Worthiness, Judgement and Pelligrinos

Who amoung us are worthy of the Compostela (certificate of completion) in Santiago? Day before last, I came across the group of 15 couples from Washington state doing Camino. Most of the men and about half the women are Mt biking the Camino using a support service who guides their days and transports their luggage to nicer hotels at nights. I had dinner with a few of them night before last and one of the women not biking walks a couple miles a day and then hops in the van to meet up for lunch. During dinner, she remarked she had to get her passport stamped at the bar we had dinner. I suppose she wants the Compostela in Santiago. Is she worthy of being a Pilgrim? You have people that are bussed along the Camino staying in towns along the way sometimes walking. Then you have me on a bike, but totally doing every bit of the hard trail and and looking for meaning and understanding on the Camino but staying in hotels at night instead of Albergue, Pilgrim hostels. Am I worthy? On the other end, there was an Englishman who started his Pilgrimage in London and was walking reciting the Lord's Prayer going up to the ridge with the windmills and sculpture dedicated to Pilgrims. Who among us is worthy of being a Pilgrim?

Interesting and pretty great day today. In the mornings, there are always tons of Pilgrims on the trail at the start of the day I pass. I almost always say "good morning" and "Buen Camino" as I pass. Sometimes you just connect with someone and I'll slow down to a walk pace and talk with them for a while. That happened this morning with a bulky square guy who sounded American when I passed. His name was Louis from New Jersey and he's was a Fireman there. I asked about his reasons for doing Camino and he told me that he had just lost his brother. Blessing Louis .... A bit later. A big group of what I thought was local Mt Bikers blew by me with just Camelbacks and no Panniers so I thought there were just out for a day ride and then a woman on a serious Mt bike and Panniers came up to me and told me they were sport riders who were doing Camino as fast as they could with their luggage forwarded with a service. I rode with her for about an hour and got a bit of her story. She was Desiree from Atlanta who used to teach Yoga and decided to do Camino after breaking up with her boyfriend of 7 years and had been married previously to a man that died. She got back together with the boyfriend a while back and wanted to get married to him but still decided to do Camino by herself. We talked some more, but never seemed like she was totally "there". We had hot chocolate together in the next small town and rode on. She kept talking about some Columbian mt bikers she stayed with in the Albergue the night before and how much fun they were. She was trying really hard to remember the name if the Albergue they stayed in and then something weird happened I stopped at the top of a tough hill to wait for her. When she got there, she pulled out her cell phone and started texting someone at home as if I wasn't even there. I was trying to figure out what was going on and what to do, but she wasn't saying anything. After about 5 minutes, she said something about just letting that go. I assumed some drama at home and just rode on for a bit. Then she stopped again and I didn't know what was going on, so I just assumed she was flaking and told her I was going to ride on by myself. About a half hour later, she caught up to me while I was taking pictures. She said that a friend who spoke Spanish at home she was texting who had called the Albergue she had stayed at and had not found her earrings she had lost there the night before. I asked her if they were from someone important and she said "yes" and was pretty sad. Pretty sure they were from her husband that had passed. I gave her a hug and she said "thanks". We started riding off and she seemed to fall back a bit maybe on purpose. I just rode on. Blessings Desiree. Sometimes you just never know what is going on in someone's life and I was too quick to judge.

Mid-day, I came across this new, small town that seemed empty. A couple days before, I had heard about these "ghost towns" that everyone just picked up and left because the economy was so bad here, they just left their small town to go live in the cities where there might be work. This town was one of them that had mostly brand new house houses, condos and apartments that were totally empty and many had "Se Vende" For Sale signs on them. It was creepy riding through and I wanted to get out as fast as I could.

The day was pretty nice. It was overcast all day which made it cooler and less beating down of the sun which was greatly appreciated. There were still hard parts to the Camino today, but fewer of them. I feel like I am "caught up" with where I need to be to make it to Santiago before I have to go to Paris to come home on the 27th. Good news. My Nikon lens seems to have cleared up the moisture on the inside and I shot a couple nice pictures with it today. I found a bike shop here in Santo Domingo and bought a new bike seat just in case mine fully cracks on the way. We all know how that can be right Art? I also got my bike lubed and adjusted after all the mud and dirt from the first two days. I came across the big group from Washington tonight at Tapas and hung for a bit. One guy I connected with, John and may ask him of he wants to ride with me tomorrow. Two of their group suffered injuries today. One guy fell and separated his shoulder and is in for surgery. The other broke a finger. Camino!

In the square tonight, there was a young girl with a ukulele singing French love songs. She hade tape on her feet and pretty sure she was a Pilgrim singing for tips for her dinner. I gave her a Euro. It was pretty sweet what she was doing making her way on the Camino. Respect.

Dave

Santo Domingo

Pilgrim Singing for her Dinner

Group from Washington

Ghost Town