WALKING 500 MILES IN SPAIN I was at a free concert tonight in my neighborhood and met an older woman who had just returned from walking 500 miles in Spain on a journey called El Camino de Santiago. She walked many miles each day in a single pair of boots and washed her one set of clothes each night. All she brought was one set of clothes to hike in and clothes to sleep in and a poncho for the rain plus sandals to wear each night and a toothbrush and toothpaste. I asked her what she loved most about the hike. She stared off at the setting sun for some time to think -- it was this beautiful sunset after a heavy rain where everything bursts blue and orange and pink -- and told me that one day when she was very tired from walking and had lost a few toenails and wasnt feeling so great she passed a little school where children were all running out the door because it was THE LAST DAY BEFORE SUMMER VACATION. The children were racing out of school with the kind of extraordinary joy kids feel that first day of summer freedom. They looked so happy, so full of joy! It took all my foot pain away to watch them racing out of school. I began to laugh seeing how happy they were, she said. And then she added, Suddenly, I realized they were headed toward ME!!!! A group of 4th grade girls rushed over to look at my friend and the other hikers walking along. My friend was very sad she couldnt speak Spanish. She told them No hablo español. The girls didnt mind. They circled my friend and pointed to her walking stick and smiled. Back and forth, using hand signs and English they were learning at school, while my friend tried to use the few words of Spanish she had learned, the little girls tried to figure out how far she had walked, where she slept each night, how far she had to go, and WHY she was walking hundreds of miles. She answered all their questions except WHY she was walking. She didnt know why. And then they formed a circle around my friend and broke into a song in English about her and how she was from America and how she had come to their country. They sang her name and sang how she was walking hundreds of miles and that her feet hurt. Then they sang she liked to eat fish and pork...which my friend had not said, but she guessed they had recently learned these words in English. My friend stood there stunned by the little girls laughing and singing her name and telling the story of her long walk across Spain. The girls marched along for a mile through the countryside with her, and her feet stopped hurting as they sang the special song they made up for her over and over. Goodbye America! We love you! they called to her when it was time for the girls to go home and begin their summer holiday. Adios Spain! Te amo! she called back to them. And she wished she could have added, in Spanish, that she knew NOW why she was walking 500 miles: She was walking all these miles to meet THEM.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 04:09:59 +0000
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