Einfach hin und weg

despairing, I heard a tune rising behind me. The tune was sweet, melodious. It sounded exactly right. I slowed so that I could eavesdrop on a pilgrim who was singing to himself. As he drew closer, I turned and complimented him, and he excused himself for singing a German folk song.We walked along a bit, and I chided him for stopping. He told me I had made him blush.
     
    We talked for about an hour. We have been walking for about the same length of time and were reflecting on our progress, on how we have changed, about our attitudes toward the Camino and toward life. We spoke about the kindness and magic of the Camino, about how many wonderful and surprising and eerie and coincidental things take place. We talked about how the things only happen when we make ourselves open to them happening.
     
    Our conversation ended slowly, and I walked ahead. Eventually, he began to sing again. I smiled and slowed so that I could listen in but I couldn't get the right rhythm. At the next town, I stopped to wait for him and invite him to have a drink with me but his rhythm carried him forward. As he walked on, he thanked me for my company and handed me a 4 leaf clover.
     
    Alice, Juni 2007
     
    Many times on the Camino people ask what is your reason for doing this? When I left I don't really think that I knew what I was doing.... I didn't spend very much time planning it or thinking about it.... I just booked my flight and bought a pair of shoes. Something told me I needed to go and I cannot imagine where I would be had I not done so. Other people had problems which they needed to work through and this was their reason. Fortunately my life is blessed and I became even more aware of this as others shared their problems with me. I felt somehow less of a pilgrim because I did not have a burden to leave on the Cruz de Ferro.
    The Camino teaches you lessons.... But they are not explicit.... They are taught to you not from someone theorising or preaching to you but from the generosity of spirit which you are the witness and recipient of, both from fellow pilgrims and locals alike. I found a new beauty in people and in nature.
    I never intended to have a companero on the Camino but I was very fortunate to be given one. I cannot envisage how my Camino would have been without my companero's caring, nagging and flower messages.
    One of my most special memories was meeting Pedro.... A restaurateur in a magical village called Ponte Maceira..... who upon seeing me transfixed by one of the most beautiful spots on the route... a gushing waterfall under a medieval bridge, approached me and proceeded to offer such unique and generous hospitality as you could not imagine. Over our 4 hour long dinner Pedro explained to me that in the few years that he had built his restaurant he had not seen someone so taken with this same spot where he too had been transfixed 4 years earlier on his camino. It was important for him to contribute to my camino as it was for many of the hospitaleiros, vineyard owners, monks and random Spaniards who make it part of their daily lives. Pedro told me (in Spanglish) that which I had truly wanted and needed to hear... that I was one of the few true pilgrims.... Who me?.... I'm not religious....
    From that point (3 days before the end) I gained a realisation of why I was doing the Camino..... I needed to reassess my life and though I believe I am on the right path to my destiny... perhaps I was in danger of forgetting my goals and straying from it.
    This may seem an awfully simple realisation and perhaps not all that important. But if you think about it, this is the most important thing of all.
    Since returning to Ireland I have thought more and more, contemplated life and reassessed how I spend my time, who I spend it with and how I am with those I come into contact with. Perhaps I thought that the Camino would be a nice compacted 3 weeks of reflection, instead it was more like a deep meditation... now is the hard part.... Learning to put into practice that which I have learned on the Camino in my regular life and changing that in my regular life which needs to be changed.
    Go n-éirí an bóthar leat......may the road rise to meet you.
    Best Regards,
     
    Alice Guinan
     
    Renée, November 2007
     
    Dear Gerd,
     
    Buen Camino! It is so nice to hear from you and thank you for your thoughtful message. I have thought of you often as the weeks went by following my camino path, wondering when you would reach your destination.