Friday, June 18, 2010

Last Days

Today I went to a theme park called Port Aventura with my friends. We had a blast. Tomorrow is my last day in Spain and when I say my goodbyes. I will write more about this later. See you soon everyone.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Traveling through Spain

I just came back from a heck of a trip. In my last post I talked about a trip around Spain I would be doing with my mom. It all began with the Camino de Santiago. My mother was walking the Camino also known as the Way of St. James. She was walking the Camino Frances (one of the many routes to Santiago) which begins at Roncevalles a small village just before the French border and of course ends in Santiago (she's crazy (just kidding mom).) Well I met her in Sarria and we completed the last 100km of the camino together.

To get the compostela (certificate) that says you completed the Camino de Santiago you must complete the last 100km. My mom was happy to see me and we soon began walking. For me the first day was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg walk. We did about 20km of walking or more each day. However, we did walk 30km on the second day which was a real killer. Here's how a normal day on the camino went: my mom would get up at 7, she would wake me up and then go to the bathroom to wash up. I would take advantage of this time and stay in bed pondering how much time I had before my mom would come back and I would have to get up. After I finally got myself up and got ready we would hit the camino.
Looking good for Santiago ;)
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It's amazing we would walk for hours. Hours, hours and hours of walking. My mind wandered; there was too much time to think. It was fun being with my mom. We talked about so much stuff. I remember the first ten minutes of the the camino I was going crazy and couldn't stop talking. Part of the camino is self reflection. You are alone for such a long time that you think about your life and who you are. With this time you, hopefully, become a better and stronger person. I think my mom changed in this way because she walked alone for many days. However, there are always pilgrims walking along with you that pass you or you pass them. Pilgrims from all over the world come and do this camino. I met Americans, Germans, Frenchies, Portuguese, Italians, Brasilenians, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, Chinese and of course many Spaniards. I have to say that the Spaniards were the friendliest.

We usually got to the albergue (hostel) between 3 or 5 p.m. After arriving exhausted to the albergue we would wash ourselves and our clothing. Then we looked for a place to have dinner. After dinner we would go back to the albergue to prepare for the next day and then we would go to sleep.
Signs for the Camino de Santiago
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The time passed and I don't know how I did it or how my mom did it but we arrived to Santiago. It actually wasn't that eventful arriving into Santiago. The garbage workers were on strike and there was so much garbage in the streets. We had to suffer from the stench while approaching the Cathedral.
Santiago
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