El Camino de Santiago

I've been writing about this for weeks now and I have decided that this deserves its own blog entry.

For my family (mom and grandma) as well as the others who are asking for a definition and more details of what exactly this thing is that I am currently obsessed with.

I'm just going to start with an overview...

The Camino de Santiago is a religious pilgrimage that started centuries ago (somewhere around the 15th century, but don't quote me on that because I'd have to find my book to actually look it up). There are 7 historic caminos (paths) that the pilgrimage follows, and all of them lead to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. (Galicia is the autonomous community in the northwestern part of Spain, just above Portugal, and Santiago de Compostela is the capital.) Of these paths, the French Road was the most commonly taken and (could probably go without saying) goes from France to Santiago.

Now back in the day this was a pretty dangerous journey - thieves, no shelter, difficulties finding food, etc. However, today it has become very popular and there has basically been a whole business community built off of restaurants, hotels, etc along the camino.

Note: The Camino de Santiago is the Spanish name - in English it is The Way of Saint James. (With Saint James being Santiago, the original brother of the Apostle/Saint who it is rumored crossed the Iberian peninsula and helped spread Christianity and whose body/tomb is in the Cathedral de Santiago.

Ok, enough of the history, here's the fun and interesting stuff...

Before you get bored and run away from this post, I'm gonna nag some more. If you have not seen the movie "The Way", please go watch it. Without ruining anything, it's the story of a Doctor whose son is in his 30s and "isn't going anywhere with his life". While the dad doesn't understand this, the son says he just has to go and see the world to be happy. So the son takes off for France to begin the Camino de Santiago, but within the first 24 hours he dies. Well the dad comes to France to get the body, but ends up cremating it and walks the Camino de Santiago for himself, spreading his sons ashes along the way. Sad yet? I promise all of that is only in the first 3 minutes of the movie/trailer so I didn't ruin anything. And in all honesty, while it does have sad parts, I truly loved this movie.

Continuing...

The Camino is marked with both arrows and shells so you know where to go. The shell is the symbol of the journey. (Hopefully that explains why I bought so much shell jewelry) And while it's pretty easy to identify a pilgrim, the shell is a definite indication they are walking the camino.


When you get to the end of the Camino you get the Compostela. This is a certificate saying that you completed the camino. There is a minimum distance though: 100km on foot or 200km using anything else (horse, bike, things that aren't motorized) As you go, you have a "passport" which gets stamped at the various places you stop, and this serves as proof that you really went as far as you did.

It is tradition for the pilgrims to enter the Cathedral de Santiago when they arrive and there is a mass that is held. When you enter the cathedral, there is a pillar with a sculpture of Saint James. Traditionally all of the pilgrims get on their knees and touch the pillar. They place their hands on his feet and kiss it. They then make 10 wishes - one for every finger that has touched. So many people have touched the pillar that a hand print has been worn into the stone. Unfortunately (and I was legitimately sad) you are no longer allowed to touch the pillar and there is a fence around it. (I tried to reach over the fence, but I was too short...)

Now I've never been the type of person to say that I am "religious". By all means, I believe in God and that there is in fact a higher power, but I've never gone to church religiously or identified myself as having a specific religion other than Christianity in general. But there is something about the Camino de Santiago that I really like and find intriguing.

I know I will come back and walk the entire camino one day. I want to do the French Road which takes about 1 month to complete so it will be in the future when I have that much time free, but it is something I really want to do.

I feel like there are a lot of reasons people walk the camino, and I'm not sure what mine is exactly yet, but I'm going to find it. For now, this is me in front of the Cathedral de Santiago, a tourist who has seen a popular movie and has been inspired. But one day, I will be back. A "peregrino" who the other tourists can look at and be inspired by.

Looking Towards America - Galicia and Lisbon

I feel like I've spent that last week of my life in a bus - maybe because I pretty much have?

We left last Thursday night at midnight from Madrid and drove 9 hours to Lisbon, Portugal. I spent the first day exploring churches and castles and eating the most amazing pizza I've ever tasted - banana and ham. That's right, I said banana. Try it, it's amazing. The next day we went on a bus tour to 2 other cities around Lisbon. I have to say, even though Lisbon is supposed to be one of the prettiest places in Europe, I have to object. I loved the little beach town we went to, but the part of the city where we actually stayed I wasn't too impressed by. As a side note, I had my first hostal experience - not sure how I feel. Overall it went well. It was pretty and clean (clean being the most important thing to me). However, the shower I used was probably the worst shower I've ever had in my life (think only 3 of the holes in the shower head just barely dripping water) and after 11pm the whole place turned into a party. (Thank god I can sleep through just about everything). Sunday I found this cute little market and bought some gifts for my family before getting back on the bus to drive back to Madrid.

We got back around midnight Sunday, so it was about 1am when I got home. I had to unpack and repack and shower, and it was 3am before I finally got to bed. Woke up at 6, threw some clothes on and was at school by 7 to get on the bus for Galicia. It's about a 9 hour drive, but we stopped about 5 hours in and went to the little pueblo of O Cebreiro to eat and explore. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I have this new obsession with the Camino de Santiago. Basically it's a religious pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Anyways, the Camino passes through O Cebreiro so that was really cool to see all of the pilgrims walking through. What makes it even cooler is the movie "The Way" (if you haven't seen it, you have to watch it. I'm kinda in love) was filmed in this pueblo. I (of course) bought some souvenirs and in the process completely embarrassed myself imitating the sound of a bagpipe because I couldn't remember the Spanish word for it. Found out later the store clerk spoke a bit of English and probably knew everything we were saying...oops.

Eventually got to the hotel around 6 Monday night and got to have some group bonding time. Basically this was like a retreat and they put us in the middle of nowhere without wifi and made us play games and have bonding experiences with each other. It was actually pretty fun, except for the part where I couldn't let my family know what was up. Thankfully one of mis amigas, Yvette, let me use her phone so I could actually call home. (way to go international calling plans)

We spent the week exploring Galicia and learning more about the traditions and culture of the area. We went to Santiago de Compostela and I got to see the cathedral that marks the end of the Camino de Santiago and the tomb of Saint James. It was amazing, but I was sad because I couldn't actually touch the pillar of St. James (believe me, I tried but I was too short to reach over the fence). We had a dance and song thing we went to and dressed up in traditional Galician clothing. I had a shirt that was over 200 years old and a scarf as a shirt.

Finally headed home this morning around 9am and walked in my door at 7-ish.

Tomorrow I need to do some shopping - I need a carryon bag that is Ryanair approved. My book bag tends to get too round when I stuff it full of stuff and I'd rather not get charged an extra 70 euro for a bag that doesn't fit inside their stupid box next weekend. Also need a winter coat for going to Poland and Ireland and England and Moscow and all of the other cold places I'm planning on visiting in the next 8 months.

Sunday is my birthday. Don't know what I'll be doing, but it will be different, that's for sure. Probably homework...sigh. Or exploring some of the "interesting" shops in Madrid I found. Who knows.



Oh well, that's my life in a nutshell. Love you all!

Stressed, Frustrated, and Dead Bodies

Rant time...

I was supposed to have an interview to teach skating here tomorrow, but I had to cancel it because I don't think teaching skating is logistically possible. I don't have skates and the rink is on the other side of the city (translation - money and time I don't have). And while I was very interested in the opportunity and I know it would have been great for my Spanish, I just don't think I could make the commitment. So today, after the interview had already been cancelled, the director asked me why I'm not doing it and said that I was passing up a great opportunity. Thanks. Lovely. So now I'm questioning my decision, because I was interested and I know it would have been good, I just simply don't have the time.

I've got 2 exams tomorrow - one written over grammar and another oral presentation over 4 Spanish holidays.

I'm leaving tomorrow night for Lisboa. I get back Sunday night just to leave again Monday morning for Galicia. Great - except for the fact that I have no clothes because laundry day is Sunday and last Sunday we were gone (1 week of clothes) and even though I asked my host mom to do my laundry I'm still waiting for it to be done for this week (2 weeks of clothes). And I have no jeans and almost no shirts left. And now I'm leaving for another week (3 weeks of clothes). See the problem? So, hopefully they will be washed tomorrow so I can have clean stuff for Sunday night.

I'm going shopping tomorrow after class. I need clothes and to de-stress.

Ah yes - and the dead bodies part...on my way to dance class today I walked out of the metro to find a ton of people and police gathered around. The police were roping off the road/building area and trying to get people to move on but of course no one would. So I crossed the street to get out of the way then stopped to watch. I suppose the blanket laying in the middle of the street with the blood all around it and the shoes sticking out from under the blanket should have given it away, but for a while I didn't know what was going on. A woman passing by stopped and asked me what had happened but I told her I wasn't sure. So then curiosity got the best of me and I asked another man standing and watching. Turns out there was an 83 year old woman who got hit by a delivery truck crossing the street. (Let me add that the possibility of getting hit by cars/trucks/busses here is very easy, as no one knows how to drive or use stop lights and the crosswalk at this particular intersection is not exactly visible when driving - however I'm pretty sure she wasn't in the crosswalk...) None the less, she died and when I was watching the body was still in the middle of the road (under the blanket with the shoes sticking out). Later I found out she got hit at 4:30 and I was there at 4:45.

Anyways, that's my day. It's also my anniversary, so I'm gonna go Skype my loving boyfriend who is going to make me feel better (and my padres too) and exchange some presents over Skype.

Weekend Update

So my family trip to Galicia and Portugal was pretty awesome. We traveled mainly in the areas between Pontevedra and just past the Portugal line.

As far as the land goes, I really liked Galicia. The architecture, not so much. A lot of the places we went everything was just very plain and my host dad said in Spain it was literally called "feoism" (aka - ugly-ism). Pontevedra was probably my favorite. It's one of the 4 capital cities in Galicia and is very close to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a nice change to see water again - I really miss my lake. The city itself was very old and had a lot of (what I assume to be) Roman architecture, and that was nice. One of the paths on the Camino de Santiago also ran through the city, so that was pretty cool to see.


Keith and I decided when we are retired we are going to walk the Camino de Santiago. Maybe before then if we ever get the opportunity...

We stayed at my host grandmother's house - turns out she was one of the first women doctors in Spain. The food there was amazing, and I'm pretty sure if I actually lived there I would gain a million pounds.

I take that back, Spain food still sucks, but Galicia, Spain food was better than Madrid, Spain food.

We went to the playa (beach) in Portugal and I loved that. I went in the water and my host mom laughed at me because for the people here the water was like an ice bath. For me, I'd say it was more like Lake Erie in the beginning of June. We took a little ferry boat across the river that separates Portugal and Spain. It was a very short ride, and nothing like being on the lake, but I pretended it was exciting, and my host family loved it, so that was good. I told them when they come to the US I'd have to show them "real" boats and a "real" lake.

It was nice to speak only Spanish all weekend. My host mom said I can understand pretty much almost everything they say now (which is good) but I need to speak a lot more to improve my talking.

(and again I say...if only I had come in high school...)

Anyways, I had fun and it was a nice change for me. I'll be going back in less than a week, so I'll have even more experiences then.

Off to Galicia

Ok, I'm heading out this morning for Galicia and Portugal with my host family. SHould be home some time Sunday evening and I will post pictures then. Hopefully this weekend goes well and my plan of an all Spanish trip will work out (unless of course I find free wifi, then I'll text mi familia and let them know how I'm doing)

Bye All!

Studying? They do that in Spain?

These last 2 weeks and next week have been and are going to be crazy as far as school goes. Last week I had my final exam of my 1st division of my spanish class. And this week I had my midterm exam for my classic spanish literature class - aka hell.

This class might be one of the most difficult things I've encountered here - we're talking old school 11th - 15th century classic spanish literature. It's impossible to understand and by the time I get out of the class, I am completely worn out.

You never really understand the concept of "a brain workout" until you are living in a different country, speaking a different language, and living a different life - all while trying not to fail at life.

Seriously, I do nothing during the day besides go to school, and at the end of the day, I am beat.

Ok, now back to what I was saying - yesterday I finally figured out how to study for this class (nothing like procrastinating right??) And, I feel pretty good about how the exam went! Great - except now when I have a pile a mile high of tarea, I don't even want to look at it.

Normally I wouldn't be concerned, but this weekend I'm going con mi familia de intercambio to Galicia and Portugal for the weekend. I'm super excited! Basically I won't have my plug converters because they are too bulky to drag around, so it's going to be a weekend de español solamente. I've been waiting for this and wishing I could do this for the last 5 weeks.

So yes, I have to get all of this stuff done tonight before we leave so I don't want to kill myself Sunday night when I get home.

Party in the USA

Well, maybe it's not a party but it's election time back home.

I will state for the record now - I HATE POLITICS!

That being said, I am so glad I'm in Spain and I don't have to listen to the nasty political ads on TV every 3 seconds and the people arguing everywhere you go trying to get you to agree with their opinions.

I really don't understand America - why are we so nasty with this? Seriously guys - we're taught all of our lives to tell the truth and treat others with respect, yet when it comes to politics and politicians (people who are supposedly the leaders of our country and people we should look up to) they are the worst. What is the harm in only telling the truth, not stabbing the other guy in the back, and just having an overall respect for someone? Yes, you have to make your points, but let's do it without twisting words and pointing fingers.

There's something to be said about having your own opinions and beliefs, but you do not need to shove them on other people. Those who are not educated or lie on the fence have to choice to talk to people on both sides, get the facts. But, those who have already made up their mind are not going to change it no matter how much you yell and tell them they are stupid or wrong.

Ok, enough of my little rant there - point is, I got my absentee ballot today. Pen and paper - it's super fancy and high tech. The best part - it only cost $70 in shipping to get it to me and mail it back. (A word to the wise - when requesting your absentee ballot, make sure you get the "I'm living outside of the country" ballot and not the "I'm on vacation" ballot. It's way easier that way.)

So yes, I have done my patriotic duty and voted from Spain. My first presidential election let me add - my candidate better appreciate my $70, mailed first class express, across the Atlantic Ocean vote =D

Om Nom Nom!!!

Random...but I'm starving and dying to taste some food that has any kind of flavor (besides an un-godly amount of salt or olive oil) - anyways here's my list of longings...

1. Chipotle - just learned there are 3 in London, guess what I'm gonna be eating for the 2 weeks I'm there after Christmas :)

2. Mac and Cheese - I want comfy, lazy, have a ton of homework and just wanna lay in bed all day food

3. Grandma Noodles - same thing as above, but more homey

4. Chicken Paprikash - I'm really hoping I can fins some in Poland, even though it's Hungarian...

5. Alfredo Sauce - I know it's not real Italian, but I'd die to eat some Olive Garden

6. McDonalds - yes it exists here, but I'd really appreciate some carne con mi pan...

7. Anything Spicy - my mother would love Spain, the "spiciest" thing I've found on any menu so far I haven't been able to taste at all

8. Pretzels - don't know why but I haven't found any of these yet...

9. Not jamón - I hate ham at home, and here I think it's acceptable for vegetarians to eat

10. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - it just sounds good

11. A Chicken Schwarma from Phonecias - It's a Toledo thing, and the cute little Asian waitress keeps asking where I've been

12. Pancakes - normal sized and for breakfast, not dinner

13. A Banana Nut Muffin - preferably from Tim Horton's thats fresh baked and moist

14. A full sized meal of any soft - I'm sick of being hungry all day. It sucks.

Yeah...hungry yet? I am. Gonna go see a movie tonight and find some popcorn...

Just a Quick Note Before Sliding Off the Edge of the Universe

So I've basically disappeared this week - exams, exams, books, and more books...

Who would have thought I actually go to school right?

Yeah, well this week was kind of my hell week. Last Thursday my literature professor said something in class about making sure that we were ready to discuss the book on Tuesday...translation - "Oh shit - what book?" Well, it turns out when the syllabus says "start" the book, it really means "have the book completely read and be ready to start the discussion of the book". Basically, I spend a whole weekend of my life reading 200 pages of classic Spanish theater about a prostitute giving love advice to young Romeo and Juliet type couple and in the end there's people jumping out windows and getting their heads chopped off - perfecto right?

And then the story continues...Tuesday my spanish language professor says "Don't forget your final is in 2 days and you have to read this book" - translation, "Are you f-ing kidding me?" So all of Tuesday and Wednesday was spent frantically reading a book about a cat teaching a bird to fly - cute book I have to say, I will be reading it to my future children.

Then Thursday afternoon rolls around - and my literature professor springs on us the "oh I scheduled the play we're gonna go see and it's the 29th of November at 8pm" - translation, "Ahhhhh! I have a flight to the canary islands that night at 9" - oh and by the way, the play is mandatory... So after explaining the situation to the prof and arguing with him about not telling us about it before so we didn't have plans and then saying that 30% of the class wasn't gonna be there (that's 3/10 - small class) he agreed to move the play to the weekend before.

Friday - took a little viaje to La Mancha to fight some windmills with mi amigo Don Quijote - pretty epic. Windmills were pretty and went exploring some ruins of an old castle - got eaten alive by some kind of insect in the process, don't worry, nail polish works the same as Chigerid.

Watched the movie "The Way" until about 3:30am Friday/Saturday night. (Awesome movie - everyone go watch it right now!) And then about 5am woke up with what I'm assuming was a mild case of food poisoning - 4 others had it too - who knows.

Saturday went well, got some fake Mexican food (the first thing that has had any flavor here) and got lost looking for a mall (which was really small and totally not worth my time)...

So yes, that is my life. I'm still on a quest to use my Spanish more and find some people that don't just want to speak English all the freaking time. I really just need to get it in my head that I can only speak Spanish, regardless of what others are doing. Sigh. Story of my life...

On the other side of things - I think this weekend I will be going to Galicia and Portugal con mi familia española. Not sure where, but there's some kind of family party and I'm going along for the free vacation and to have some fun doing Spanish things - thankfully the family all speaks Castellano and not Galego...that would have been miserable. Don't know if I'll have wifi (pronounced wee-fee by the way) but it'll be an adventure. (Here's to spending 7 hours driving in my host mom's baby sized Toyota squeezed in the backseat between my 2 host brothers...oh boy)

Ok, I need to go learn about the Camino de Santiago and write a paper about a frog...

'ta luego :)