and then the meal I just had! On and 2 peaches that were delicious--the flat kind--yum! I also drank a beer when I first got to Castrojeriz. I met Enrique and Esteban (huge and tiny guys) from Cádiz who are doing the path on their bikes. Today was their first day. Such nice, engaging guys! Maybe they were a couple? I was the first “group” of cyclists I’ve had a conversation with! the owner of the bar was really helpful, too. I was trying to decide whether or not to continue on today and he gave me all the info I needed. He also told me about the history of the Refugio and “El Resti”--the old hospitalero who used to be there. He left a while ago because he kicked some people out who came back after 10pm (11:30!) They denounced him and he left. He was strict--he wouldn’t let people coming by car stay there. That’s fair, I think.

My to do’s are: wash my clothes, shower, pack my bag, charge my phones and camera battery AND get some phone credit. Not too much.

Today, I pictured myself wearing that white dress I bought at Urban Outfitters last year. I can’t wait to wear it. I thought about how my red linen skirt would fit, my orange dress that I bought for Graciela’s wedding, what and how I’ll dress when I go back to school. I’m losing weight daily and it keeps me going! Oh! I’d also like to sew my zip pants button over a couple of inches because these pants really ARE way too big. I’m sure I’m back to a size 12. I want to be an 8! How nice it will be! It would be wise to do push ups, sit ups and work my inner thighs--as those are the 3 areas that need the most work.

Ok, must get to my to do list!

Hornillas del Camino, Castilla y León, Day 15

Sun, 2 Aug 2009 15:45:14 -1000

I woke up comfortably at 6:05 today, took a shower, packed my bag, had some coffee and breakfast with JM, called Mom to wish her a happy birthday and left JM’s house at 7:45 to the Albergue around 7:55, where I got my stamp. We walked together for about an hour--wow, that man sure can talk! I was going to show him pictures yesterday and as soon as I pulled them up from FB, he puled out his album from Cuba. I was kind of tired of hearing him talk. I’m sorry, but what is it with men who talk about themselves all day and don’t ask about me. I don’t think I’m being selfish, but really, it’s a bit tiresome. Maybe I’m not being fair because he did tell me tons about the history of Burgos and Spain and about Cavorrubios, the place we went for lunch yesterday for alubias rojas and cordero (and where the oldest organ in Europe is.) MAYBE I’m not being fair. But still. Usually I speak my mind. I’ve learned to hold back. I think I need to learn to speak when something someone does upsets me/hurts my feelings without them realizing it--in such a manner that I won’t hurt their feelings. I’ll work on that.

It rained pretty much all day in Burgos yesterday. I wonder if it rained on the walk. Glad it missed it either way. I walked 20km today. It took me about 6.5 hours. With one 1-hour stop and another 10 minute stop to change back into my sandals. The walk was beautiful. Very bare lands, long views of wheat, hay stacks, yellow, purple, violet and white wild flowers. The clouds were helpful. I listened to Rachel Yamagata, Shakira, Kings of Leon, Maná and a few other artists. I felt like crying today, but it wouldn’t come out. I keep getting a cramp in my left hand, where he knuckle of my pinky finger pushes down. I’ve taken a few pictures to show a doctor in case it comes down to that. I’d like to find internet access tomorrow to look up information on this weird ramp of mine. I wonder if it’s a deficiency of potassium or dehydration (only drank about 1L of water today.) I’ll try bananas and more water in the next few days.

I think I might also need to buy a fleece and better walking shoes. My Tevos are not made for walking long distances like these and I’m quite cold in the mornings. I did finally mend my long sleeved black shirt today and I had holes/runs in the top right sleeve. But it’s not enough. I’ll see. I’m thinking about leaving my boots and some HBA behind because I’m carrying A LOT with me. Maybe I’m just tired, but my bag seems heavier than usual.

I think I could have walked more today, but I left quite late and with the sandals, I walk much more slowly. I ate a good lunch (mixed salad, ternera, fries and wine) and will probably only have some fruit for dinner tonight. I’d like to be in bed by 9pm. I haven’t even showered yet. OR washed my clothes!

I spoke to Janene for a minute today before my credit expired. Nate said her dad probably only has a few days left and that Janene isn’t taking it too well. :( She said that he’s not suffering. Poor thing. As soon as I can, I will send flowers.

I feel the need to make a list of everything I’ve brought and what I’ve had to buy and what I have not yet used.

Burgos, Castilla y León, Days 13 & 14

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 13:18:15 -1000

It’s Saturday morning around 10am and I’m on Jose Manuel’s balcony ready to catch up on yesterday. I don’t recall what time I awoke yesterday, but I didn’t get a restful sleep because Vicente below me was snoring and because Lia called me past midnight so I tossed and turned all night. My feet were swollen when I woke up, as they are a bit today. I started walking around 7:05. I made it Villaval after 45 minutes of ascent in my sandals. It was bad, but I went slowly particularly on the descent. It was rocky and quite pretty. The sun rose when I was passing sunflower fields on my right, followed by caged goats. According to my book, Matagrande is 1078m (3537 feet) high. Like I wrote, it wasn’t bad. Finally, in Villaval, I had a huge coffee and a sweet bread with a sort of flan inside. I walked with Ana and Carmen the rest of the way to Burgos. While still at Villaval, chatting with Paula and Felipe from Madrid, we laughed (again) about the relativity of distances. They did a portion of the walk one year that took them 6 days to walk 120km. To get their car, they took the bus back and it only took them ONE HOUR! Funny how the same distance can take 1 hour or 6 days!

My feet never got hot, as I wore my sandals. And the whole walk after Villaval was even on asphalt! Ana, Carmen and I spoke of Obama and the education system in both the states and in Spain. They’re nice to chat with and the company sure made the time go by quickly. I called JM when I got into town and decided to meet at Iglesia San Lesmes at 2pm. It was 12:30 then. The girls and I had one last drink together then I headed off to our meeting spot. We went straight to lunch where I had a gorgeous stuffed pear salad with scalopine de Cabra with stinky cheese and a lemon sorbet (all for 12 euros!) Delicious! Great conversations! JM and I spoke about Cuba, his women, his kids (30, 26, & 22), psychics, school, his studies (all 3 of them: Technical Architecture, Bellas Artes & Music Therapy), horoscopes (his birthday is May 8th!) He then brought me to his house where I took a shower, did my laundry and took a nap. We left around 7pm and in his gold 1983 VW bug, took me to the Castillo, where we took a tour of the 63m (207 feet) deep well. So interesting and amaaaaaazing views of the city. We then went to have a drink (pineapple juice for me and coke for him.) Then to the mirador. All the while, he told me the history of Burgos and his family. I was hungry, I had to cut him off and told him I needed to eat dinner. It was already 9:30 so I decided I’d stay another day, rest, get to know Burgos better and leave early Sunday morning as long as today I’d go to the pharmacy to get sunblock, tape and go to the store to get food for tomorrow. It’s supposedly a 31km walk according to my book. I’ll walk as long as I can. Oh! I did get a foot massage, too, yesterday, after my nap.

For dinner, we went bar hopping and had tapas. REAL SPANISH TAPAS! Calamares in Casa Pancho, Tigres across the street and Pulpo a bit further away. Then, we went to El Patillas (the name of the bar in the video below. It means “sideburns”!) where Armando, the 3rd generation owner, only serves beer and wine. The rest are mariconadas! So funny! He wouldn’t serve everyone. Apparently, he doesn’t like it when there are too many people in the bar. Live music and dancing and pictures all over every inch of the walls and ceilings. Great stuff. JM introduced me to a Cuban guy who is a musician and came in 3rd in a TV contest. Nice. We finally got home close to 1am. I set the alarm for 9:30 and here I am. Awake. Feeling good. It’s sunny and hot! I’d love to just hang out “at home” today and do nothing. I’m not that tired, but my feet are weary and I should soak them in cold water. In less than 12 hours, I’ll be in bed again, ready to start my day tomorrow.

Atapuerca, Castilla y León, Day 12

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:05:30 -1000

I didn’t set the alarm last night purposefully. I stirred a bit as people were getting ready, but I didn’t get up until about 7-7:15. It was nice to “sleep in”. Wow, it really IS all relative! I left at 9:23 and got to Ages about an hour later. It was chilly and overcast and there were what seemed like 100’s of butterflies. So so so beautiful! This should be “the way of the butterfly!” I want to know more about them! There were these small orange ones playfully flying around and big black ones with white bottoms. Lovely! Absolutely lovely!

I read The Pilgrimage some more at Ages and had 2 coffees. Then went to Atapuerca and reserved my spot for he archaeological tours they have. Brilliant. What did I learn? Well, that the oldest “humans” found are here--1.3million years ago they inhabited this land. Pre-neanderthals: homo-antecessor. They weren’t like monkeys at all. They had burial rituals--in the fetal position with hand axes used for skinning animals. There are also traces of pollen (the only part of a plant that fossilizes) in the graves, showing that they put flowers in with their dead. They also cared for each other. The skull of Miguelón--400,000 years old, a homo heidelbergensis) was found either in 2004 or 2005. (he was named after Miguel Indurain) and it showed that above his gum line he must have had an abscessed tooth. Apparently, it deformed his bones which takes a few months to occur. Because of the extreme pain the area, it would have been quite difficult for him to chew his (raw) meat. Someone in his “crew” must have chewed his meat for him--that’s the theory. Quite interesting. They discovered that cannibalism was also practiced--there were markings on the bones of 10-11 year olds in the same way they’ve found them on animals. They also out the marrow out of their bones! I sent Tanya a text telling her I was there. I wonder if she knows about these findings.
It was nice to be alone today, but still run into some people at the hostel (Carmen and Ana) and they guy whose picture I took because of the yellow arrow (a way marker for pilgrims) on his shirt at the wine fountain last week.

I only walked 6km today and was happy to do so. I also texted Jose Manuel Vazquez, the guy I met in Amsterdam, to tell him that I’d be getting into Burgos tomorrow. I said we should at least have a cup of coffee. So, I’m going to call him when I get in. I spoke to Graciela, too. I hope I get to see them. Maribel said I could crash on her couch. We’ll see what happens.

I’ve had a couple of days of not being so uplifted, but I think taking it easy today and doing some learning has helped me. Being around Lia and her dramas are a bit much for me. she called while I was on my way back from the dig site and texted me again while I was cooking dinner. She had news. I guessed she hooked up with Francesco. She did. She said we’d see each other tomorrow, but I’m not that interested. I’d prefer to catch up with Jaime, Ian, Ana, Ornella, Tomas and Stéphanie. Apparently, they’re in Ages. Maybe I’ll see them in the morning. I’d also love to see Xavier and his boys--they’re nice and fun.

My skin is super dry! I will put lotion on in the morning and since I only walked 6km I’ll wear the same clothes again tomorrow. I bought some fruit for tomorrow. I must economize more! Especially since I can’t remember my ING account number. I have spent too much money on dinners. I need to cook from now on and mostly chill out with the vermouths. Maybe I’ll buy a bottle of nescafe and make my own coffees, too. Those get pricey! I spend at least $7 a day on coffee per day.

It’s late, I need to brush my teeth and get to bed. It would also be smart to stop smoking. Whatever. I’ll get to it.

Tomorrow I’ll walk up relatively early and have a good pace. I’d like to do the 23km to Burgos by 2pm. If I could do it by 1pm, that would be even better! Short stops and sandals is what I’m planning again. I’ll shower when I get there, as it will be too cold in the morning. It’s already 9:50pm!

I got a message from Janene today saying her dad wasn’t doing well. I’ll keep him in my thoughts tomorrow. I hope she’s OK. They’ve sent in hospice and aren’t giving him much time. He’s 80 something and has lived a good, strong life, so I’m sure he’ll go peacefully. It seems I might have to buy a new notebook with all the writing I’m doing!

Feeling rested and ready for tomorrow!

San Juan de Ortega, Burgos, Castilla y León, Day 11

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:48:27 -1000

I didn’t finish writing last night because Jesús and Luis came over to chat with me and then I had dinner with the Italians again. They forgot about me and I felt a bit slighted and thought about it a few times this morning, but I don’t want more blisters so I need to stop. (Xavier, the French father of the 2 boys was saying that when you are thinking negative thoughts during the walk, you’re more prone to manifest your stress in blisters on your feet--I got 2 new blisters today and have had a few personal demons I’m dealing with. Maybe he’s right!)

Dinner was gorgeous last night. Pasta Carbonara, Salad, Wine. Yum. I spoke with Caroline--a canadian 19 year old girl who had just walked Kilimanjaro in February. Wow! I need to look into that. Liliana Ursa, an italian lady married to another Francesco, played the guitar and sang songs as the 2 sons sang--Michaele and Yacobo.

I was thinking yesterday that 2 of my favorite movies (The Wizard of Oz and The Lord of the Rings) are about pilgrimages--I’ll have to watch them again soon.

Jesús gave me another book to read, whose name I don’t recall, but it’s also about the walk, looking forward to reading it after The Pilgrimage by Coelho.

I just got back from dinner with Tom (Cristina’s son.) Although I wasn’t going to write about me feeling upset last night because the Italians forgot about me and Lia said I should have helped cook, I kept thinking (hence blisters!) that I’d never have forgotten her for dinner. In fact, I forgot today. She asked me to save her a place and I forgot. Wow, I did feel bad--I did! Anyway, life goes on.

Today I woke up at 5:20 or so and was out the door, walking without breakfast at 6:11 with Santi and his son. When we got to the first town, 5km away (in 45 minutes!) there was no coffee. I had to stop and go at my own pace. It was WAY too fast and I was hungry. I met up with them in the next town and met up with Cristina again. We walked together for the rest of he day. Some stories! Great day. It was long, but beautiful scenery! Huge Hill, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

I hung out with the French crew again. Benoit is a priest. Nice guy. I heard the “our father” for the first time ever in French.

I have 2 more blisters today. I’m not setting the alarm. I will wake up when I do and get going when I’m ready. The “plan” was Burgos tomorrow, but I’m not sure I’ll make it. Whatever I do, wherever I stay, I will meet new people and make dinners with them.

I walked 24km today and wound up here in San Juan de Ortega at a beautiful monastery. We had garlic soup at 6:30. Yum! it was spicy!

I didn’t think much today except for an hour or so in the morning. I didn’t like my thoughts. It’s time for me to start letting go of these demons about me being left behind or left out. Unreal! I’m not so sure why I get that feeling sometimes, but it sure does happen often enough to be remarkable.

I’ll read more now and go to bed if these French Scouts every go to sleep! :)

Feet hurt, ampollas (blisters) up the wazoo, but so happy to be here!

Belorado, Day 10

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:05:17 -1000

In bed reading last night at 8:30 and asleep, I think, by 9pm. Woke up today at 5:49. I stayed in the monastery. There was a nice red and black checked blanket--so comfy--obviously, because I slept for 9 hours! I ate a tomato and a kiwi for breakfast and a donut that Fernando from Mexico who lives in Germany, gave me. I went to get cash out and found an open café so I had a delicious cuppa cawfee. He didn’t have change for a 50 euro bill, so he just gave it to me. I left there at 7:45--late! I was in pain today s I started. My right leg hurt and I was drained. Not as much as the day I woke up in Pamplona, but still pretty exhausted.

I caught up with Lia and Francesco (who I had dinner with last night--pizza, salad, patatas bravas, wine and water) in Grañon. That walk was hard. I had two cups of coffee and a cake. I even drank those mineral salts. I still felt tired. I walked with them for several hours and chatted with Francesco in French (his mom is Belgian) about Italy, work (he’s an architect), movies. He’s nice. beautiful eyes--like a swimming pool. Luckily, it was mostly cloudy in the morning. The sun eventually came out just before we got to Castildelgado where we had a quasi picnic in the square, in the shade. I ate a tomato, a cucumber, 2 or 3 slices of cheese and 6 or 8 slices of chorizo. Edoardo says, “you like to eat, huh?” Why get offended. I do!

The walk today had no shade. Really! I lost them and booked it (while listening to the playlist I made for the pig roast in May) to Villamayor del Rio where I lay down on a cement picnic bench, cooled my feet and left with Edoardo after Lia and Francesco filled up their waters and wet their heads in the fountain. We were booking it! Probably 5km per hour. My feet BURNED and Edo said not to give up. He was right. Finally, we made it here, to Belorado around 4-4:30, got our beds, changed and got in the pool which was 18 degrees (66F!) Freezing! I didn’t last too long. I then sat with Xavier and his 2 sons, Charles and Arlic and the cute 19 year old French boys--Guillaume, Olivier, Mattieu and another whose name escapes me. We spoke of Australia, New Zealand, NYC and walking at night.

I met Cristina and her son, Tom, from Minnesota, when I was at Grañon. They spoke of walking at night as well. They are the 2nd or 3rd group of people who speak of it. I’d love to do it--especially when Mars and the meteorite showers are in full view AND the Meseta is brutal! We’ll see... The logistics seems to be a bit difficult, but what will be will be.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Day 9

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:11:02 -1000

Ouch! My leg hurts. This will pass, but I needed to remember this pain. Just had lunch--ensalada mixta, chuleta de ternera and tarta helada with agua (mixed salad, veal cutlet, ice cream pie and water.) I walked 21 km today. I think the rest yesterday made me feel more pain today. I imagine this is what “they” mean by losing the rhythm. Anyway, the pain will cease.

The pool was quite relaxing yesterday. I had a few (4) vermouths and ate lunch with Matteo, Mattia and LIa. I had fried calamari (not so great) and a salad. I laid out, read my book (The Pilgrimage, by Paulo Coelho) --in French--which I found in the hostel shelf of Los Arcos hostel. I’ve been looking for that book since I decided to do this walk. It seems all I’ve been looking for, I’ve found--just about. All in due time--that’s certain.

I fell asleep on the grass with part of the Italian Posse. So relaxing. Then I ate half a ham and cheese sandwich and all the meat of the other half, along with a decaf café con leche. At that moment (around 6ish), I decided I’d go to sleep early and have dinner. First, though, I walked through the town looking for fruit for breakfast tomorrow. All I found was some sweet bread with butter and treated myself to a kiwi hazelnut ice cream. I walked into the Monasterio de Santa María La Real and there was a group of people reciting the rosary aloud. The lay leading it sitting in the first pew had a monotonous voice, as did those she lead in prayer.

I went back to the hostel, picked up my clothes off the lines outside, packed my bag, put on my PJ’s, and went to bed to read. It turned off my head torch around 9:30 and couldn’t fall asleep until well past 11pm due to the heat and the loud Italians outside and the pilgrims inside the dorm talking and snickering. I actually got out of bed to ask them to be quiet as it was past the silence curfew of 10:30. BUT the heat continued and so did the voices outside. As I was heading out to read a bit, I saw Lia and she gave me a look (twice.) I think I saw her imitating me and laughing with the Italians. She said they refused to put the A/C on, so they were going to sleep by the river. She said it was not fair about the A/C. I told her I thought it was unfair to be outside talking so loud as we were trying to sleep. I was not in a good mood. I took my mattress and slept in the common area by the coffee machine with my sheet around my eyes. I fell asleep pretty quickly after that.

I woke up today at 5:12 and was out the door by 6:25, on my own. After an hour and a half, at the fountain in Azofra, I met up with Edoardo. We then had breakfast together (where I dropped my chorizo sandwich) and left together. Truly, we had nothing to say to each other. We walking in silence for a while, then I went ahead as he stopped to take pictures. At the top of the hill in Ciruña, there were these great cement chaises longues where I rested and chatted with Rafael who lives in Elizabeth, New Jersey and works in Manhattan. He was born in Las Villas, Cuba. I also chatted with Carmen, a Spanish lady whose friend offered me some home-made vermouth, which I took a few sips of. Yum! Then with Jeane, from Paris who took my chair as I was leaving. I had to push myself hard to finish today. Instead of rest next time, I think I’l just walk 10km or so--make it a shorter route instead of not walking at all. I listened to Sun Tzu’s Art of War on my iPod. Interesting, but not compelling.

I felt as if a few (3?) butterflies were leading the way for me for a bit. So pretty! I wasn’t in a good mood at all, really. I thought of AG and the lady at St. Jean Pied de Port and the Italian noise last night. Surely, tomorrow will be better. Although, today’s conditions were perfect for walking--in the 70’s and all clouds. Glorious!

I’m now finishing a beer outside on the terrace of Bar Parador on Calle de la Alameda and am almost dozing off. I’ll go buy fruit, look for internet, then sleep until mañana. (I was just told I look 41! Wow, I must really be tired!

Logroño and Nájera, Days 7 & 8

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 06:13:45 -1000

Way too tired to write last night, but since I took today off, I’ve “allowed myself” to not write. Anyhow...

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am after a great night of pasta dinner cooked by Mattia and Matteo (the two guys in glasses pictured to the right.) Wow, those Italians are loud and sure do stick together. There was such a nice camaraderie going on! I love that! It sort of reminds me of college and dorm dinners--ones that I never really participated in. I had nice chats with Ian Ashford (from Dublin) and Tom (from Berlin) and of course, with Avet (god bless your feet)--so nice. A 20 euro massage of feet, legs and back really helped me. Modesty was out the door--here I am in my panties with a towel over my bum, and my bra straps around my arms with a bunch of people walking by. Me moaning, of course! I was going to take the bus to Logroño with Lia, but decided to walk because I felt new. And remembered that this is MY walk and I must consider MY needs, not hers.

I was in bed by 10pm last night and slept for 7.5 hours. Clearly, I needed it! I was out the door by 7am and booked it for he first few hours. Wait! I have to mention the vending machine’s contents (picture featured in yesterday’s post). It had chocolate bars, sandwiches, band aids, beer, soap & shampoo, shells with the red cross. So cool!

Anyhoo, I really was booking it. I felt good, the terrain allowed for it and I wanted to be sure to have people ahead and behind me at all times. I met Lynn and Tony from Noridge, England. Nice people. I stopped after 1 hour and 20 minutes where I’d done supposedly 7km and it should have taken 1 hour 45 minutes. I only stopped once for 20 minutes to use the bathroom, eat a nectarine and drink loads of water. So, I basically was 40 minutes ahead of where the guide said I’d be. I then walked another couple of hours and met up with Ana from Slovenia, Stéphanie from Canada, Jaime from Murcia, Ian from Dublin and Ornella from Italy (who once spent 20 days in my dad’s hometown of Santiago, Cuba and couldn’t stop beaming and telling me about how much she loved it.)

They were sitting at the beginning of the walk after crossing the highway, having fruit and cigs and water. I joined them and then continued together through some pretty steep ascents. Ana and I spoke of Slovenia, their language, what they study in school, and of course, Slovenians begin learning English pretty early on, then in high school, they must pick a third language. I wish it were like that in the states.

I just remembered something I told Colman years ago, when we first met (1997!) We were sitting in Stolley’s in Paris, as usual and I said that I wanted to change the American Education System. MAYBE I can write my thesis on something related to the importance of American children studying not only a second, but a THIRD language. Making it mandatory and helping to unite the nations. Something like that! I can start sending letters to Obama insisting that it be this way. Clearly, I’ll need to put more thought and an enormous amount of research into it. I’m loving this newfound decision of going back to school and all the options and possibilities that I have.

I am just now remembering the poem I wrote in 2000 or 2001, called The Sugar Tree, about all of the things I’ve learned thus far, applying them, and emptying my mind to make room for new thoughts.--new beginnings...

Ana said yesterday that her dream is to open up a flower shop. I had said the same thing a zillion years ago. I could work in a flower shop while I’m in college getting my Ph.D. So nice to have options.

Back to my poem--I’m remembering things I’ve said and I’ve wanted to do in my lifetime and compressing them into some sort of reality. If I say on facebook that I’m “living my dream”, I can feasibly get my Ph.D., change the American Education System...all the promises to myself can and should come true, as long as I do the things that I say (to myself or others) I’m going to do. I’m freeing up space in my mind, as in the poem, to do what I want to NEXT!

God! This walk sure is making things clear for me. The universe continues to conspire in my favor. The world is coming together in such a way that it makes me believe I’ve always wanted it that way. How happy I am to have my feet sore, yet my mind clear. These are the makings of miracles, I believe. Truly. I digress.

As I wrote before, I was booking it yesterday. I did remind myself that I must remember to pace myself. AND WHAT A PACE! I walked 30km today and only the last 4 were brutal! My feet were burning, it was hot, I was tired and dreaming of sticking my feet in a nice cold tub of water .

I’m now in Nájera, sitting at the poolside café on my second vermouth. Gorgeous! Thanks to Santi, the Italian man doing the walk for the second time--the first time for his defunct wife, this time for himself--we met him at our pasta dinner in Los Arcos (with all the other Italians.) He saw Lia yesterday and as he’s a physical education teacher, told her to rest today as well as not to further damage her ankle/tendon. He suggested to her that instead of taking our “day off” in Logroño on a Sunday where there’s not much to do, to go to Nájera and do some swimming in the pool to cool down her tendons. We’re here now.

I doubted if I’d come. I feel I have issues when my mind is set on doing something and then it changes. I needed to come to grips with how I’d make (and why) my decision on what I would do today. I do not want to make this walk about anyone but myself. I have noticed that many times in my life, I will put myself second and take care of others’ needs before my own. I am or have been worried about Lia’s foot and think I have made some decisions on my walk based on what she needs, not what I need. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to walk yesterday. It’s what I needed. When she told me about the pool today, my first reaction was “Cool, I’m there!” Then, I wondered if I was just following the crowd. Finally I realized that Santi had a message for me through Lia. Go relax poolside--what I need on a day off. Rather than walking around a town, tiring myself out. I wanted to go sightseeing in Logroño and drink some Rioja wine, but what my body needed on a day off was to take the day OFF from walking--resting by the pool was the perfect idea. Although he mentioned it for her benefit, for me, it was good, too.

We took the bus this morning at 11am and arrived in 30 minutes (our 30km walk would have taken a good 7 hours!) How relative it all is! I’ve been on my walk for 8 days now. I walked the first seven. 145km in 7 days is an average of 20.7km per day. The most I’ve done is 30km and the least is 10km. Seems to be a decent average. Anyway, the relative aspect of it all has really hit me. 10k, 1 week, 1 hour--all of it seems like such a small amount, but when it comes to walking 20km per day, a week seems like such a long time. In an hour, I can go 3-4 km. But on the bus in less than 30 minutes, I can go 30km! I appreciate the passage of time (and the relativity of things) much more than ever before.

Oh! What I have already learned on this walk! :)

Jaime from Murcia and I talked about our reasons for walking and wound up on a discussion of Mazlow’s Hierachy of Needs. Food, shelter, clothing and love. (from memory) That basic list is exactly where we are now on this walk. Our biggest concerns are where we’ll sleep, what we’ll eat, what we’ll wear to combat the elements and the people we surround ourselves with. Such a basic concept put into practice, balanced and remarked makes me feel more at ease with my thoughts. I joked with Lia a few days ago that this walk is like work: wake up early, prepare for the day, walk a long time, come to the albergue, wash our clothes, go food shopping, have dinner, go to sleep and start over again to do the same thing the next day. Definitely like work--but, as Lia said “without getting paid and much harder than regular work!” We discussed last night that once we manage the rhythm of these basic needs, we can get “back to” the reason we’re doing this walk.

I noticed yesterday as I was booking it that I was constantly looking down to be sure where I stepped would be safe. I barely saw the countryside! One of my goals in walking is to get to know Spain. How can I do that when I’m runnnnnnning!? I can’t! So, I have to find the proper balance between wanting to “finish” my day, walk, and see the Spanish countryside. I must remind myself daily what my goals are here. They are:

1. Figure out what I’m doing when I return to the States.
2. See Spain from a different perspective
3. Lose weight

I’m already doing all 3 of these things. My face and waist are thinner. Yay! I’m noticing what my body needs. I’m learning to take it easy and do the BASICS that life requires (washing my clothes by hand, for example!) What a gift I’ve given myself! My hierarchy of needs has been put into place. I’m excited about what the next 3-4 weeks have in store for me!

Another goal is to meet my husband. I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re both looking for each other. When we find “us”, it’s going to be so right because at least I will have willed it so. I think he will have also willed it. BUT, I’m not looking anymore. When I told Lia a few days ago that I’d like to see Jaime again, she said, “Creo que eso es hambre.” (“I think that’s hunger.”) And I think if there is one thing I’ve taken from my friendship with her, it’s that. In hunger, we’ll eat whatever comes along. Already being satiated, satisfied, the right “meal” will come along to nourish me properly. What a funny little concept. It works, I think! :)

So, on to organizing myself here at the albergue, then to relax poolside again. Good good GOOD times ahead. ¡Que alegría!

Los Arcos, Day 6 and an Italian Feast

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:31:23 -1000

Up at 4:45 today. Dinner last night was yummy, but we were so rushed because we had to be back by 10pm closing time at the Albergue. Lia and I ran back to the hostel while Edoardo, Jaime and Ornella walked back. I had a mixed salad with tuna, tomatoes, onions, olives and lettuce and then ternera asada (roast veal). Very good! The medieval festival was going on so there were hundreds of people in the streets and in the church plaza. What pretty buildings! A lot of the stores had the typical outfits of the region in their display windows: white outfits with red scarves and/or belts. Pretty, pretty streets, very narrow, gorgeous details on the buildings. It was nice to have met people and had dinner with someone other than Lia. I’d like to meet more.

Our bed was in the hallway between the 2 rooms on the 2nd floor, so we were able, finally, to keep the night light on to pack the backpacks before going to bed and without disturbing the other pilgrims. Since I wrote early yesterday, I told Lia I would do the backpack while SHE wrote. It worked out perfectly. All of my clothes dried, too! I packed because we consolidated most of our stuff into her bag so we could send it ahead of us to the next stop so she could have some relief from the weight today.

Today was the first day where I predominately walked on my own. We left at 7am (not 6:20) and around 7:45 got to Irache, where the wine fountain is, but although the sign said it opened at 8am, no one was there. Too bad! No matter, though. We stopped at Azqueta for a coffee and some rest (Lia, Edo and I) then didn’t stop again for almost 2 hours. And I booked it to Los Arcos. We walked into town at exactly 2pm--the VERY first time we get in so early AND the first time we walk in with other pilgrims. What a great feeling to do 21.3km in 7 hours including 3 breaks.

Tomorrow we’re supposed to take the bus to Logroño. It’s 28 or 29km from here. I might walk it, then take the next day off. We’ll see how I feel tonight.

I’m starting to mentalize myself about going back to school with the goal of becoming a professor. I know I will have to write papers for publication. Writing has always given me some anxiety, so I’ll just treat each of my classes as an experience I write about nightly as I’m doing these days. If I keep a daily or nightly journal of what I’m learning in class, reading about in books and on the internet and articles and am “methodical” about it, I think it will be easier to swallow. Anyway, I promised myself I’d get over my writing fears and just do it. I know I’m already doing it. So there! :)

As I was falling asleep last night, I thought I’d ask Dad to drive up to NYC to come help me move some of my stuff to Florida for the few months I’m there. I’ll call them later and tell them. Today, as I’m sitting in La Plaza Santa Maria, I decided I’d try to buy an apartment instead of renting it while I’m in school. Surely, I’ll have to do it with mom and dad’s help as I haven’t worked in 2009. I’ll ask Dana Brown for help with that.

I’m also going to ask Tanya, Tricia, Jenny and Dr. Cloonan for help with scholarships and university applications. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help me and give suggestions as they would do it for any of their students.

Such beautiful butterflies today! Edo and Lia were walking ahead. Stopped and told me to be quiet so as not to disturb it. Such colors! Check out one of the many photos I took!

Then, a shepherd, his two dogs, some goats and a tractor all in one view--so nice! The dog was in my path. I thought of Paulo Coelho on this pilgrimage--the dog barely looked at me. :)

I think I might just grow my hair out with no longer dying it. It’s me--time to be a bit more natural and see what I look like with greys.

Today I felt swollen--my waist was bigger than yesterday when I measured it and I had to loosen the waist strap on my backpack as well. Maybe all the bread I’ve eaten the past few days. Who knows.

I’ve been listening to music today (as I am now--Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.) Such beautiful (German--as Yakob pointed out) music. So lovely!

As I’m walking and listening, I’m much more apt to listen to the lyrics of songs. I”ll try to do that more often.

It’s 4:32pm now, the pharmacy and tobacco stand open in 30 minutes. I have to buy shampoo, soap, deodorant and cigs.

I have thought about that blue graphing notebook I had when I lived in Paris in 1997-98. I wrote hundreds of questions down one night when I went out on my own and drank too many beers just jotting down all the questions I wanted answered in my life. I don’t know what my drunken rant was about, but I’d like to find it and see if I found the answer to any of those questions. It should be interesting to read.

When I’m back, it will be time to read The History of Language and The Loom of Language. I’ve had these books for years and it’s time to read them, now that I will be going back to school. Am SO looking forward to it! :)

Estella, Day 5: lost in the forest

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:23:05 -1000

Some day! Woke up at 6:27am and left at 7:47, I think. Pascale and Pauline helped with my feet. An hour or so into walking we realized it would rain. We put our rain gear on and it only rained for about 20 minutes, but we figured out our system. Good practice. THEN! We got “lost” and wound up going through a forested mountain path. It took us 3 hours to get to Obanos, that should have taken us 30 minutes, according to the guidebook.

We ate a nice lunch of stuffed peppers and asparagus. Yum! We were scared on the mountain when we realized we were lost because we had only about 20 almonds and had not eaten breakfast. That was a bit scary. AND the climb up those stairs that were at a 70 degree angle--wow! The way we realized we were on the wrong path was when we noticed that the beaten path had flowers and grass growing it in. There was no way 1000’s of people per week were walking through there. It turns out we took an alternate route and veered off from there.

We walked through sunflower and corn fields and vineyards. So pretty! And again, a path full of butterflies. Oh! Then I notice these stalks about 18” high with snails all over them. So very cool! I don’t remember ever seeing anything like that before in my life. It just made me think of my childhood in Mariñes with Tamara, playing with snails and clay. I wish she and I could be friends. I could try one more time....maybe....

I have decided to definitely take September-November to do my research on universities. I’m going back to school. I will deal with a roommate and I will supplement my income by working within my field and giving private lessons. I’m leaning towards Oregon, but need to seriously consider cost. I’ll research scholarships, too.

In the 2 months I’m back, I’ll also write an article and be paid for it--as in travel writing. That’ll be another way of supplementing my income. In the next 2 years, I’ll take photography and writing classes. I’ll also ride my bike and take hikes to get to know my areas. More than likely, I’ll go to Palm Coast to do this research and save some money. I’ll substitute and I’ll get either a waitressing job or a tutoring job at DBCC--maybe even an adjunct post, but that is less likely. I’ll also learn to cook from mom.

Walking gives me clarity and writing helps me to make decisions.

That’s it! Going back to school to get my Ph.D. in linguistics! Yay! :)

I’m well rested. Tomorrow we will send one backpack ahead and share the weight. Lia’s ankles are really killing her. We’ll walk longer tomorrow, as today was maybe 10km, but we’re “only” 684.7km away from Santiago!

Because we got turned around today and lost so much time, in order to be on the “right path” with the logistics worked out, Lia and I took the bus after lunch to where we would have walked. There was no way we would have been able to walk that many kilometers and still made it in time to the hostel with some spare beds. We had to advance a bit. I did feel weird about taking the bus, though. And we’re doing it again the day after tomorrow to Logroño for a day of rest. But, that’s how it’ll be and how it was today and I’m OK with that.

I ate well today. No breakfast (well, I did have a coffee and a Special K bar.) Then for lunch as I wrote above and I haven’t had dinner yet. I’m feeling excellent.

Tomorrow I’ll create a TO DO list in my head as I’m walking, of what I need to research. Actually, I won’t. :) I’ve already created that spreadsheet when I was in Oregon and I’ll just use that.

I thought about XXX and XXX today. I hope they’re doing well. I’m sure they felt my good vibes. I also heard Kings of Leon today and of course, it made me think of the great time in Lorne and the rest of the fun times in Australia.

Strange spiritual (as in “esprit”, which means, among other things, “mind” in French) thing happened today. As we’re in the forested mountain, I hear Lia call my name. She was a bit behind me and I was listening to my headphones. I took them off and called to her. She says, “How did you know I was going to call you? I just took off my earphones to do so and you were calling me!?” I told her, “I heard you call my name. We’ve already learned to communicate in many different forms!”

Ok, dinner time, then dry my clothes, backpack packing and sleep. We’re leaving here at 6:20 after breakfast tomorrow.

I’m so happy I’m doing this! :)

PS I say in this video that Rio Ega is the longest river in Spain. That’s actually not true. It’s the Rio Ebro, which we crossed when we reach Logroño in a few days. Click on the word Ebro above for a hyperlink to the map. Oops!

Uterga, Day 4: God Bless Your Feet

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:54:08 -1000

The alarm went off at 4am on the new phone and then on the old one at 5. Both were turned off with no snooze. Lia woke me up at 6:10 saying she smelled food. I had 3 coffees and about 5 melba toast with butter and jam. I was hurting--from TIREDNESS more than from pain. We didn’t leave the German Hostel until 7:46am. It was hot. As I was putting on my shoes, exhausted and not sad, but weak and emotional, Avet (the Danish guy sitting next to me on the bench outside) was telling me about his pilgrimage last year. I told him about the past few days and that my feet were in pain. As I was leaving, he said, “God bless your feet.” I almost burst into tears. It was so nice!

The sunflowers, the windmills, all the butterflies and the zillions of rocks today were what kept my attention. Around 1pm (until 4pm) Lia and I sat under a tree, feeling an enormous amount of (hot) wind. It was so relaxing! We rested for 3 hours until the sun was not so strong so we wouldn’t get so tired. We hoped for clouds for the ascent to Alto del Perdon. We got them! Awesome! We were going to go to Puente, but it got so late, we took showers, I washed my clothes and had a lovely dinner with some red wine that I am still enjoying now outside, writing in the quasi darkness. I haven’t felt as good arriving at an albergue as I do today. I’m not limping as much, I have more energy and my appetite is good. For dinner, I ate a verdura and some roasted chicken with fries. Also 3 pieces of bread with olive oil. Lots of water and 2-3 small glasses of wine.

During the day, I have 2 yogurts, a speck K bar, a sandwich in Cizur Menor, a carrot-orange juice, 2 pieces of bread and 3 cokes. I haven’t measured myself today, but I imagine I haven’t lost much with all the bread.

Oh! Pamplona! We walked through the city today and what got me the most is the system of wires threaded from building to building--even crossing streets. Very unusual!

I didn’t gather my thoughts much today, but I did contemplate what it would be like to be a student again. Will I work? Will I have a roommate? 2 questions I’ll need to answer. I’d love to study linguistics and them become a professor. I’m really leaning towards that. I have time to decide, but need to think about my other options as well. also, wouldn’t it be interesting for me and Greg Young to start our own real estate school!? I’ll have to talk to him about that.

When I’m back, I need to figure out health insurance and my taxes. I’m not concerned about them now, but those are certainly practicalities to consider.

I’m wondering if I can call it a full year that I’m off work and take September through November to work out where I’ll go--do the research it will take for me to go back to school or to come up with a business plan.

Where will I live and will will I do with my apartment? Things that I must consider. It’s 11pm now, I think, and it’s time for bed.

Tomorrow we’re walking until about noon and stopping because there’s no reason to kill ourselves or follow someone else’s plan for our days. I’m happy to be alive and that my ears don’t hurt. :)

Pamplona, Day 3

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:31:58 -1000

Out of bed today at 5:07am, but didn’t leave until 7:09 due to foot care. We expected we’d be in Pamplona by 2pm at the latest. We got here at 4pm, so really it only took us an extra hour to get here.

As the sun was coming up over the Mountains, I began to sing “Here comes the Sun” as I’ve done the past few days. I was tired of singing it without knowing the lyrics so I pulled out my iPod. That was it! I basically had the music on all day and boy, did it get me moving! To the point of dancing and clowning around! I also sang along to the songs I knew. It was quite freeing to sing out loud as I walked. But I sure did use up my energy pretty quickly because the last 2-3 hours were tough! My feet were hot. I thought I had more blisters (although I didn’t) And my leg muscles were tight and sore.

In essence, today was fun, spontaneous, full of music and dance, but painful. I’m sure with rest tonight (it’s already about 10:45pm) I’ll be fine.

I didn’t think too much today, as I let the music guide me. Lia mentioned that her friend, Roberto, told her to never forget to listen to the water’s music. When we did our first stop along the river, I closed my eyes for a bit and let it all in. So nice!

I cooled my feet on what seemed like a marble rock, I mended my ripping “purse” and had a yogurt along the river. Very relaxing!

I called mom and dad when I stopped about 7km from Pamplona to take a rock out of my boot. It was great to hear their voices.

God! I was about 25 minutes behind Lia and finally caught up wot her in the park, under a tree, on a bench. I was a bit nervous to be alone because I kept feeling my tongue pressing down as if I were about to throw up. In the middle of the 2pm Spanish summer sunshine! I was totally fine and had to remind myself that I was planning on doing this walk on my own, anyways, so I needed to pull it together.

What a relief to walk over the Puente de la Magdalena in Pamplona. We’re staying at a German Albergue where we did our laundry, took showers and went to the Corte Ingles and to an Australian restaurant for dinner. My main purchases were a pair of Tevo’s for relief from my hot boots, conditioner and our yogurt for tomorrow’ breakfast. Oh! And a Spanish phone!

I wish I would have had more time to explore Pamplona. Next time... This is the most populous city of my walk and it would have been more interesting, I think, to walk around a proper city as a pilgrim. Oh well, we’ll see a bit tomorrow as we leave.

I walked 24km today, but only 22 towards the walk. We’ve done a total of 70km so far (~42 miles.) Not to shabby. My feet hurt, I’m tired, it’s late.

Tomorrow, we’re trying to get up at 5, but I might need more time. It is meant to be sunny and not shady on tomorrow’s path, so we want to get an early start.

I would like to spend some time thinking about going back to school tomorrow.

A few things I saw/noticed today were the beautiful wildflowers--loved it! Lots of people on bicycles doing the “walk”, too. Miguel Indurain was born in a town just east of Pamplona, so I imagine there’s an influence there. The old men we met on the way were helpful. I have decided that I much prefer walking uphill than anything else. It keeps me alert and my mind on the walk, not on mes pieds.

I ate little today--a yogurt, a Special K bar with 2 coffees for breakfast, a yogurt on the river, another K-bar on the walk, a few plums, a banana and finally for dinner, a huge salad, ternera and fries. Yum!

I’ve lost 5cm around my waist, another 2 or 3 around my thighs and 2 or 3 around my bust. I hope this keeps up!

Must sleep. Feeling pretty good!

Zubiri, Day 2...how did Frodo do it?!

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:22:22 -1000

Again, the alarm went off at 5:15. I heard it right away and began getting dressed in my top bunk as everyone still slept, including Lia, who was right next to me. It was nice to be one of the very first people up (which always makes me think of Colette’s mother--Sidonie, I believe was her name.) Anyhow, we left at 6:21 this morning after having a yogurt and some “biscuits” for breakfast. It would have been nice to have a cup of coffee, but that came later on (2, in fact!)

Before all of this, as I was falling asleep last night, since I don’t wear earplugs, I let the symphony of snores lull me to sleep. So many different kinds! I think there were 120 beds in the old hospital-turned-auberge. The vaulted ceilings (pictured in my last posting), the HUGE (probably 10 feet in diameter), chandeliers, the very narrow windows at the top of the ceiling--so beautiful. Just before I let the symphony put me to sleep, I opened my eyes one last time to be sure I engraved that image of the auberge in my head. Done! I woke up around 3:30 for some reason, looked around, remembered where I was and why I was resting and promptly fell back asleep.

So, we left at 6:21am--21 minutes after we wanted to. No biggie. I took some pictures and we were off--one of the first ones to leave ¡Buen Camino! I hear SO many times in the first few hours--so nice. It moves me sometimes to hear it!

It was chilly this morning. I wore my brown shirt and my zip off pants. I didn’t want to wear my short-sleeved shirt because I know me--I’d get it all sweaty just to take it off a bit later.

We expected the path to be mostly downhill except for 2 ascents. It was not necessarily like that. The road was ROCKY, it was grassy, it was concrete BUT it was mostly rocky. It hurt my feet-- A LOT! After a short while (2 hours), Lia and I stopped to buy lunch and to look for coffee. Coffee was nowhere to be found as it was “only 8:20am” and no cafes were open. I took my shoes off, as you do, and noticed the beginning of a blister forming in between my big and 2nd toe. I put “2nd skin” on it right away so it wouldn’t develop. At our next stop, 2 hours later, I felt another one forming in the same spot on the left foot. I taped that one up, too. I was so “proud” that I had caught my blisters before they “happened.” All to learn, once at the hostel that I had a full-blown blister on my 2nd toe on the right foot. I still don’t even feel it! We stopped one last time for 40 minutes or so, and I found another one forming on my left foot at the extreme of my pinky toe. Wow, 4 in one day! And just the 2nd day!

I’ll cure that one tomorrow morning because it is already past 10pm and I’m outside in the yard of the hostel.

Once we got here, Lia went to put her feet in the river and I went straight to the showers and to wash my clothes. I was pretty much limping at this point.

So what did I think about today? What did I notice?

I noticed there are SO MANY butterflies in the paths--yellow, white, orange, monarch (I think) purple, lavender--so many! I also saw HUGE white cows with enormous horns. Lots of calves, too.

Ah! The mist in the morning (see pic featured above) was phenomenal! These ar ethe things you see only at 7am in the countryside. I loved it!

We walked by a sign that said there were witches believed to be in the area at one point and I could see why it could have been thought that with all the mist!

I remarked that I wish I knew more song lyrics by heart be cause I really felt like singing as Lia walked ahead of me. I did a bit but I’d like to know more lyrics. I also noticed this when I was at Sandra and Slimane’s house in Toulouse, France just before the walk and everyone was singing along--so musical! All I could do was clap and smile. :)

I thought about the possibility of challenging myself to be a high school teacher again and not of just French, but of humanities and using my travels to lean more about the places I’ve been and teach it to the kids as a 35-year-old, I’d be more patient an worry less sand stress less and I’d be a much better teacher than I was when I taught high school in 2000-2001.

It’s hard for me to imagine living in Palm Coast again, but I think I would be able to do it. I also thought about giving a syllabus that shows what it takes for an A, a B, etc. Maybe that’s too much detail for now, but I don’t want to forget...

Lia picked up a huge stick as her staff. She looked like Gandalf! She looked for one for me, too, but I really didn’t want to carry one yet. A few hours later, as we walked through the wooded areas, I started looking for one. I even thought that maybe when we got to a bigger town, I’d look to purchase one, but one with a rubber bottom so I didn’t have to hear the metal ding every step I took. Shortly after, Lia and I were stopped by a man named Segundo (which means “2nd” in Spanish). He was selling walking sticks. I bought one made of hazelnut wood for 6 euros with a rubber bottom. I’m pretty sure I put him in my path. It’s what I wanted and I got it. (universe conspiring in my favor)

The last part of the walk was a steep downhill path on ROCKY land. I help thinking “how did Frodo make it from the Shire to Mordor barefooted?!” hahaha I really did think that several times!

As for eating today, very little! A yogurt, 2 cookies, bread with a piece of cheese, a yogurt drink, a handful of almonds, a Spanish tortilla with bread, 2 coffees, a tuna salad and then dinner--a huge salad, veal, fries and red wine. Most of the water I drank was after the walk.

Tomorrow, we’re aiming to get up at 5, leave by 6 and be in Pamplona, after only 2 planned 45 minute stops, by 1:30-2pm.

I feel good, happy, tired, sore, alive, motivated, but above all, happy!

Rocesvalles/Ronceveaux, Day 1

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:04:54 -1000

My alarm went off at 5:15am, a few minutes after I sort of woke up and started quasi sleep-ridden stretching. I got dressed, packed my bag after getting my laundry from outside (which dried perfectly) and went downstairs for breakfast. The lady of the house was pretty strict-as she was last night. In the end, she didn’t like me too much--she thought I was criticizing her--which I wasn’t--simply making observations. I didn’t really want to start my trip on a negative note so I kept my patience.

Anyway, Lia and Leila and I left the hostel at 6:37am. We took a few pictures and laughed A LOT. The first climb up the hill was brutal--mostly psychologically brutal, but still... It seems to be at a 70 degree angle, but we got there and of course, I was dripping in sweat. We stopped after 5km to have a coffee at Horta. 2.10euros for a café au lait. If I do this walk again, I will stay there for sure.

We walked for a few more hours, talking about our lives and our reasons for doing this walk and when we decided to do it. It was fun speaking English, Spanish and French and later in the day (with Valentina) in Italian. We stopped int eh shade so Lia could stretch and so we could eat. Hunger was certainly present! There were 10-15 eagles (or so we thought) flying in circles a bit above us--so gorgeous!

The scenery was how I’ve always remembered Spain (even if the majority of the day, we were in France. Rolling Hills, Lots of sheep and cows and bulls, narrow, gravelly roads--gorgeous! It’s fun to say that I walked through the Pyrenees from France to Spain.

It was quite beautiful and peaceful! God--I could write for hours about it, but it’s also past 10pm, I’m in the hostel with my flashlight stuck to this paper so I don’t disturb anyone.

Anyway, we sort of lost Leila on the way, as she went ahead (and wound up getting here an hour before us.) The road was mostly paved in the beginning with a few short, grassy beaten paths. It was definitely mostly uphill. I wasn’t in much pain except every once in a while my lower back was tired (not actually in pain) and my left heel hurt. In the last 3 km, Lia and I decided to put our sandals/flip flops on. Not the best idea considering we came across a few rocky/grassy shortcuts on the way to Roncesvalles.

We finally made it to the Acceuil around 6:35pm. We were on the road for 12 hours and walked about 8 hours (26km). We had dinner at Café Sabina for 13 euros, had our laundry done (washed and dried) for 2.20 euros and a bed (top bunk) for 6 euros. Not too shabby.

My right knee is a bit sore and so are my feet, but I’m positive that after a good rest, I’ll feel fine tomorrow.

Lia and I expect to get to our next destination by 3pm tomorrow. We want to leave earlier and stop less. We shall see...

I’m so happy I met her and so glad to laugh the whole day.

Feeling GREAT! :)

Tomorrow I start my pilgrimage

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:34:10 -1000

Today I received my first stamp at L’Acceuil Pélérins in St. Jean Pied de Port (SJPDP). I went straight to my hostel, then to get fruit, ham, cheese, bread, water and almonds. Supposedly, tomorrow is one of hte toughest days because there is a 1300m (4365 ft) hike upwards through the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles (Ronceveaux.)

Once settled in, I met Lia, an Italian girl who lives in Egypt. We chatted a bit about our backpacks and teensy bit about the walk--nothing too deep. She seems really nice and I imagine I’ll be walking with her tomorrow.

After coming back from my shopping, I was sitting where I am now, on the balcony of hte Auberge, talking to Lia and a French girl asked where I was from. “The US!?” She exclaimed. “What are you doing HERE?” “The same as you,” I said. Strange. I’m surprised she was so surprised. Anyways, no negativity allowed! :)

I took a shower and hand-washed my long-sleeved thin, black shirt, my black wicking shirt, my blue socks, my underwear and hung it up on the line to dry in the backyard of the albergue (hostel/auberge). I’m pretty tired now, BUT I promised myself I will write every day during my walk. How can I not?!

So...how am I feeling?

Well, I’m a bit nervous about my left foot because it has been hurting for a while now.
Hopefully it won’t get much worse. I’m not letting myself be too concerned about the weight of my backpack. Without the water and the food I bought today, it weights about 8kg (17.6 lbs). I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Spiritually, I’ve already been moved by the entrance into the welcome “room”. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this! I feel really good about it and truly hope to gain some clarity as to what I want to do upon my return to the states.

Some of the things I’m thinking about are:
1. going back to school for speech pathology
2. for linguistics
3. teaching French
4. figuring out a way to start my own language school
5. moving to Portland, Oregon
6. becoming a coach/mentor
7. becoming an organizer
8. becoming a travel writer
9. moving back to Florida to be closer to Mom and Dad

There are many options and I feel lucky. I will solidify all of these ideas over the next 5-6 weeks.

On another note, during my walk, I expect to lose weight, have achy feet, meet nice people, learn more about Spain, take loads of pictures, eat YUM food and meet my husband. I will also learn another level of patience that I don’t know exists. As I’ll be losing weight along the way, I’ll also be monitoring my body’s reaction to such long walks and to what kinds of food cravings I have. I imagine I’ll be wanting lots of meat and lots of veggies and fruits, water, too, of course.

I’m excited about my adventure! It’s about 8:30pm now I’m already in bed. The alarm is set for 5:15am and breakfast is at 6am. I’ll be walking with Lia nd Liela (the French girl) tomorrow.

Meeting Tricia in Valencia

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:19:49 -1000

Tricia is one of my best friends. I met her in 1996 when she put in a request in the French Department at FSU for someone to babysit her son, Bryant (18 months old at the time) in French. I called her right away and there blossomed a wonderful friendship with her whole family.

I only took care of him for a year or so, before I received a scholarship to study in Paris for a month. But we promised to keep in touch and here I am, sitting on the terrace of her apartment in Valencia, Spain.

She is a professor of Dance History at FSU and teaches in Valencia for 6 weeks during the summers. Her classes ended on June 18th and decided to keep the apartment for an extra week before presenting at a conference in Barcelona the week of the 29th.

We’ve had so much fun going food shopping, watching a Flamenco show, going to the opera at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències where we heard the amazing Placido Domingo, perform, exploring Valencian graffiti, going to museums, taking tons of pictures of everything from buildings, to gargoyles, to our rooftop wires!

We keep trying to do this tourist bus, but keep getting distracted by our own company! To me, it makes no difference what we do. Simply being here in Spain is good enough for me! I’m the luckiest girl on Earth!

Pilgrimage...me?

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:20:32 -1000

In my last entry I just casually threw it out there that I’m going to embark on a 35-40 day Pilgrimage across the north of Spain. For most of you who know me, you know that I am NOT religious AT ALL. But most of you know, too, that I am in fact, spiritual.

The idea of this pilgrimage came to me after it was brought up three times in the past 2 months. First, when I was in Tamworth, the country music capital of Australia, I met a fellow (Australian) traveler who was going to do the walk with his father. He planned on finishing it in 35 days. He was so matter-of-fact about it, as if it was something you just do. He had just finished university, was traveling around his own country for 5 months and was taking a break from that for a “little” walk with his dad in Spain. I immediately felt like “hey, mom my is from Spain, and I’ve been to Santiago de Compostela, but I’ve never even thought about walking it...why not?” It was on my mind here and there ever since.

Then, as I’m driving along the east coast of Australia, I’m listening to their public radio and there is some expert on music, talking about this opera singer who had some health issues (I think) and decided to this pilgrimage. She took the opportunity to test the acoustics of the empty churches and sang some beautiful songs. He recounted the story of how it would bring her to tears to sing in these churches all on her own. THAT moved me. Not the tears part, but the fact that she was blessed with this operatic voice that she could hear on her own, on this special quest to better herself. Again, I wondered why I’d not thought of doing this walk, especially since I was planning on being in Europe for 3 months this summer. It stayed on my mind, although I didn’t actually consider doing it--I simply wondered why it had never occurred to me to do it. And decided that it was probably because the opportunity never came up AND because I’m more of an agnostic than anything else--I thought it was for the religious zealots.

The last moment came when I was in the Newark Airport, waiting for my connection to go visit my friend, Tanya, in Tennessee. I had finished reading the book I had and walked into Borders to find a new one. I wanted something that wasn’t too heady, but that was a page turner. I looked for John Grisham, Pat Conroy and picked up a few other authors that appealed to me. None of the books caught my attention. I thought “ok, whichever book I get will be one that stands out to me and is asking me to read it.” I came across Paolo Coehlo--the author of The Alchemist. I loved that book and thought that reading another book of his would suit my fancy. So I practically made my decision to read it before I even read what it was about. It’s called The Pilgrimage. I bought it and began to read it. Within 2 days I had finished it and decided almost immediately that I would seriously consider doing this walk myself. Why not!?

After a few weeks of doing some research on it, I decided that it was exactly what “the doctor ordered”. I had previously decided that I would give myself the summer of travels to figure out what I would do for work, where I wanted to live and how I’d continue my life after 10 months of travel. I knew in organizing my trip around Europe, (and based on my traveling experiences in Australia and New Zealand) that I would need some peaceful time to myself to get these thoughts straight in my head. When traveling from place to place, I would need internet access to organize my trips and that takes effort, time and some (sometimes annoying) preparation. The pilgrimage is for all intents and purposes, already organized for the pilgrims--from where to walk, to where to eat and sleep.

It was a practical decision to do this walk. I’d have my days pretty much organized without having to put much thought into it. I’d just have to WALK, which would give me the time to reflect on who I want to be when I grow up (and where.)

So that’s how I came to my decision. There was no light that shone upon me. I didn’t find God or Jesus. It is simply that the opportunity came to me, and I’m taking it!

I’ll be departing from St. Jean Pied de Port in France on July 18th. It’s a 747km (464 mile) walk along the Camino Frances. (see map above beginning in Roncesvalles) which generally takes 35 days through a passage in the Pyrenees into Spain. I’m giving myself 40 days, just in case, and if I complete it in 35, I’ll have a few days to visit friends and family not far from the finishing point. In 35 days, I’ll average 21 km (13.25 miles) per day. The days will probably begin around 7am and I’ll walk until about 1pm, leaving me enough time in the afternoon to discover some parts of Spain that I’ve either never seen or have only seen from the car as a child.

There is, of course, some preparations involved in this quest. I have to leave the good majority of my stuff behind, I’ll have to buy some good walking boots and I need to practice carrying around 10-15 pounds on my back for extended periods of time. I think I’ll be fine. There are loads of resources at pilgrims’ disposal. And I’m using any I can get my hands on. Below, I’ll put links of websites I’m using. I’d love to hear from my friends about their thoughts on my walk, or if you guys (and gals) have any experience with long walks, any advice, or in general--just what you think of this “lil’” adventure I’m taking myself on. I’ll be sure to post my thoughts on the walk after I’m done with it as I won’t be carrying my laptop with me.

http://www.caminomaggee.blogspot.com/
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/planning.html
http://www.caminhodesantiago.com/plan3.htm
http://www.ourcamino.com/
http://www.americanpilgrims.com/camino/practicalities.html
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/pilgrim-hostels/
http://www.americanpilgrims.com/camino/route_overviews.html
http://www.americanpilgrims.com/resources/web_resources.html

3 month European Vacation

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:46:08 -1000

I couldn’t bring myself to stop traveling just yet! My friend, Colman (who I met in Paris 12 years ago) was getting married in Paris the 2nd week of June and so I thought I’d start my travels there and then figure out the rest. I bought a roundtrip ticket for 90 days, going back to the states on September 8th. I knew I’d be going to Electric Picnic in Ireland (a pretty famous music festival) in early September. So the first 12 days and the last 10 days were pretty much figured out right away. I knew I’d be playing it by ear and taking opportunities as they came--always in the spirit of seeing new places, trying to meet up with friends or friends of friends and maintaining a backpackers budget.

It took me about a week to work out what I was going to do because it occurred to me while I was still in the states that I might want to do the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage in Spain (a 500 mile walk done over the course of about 4-6 weeks). The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I wanted to do it. So, I decided that before heading on a pilgrimage, I should spend some time in Amsterdam (makes sense, right?) I’ve always wanted to go and that’s what I’m doing-all the things I’ve ever wanted to do!

How lucky am I to have a friend who is teaching in Valencia, Spain and has an extra room in her apartment!? The beautiful Tricia, invited me to come stay for a week with her and explore the city together. Clearly, I accepted without hesitation. (I’m in the airport now, waiting for my flight to get there!)

At Colman’s wedding, I was lucky to meet some GREAT people, who I got on really well with. Some of them invited me to go visit them where they live. I told them I would! Where else was I going to go? I got an invitation to Toulouse, to visit Col’s sister-in-law and I got one to visit Louise a fun Irish girl who is married to a nice Italian guy--they live in Milan. My friend, Eleni, from NYC, is Greek and always spends her summers there. She invited me to go spend time with her and her family. I can’t wait!

Little by little, my plans have been forming. I get to see Tricia in Spain, new friends in Italy (maybe even Filippo from Australia!), Eleni in Greece, Sandra in Toulouse, myself in Spain and then I get to go to Ireland to visit my dear friends from Australia and go to Electric Picnic together!

As of today, June 22nd, my travel plans are as such:
June 22-29 Valencia, Spain
June 20-July 2 Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 2-8 Italy
July 8-14 Greece
July 14-15 Paris, France
July 15-18 Toulouse, France
July 18-August 26/28 Pilgrimage beginning in St. Jean Pied de Port, France
Sept 4-6 Electric Picnic.

Oh! I’ve also been invited by a really nice (cute) guy to Scotland. I am seriously considering it, but I likely won’t organize for some time.

I’ve decided not to take my laptop with me on the pilgrimage. That’s 4-5 pounds that I can do without. I am going to try to carry less than 15 pounds total for my 500 mile walk. I specify this because I won’t be updating my blog much for about 40 days from mid-July to he end of August. I will try to be better about updating it while I’m not on the pilgrimage.

:)

Back in the states & Operation Visit Friends

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 01:30:50 -1000

Although it’s Sunday, June 28th, I’ve dated this entry June 9th, the day before I left for Europe because I never did put in an entry about my travels to visit my friends.

The plan was to start in California, head to Oregon, then up to Seattle, Vancouver, back down to LA, then to Detroit, Cleveland, Murphreesboro, Atlanta, Palm Coast, Tallahassee, NYC.

I did most of this trip, except for Seattle, Vancouver and Atlanta. I also added NJ to visit my grandmother for a day.

The friends I saw in California were my family and friends of Tammy and Andrew’s at their wedding. That week was so much fun! We were able to catch up in a way we had never done! A full week of family and friends after my Australian adventure was perfect! We ate together, danced, stayed up talking every night, shopped, and more than anything, laughed A LOT!

From Santa Barbara, I rented a car and headed up to San Francisco. I had all these plans to explore the whole city on foot. Well, as it turns out, it was pouring down rain 90% of the time I was there, so I took it as a time to plan my travels around California--where I’d stay, how I’d get there, what I wanted to see, etc. I did, of course, get the opportunity to see some of the places I wanted to. I did drive around the whole of the city, which with the weather was good enough.

And, I did meet some cool people at the hostel, an Irish girl, who just so happened to not only know my friends Lorraine and Rob in Australia, but lived with them for some time (such a small world!) Another guy I met was this OLD hippie. I thought he could be anywhere from 55 to 75. It turns out he was going to turn 61 on May 9th! We talked a lot about the marijuana laws in California. He was a certified medical marijuana “dealer”--very interesting how liberal it is in California!

From San Francisco, I went to Klamath in northern California. It has been my dream to visit the Redwoods ever since I can remember. When in Australia, I decided to do a trip around the states, I thought I’d “give myself” the Redwoods as my 35th birthday present. It was definitely a highlight. I loved every second of it. I took more pictures that I can even deal with in a deal (3491 in one day!) and met a cool group of people who were on a photography class final project trip. I asked Tom, the teacher, if he’d allow me to tag along during their trip to take pictures. He was gracious enough to offer me pointers on photography and did allow me to tag along. So very cool!

After a couple of days in Klamath, I drove up to Portland, Oregon to visit Keri and Kerry--my first of several trips to see friends. What a great time we had! Keri took me around Portland, we went to a microbrewery and listened to live music (what I wanted to do for my birthday) and caught up on 9 years! What a trip to see someone after so many years!

My last day in Portland, May 11th, I had to decide whether or not I’d go up to Seattle and Vancouver or start heading back to Los Angeles for my flight to Detroit on the 18th. I realized that I would have definitely been able to do those 2 cities, but it would have been more of a “check off my list” kind of thing and the quality of my time there would have been compromised, so I decided against it. Instead I headed to Ashland, the Shakespeare Festival Capital of Oregon.

It was here that I considered going back to school after my travels are over and began some serious research into universities. I’m keeping on ongoing excel spreadsheet of these schools and programs to make my decision while here in Europe. Of course, I had to see a Shakespearean play--Macbeth is what was showing. I had never seen nor read it, so it was a nice way to end my Oregonian excursion.

From Ashland, I went to Yosemite National Park for just one day and 2 nights. I didn’t feel very good when I was in the park, so my plans to hike around were short-lived. I mostly drove around the park and took lots of pictures. I was a bit disappointed, but I didn’t feel like it was only a “check off the list” kind of day. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring.

I headed to Joshua Tree National Park where I stayed with a friend of a friend of a friend in a gorgeous house just a mile from the entrance to the park. What an amazing feeling to be driving through the Mojave Desert! I took advantage of my 2.5 days there as thoroughly as I could. I watched the sunset over the park, the sunrise over the desert and drove around almost the entire park. I could have used another day to explore a bit more, but feel completely satisfied with all that I saw. I was sooooo very happy to be there!

On my last day of my Californian voyage, I stayed with Priscilla, one of my sister’s best friends and caught up on several years of life, love and adventures. She was gracious enough to make this GORGEOUS dinner that I still crave today!

I flew into Detroit on Monday morning, May 18th to see my wonderful girl friend, Jenny and her beautiful family! She has a one year old who she is still nursing, so didn’t pick me up from the airport, but sent a car service to wait for me at the airport with a sign saying MONICA VIDAL on it! How fun! Even though I didn’t get to her house until about midnight, we stayed up chatting for a couple of hours. We had SO much fun together! I played with her beautiful children, had dinners with Sean and her and the kids, walked around Detroit and mostly got caught up with her after 5 years of not seeing her. It felt like yesterday since we were studying for our exams in grad school and as if a day hadn’t gone by--we picked up right where we left off!

I rented a car from the Detroit airport to go see Steve Brown. a wonderful soul I met in Tallahassee in 1998. I met his amazingly sweet children, Maverick, Trixy and Zane, his stepson. What fun we had catching up on life, loves and adventures as well. I’ve never met anyone so selfless as him! He wants everyone around him to be happy and successful and does anything he can to encourage and help them to meet their goals. I was there for a very short time, but I got my Steve fix and feel all the better for it!

I drove back to Detroit to take my flight to Nashville, to see Tanya. (on the way there, I got a speeding ticket! grrrr. He says I was doing 86 in a 65mph zone! Oh well!)

Tanya and John have a beautiful little boy, Graeme, who was sweet enough to allow me to feed him and play with him. I even changed his diapers a few times. Fun! :) I think Tanya is one of the smartest people I know--truly! She has always inspired me to be smarter and seek information. To be in her presence for a few days was a true treasure.

I was going to head to Atlanta, to see my high school friend, Cindy and meet her adorable children, Cooper and Teagan, but it dddn’t work out because some things came up for her and she was unable to have me come. So, I changed my flight around and headed straight to Jacksonville, Florida, where I rented a car and went directly to Tallahassee. I wasn’t even sure I’d have the time to go there, so not going to Atlanta was a blessing in disguise. I stayed with my hilarious and wonderful friend, Vilma. I caught up with friends I hadn’t seen in YEARSSSS. I even got to see the Youngs, who I used to babysit for, had dinner with them and played Guitar Hero with the kids. So fun!

On the 30th of May, I headed back to the Jacksonville airport to drop off the car and pick up the one I had originally rented to head to Palm Coast to see my folks and high school friends. What a joy to see everyone! We had a Cuban BBQ (pig roast) in our backyard the next day. All my friends and their children came over. I was able to catch up with my parents’ friends, too!

It was so great to be with my parents and Rosana for a full week. My mom made us fresh juices every morning and we drank loads of coffee every day. I downloaded CD’s I’ve been wanting to download since my travels began (portable professor) so I’d have them on my travels in Europe. (history of religion, greek history and philosophy) AND I was able to practice my teaching skills by teaching my mom how to use her computer--tricks and shortcuts, excel, etc. So fun to be there with them!

I went back to NYC on Friday, June 5th. Wow! My apartment was so different! I had left it in November in a different state--so a renter could live in it without my personal effects impeding on their privacy. What difference to be in my place, but it not really be mine. That night, I went out for “catch up” drinks with my NYC friends. It was so fun to see everyone and I did get a chance to catch up with all of them, albeit briefly, except for one person--Sara. I still feel bad about it, but I know when I get back, we’ll have enough time for brunch and stories.

I used my time in NYC to spend as much time with Itzy and Beatriz as possible. AND to work on my computer, uploading, downloading and backing up. I spend a lot of time at the Apple store getting answers to my questions (that I had been accumulating since my last visit to the genius bar in Sydney) and to workshops. Such a great service!

I left for Europe on the 10th, missed my flight and caught a flight a couple of hours later (with “only” $250 penalty). And here I am!

All in all, my Operation Visit Friends was a huge success. I got to see the quotidian life of my friends with their families, we caught up on years of life and promised each other that we wouldn’t let so many years pass before we saw each other again.

I’m the luckiest girl on Earth to have the friends that I do and the ability to see them!

I love my friends and my life!